She is Not Made of Roses

four: you shouldn't have insulted the organic whey lentil patties

FOUR: YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE INSULTED THE ORGANIC WHEY LENTIL PATTIES

✹

ROSIE'S NEW BIKE is roughly one million times better than the one Peter had run over with the Cooper's car.

She pulls it out of the garage Monday morning, throwing her bag over her shoulder as she drags it to the sidewalk. Unlike her old bike, her new one doesn't squeak with every move she makes, nor is it rusted in ten different places. She mounts it, breathing in the crisp winter air as she departs for school.

She hasn't heard from Peter since they spoke in her living room a week ago, and since then, her club hasn't met once. She'd seen Lilly, Danielle, and Maia in classes throughout the day, and they were all counting on her to convince the Senior Class Council that their cause was a promising one. Danielle still wanted to go to that Betty Friedan exhibit in New York City, and Lilly was counting on the time spent on the club after school would prevent her parents from getting on her back about getting into Columbia. Tensions between everyone and college had seemed to be raised lately, Rosie had noticed, and though she's thrilled to get out of her small town, the only thing she can seem to focus on is getting her club back.

Once she arrives at school, Rosie parks her bicycle by the bike rack. Taking out her lock from her bag, she sees Peter striding over from across the quad. She peers at him curiously as he approaches.

"I like the bike," he tells her. "Was it enough money?"

She nods, securing the lock and throwing the key in her bag. She stands up, brushing off her stockings. "Yes, actually, it was a little more than enough."

He looks surprised. "There was extra?"

"Yep," she says happily, reaching back into her bag. "And I used it to buy you this. Also a Snickers bar. But that was for me."

She pulls out a fairly sized red book, a copy of a The Feminine Mystique. She smiles and hands it to Peter, who eyes it with curiosity, "What is this?" He asks her, as if he couldn't see the front cover.

"It's an excellent read," Rosie tells him, grabbing her bag by the strap. "It's the spark that lighted the powder keg for second-wave feminism in America. If you want to understand our club, you might want to start with that."

He nods, examining it. Flipping through the pages, he nods, "Yeah, I might actually read this. Not too thick."

"You'll live," Rosie says, patting him on the shoulder. "I've got to get to class - but tell me what you think about it."

"I will!" He tells her, shouting after her as she makes her way towards the school, leaving him in her background.

✹

"Dude, you are way into that book," Raj notices before third period, right when he sees Peter's face buried halfway into the pages of a heavy hardcover. Raj hasn't ever seen Peter so into a book pretty much ever before, because the only two things he's ever showed much interest in were tooth decaying sugary snacks and Ella Hall. Peter takes a moment to react, eyes still scanning the pages for scraps of information he might have missed before.

"Hey," he pipes, nearly jumping out of his seat like a firecracker. He points to the book, holding it close to his chest, "You wouldn't believe how interesting this is. It's like, Betsy Friedman just really gets it."

"Freidan," Chester corrects, wincing. "It's Betty Friedan."

Peter scrunches his nose in confusion. "How do you know that?"

Chester scoffs at him, "Oh, I don't know, maybe because we did a whole unit on it last year in AP US History?"

He looks at him blankly, lost eyes fallen on a blank slate.