Ritual {Black Veil Brides}

Chapter 3: Feels Like Home

Rose's POV

I looked around anxiously, hoping to find Andy.  I had just gotten off the plane that arrived in Texas and Andy had told me that he would meet me in the front of the airport.  What if he forgot me?  I felt my breathing start to pick up as I looked around nervously.  I let out a small squeal as I felt two arms wrap around my waist.  I was prepared to throw some punches until I heard a familiar voice in my ear.  

"Short stuff you changed your hair!" I let out a huff, relieved that I was not about to be kidnapped.  I turned around in the arms I was in and smiled wide when the familiar face came into view.

"Ashley!" I wrapped my arms around his neck in a tight hug, Ashley lifted me up off my feet in the process.  He was a good foot taller than me, in fact a lot of people were taller than me.  It puzzled me how Andy managed to be a giant while I was much more petite and short, barely grazing 5'2".  Ashley's gave me a final squeeze before setting me down on my feet.  I pulled back from the hug, smiling up at him.  

"Hey you found her!" Andy's voice met my ears as he approached us.  I smiled wide, giving my brother a tight hug.  Andy let out a chuckle at my excitement.

"It's only been a month Rosie."  I sighed as I hugged him even tighter.

"I still missed you." Andy let out a small laugh as he pulled me away from the hug looking down at me.  His brows furrowed in concern.  I knew why, ever since last month I had lost even more weight than I had before.  I wasn't trying to, I understood that the anxiety I had been having had caused me to loose my appetite.  I hadn't been eating as much as what I normally would and it was simply because I wasn't hungry, hardly ever.  

"Can I grab your suitcase Rosie?" Ashley interrupted the silence, I turned to him and smiled, giving him a small "thank you".

"Let's go, the rental car is out front." Andy said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.  I followed the boys to the black rental car that was out front.  Andy hopped into the driver seat while Ashley put my suitcase in the trunk, I was still holding onto my carry-on since it wasn't that big or heavy.  I was about to get in the back seat but Ashley stopped me.

"You go ahead and sit up front with your brother." I looked at him with an eyebrow raised, hesitating.

"Go, it's fine" Ashley said, a laugh in his tone.  I followed his offer and hopped into the front seat of the car, grabbing the seat belt and buckling it.  Andy turned the car on and pulled out of his temporary parking spot.  

"How was graduation last night?" Andy asked, briefly looking at me before turning back to the road.

"Eh, kind of boring.  Caleb was our student speaker.  I have no idea how that happened, he literally was a below average student in every class.  His speech was like 5 minutes long but it felt like it was going to last an eternity."  I didn't miss when Andy flinched as I said Caleb's name.  

"That kid shouldn't have gotten to do something like that."  I wasn't sure if Andy was referring to what Caleb did to me personally or speaking at the ceremony.  But I suppose he was right, about both.

"Andy told me you're going to USC next fall?" Ashley piped up from the back seat.  

"Yeah that's right, I think they're supposed to email me my roommate sometime next week." I elaborated, fiddling with my fingers.

"No need to be nervous short stuff, college is so much better than high school.  You're going to rock it" I turned in my seat to smile at Ashley, even without saying anything he could read me.

"Thanks, I haven't decided what I want to do yet though.  I want to do something in literature, that's for sure."  Both Andy and Ashley nodded.

"You've got time to figure it out, are you still writing?" Andy asked, looking at me hopefully, to which I nodded.  Writing and painting were my only outlets during this last semester of high school.