The Maze of Nightmares

One: Rose

Rose

Rose sat on her bed reading a book. That was not uncommon for this red haired youth. A book in her lap, a dreamy look in her eyes, this girl was a dreamer. Her blue eyes scanned the page hungrily, eating up the literature. When she finished the last page and saw the cliffhanger, she closed the book and flopped back into her pillows.

"Why, why? Why did you do that?" She mentally asked the author. The familiar, warm feeling of finishing a good book filled her as she lay there, pondering the next book to come.

Unaware of the time passing, Rose lay and thought up multiple scenarios that she would write in the next one. Rose wished she had the courage to write a book. An unknown amount of time later, her mother burst into her room, startling Rose.

"Rose, honey, I called you for lunch three times already! We've been waiting for you," her mother said.

Her pale skin blushing, Rose said "Sorry, Mom, I was thinking..."

Her mother rolled her eyes. "Honey, if you spent less time dreaming and more time doing, you might have some friends to hang out with this summer."

I could never have friends... Rose pondered, No one would want to be friends with the nerdy girl. If they became my friend, they would just see how weird I am and leave me alone again. Mom, Dad, and Kyle could never understand...I never told them about Emma.

Kyle was her big brother. He was a Senior in high school and was the most popular kid around. Rose, on the other hand, got perfect grades but sat alone at recess and lunch reading. Once, she had had a friend named Emma when she first came to her school. Then, Emma stopped hanging out with her. She hadn't had a friend since.

Rose was going into ninth grade after the summer. Her last summer before she was thrust into the crazy world of High School. The way her brother talked, she wouldn't survive without being popular and that wasn't going to happen. Ever. Even if there were new kids, none of them would want to hang out with Rose.

Rose thought back to the day she realized that she no longer had a friend.

A nine-year-old Rose skips up to a girl with long, straight black hair who is talking to other popular-looking girls.

"Hey, Emma, wanna play?" Rose asks.

Emma ignores her.

"Emma?" Rose asks, uncertain this time.

Finally, Emma turns to Rose. "What, bookworm?" She asks, standoffish.

Rose looks hurt. "Never mind." She says in a small voice. Then she goes over to the edge of the recess yard and cries quietly behind her book. 'I bet that those bullies convinced her I'm weird. Now, no one will ever be my friend; I'm just too strange.'

Dismissing her memory, Rose carefully placed her book on the well-ordered shelves next to the other book in the series and followed her mother down to lunch. She would continue to hide from her family beneath her smile.

A/N: Part one is up! YAY! Comments/questions/concerns?