The White Rosebush

Chapter 5: My Solution

Chapter 5: My Solution

Andreas and I were sitting in his bedroom while we should have been in school, but I convinced him to bunk with me. I needed some time completely alone with him. Ever since Jennifer had ratted me out, Mum hadn't left me alone. And Jenna followed me around at school, looking for a chance to tattle on me for having any contact with my boyfriend, so I was forced to resort to these drastic measures. I had expected Andreas to take it extremely hard when I told him my mum forbade me from seeing him, but, surprisingly, though he was upset, he seemed to have been expecting it. He had just sighed and told me that it would never work if my parents were so hell-bent on us being apart, and that his family was strongly considering moving to a less prejudiced area. I knew it would be very hard for them to find a home in England that wasn't anti-German right now. He seemed to have read my mind and grimaced, saying that they were leaving England completely. I didn't want to hear any shit like that, however. I had a new solution to help us stay together. I just needed to talk to him about it, but he wasn't being very cooperative. Andreas looked at me hard, scrutinizing my face and trying to make sense of that I was saying to him.

"You want to run away?" he repeated for the seventh time. "Now? Amy, this isn't exactly the most ideal time. I mean, your father just left for war. What will your mother think?"

"My mother doesn't care about me," I said quietly.

"Stop that. Of course she does."

"If she did, she would put her prejudice aside and do what makes me happy."

"What of your poor sister? What will she do without her twin?"

"Don't even talk to me about my sister!" I spat. "She's as good as dead to me."

"That's a terrible thing to say, love."

"It's true. I'm tired of that little ass. She's a complete pisstake."

"Well, I'm sorry Amy," Andreas said, shaking his head, "but I think you've lost your mind. You can't just run away by yourself." I blinked.

"By myself? Are you that daft?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not going by myself." He chuckled softly.

"Who's going with you then?" I just stared at him. "Me?" he squealed, suddenly realizing what I meant, that I wanted to run off together with him. "I can't Amy! That's ludicrous to even think."

"I just think it's romantic." I smile alluringly and moved a bit closer to him

"It's insane, is what it is!" he yelled, exasperated. I often had ideas that the thought were out-there; ideas that he strong disagreed with. I could tell he questioned my sanity at times. Now I knew that, in order to get him to come with me, I would have to play a little dirty. I lowered my voice to a pitifully soft, meek volume and murmured,

"Don't you want me anymore?" I knew it was low and I felt a bit guilty and selfish, but this entire situation was ripping me apart; if he wouldn't come with me, I would be beyond miserable. Perhaps I was selfish, but I decided that I would feel guilty about it later. He moaned in a fashion that suggested I had really hit a nerve.

"Amy... please don't guilt me."

"I'm not. Maybe if you feel guilty, it's because you oughtta."

"Amy..." he growled.

"What?" I asked as innocently as I could. He closed his eyes and placed his index fingers on both of his temples in a way that showed his annoyance quite blatantly. I was silent, preferring to wait and see what he said. He looked at me, visibly upset.

"Why do you do this to me?"

"Because I love you," I answered gently. He frowned slightly.

"This must be what they call 'tough love' then."

"Perhaps." Neither of us said anything for a few minutes. Andreas seemed to be thinking hard about my proposal.

"Where would you go?" he finally asked.

"I wouldn't care as long as we were together." He groaned and finally replied,

 "Well I can't just let you go by yourself... No offense, pet, but you wouldn't last five minutes on your own." I smiled; he was probably right.

"Will you go with me?" He looked pained, but he nodded his head and replied,

"Yes. It goes against my better judgment, but yes. I will accompany you wherever your crazy little rebel mind takes you

"I'm not crazy," I grumbled. He laughed.

"That's debatable." I glared at him. "When did you want to go?" he asked, running his fingers through my hair.

"As soon as possible," I responded immediately.

"Then I'll see you tonight." I stood up and gave him a hug as we walked out the door together.

*                                                      *                                                                    *

One of my first decisions is that I would just disappear. I wasn't going to leave behind any message bidding my family farewell; my mum was going to be very upset with me and probably track us down, so I decided that a clean cut would be best. Since Andreas's family was quite wealthy, I knew I wouldn't need much. Just makes things easier, I thought to myself as I threw some of my clothes into a bag. I looked around my bedroom for anything irreplaceable I might need. So far, my cargo included pictures and an old locket I got from my grandma, an old stuffed Dalmatian toy I've had since infancy (you could tell it was 17 years old; it was faded, missing a nose, its tail was torn.; it overall bore the look of something aged), and as much of my clothes as I could fit into a bag that was comfortable to carry. I paused as my eyes swept over a picture of me taken a few summers back. Jennifer and I were sitting on the old bench in front of the rosebushes. I could feel my heart give a jerk as I looked at the white one; my little midget shrub.

            That would be my big loss. Nothing would ever replace that bush, but I knew I couldn't stay here and it couldn't come with me. As hurtful as it was, I would have to leave the rosebush here. I decided to go out to the garden as a final farewell after a few minutes of depressed moping. Ironically, I remembered that my family wouldn't be getting any. I gently laid the picture in my bag and made my way out to the garden. I sat down next to the bush and was overcome with emotion.

"I'm leaving," I said more to myself than the bush. It shook slightly, as if in protest of my words. That was the one thing that truly fascinated me about this one plant: how it seemed to respond to my words, as if it could hear me and think. I could feel my eyes sting with the prickle of premature tears. A sudden gust of wind blew one of the flowers off the stem and landed in my lap. I picked it up and held it close to my face, caressing this last part of my bush I would ever hold. As I opened my eyes, I noticed something odd about the flower: it had a big red bean-shaped mass in the center. I recognized it instantly. It was a rose hip, the membrane sack that rose seeds are stored in until germination. I carefully pulled it out of flower and cradled it, staring intently at the bush. It was almost as if it had given me these seeds as a way to say goodbye; as if it was telling me to takes its children with me so I would have a part of the bush wherever I went.

"Goodbye old friend," I said regretfully, wishing that I could just uproot the entire plant and shove it in my bag along with the picture.