“Rosalie, sweetheart, wake up!” Her mother called from the kitchen. “I'm already up!” Rosalie yelled back from her room. She took one last look in the mirror, applying lipgloss and messing around with her hair.
She flung her school bag on her shoulder, twisting her doorknob and rushing to get her car keys. “Aren't you eating breakfast, my love?” Her mother asked.
“Sorry, mom! Bailey and Alyssa are waiting for me. I'm driving today.”
“Just put it in the fridge, I promise I'll have it later. Love you, mom!” She grinned, stepping out the house. “Okay, sweetie. Love you too, have a good day!” Ms. Bennet smiled at her daughter. “I will! Have fun at work!”
Rosalie unlocked her car, firing up the engine. She picked up Bailey and drove to the Nielsen house. The girl blasted her playlist — consisting of Laufey, SZA, Lyn Lapid, Bruno Mars and Thuy.
They arrived minutes later, having enough time to stop by inside to say hello to the other Nielsen's. The girl parked then approached the door, doing her signature knock.
Long, long, short, short, long.
The family recognized it immediately. “Come in!” Rosalie heard Ms. Nielsen say from inside. “Hi!” She beamed as she entered the house. The girl was greeted by the Nielsen's.
“How are you so giddy at 7:30 in the morning?” Alyssa deadpanned.
“Because it's the first day of school!” Rosalie grinned, taking a few steps closer. She hugged Alyssa's mom — her being the closest in distance.
Bailey greeted them verbally and walked around the counter, ruffling Benj's hair and taking a piece of toast off his plate. She settled beside Alyssa.
“Morning, Benj!” Rosalie fixed the hair that Bailey had messed up and hugged the younger boy — who was still sitting down, eating his breakfast.
He smiled automatically, reciprocating his embrace. “Morning, Rosie.”
“Excited for high school?” She released him from the hug but kept an arm around his shoulder. He chuckled slightly at the positivity radiating off of her. “Yeah, I guess.”
“But I still don't understand why I can't just drive to school with you guys.” He brought up. “We have first period free.” Bailey answered. Rosalie noticed Benj's body language since they walked through the door — fidgety, once again. It appears his crush on Bailey still remained.
Or so she thought.
“Yeah, and your whole vibe like sucks.” Alyssa added, uninterested as she scrolled on her phone.
“Alyssa.” Rosalie said in a polite yet warning tone. “Sorry.” The older sibling mumbled in defeat — Rosalie had been catching her slip ups of attitude lately.
Benj glanced up at the girl who still stood beside him, offering a grateful smile and mouthing a thank you.
Ms. Nielsen also noticed this, smiling to herself momentarily. “Don't listen to your sister, Benj. You and your carpool will have a great time. Is he picking you up after musical theatre today?”
“Um, I'm not doing that anymore. It's lame.” The boy shifted in his seat, briefly glancing at Rosalie to see her reaction. “What?!” Both Rosalie and his mother exclaimed in unison.
“Lame? You're so talented! You can't give that up!” His mother spoke louder than necessary, making him hide his face in Rose's shoulder out of embarrassment.
She started ranting about when he used to perform for them. “I was like ten, that was a million years ago.” He mumbled, still in the girl's shoulder. Rosalie pulled his face up by the chin. “Oh, come on, Benji. You're really not doing musical theatre anymore?” She asked disappointedly.
Rosalie was originally not associated with the musical world until Benj himself introduced her to it.
That was the sole reason she joined musical theatre in her freshman year.
“I was gonna join with you.” She pouted gently. The boy looked into her eyes, his whole face dropping at the sight of her pout. “No- no. I will if you want to. I guess it's not so bad if I'm with you.” His smile came back.
His mom immediately cheered. “Perfect!”
“Wait, who is your carpool?” Rose asked, her mind flowing back to their previous topic. “I don't know, some senior that the school assigned to me. Adam Reubens or something?” He trailed off. The three girls locked eyes with the sound of the name.
The two laughed while Rosalie looked more concerned. “What, is he like cool or something?” He asked excitedly to the two laughing girls. “Ruby? No. He's like the worst person in the entire school.”
His mom stayed positive nonetheless, convincing him that they'd be friends.
“Come on, guys. Let's go.” Alyssa initiated, catching a glimpse of the time on her phone. The two girls nodded, following behind her.
“If today's ride goes badly, let me know. I'll start driving you, okay sweetie? Bailey can drive Alyssa anyways.” Rosalie offered, having a bad feeling about it.
She was still nice to the senior boy but she knew what he was known for, she didn't want to risk him influencing Benj.
The nickname sweetie made him freeze. She would call him pet names like that ever since they were little. She inherited that habit from from her mom. He was so used to it.
So why did it make him feel so different now?
His memories then wandered to a couple weeks back, recalling something that happened with Rosalie during the summer.
He forced a small smile in response to her.
“I'll see you at school, Benji. Be safe, okay? If anything sketchy happens, you tell me.” The Bennet girl demanded. “I will.”
“Promise?” She held her picky finger out.
Benj's cheeks blushed pink at the cute gesture — pinky promises were something they took very seriously. An inside joke from their childhood. “I promise.” Their fingers interlocked.
The promise was now sealed.
She said her goodbyes to Ms. Nielson, taking a piece of bread and bacon from Benj's plate. The two girls already in the car waiting for her.
