Rosie

01

(4 YEARS 2 MONTHS)

Autumn walked into her first day of grade 5 feeling absolutely boastful about her summer vacation with her parents. She had her fiery hair braided down her back and was wearing the pretty, new sundress she had gotten in Florida. Setting down her backpack at her assigned seat, she took a moment to roam the room to search for her friends to question them about their summers- and talk all about hers, of course.

Janice and Tiyah waved over at her from the side of the classroom, messing with the erasable markers and whiteboards.

"Hi, Autumn!" Janice asked, fingering the earpieces of her new plastic, purple glasses. "Mom let me pick out whatever pair of glasses I wanted this time. She said I'm getting older so I get to express myself the way I want to. I got tons of new clothes too.. What was your summer like?"

Autumn, smiling ear to ear at the question, began to sum up her vacation- the shops, the sightseeing, the perfect weather, and of course, the beach. She gave them every silly little detail she could think to add, and when there was nothing else to say, she pointed out the one downside to her vacation in the sun: her sunburn. She pressed a finger into her inflamed forearm and pulled back, leaving a white, freckled spot that slowly faded back to red. The girls laughed and took turns doing the same, amazed by the level of heat still oozing off her skin.

"I've never seen someone so sunburnt. You're almost the color of a lobster! Did you even use sunblock?"

Autumn giggled, "Of course I did. But, I'm a ginger and mom told me that that means my skin doesn't produce enough melanin to protect me from the sun. It doesn't hurt that bad though.. And it should go away soon!" She shrugged and turned her attention to Tiyah, pleased to have gotten the attention she had desired. "What did you do this summer? Did you end up going to Disney like you talked about?"

The girls chatted away about their breaks, not noticing the group of 6th grade boys stopped in the doorway, listening in to their stories and observing them quietly. That was, until one of the boys let out a laugh, making the girls jump in fright. They turned to the hallway and Autumn's eyes narrowed- Elias Davis was yet again here to pick on her.

"Nice burn, Parker. You look like the flowers on Mrs. Olsen's desk!" He pointed to the front of the room, everyone's eyes following with curiosity.

Autumn's face turned a brighter shade of red. On the teacher's desk was a glass vase filled with freshly-picked, bright red roses. She turned towards him furiously and stomped over to the group, her friends trailing behind her- to act as backup, she hoped.

"And just where exactly did YOU go for break, Davis? Your backyard? The pool down the street? At least I went somewhere exciting with my family. I'd hate to be stuck here for months instead of swimming in the ocean!" She turned her nose into the air, trying to appear better than him. She just wanted to win.

He leaned on the doorway coolly, barely bothered, and crossed his arms over his chest, "Actually, we went to The Grand Canyon this summer. It's about 5,000 feet deep and way cooler than some sand and water. We took all kinds of pictures. We even went kayaking while we were visiting Arizona. At least I didn't get sunburnt." He paused for a second to think before laughing to himself. "Ya know, I think I know the perfect nickname for you, Parker. Your face matches your hair and your hair matches those roses. Maybe I'll start calling you Rosie. You sure do have thorns.."

He gave her that triumphant smirk she was oh so tired of seeing and she clenched her fists. To her anger, his goonies started to laugh with him. She whipped her head around at the sound of a slight giggle and a masking cough. He mouth opened in shock. Tiyah and Janice were laughing at her, too.

"Guys?" The hurt in her voice was obvious and it made Janice frown and cast her eyes downward, ashamed. Tiyah, on the other hand, didn't seem all that abashed.

Regardless, she tried to cover her mouth to mask her amusement for the sake of her friend, trying to lessen the anxiety she knew Autumn was feeling, "I don't mean to hurt you, Autumn. But, it was kinda funny.."

Tears welled up in Autumn's eyes and she tried her hardest to push them back down. The palms of her hands started getting clammy and the anxiety settled into her tummy the more they laughed at her expense. Not wanting to cry in front of everyone- Elias specifically- she let out one sob and then dashed from the room, her braid swinging wildly behind her. Elias stopped smiling for a second, trying to think if he had maybe gone too far in his teasing. He looked at the faces of his friends and decided he hadn't. He figured she was just way too sensitive- much like her sunburned skin.

He shrugged and bid the girls goodbye, turning to leave. They laughed and joked about it down the hall to their own classroom, unashamed at their bullying.

Autumn, embarrassed and betrayed, stayed in the bathroom until the warning bell rang. No one had even come to check on her. Despite this, she knew she couldn't miss class on the first day so she reluctantly left the bathroom. She walked into the classroom, head down, and stayed that way the remainder of the day. Despite trying to whisper her name across the room to get her attention to apologize for laughing, Janice and Tiyah were ignored and Autumn sped out of the classroom when the final bell sounded, not even giving them a chance to try to talk to her.

Autumn, sad and tired, wished and wished on a star that night that Elias Davis had never moved to her town.

 Unfortunately, the next school day, he was still there, calling her Rosie and smirking that smirk she hated so much.