Where Do Broken Hearts Go?

Chapter Thirty Six

Rose's POV

"Aurora Lindsey please report to the main office. Aurora Lindsey please report to the main office." The voice was barely audible over the intercom. Rose walked down the nearly empty hallways towards the office. Her fingers were shaking and her palms were sweaty. She took deep breaths as she walked into the office.

A police officer stood there speaking with the secretary. The woman had tears in her eyes and was using a tissue to wipe her nose. When she noticed Rose's presence, she sent a signal toward the police officer.

Rose knew what a police officer meant. She had already experienced it twice and wasn't sure if she could handle it again. Rose prepared herself for the worst when the kind man took a few steps closer to her.

He offered a small smile and said, "Are you Aurora Lindsey?" Rose only nodded. "I think you'd better sit down for this." He motioned for her to sit in the chair but she stood her ground.

"You might as well just get on with it," Rose said with a shaky voice.

The officer looked taken back as tears glistened his eyes. It almost looked like he understood her rough past and didn't want to ruin it further. But he had to. "Alright, dear. You see, your grandpa had a heart attack while driving this morning. It caused a crash and both of your grandparents were killed in the accident."

Rose fell to the floor and tried to process what the officer had just told her. She was expecting a death, yes, but she wasn't expecting two. Tears rolled down Rose's cheeks and she furiously wiped them away. She had to move again. She was running out of family to take care of her.

Rose looked up at the officer and then toward the direction of the secretary. Rose felt even more angry when she realized the principal, the two secretaries, a few students and a few teachers were watching her. Several had tears in their eyes and others wore saddened expressions. With another furious wipe across her cheeks, Rose stood up and focused solely on the officer.

"Where am I supposed to go now?" she asked him softly.

Rose sat straight up in her bed and rubbed her eyes. Her head was throbbing and her cheeks were moist with tears. The memory had left her body shivering despite the fairly warm May morning.

Rose pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her head on top of them. She let out a sigh as she recalled the memory. It was a Tuesday morning in September and Rose was already having a bad morning. She had been knocked down in the hall and given an F on her math test. Things only got worse. Rose remembered having to go to the police station and wait there until her Uncle Mark picked up. He agreed to take her but couldn't make it into town for another three days.

She spent the three days with the officer, Officer Brady, who broke the news to her. It was uncomfortable and she remembered almost crying when her uncle had shown up.

Rose stood up from her bed and went into the bathroom. She splashed cool water on her face and stared in the mirror. She looked exhausted. There were bags under her eyes and her cheeks were slightly puffy. Her eyes were almost bloodshot and her hair was in a tangled mess.

Since Rose didn't have school or work, she decided to treat herself to a long shower. When she was finished washing her hair three times, she stepped out and worked on making herself beautiful. She blow dried her hair and proceeded to curl it. She put makeup on to hide the bags under her eyes and blush to hide the puffiness of her cheeks. When an hour had passed and she was finally happy with herself, Rose smiled.

She walked downstairs, grabbed her keys, and went to do her shopping for the day.

Andrew's POV