Rozes is Red

| to when he will never forget |

PAST

Orion called him Petal Boy the first time they met and Jasper with Soda Boy. That is how their friendship began. Franta enjoyed puns, Jasper enjoyed a friend that wouldn't question everything he did, and that is how their friendship escalated to a brotherhood.

It began with Orion sitting next to Jasper in Art their first day in freshman year, the latter boy fuming and biting into his apple ferociously. "Hey, Petal Boy, did your rose finally drop you or something?"

"What?" Jasper said, turning his head to Orion with narrowed eyes. "What are you talking about, Franta?"

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about," Orion scoffed, throwing a look to the blonde. "That redhead that you're always throwing words around with, going at each other like savages. Rose something. What did she do this time? Clip you off? Tell you to get a life without being attached to her?"

"Look, Soda Boy," hissed Jasper, forgetting about his apple, redirecting his anger to this loud mouthed kid that clearly had no idea what he was talking about, "mind your own business, okay? Don't blow a can or something."

"Cute," Orion chuckled, "Haven't heard that one before. 'Sides, it's my business when you're biting into an apple so aggressively that you spray apple juice onto me."

He'd put up his sleeves to show the darkened stains of juice trailing his arm, leaving Jasper to widen his eyes, full moons staring at his mess. "Crap. Wow. What the hell, I didn't even notice, man. Sorry."

Orion shrugged, putting his arm down. "S'ok. I can't say I like getting your spit on me — don't swing that way, dude — but if we're going to have this on a reoccurring basis, might as well tell me if I should get a new seating plan."

Jasper bit into his lip when Orion asked in an indirect way of 'what's wrong?'. "Well, it's nothing. But you know Rozes, right?"

"The girl who you're always lashing out with?"

"Shut up. I do not lash out."

"Do you hear the words that come out of your mouth and cringe? Because of how pathetic they sound as you lie? I mean, you sound like a boy going through puberty — you better hope it's hitting you still — but even that's upsetting."

"Do you want to hear why I'm mad or not?" snapped Jasper and slouched further in his seat. When Orion gave him an amused smile but remained quiet, Jasper continued. "Well, we were fighting about the new construction they're doing outside. You know the one in the fields?"

"Where the old garden is?" guessed Orion correctly.

Jasper nodded. "Yeah, well, she wants them not to continue with it because that's where the gardening club meets — they're such geeks, honestly — and we ended up arguing about it. Long story short, she's convincing them on not making it happen." Jasper growls, low and thundering. "She's so freaking infuriating!"

"That's it?" Jasper whipped his to glare at Orion, bewildered. "I mean, yeah, that sucks, but they're most likely going to have to do a compromise. One girl can't just stop a major production from happening without any solid reason. Stop freaking out, man."

"Whatever, you wouldn't understand," said Jasper.

"I heard you guys, you know," Orion said nonchalantly, internally grinned when Jasper accidentally slammed his leg on his desk. "I think everyone did."