The Blood Red Rose

Chapter 7 : Words sharper than knives

Chelsea's alarm went off. She groaned as she grabbed her phone and turned it off. Chelsea thought that setting the ringtone to her favorite song would make every morning better, but it didn't. It was Wednesday and it was cold. Chelsea stayed under her blanket for about 10 minutes before she finally got up and grabbed her clothes. Before leaving the room, she glanced over at her rose. The rose Hunter had given her. Already the vase was half empty. Sheesh, thought Chelsea.

Chelsea skittered out of her room over to the bathroom. After leaving her clothes in the bathroom, Chelsea went over to the kitchen and grabbed a frying pan. Chelsea tiptoed her way back into her bathroom while holding the pan next to her head. She slowly opened the door and looked around. It was almost no surprise to see Hunter there. What was surprising was to see him looking at her underwear. Chelsea felt her face heat up with rage and embarrassment.

Hunter looked up from Chelsea's underwear and blushed. He let her underwear fall to the ground as he raised his hands. "I didn't do anything, Miss Emma," said Hunter. He had a grin on his face. That grin was replaced with a frown after Chelsea hit him in the head with the pan. "What the HELL?" he exclaimed as he held his head.

Chelsea merely smiled at him as she placed her free hand on her hip. "You don't just come into the bathroom like that, especially when a girl is in. If someone is inside, you have to knock on the door. But before that, you have to have permission to even be in the house," explained Chelsea. She put down the toilet lid and carefully placed the frying pan on top of it.

"So? You didn't have to hit me on the head!" Hunter rubbed his head and continued to groan in pain, now sitting with his legs crisscrossed.

"You didn't have to come into my bathroom," replied Chelsea. Hunter went silent and pouted with his arms crossed over his chest. He began to rock back and forth.

"Touché, touché . . . , " Hunter grumbled.

"All right, now get out. Or will I have to hit your head again?" said Chelsea as she reached for the handle of the pan.

"No, no! I'm leaving, I'm leaving!" Hunter shouted as he crawled out the window. Once out, he looked back into the bathroom. "Miss Emma, need I remind you that today is Wednesday?"

Chelsea smacked his forehead, making him fall to the ground. She could hear him give a small grunt. "No, I know the days of the week. Now leave!" Chelsea said as she closed the window. She ran her hands through her hair and sighed. She just had to lock her window every night now. Hunter was out of control.

After her daily routine, Chelsea grabbed her bag and raced out the door. She wanted to avoid Cynthia. On her way out, Chelsea looked inside her mailbox. Another package was there! Instead of reaching for it, Chelsea waited.

"How polite of you to wait!" Hunter said. He smiled as he pulled out the package. "Thank you for waiting, Miss Emma." He tried to pat and perhaps ruffle Chelsea's hair, but she smacked his hand. "How rude of you," Hunter said as he walked towards their school.

Chelsea hadn't noticed Hunter's backpack until she walked behind him. "Hey Hunter, why do you have a backpack?" she asked as she tried to snatch her package away from Hunter. There was almost no point in doing so. He was too tall.

"What? This old backpack?" asked Hunter as he raised his shoulder to show her his backpack. It was a forest green Filson Rucksack with very few and small holes along with a few scratches on two pockets. "This, my dear Chelsea," Hunter said while putting the package in his backpack,"is my 'new' backpack. I should've told you yesterday, but decided to tell you today instead. I'm officially going to your school, Lydian High. Stupid name, if you ask me. They should really change it." Hunter pulled the hem of his shirt and smiled at Chelsea. "I even got the uniform."