The Road Not Taken

II

A boy about 17 stood over Ronnie. Books and papers were scattered all around them. A hand reached out to her, offering to help her up. She took it, standing up, and ended up being face to face with a boy she had never seen before. His eyes were emerald green, with quiffed, black hair. Ronnie was speechless, but didn't realize she was staring at him until he spoke. "Are you okay?" His eyes were the thing that set her off. They were gleaming, staring straight back at her. Ronnie nodded, not taking her eyes off of his perfect features. The warning bell rang, signalling them it was time to get to class. "I better go" he smirked, still holding onto her hand. He picked up his bag, walking away, but not before taking one last glance of Ronnie. She backed up into the wall, sliding down to the ground, her heart pounding. Not again. This has happened before to her. She doesn't fall in love easy, but when she does, she falls hard. She shook away the thought of him, and ran to class.

She found her seat in the back, next to a boy named Eddie. They talked for a few minutes before class officially started. She really liked him, and seemed like a great friend in a class where she knew no one else. The teacher started the lesson, with a every student in the class taking notes. After a few minutes, someone entered the room that Ronnie knew all too well. The boy with emerald green eyes. "Mr. Theodore Jones. You are late." The teacher neared his eyes at him. "Take a seat." Theodore walked to his seat, which was the row across from Ronnie and Eddie. He sat down, noticed Ronnie, and smirked at her. Heart. Pounding. Again. Eddie noticed her cheeks overcome with a rosy shade. He shook his head, blocking Ronnie's view from Theodore.

The day went on for what seemed like forever. Ronnie had a few classes with Jade, but not as much as she would have hoped for. She was just glad she was able to have meals with her. Dinner rolled around finally, and Ronnie was starving. She didn't eat lunch because she and Jade weren't able to find a seat, which had sadly happened again when they walked in for dinner. They picked up their food, and searched for a table. Ronnie looked around her, but her eyes landed on a boy, gesturing for her and Jade to come sit with them. Eddie. She quickly shuffled over, Jade following her in confusion. They both sat down, thanking Eddie for the spots available. Ronnie realized she was thanking her a little too early when she saw her roomate sit across from her. Carmilla.

"Hey Veronica." Carmilla said in a dead tone. Ronnie rolled her eyes.

"Hi."

"Oh you two know each other already?" Eddie was beaming.

"We're roommates." oh my god they were roommates

"How do you know Carmilla?" Ronnie asked, still eyeing Carmilla.

"She's my twin sister." Eddie laughed, surprised Ronnie hadn't noticed the resemblance between them. It was hard to, with Carmilla's dyed black hair and piercings, and Eddie's fabulous brown and red hair, with his square glasses falling down the rim of his nose. They were complete opposites. Eddie was a ray of sunshine, and Carmilla was like hell.

They went on to talking for the rest of dinner, but Ronnie and Carmilla did not speak a word to each other. Ronnie couldn't understand why Carmilla hated her so much.

"Hey Bud" A blonde haired guy with a sweater sat down next to Eddie, patting him on the back. He looked at both Jade and Ronnie, first glancing at Ronnie, then looking at Jade, a rosey blush covering his cheeks. Jade caught his eye, seeing his blush, which made her blush ten times harder. She pushed back a curl behind her ear, looking down at the table and smiling.

"Woah that's some hard core flirting" Eddie joked, playfully pushing the guy. This made both of them blush way harder. Carmilla rolled her eyes.

"What are you doing here, Alex."

"I'm obviously sitting with my roommate. There is nowhere else to sit." Alex mockingly rolled his eyes back.

"That's Jade and that's Ronnie" Eddie beamed, pointing the two girls out to him.

"Pleasure" Alex smirked.

Ronnie and Jade had a weird connection. It was a connection where they could basically read each other's minds. It was weird, but it worked for them In this moment, all Ronnie could heard from Jade was a loud pitched scream. You could see it in her eyes that Jade had instantly fell in love.

Ronnie got up, walking over to the water dispenser, cup in hand. Eddie caught up to her, tapping her from behind.

"I thought you might want a friend to come with you" he smiled. "Also those two are making me super uncomfortable."

Ronnie laughed in response. She scanned the room, catching a familiar boy's eye. Adrian. Eddie noticed.

"Oooooh who's that?" He said, nudging her and winking.

"It's not like that." Her cheeks turned a bright shade of red. "He's just this guy I met, but he's just-" She stopped.

"A friend?" Eddie asked.

"I don't know." She responded, looking back on the boy.

Ronnie walked back to her dorm alone, not talking to anyone. Eddie and Alex went back to their dorm, Carmilla took a different route, and Jade met up with her roommate. She was on her phone when she bumped into someone. Not again.

It was Theo.

"We need to stop meeting like this" he joked. She laughed, maybe a little too hard. A snort escaped her, making her eyes go wide with embarrassment. He chuckled, pushing back a piece of hair in her face. His thumb landed on her cheek. He drove in close to her, and whispered in her ear.

"I should go" he said, lifting her chin up before he strutted away.

Oh boy.

That night, Ronnie went to her room, finishing up some homework. Carmilla wasn't there, obviously trying to get away from her. Ronnie was texting Jade, who wasn't texting back. She must be busy, Ronnie thought. The thoughts of Theo consumed her.

"I should go" It replayed in her head constantly. Not that she mind, I mean she wasn't complaining about a hot senior paying attention to her. Maybe he likes me, she thought, but quickly shook away the thought. She got up, walking over to the mirror hanging on her wall.

Ew, she thought. She looked over all of her "imperfections". When she looked in a mirror, she saw her greasy brown scalp, massive brown eyes, ugly smile, small nose, and her body. She couldn't even begin to get started on her body. Her arms were too short and her legs were too long. Her weight wasn't even something she wanted to think about.

But to others, everything about her was what they wanted. Some wanted to date her, and some wanted to be her. But she didn't know that.

She pulled her blonde ombre hair up into a messy bun after getting changed in her pjs. She sat back down on her bed, checking her phone. No notifications. She checked her message sent to Jade. Delivered. She sighed, resting her head against the wall. Boredom overcame her. Maybe she could hang out with Eddie? He was one of her only friends. But that's when she heard it. That one sound that would change her life forever. The gunshot.