Acquiescence (A JohnDave Story)

Wondering Roses

Your name is ROSE LALONDE. You are FIFTEEN years old and have been in HIGH SCHOOL for THREE MONTHS. You sometimes pretend to be a THERAPIST, especially with your twin brother, DAVE, who always seems to have some kind of PROBLEM. You also ship him and his BEST FRIEND JOHN together. It's become kind of a problem.

Ever since the skinny kid with black hair and buck teeth walked up to you and your little (by FOUR minutes, Rose!) brother, he has been obsessing over John. And now you have been drawn into it as well. You keep encouraging Dave to tell his best bro about his love for him - and Dave promises to the next time he sees him - but he never stays true to his word. This annoys you, sometimes, the way he promises he'll do it - but then ducking out of it. You've faced the facts: your egotistical brother isn't going to tell John anything.

And you're about to give up on it. It's been two months since Dave told you his feelings for John, and you've grown tired attempting to pep talk your brother into asking his crush out.

A tiny, sudden 'ping' emits from your laptop. The sound echoes throughout your room. You pick up the computer and slide it onto your lap. The Pesterchum icon flashes a bit.

You open it up, seeing that your best friend Jade is trying to contact you.

Your eyes scan the fourth sentence Jade has typed. And you nearly fall off your bed.

hi, rose! so i was just pestering john a few minutes ago, and uh, he gave me some... pretty interesting information concerning him and dave! he said he had a really huge crush on him! and he also sounded kind of panicked, actually, like this was really surprising to him. anyway, you're probably busy so i'll leave you alone, but i just thought i'd let you know, bye!!

You stare at your screen for a few minutes. All of Dave's worrying had been pointless. John liked him back! You wonder if you should tell this to him. You decide that you will later, and instead begin to reply to Jade.

Jade.

You've always liked Jade, a lot - but you've seen it as more of just a crush, just a random feeling of a strong emotion that was there for no reason. You've never told her and don't plan to, ever. You tell yourself this feeling will go away, eventually.

So you begin to dream up a reply to her news - unfortunately, you have no idea how to respond, so you close your laptop and pick up a half-empty notebook.

This is your journal, a book that you frequently neglect and forget to write in. Today is a day you deem worthy to put in the journal.

So you write.

You write about John and Dave and how you just wish all of this could be over with and that they'd get together. You write about your wishes for your brother to finally be happy because he has a boyfriend. You write about the pair for a while - and then you begin to write about Jade.

You list all the things you love about her - her hair, her eyes, all the different aspects of Jade's beautiful personality. You remember and record all of your favorite memories of yourself and your friend.

Sighing, you discard the notebook, setting it under your bed for future. You've become just like your brother. You wonder if he keeps a journal like yours, and if he writes about John in it.

You wonder if Jade has her own journal. Who does she write about? Does she write about you? Dave? John? What does she think of you?

You wonder if she's ever viewed you as more than her best friend.

You wonder about a lot of things, and sometimes your imagination goes too far. Suddenly drowsy, you lay your head atop a soft white pillow - and drift into your very own world.

Suddenly, you are thrown from dreams back into reality, and you gaze out the window. Bright sparkling stars and a slivery moon squint at you from the other side of the glass. How long have you been asleep? Opening your laptop, you discover that it's almost two o' clock in the morning. With a sigh, you shut the computer again, and push it under your bed to take refuge with the notebook. You lay down again - this time finding it hard to sleep. Again, you allow yourself to wonder - is Dave asleep? If he isn't, what is he thinking about? He has to be thinking about something. Was it John? That must be it, you think. After all, your own mind is always cloudy, always filled with the hazy, lingering thoughts of Jade. You and Dave really aren't so different, you think, as your eyelids shut ever so slowly. As you drift off into another world of fantasy and enchantment, your last conscious thought was that both of you had romance-related dreams that would never come true.