Rose
"Oh my God, it looks weird."
"Why did you have to do it all of a sudden?"
"Did you tell Jackson?" My friends, Jessica and Miley bombard me with a countless number of preposterous questions.
"NO! Jackson does not know about this." I say as I shove my books into my locker.
"Well, he will eventually know about it. How do you think he will react to this?" Miley asks.
"I don't know about that. But if he hurts her or breaks up with her because of this, I'm gonna kick him where the sun doesn't shine." Jessica says to Miley.
"Calm down tigress. You wouldn't wanna scare that poor lad away now, do you?" Miley says tantalisingly.
"Guys, will you just calm down? This isn't that big of a deal, really. I'm very sure Jackson wouldn't freak out. There is nothing to freak out. This is completely normal." I say as we head towards the school cafeteria. I save us a seat at our usual table while Miley and Jessica were on their way to buy lunch from the school canteen. I always bring my own lunch to school since I don't like the food they serve here. Before I could open my lunchbox, someone lightly taps me on my left shoulder, I turn to my left and see no one when I suddenly feel the familiar tap on my right shoulder. As soon as I turn to my right, Jackson promptly smashes his lips against mine.
"Hey, gorgeous." He says pulling away. I give him a tight lipped smile, acknowledging his presence.
"What'd you bring?" He asks eyeing my lunchbox. I open it and see that it had Mac and cheese packed in.
"This looks good." He says, grabbing the spoon from my hand and taking a bite.
"Hmmm, this is so damn good." He says. I again, give him a tight lipped smile and nod my head. He raises an eyebrow at my unusual demeanour.
"What happened?" He asks. I simply shrug my shoulders and shake my head.
"Why aren't you talking? You have a sore throat, baby?" He asks, gently brushing his fingertips against my cheek. I smile at him and shake my head.
"What's the matter? Why aren't you talking to me then?" He starts getting annoyed. I cover my mouth with my hand and speak.
"Nothing?" I say with my muffled voice.
"Why are you covering your mouth?" He asks while grabbing my wrist and pulling my hand away from my mouth.
"Rosie? Show me your teeth." He says with a sly smirk. I roll my eyes and shake my head.
"Oh come on! I wanna see if it is what I think it is." He says teasingly. I give him a sarcastic smile and shake my head.
"Alright then, we'll do it my way." He says before holding both my wrists together, with one of his hands, and tickling me with his other.
"N-Noooo, Jackson.......stop it......p-please," I say as I laugh hysterically. He let goes of my hands and starts laughing himself.
"Ohh my lord, Rosie. You got braces!" He says while holding his stomach and laughing his butt off.
"Well, yes I got braces. I don't see what's so funny here." I say while crossing my arms. I knew that I looked funny, but I didn't expect Jackson to make fun of me out of everyone.
"Baby, It's so...." He trails away while laughing. I could feel the back of my eyes stinging. I immediately get up and head towards the courtyard. Since it's lunchtime, everyone is in the cafeteria so the courtyard is deserted.
"Rosie! Wait." Jackson calls from behind but I ignore him. I go towards my usual spot, the secluded tree and sit under it. By now, the tears were running down my face and I belligerently wiped them off. I lean against the tree and fiddle with my hands. I can feel rushed footsteps heading towards me, which I know belongs to Jackson. He takes a seat beside me, sitting cross legged. The tears continue running down my face but I do not even bother wiping them.
"I didn't mean to hurt you, baby." He says softly. I continue ignoring him, sniffling slightly.
"You look gorgeous, princess." He says putting his arm around my shoulders and pulling me closer to him.
"Then w-why did you laugh?" I stutter.
"I didn't laugh because it looked funny. I laughed because you looked adorable. You reminded me of my 4-year-old cousin sister. She doesn't have braces but she's adorable, just like you." He says smiling softly.
"Really?" I ask.
"Yes, pumpkin. You look gorgeous as always. You look so cute, I couldn't stop myself from laughing." He says, kissing my forehead.
I pinch his arm while placing my head on his chest.
"Ow! Don't pinch me, Darla!" He says, chuckling.
"Darla?" I ask with suspicion.
"Yeah. You know, the redhead from Finding Nemo? The dentist's niece or something." He says with a smirk. I gasp at the nickname he coined for me and smack his chest repeatedly. This just made him break into a fit of laughter.
"Alright alright, I'm sorry." He says raising his hands in surrender.
"Here, you forgot this." He says, bringing my lunchbox from behind. He opens the box and begins to feed me, taking a bite or two himself.
"You're my adorable Darla." He whispers before pecking my lips.
"Please be okay, dad." I whisper as I kiss my dad on his forehead. It's been around 3 weeks since Jackson got a job at that woodworking place. He gets to spend more time with Chloe and by the looks of it, they seem to be getting pretty close. But I have to stop thinking about him, I've got my father to worry about and that's what I'll be doing now. I gently stroke his hair when mom hugs me from behind.
"I can't do it anymore, honey." She says. I turn around and take her hands in mine.
"What happened, mom?" I ask. I take her out of the room so that we don't have this discussion in front of dad.
"I'm losing hope. The doctors aren't giving me any positive responses, Rose. His health keeps getting worse." She says lowly, once we were out of the room.
"Mom......" I say as I take her into a hug. I can feel the back of my eyes stinging, but I take a deep breath in so that my mom does not see me cry.
"It's going to be okay, he'll be fine." I say, pulling away.
"Look into my eyes and say that Rose." She whispers. As soon as I look into her eyes, I feel my own eyes watering.
"We have to be strong, mom. Do you know how hurt daddy is going to be when he comes to know that you've cried so much? We wouldn't want daddy to know that now, do we?" I ask as I rub her arms up and down to calm her.
"I just want to say, that I don't think I'll have it in me to live any longer if he....."
"Mom! Stop saying that, please! He is going to be fine. I need you to be strong. I can stay the night over if you want." I say.
"No Rose. You should be at home, you can't leave Jackson alone."
"It doesn't matter, he comes really late anyway." I mumble.
"Why? What does he do for so long?" She asks, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
"Chloe got him a job at her brother's woodworking place."
"Ohh that's great, at least he can be financially stable." She says, being genuinely happy for him.
"I should get going, mom," I say softly.
****
"Jess, I really can't! My father is ill, how do you expect me to leave him and come back to work?" I yell through the phone.
"I don't know, Rose. I'm not the one who is saying this. It's the school authorities. They said that they cannot give you anymore leaves."
"Ughh I know that! I got their stupid email this morning. How can they be so inconsiderate?" I sigh exasperatedly.
"It's the school policies, Rose. They will have to fire you if you don't show up soon."
"I don't give a damn, Jess! My father is fighting for his life over there! I cannot just leave him like that." I say, my voice wavering towards the end.
"But Rose-"
"I DON'T CARE! If they are going to fire me, so be it. I don't even know if my father is going to make it. I cannot stress over my job at this point, Jess." I say pacing back and forth in the living room.
"I understand Rose. I tried my best to cut you a slack but.......I'm sorry." She says.
"It's fine. I should get going now. Thank you." I say before hanging up. I pull the chair from under the dining table and sit on it. Unable to handle the stress, I place my head on the table and bang my forehead slightly against it.
"Having a rough day?" A heavy voice interjects my deplorable gesture. I promptly turn around while remaining seated, to see Jackson leaning against the front door.
"Kind of," I say with a chuckle. I turn back, folding my arms and placing them on the table. He comes and takes a seat next to me.
"I heard the conversation you just had with your friend." He says lowly. I simply nod my head, looking at my entwined hands.
"I'm sorry I didn't make any dinner, yet. I was-"
"Don't be silly Rose." He interrupts me.
"Why don't we go out for dinner?" He asks. I look at him from sideways, narrowing my eyes.
"I don't-"
"You are coming with me and that's final." He says whilst getting up, and dragging me along with him.
"I'll drive." He says grabbing the keys from my hands.
"Wha- excuse me sir, but this is my car." I say whilst folding my arms.
"Sure hon, but I'll be driving it today."
"Do you wanna talk about it?" He asks as he sits beside me in the booth. We stopped by a pizzeria which is around 15 minutes away from my place.
"I don't know from where do I start, Jackson. Dad's health isn't getting any better, mom is slowly losing hope, there is a high chance that I can get fired and-"
"Hey hey it's okay, calm down." He says, chuckling at my ramble. I run my hands down my face and take a deep breath in. He wraps his arms around my shoulder and pulls me closer. I look at him dumbfounded. This is the most intimate we've been since Jackson had returned from the military.
"It's going to be okay." He whispers. I give him a sad smile and rest my head on his shoulders. He gently strokes my hair and kisses my temple. Suddenly, I feel invigorated. I was assured that if I had his shoulder to lean on, I could face any problem that comes across my way.
Only if he was willing to lend me his shoulder forever.
Like old times.