"I might just be thinking out loud, but shouldn't we open a window so we don't die from the fumes?" Yasmin asked, itching at her head, which had been covered by a shower cap.
"She does have a point," Hillary giggled. "It does kinda smell like toxic waste in here."
Rose quickly complied, quickly propping open one of the windows, laughing along with her friends.
"Ok, but seriously Hillary, are guys in University better than they are in high school?" Yasmin asked, cocking her head and fixing the older girl with a curious stare.
"You've been going to my school for less than a week, how have you already decided against all high school guys?" Rose giggled, throwing a piece of paper towel at Yasmin from the pile she had been using to clean.
"The guys are pretty cute, but I've got my eye on a girl from my marketing class" Hillary stated, a light blush coating her face.
"No shit! What's she like?" Yasmin leaned closer, her interest peaked.
"Her name is Dawn, and I don't know how to explain it, but she gives me butterflies every time I see her." The older girl blushed, looking away from her friends shyly.
"That's so cute!" Yasmin cooed, prompting Hillary to throw a pillow at her.
Rose giggled at her friends' antics, shrieking with surprise when she was hit with the pillow next, causing Hillary and Yasmin to burst into deep belly laughter at the look on Rose's face.
"You've been hit with the pillow, now it's your turn to talk about whoever you like!" Yasmin cheered, looking excited.
"But the pillow hit you first!" Rose protested quickly.
"I've literally been here for a week, I haven't weighed my options enough to talk about boys yet." Yasmin stated, pretending to flip her hair that was tied up in a shower cap.
"Fine, but prepare to be disappointed, there's nothing going on. But, there's this guy from my Chemistry class, Sam, who I think is kind've cute." Rose said shyly, looking at her friends from under her eyelashes.
"Oh? I thought you were going to mention that guy whose house you went to." Hillary smirked, causing Yasmin to let out an indignant gasp.
"Clayton? He's just an old friend I've known forever, his family just moved back here from Vancouver so I went to catch up with them." She defended almost too quickly, hugging the pillow just a little tighter.
"I think there's a secret crush there." Yasmin stated confidently.
"I haven't seen him in two years, I don't know him enough to have any sort of crush on him, not anymore." Rose said, rolling her eyes.
"Anymore? So there was a secret crush before he moved!" Hillary pointed out, her excitement growing.
"I think it's time we check Yasmin's hair!" Rose quickly deflected, scrambling to her feet to check on the bleaching process. The other girls rolled their eyes at the obvious deflection, but still complied, not mentioning Clayton again.
Once the bleach was rinsed out of Yasmin's hair completely, the other two girls began to apply the pale purple pigment into her hair as evenly as possible.
"I'm starving, how about we break into the popcorn." Rose suggested once they had finished applying the dye and her hands were washed.
"I'm so down." Hillary declared dramatically, throwing the purple stained towel she had been using to dry off her hands onto the counter.
They ran down the stairs to stuff themselves with popcorn and any other junk food they could find.
"So, who was that girl who stopped you at lunch today?" Yasmin asked, giving Rose a pointed look.
"Oh. That was Diana, we were best friends for most of my life until she moved away two years ago, we lost contact after they moved, she was trying to explain herself and apologize I guess. I told her I had already forgiven her." Rose replied, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly.
"So what was her excuse? If you were friends for that long there must have been a good reason." Yasmin asked, looking genuinely curious.
"Not really. She said she didn't want to see me moving on with life when she wasn't here. She said it was too painful." Rose muttered.
"She said that? That's so toxic. Like you aren't allowed to be happy without her, fuck that. I'd flip her off and avoid her." Hillary stated, showing an angry side that rarely surfaced.
"I guess, I don't know, I just feel like there's so much history between us. I mean we grew up together, it would be stupid to not try to fix our friendship." Rose explained.
"Don't let her walk all over you Rose. If she does, I'll kick her ass" Yasmin said, her eyes hard.
"I won't." Rose answered. Yasmin looked at her intensely before nodding once and grabbing a handful of popcorn.
Rose stared at her friends as they began to talk about the costume work of some fantasy movie, smiling at the warm feeling that was beginning to spread through her. It was an unexpected, but once well known feeling, knowing there are people who had her back and would protect her from anything, while still letting her make her own mistakes. It was something she didn't know she needed, to feel the love and support of her friends.
She sat back and enjoyed the time she was spending with her friends, who only left at 10pm, after Yasmin's hair had been successfully transformed into what Hillary called a mermaid purple. Rose took out leftover meatloaf from a couple days ago and set it in the microwave for when her dad would get home, heading upstairs to do a little homework before she went to bed.
That night she didn't take out the picture of her family and she fell asleep with a smile, remembering the fun she had with her friends.
YOU ARE READING
The One They Left Behind
Romance"If you loved me, why was it so easy for you to walk away?" Rose was used to being forgotten. Her mother had left, then her brother. The one person she never expected to leave her was Diana, her best friend. Diana left in 10th grade, leaving an opt...
