Although it was a Wednesday morning, which she normally found particularly annoying, Rose found it surprisingly easy to wake up for school. As she got herself ready for school, she hummed an unfamiliar song to herself, ending on a particularly high note as she threw her apple in the air, catching it at the same time as she grabbed her keys.
"Goodbye house!" She called out as she left and locked the front door, cheerful in her parting words to her usually confining home.
She playfully sang along to the songs on the radio, and giggled about her own ridiculousness as she parked at school. Although she was one of the first students there, she wasn't surprised to see Yasmin already putting her things into her locker.
"Hey! What do you think?" Yasmin asked, spinning around to show off her new hair colour, which she had emphasized with the dark green sweater she wore.
"I was the one who did your hair, you know I like it." Rose answered, smiling and shaking her head at the antics of her friend.
"Yeah, but you were half asleep when it was done! Now you can appreciate your hard work." She grinned smugly, fluffing her hair with a chuckle.
"It suits you" Rose replied, letting out a small giggle.
Rose stayed with Yasmin while she grabbed her books for first period, a favour that was reciprocated by Yasmin when Rose went to sort through her own things at her locker.
Her day at school went by smoothly, and Rose was excited to get to the class she was teaching that afternoon.
When she got to the gallery, she began to pull the supplies she would need for her cartoon drawing class for ten to eleven year olds, and then helping Hillary set up her classroom for her sculpting class with teenagers the same age as Paige.
"Your work schedule seems packed, how's that working with first year classes?" Rose asked as she set up a pottery wheel at one of the stations.
"It's honestly not that bad, because my parents are paying most of my University costs, I offered to pay for residence, which is more than I expected so I asked Ms.Swann if I could teach a couple extra classes this fall." Hillary replied, giving Rose a small smile, who nodded in understanding.
"Have you had a chance to talk to that Sam guy yet?" Hillary asked, giggling at the blush that immediately coloured Rose's cheeks.
"No, I wasn't planning on it." She answered. "Are you going to talk to Dawn?"
"I'll talk to Dawn if you talk to Sam." Hillary said with a cheeky smile, holding out her hand in anticipation for a handshake.
"Fine." Rose took Hillary's hand and shook it once, heading to her classroom when she saw the first kids make their way into the building.
***
With her class over, Rose began to clean up, already regretting her agreement with Hillary. Hoping to get some advice, she shot a quick text to Yasmin.
SOS! I told Hillary I would 'talk' to Sam and I don't know what to do. Any ideas? -Rose
With her attention focused on her phone, she didn't notice when Clayton walked into her classroom.
"Hey Angel." He greeted her, gaining her attention almost immediately.
"Clayton? What're you doing here? Is there something wrong with Paige?" Rose immediately thought of her student, believing there to be little other reason for Clayton to be at the gallery.
"Yeah Paige is fine, she can't wait for next Monday to be back here, to be honest. I actually came to talk to you." He said, looking a little uncomfortable.
"What about?" She asked, sliding past him to continue putting the pencils and various mood boards away.
"Well, I thought we could maybe talk about hanging out again? I know we haven't talked in a long time, but I've missed having you as a friend, so I'd like to get to know you again and explain why we lost touch when I moved." He said as he rubbed the back of his neck.
Rose looked at him, deep in thought. She knew that she wanted to hear him out, just like she had listened to his sister, but she wasn't sure if his answer would be any more satisfying than the lacklustre one Diana had given. They had also been good friends once and she did miss always having Clayton to talk to.
"Sure, we can do that." She smiled at him, which seemed to put him at ease. "Give me 15 minutes to finish off for today and we can meet at the coffee shop next door to talk, I guess"
***
When she was officially done at the gallery, she grabbed her things and went next door to the little coffeeshop 'The Busy Bean'. She saw Clayton was already there, with a still steaming cup set in front of him. Rose quickly placed her order, sitting with Clayton while she waited for her vanilla latte to be made.
"So, how's your gap year so far? It must be weird to not be doing school." She asked to start their conversation.
"It hasn't been too odd, I've been looking to work and internships I can do and I might travel later in the year. Look, I know that you and Diana aren't on the greatest terms because of how we dealt with things once we moved, but I wanted you to know that I didn't mean to ignore you or block you out of my life because I wanted to forget you, I just didn't know how to deal with my life splitting apart and somehow staying connected to both sides." He immediately changed to the more pressing topic.
"Trust me, I get it, I didn't expect you guys to always be calling me and talking as often as we did when you lived here, but when months went by without a call or text from you, and only getting one word responses to anything I sent, I gave up and felt a little forgotten and like you didn't care anymore." She said, playing with the sleeve on her coffee cup.
"I swear that's not how I meant it!" He cried indignantly, looking at her almost pleadingly. "You were one of my best friends and I hope we can become as close as we used to be Angel."
"I know. Like I told your sister, I forgave you both a while ago," She looked up at him. "You were one of my best friends too, Bear."
They shared a small smile, and began to slip into casual conversation. Rose was glad to have one of her oldest friends back in her life, and despite all the time apart, they talked as if they saw each other every day.
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...
