Welcome Home, Rose

Two

*Flashback*

He was invisible.

Not in the literal sense, he could blend into the crowd easily and that suited him just fine. In Bennington Parque your surname dictated how things went not only by your peers but also teachers. He kept his head down avoiding trouble, last thing he wanted was a call in to his parents. He flinched at the thought walking down the halls to his first hour class Advanced Composition, a fancy name for Senior English. He walked in taken aback by the circular formation of the desks.

So much for hiding in the back. He took a seat closest to the door. He was not the only one to adopt this mentality. Sliding in just as the bell rang was the Heather Turner. She smiled apologetically, taking one of the free seats next to him. She looked flustered her dark brown hair thrown into a messy ponytail at the base of her neck. Her greenish blue eyes looked tired she propped her chin up with her hand fighting exhaustion.

"Good morning, everyone. Miss Turner I hope you arriving in the nick of time does not become a habit." Ms. Daisey's stern gaze locked on to her.

"No ma'am just ran late." She answered. The door opened again Daisey's stern gaze was redirected, Heather leaned back in her chair relief washed over her face.

"Mr. Lexington, right on time." She sighed heavily.

"Always a pleasure Ms. Daisey." Val Lexington took his place next to Heather. Val, Clay, Damien, and Soren were never far from one another. Soren gave him a look whispering to Val harshly about being late. Val rolled his eyes, earning a glare this time from Heather, he immediately backed down. He found himself chuckling freezing when Ms. Daisey trained her hawklike gaze on him.

"Something funny Mr. Fender? Care to share with the rest of the class?"

"No ma'am, just chuckling at a joke my brother told me. As funny as it is I don't think it is classroom appropriate." He gave her the same smile he gave his mother Giselle. A smile that would have never worked on his biological mother. Ms. Daisey shook her head maneuvering to her desk. She grabbed a stack of papers and began to hand them out.

He watched Heather immediately begin to read. Val whispered something into her ear flinching shortly after she had kicked him underneath the desk.

"I will divide you into pairs. You will read The Tell-Tale Heart and answer the questions at the back of your packet. The first pair to complete their questions will be excused from the quiz tomorrow. First pair Heather Turner and Adam Fender." He bit back the urge to retort, his name was AJ. Adam was what his mother called him before the abuse became too much.

"It's AJ." Heather corrected, not looking up from her packet. Ms. Daisey gave him an apologetic glance as she continued her division of the class. Heather scooted her desk closer pulling a pencil out of her bag.

"Why were you almost late today?" He asked, it was a harmless question he thought. She glanced up her eyes looked bluer today, could it be the lighting?

"Ty got into it with the old man today." Her response caused tears to brim in the corner of her eyes.

"What happened?" He felt comfortable asking, his friends and Heathers were siblings. His were enrolled in the private school in Mercury Heights about twenty minutes away from their small-town community.

"Dad is helping with a case in Mercury, he's going to be missing the back-to-school dinner." She set the packet down, taking her hair out of the ponytail she began running her hands through it. She began swearing her class ring stuck in her hair. He reached over steadying her hand working the tangles out, her hair was soft smelling like a mixture of strawberries and vanilla. He pulled away when he freed her hand seeing a slight pink flush in her cheeks.