Mark My Words

41 | Going Downhill

a/n: Hello from Paris! 🇫🇷 I've legitimately reread the entire first part of this book during this trip just to refresh my memory.

I'm still such a hoe for Jamie and Blake let me know if you are too 😭

       

"If you blocked someone on Facebook, would photos you uploaded of them still exist?" Rosalie asked from the dinner table that evening. Her mother was in the midst of twirling her chopsticks around a hunk of lo mien noodles, and Sami had a slice of chicken mid-entry to his mouth. He lowered it to the plate with a scowl.

    Rosalie shrugged innocently. "Just... hypothetically speaking."

    "I doubt Facebook would delete your photos without asking first," her mother said.

    "But maybe it's in the terms of blocking someone?" Sami said. Her mother dismissed his suggestion without a second thought.

    She dropped her dollop of noodles on her plate. "I say they still exist. If you wanted to delete photos of them, you could just do that yourself. Who are we blocking?"

    "No one. This is all hypothetical," Rosalie said. She turned to Sami, fully aware that he would continue this conversation if she didn't turn it around first. "How's Blake?"

    Sami squinted his eyes a little, just so the skin beneath them tightened, like he was resisting the urge to flinch. He hesitated before saying, "Fine..." and popped a piece of chicken into his mouth.

    Rosalie pretended to consider his answer before saying, "And Isaiah?"

    Sami covered his mouth, face setting into a full-blown scowl. "Why do you make it sound like I have two boyfriends?"

    "Because I think it's funny."

    Sami scrunched his nose up at her, and she did the same to him. Her mother cleared her throat, and thus ended the shenanigans. "When do you get your paintings back?" she asked him.

    "Not until December. When are semi-finals?" he said to Rosalie.

    Her mouth was full of food, but she spoke anyways. "November seventeenth. State finals are the following weekend."

    She glanced past Sami's shoulder to the refrigerator, where her mother had already clipped the newspaper photo to its surface. It was the first page of the sports section, documenting their win, and three photos—one of Joanna's punt, the other of Erin and several Lions jumping for the ball, and the last of the entire team at the end of it.

    Rosalie finished her plate and, after walking Sami to the door, she helped clean the kitchen. At the end of it, homework was still in order, and it managed to distract her from the subject of soccer practice earlier that day, and every look on Joanna's face after third period. Rosalie couldn't help but feel gradually more and more upset by Joanna's clear discomfort. Her mix of anger and something else entirely had Rosalie's worry skyrocketing.

    Joanna never looked so... frozen until that day. Because of it, practice was more hellish than usual. It wasn't in the same way as "hellish practice" was before, with Joanna purposefully thwarting their efforts. Rosalie wished she could say it was just an off-day for Joanna, but that wasn't it, either. Joanna genuinely couldn't concentrate, and they wound up swapping her for Jade halfway through practice.

    The next day was no different, except for the fact that Joanna wasn't as vocal in classes. For once, lecture was uninterrupted by her crude comments, and the giggling in their corner of the French classroom. Rosalie spared a glance at Jamie-Lee, who was texting under his desk as discretely as possible. Joanna was in front of her, chin propped up on her hand, and it felt to Rosalie like Joanna was two seconds away from passing out.