Rose Tinted Glasses

6

Rose's POV

I finish straightening my hair in the bathroom mirror as Cash knocks on the door. I watch his head peep around the corner, looking straight at me. "Are you ready to go?" I switch off the straightener and pull it out of the wall before speaking. "I think I'm going to walk today" I give him a tight lipped smile before moving past him. He follows me all the way out to the kitchen. "You're going to school right?" I pick up an apple and fiddle with it in my hand. "Yea I'm going" I put the apple back before picking up my back pack. "I just think I need air" Nanna comes walking out of her room and I kiss her on the cheek. "See you tonight?" She looks me up and down before grabbing my backpack. "Hey!" She opens it revealing all my books and everything I need. 

"What about food?" I pull out my phone with my bank card in the phone case. "I have money on my card that I'll use" She retreats back to her room before coming back with a fifty dollar note. She grabbed my hand and forcefully put the note in my hand. "There's an extra fifty for you, now go before you're late" I roll my eyes and walk out the door with still Cash following me. "I still think you should catch a ride with me" "And I still think I need to walk" I stop abruptly which makes Cash bump into me. "I appreciate your concern but I am fine, I have to go to the grocery store to pick up stuff anyway, so do you want anything while I'm there?" He shakes his head, admitting defeat. "Alright, I will text you when I'm at school" I place my hand on his cheek lightly before turning and leaving him on the footpath. 

*

There was a convenience store that was just around the corner from the school which I went to often. I stepped inside without speaking or even looking at anyone in there. I went through all the shelves before finding the tube of medicine that I needed. I went straight to the fridge and got a big bottle of blue Gatorade and red Gatorade before making my way to the counter. "Hey how are you today" "Yea I'm alright" This nice older lady started scanning my stuff when I saw redskins on the shelf behind her. "Hey would you mind if I got 5 bags of redskins behind you?" "Yea sure darl" 

She smiles widely at me before packing five bags of redskins. She looked onto the computer while pushing my stuff towards me. "That'll be 45 dollars" I pulled out Nan's fifty and hand it to her. She gave me my change and we said our good day's before I shoved everything in my bag. I walked out of there with a white bag filled with redskins. She gave me a generous amount which I was grateful for. I started unwrapping one when a car pulled up beside me. The engine had stopped running so I just assumed they were entering the convenience store. That was until someone came running up beside me. 

"There's my sister" A cold shiver went up my spine as I figured out who it was. "You got a new car" I state as I take a bite out of my redskin. "Yea, I totaled the other one, I haven't heard from you" I nod as I chew my very sticky redskin, it must have melted in this heat. "Let me walk you to school, oh and where is Cash? I told him to drive you every day" I swallow some of the redskin while most of it stuck to my teeth. "I wanted to walk, I needed to go to the store to get some stuff because I forgot to pack lunch" He snatched my bag of redskins and shoves them in his pocket but not without picking one out. 

"And you think eating lollies is a good type of breakfast?" I nod, trying to make him go away politely. We walked silently for a moment as he ate my redskin beside me. Thankfully the school come up quicker than usual so I could escape. I started walking faster when he spoke up. "Did you leave because of what happened?" I mentally punched myself while turning towards him. We were close enough to the front gate for anyone to overhear us. "Chook I'm not doing this with you right in front of my school" I inspect my surroundings to see if anyone was staring. 

"I want a text from you at least once a day from now on, so I know you're not dead" "Oh don't be dramatic" I roll my eyes and he grabs my arm, wrapping his fingers around my wrist tightly. I try to pull away, but it would only create a scene, so I endure it. "I mean it Rose, it's bad enough you moved out but for you to cut communication with me is another thing" He glares down at me like I was his worst enemy. My eyes started tearing up at the pain I was enduring. "Please let me go" The more I tried tugging away, the more he had held on tighter. 

The bell had rung in the school and all the students that had been loitering near the gate were dispersing and walking to their classrooms. "Promise me" I looked away from him, avoiding all eye contact but he grabs my chin with his free hand. "Promise. Me." I continue to not say anything before he slaps me across the face. "Rose" Chook finally lets me go and I spin around to see Jojo standing there with a clipboard in hand. "Are you coming inside?" I plastered a smile on my face as I spoke to her. "Yes! Yes I am uh I was just saying goodbye actually" 

I turn back around to Chook before he wrapped me in a hug. "Remember what I said Rose" He whispers lightly in my ear. He unwraps his arms from around me and I quickly go through the gates. Jojo locks the gate behind me and out the corner of my eye I see Chook leave the premises which makes me sigh relievedly. I walk behind a building and feel myself taking a deep breath. "Rose" I jump up quickly not hearing Jojo approaching me. "It's just me" I nod my head repeatedly. "Oh I know I just didn't hear you come over" I hide my wrist behind my back while holding my bag in the other hand. 

"Is everything alright? I saw what happened back there and I just-" "No need to be concerned" She stops as I interrupt her. "Everything's fine, It was my fault I hadn't texted him and he was just worried" Jojo nods not really believing my story which was actually kind of true. "Okay well if you ever need anything, you know where I'll be" I smiled at her before making my escape.