OVERLOOKED ㅤkotlc

036. You're It

"Rosaleen!"

She turns. "Oh—hi!"

I run, catching up with her, Glimmer, and Jaelynn.

"Hey, Dex," Glimmer says.

Jaelynn offers a salute and I salute back, before waving at Glimmer. "Hi!"

They laugh, and Rosaleen sends them a look.

"Someone seems excited," Glimmer teases.

Jaelynn nudges her girlfriend. "Come on, leave them alone, Glim."

Glimmer just laughs, grabbing Jaelynn's hand and pulling her along. "We'll leave you to it, then!"

Jaelynn says something and Glimmer laughs, replying with a devilish smile. Her face turns pink, but she leans over to peck her lips, and Glimmer slows their pace.

I hide a smile, glancing at Rosaleen. "It's been a long time, yeah?"

"Well," she says, with a teasing smile, "we talked a couple of hours ago."

I laugh. "No, I mean—well, I guess—" I shake my head. "I mean, you haven't eaten dinner here in a while."

"Oh." She tilts her head. "I guess. Jae and Glimmer still brought me food, though."

Thank God her roommates are good.

She laughs. "You're excited, though, aren't you?"

I feel my face warm. "I mean..." I laugh. "Yeah, sorry." I'm just happy things might be back to normal between us.

Rosaleen smiles. "I'm excited too," she says, nudging me. "Ruy, Melia, and Alvar seem nice."

"They are! I think you'll like it." I hesitate. "But um,  if anything brings up bad memories or feelings—because I don't really know... I don't know. But if you don't wanna talk to them or anything, then you don't have to, um—yeah."

She glances at me. "I'm okay, Dex. I'll tell you when I'm not, so don't worry about me, okay?"

I pause. "You promise?"

"I promise."

"Okay." I smile at her. "I trust you."

She laughs. "I'm glad."

With that, Rosaleen listens to me ramble about the last two weeks, and I listen to her talk about her third-wheeling experiences.

It feels so familiar, but also new.

Either way, it's perfect, and I've missed it.

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"You up for a walk?" Ruy says.

I'm waiting for Rosaleen to put her plate in the dish-stack. I glance towards the line (she's still last), then back at Ruy. "Um... maybe another time?"

He laughs. "No worries," he says, following my gaze. "Is she feeling better now?"

I smile. "I think so."

"That's good." A pause. "How about you? How are you doing?"

Me?

"Um, I'm okay!" It isn't me who found out my sister's actually pretty alive, but... I dunno. It's nice to be asked that.

"I'm glad." He glances at the doorway, where Melia waits. "I think I'm gonna go now, but have fun, okay?"

"Oh—yeah, okay." I pause. "Um, thank you."

Ruy just grins at me and waves, heading to Melia.

I wait for Rosaleen, awkwardly standing in the middle of the dining room. Elves start leaving, until it's just me in the center of an empty room.