echo // hemmings [completed]

six | tough

—August 30th—

"Oh, an interview in New Zealand. Nice," Rowan muttered to her phone. Her short, bleached hair flew around her face as she made her way through the chilly Sydney streets.

"It's a short trip. I know it's very late notice, but I'm afraid we have to cancel our meeting," her mother replied. The girl sighed. It was difficult having a mother like Margaret Blaine, constantly at interviews and appointments. Rowan and she had scheduled to meet up while she was in the country, but a call from the New Zealand Journal of Psychology was going to get in the way of that.

"We can try another time," Dr. Blaine told her daughter. Rowan could just imagine the nonchalant look on her mother's face as she had said the same phrase so many times before. "Next weekend?"

"Yeah, sounds great" Rowan scoffed. "Coffee? Like we originally planned?" She waited for her mother to reply, but after a moment all she heard was a short click.

She hated this habit of her mom's, always cutting off conversations when she felt like it. "Rowan's mom" couldn't talk for ten minutes, yet "Dr. Blaine" had the will to talk for hours to a stranger. She understood it was part of the job description, but it often left her a little regretful after every phone call.

The girl clicked her tongue as she stuffed her phone into her jean pocket. Her scarf was wrapped tightly around her neck, but she could still feel the chilly breeze tickling the hairs on the back of her neck. She shuffled over to a familiar olive green building, taking off her gloves before twisting the silver handle.

As soon as she walked in, the building seemed to come to life around her with the heater buzzing and the warm glow of the lights shining the way to the elevator. Rowan greeted the security guard leaning against the left wall and made her way to the intercom. It felt like muscle memory as the girl quickly typed in the numbers.

"Hello?" A husky voice called over the speaker.

"Hey Drew, it's Rowan." She smiled at the sound of her friend's voice.

"Aw hey Rows, come on up. My roommate's here, you haven't met him have you? His name is Michael and he happens to be a wiz at that new game I bought an-"

"Just shut up and let me up please," Rowan interjected with a laugh. Drew had been like that since the third grade, constantly chatting even when others were waiting. It wasn't a bad thing necessarily, Rowan actually loved it; hearing him go on tangents starting about how his day was and ending with a fun fact about the heartbeat of kiwi birds.

"Whatever Rows, I'm going to tell you the story when you get here anyway," Drew said in a sing-song tone. Rowan's heart was practically leaping out of her chest when he finally stopped talking. She's had the biggest crush on him since they met eleven years ago, but who could blame her? Drew Kerrington was charming, ethical, spontaneously romantic, friendly, and most of all, her best friend. The problem was, with all his gentleman like features, he was also constantly taken. Sometimes by the girl at the local Starbucks, sometimes by a girl in his economics class, but Rowan planned that one day he would be taken by her.

And today was the day she hoped she could at least hint at a relationship greater than friendship. He was single for the first time in years, did this make him a bit of a player? Yes, but Rowan knew that even a chance to know him, see him, and feel his presence meant everything.

Her small fist knocked on the door, her feet bouncing from anticipation. She heard chatter from inside the apartment before the handle began to shake. As the door opened, she was met by a boy about the same height as Drew and a lot taller than her. His hair was a minty color which reminded her of her favorite bear she had in her bedroom. His face appeared weary as he stepped out of the way for Rowan to enter. 

"Michael, this is the girl that I mentioned, my long time childhood friend, Rowan Evergreen." Drew chuckled as he waved his hands towards the petite girl. She could only smile as Michael's eyes seemed to pierce her. "And Rowan meet my favorite roommate in the whole wide world, Michael Clifford!" Drew ran a hand through his hazelnut hair as he threw his arm around the green-haired boy. But Michael just ducked away and shuffled to his room, grumbling something about the amount of sleep he lacked.

"Don't mind him, he's the worst in the morning," Drew explained as he picked up the dishes from the kitchen table. "But he's a really funny guy, quite quirky as well." Drew flashed a toothy smile that Rowan could simply melt for. "And he's really tough," Drew said with a straight face. "Michael's a really tough guy." Rowan thought he was done talking, but she caught a phrase that she wasn't sure he meant for her to hear. "Especially with what happened recently."

"What happened?" Rowan asked hesitantly. The boy chewed on his lip, making split decisions in his head. 

"There was an accident, to say the least, but honestly it's not my story to tell. I'm surprised you don't already know, it was in the newspapers and on TV for a while," Drew told her. "But how're you Rows?" He flashed that grin again, avoiding the topic; but Rowan had known him for too long to just drop it.

"Was it bad? Like the accident? Is he okay?" She stammered. Drew breathed a sigh and looked at the socks on his feet.

"He wasn't in the accident, so don't worry about it," he said dismissively. He paced around the living room, his eyes searching for the television remote as his mind prayed Rowan would stop asking questions.

"But who was?" Drew snatched the television remote off the kitchen counter with a little more force than he intended, banging his knuckle on the marble. He sucked in a grunt of pain and simply looked at his friend.

"Rows, it's nothing really. And we shouldn't be talking about it, Michael's right in his room," he attempted to reassure her. But her eyes were relentless for the truth, and that was something Drew admired about Rowan. But he also knew that if he didn't get her to drop it, he would be in some hot water with his roommate. So he figured a name or two would be enough to appease Rowan and vague enough to protect Michael.

"There was just this guy named Calum and this girl named Riley involved, that's it okay?" Drew said. But in Rowan's head, the name Riley was oh so familiar from the blonde at her door a little while ago. And it was like the name was haunting her. Riley, the girl with the same voice as her.

-

a/n: trying to fix my premature writing in this reboot, thank you for your patience x