Behind the Scenes

Chapter 9

Ryan

Caleb and I walk into Mugshot on Sunday morning at the bidding of Matthew Avery. He's apparently called a meeting because he's worried about Rosa. I mean, we're all worried about Rosa. But Matt's apparently really bent out of shape.

"We need to come up with a way to get her out of the house." He says. "I feel like this is my fault. I'm the one who encouraged her to go after the guy."

"Excellent judge of character, man." Victor says  with an eye roll.

"That's my point, Victor. I feel terrible. Rosa's not Rosa now. I want Rosa back." Matt runs his hand through his hair.

"Okay. Well... we have tomorrow off school. We could kidnap her and take her somewhere for the day." Victor says.

"She will punch you. Straight up." Caleb says flatly. I laugh because he's right. "We could invite her somewhere, though."

"She's always liked to be outdoors. We could go to the lake for the day. Pack a picnic lunch?" Victor tries again. It's not a terrible idea, if you don't know where Gavin lives.

"Not the lake." Caleb and I say it at the same time.

"Gavin lives out there." I say.

"What about hiking?" Matt asks.

"Hiking would actually be really good." Caleb nods. If Rosa comes alive in the florist fridge at the grocery store, I can't imagine what she would be like in the middle of the forest.

"So you'll convince her to come?" Matt's excited, leaning forward, bouncing a little as he speaks.

"Not likely. I couldn't even get her to come out with us for tacos." Caleb answers. Then he looks at me, and Victor looks at me, and finally Matt looks from Victor to Caleb to me.

"Why Sellers?" He asks.

"Because Sellers convinced her to do at least something this week." Victor says.

"I offered to drive her home." I say, "That's not really convincing her to do anything."

"And what did you do after the driving her home part?" Caleb asks. I mean, he knows what we did, but he's driving home a point. "She's at least talking to you. She's not talking to the rest of us." There's a hint of hurt in his voice.

"Okay." I shrug. "I'll go over and ask her tonight. I wanted to check on her anyway. I'll try."

_________

Rosa

Kate and Sarah stand on my porch. Kate's holding a paper shopping bag out to me. It's bright pink with a gold logo embossed on it.

"We're taking you out." Sarah says.

"And you're wearing this." Kate shoves the bag further in my direction. I take it and turn around.

"Come on in." I say, leaving them on the porch.

They're both dressed up. Kate's in a cloudy gray maxi dress with a lace overlay. Sarah's in a black dress— high collar, full skirt, tea length with three-quarter sleeves. I peek inside the bag and see dark red fabric.

"We're worried about you, Rosa." Sarah says. "I meant it when I told you that you're not invisible. People see how much you're hurting. Hiding away forever isn't going to help."

I look at both of them. I can't argue with them. I can't write off their intentions as being dishonest. So. I only have one choice, and I know it's the right one.