Roses Are Red (HIATUS/SLOW UPDATES)

4: From Bad Poetry to Demon Attacks

By the time the three friends had already entered the coffee shop, Eric was already onstage. Oh joy. yes, that was sarcasm Rose was not looking forward to this, but she was desperate.

"This is going to suck so hard," Clary predicted. "If we make a run for it, we can still get away." Rose laughed at this, fully prepared to do just that. She couldn't be that desperate could she?

"I'm nothing if I'm not a man of my word." Simon squared his shoulders, a determined look on his face. "I'll get the coffee, if you two find us a seat. What do you want?"

"Just coffee. Black--like my soul." Over dramatic much. Simon then turned to Rose and she sighed.

"I'll just come up and order with you. I plan on getting some food too." Simon mumbled something to the effect of if you had eaten at the Mexican place instead of being off in your own world we wouldn't be having this problem. Rose let out a low grumbled reply before going over to help him. Simon ordered his and Clary's drinks before passing to let Rose order. After looking over the menu and all the treats she ordered a simple double chocolate chip cookie and a chocolate and coffee milkshake. She loved chocolate with everything in her but she needed some serious caffeine, so why not mix them? As Simon's name was called, she went over, grabbed her milkshake and cookie, and left him to deal with the coffee. The boy gave Rose a look, but she opted to ignore it. The two quickly found Clary in the back of the shop, and Rose sat down to the right of the said girl, while Simon sat on Clary's left.

That's when Rose went off into her own little world. She couldn't stop thinking about last night. It's entirely possible that it could have been a dream, but Rose never remembers her dreams, only her nightmares. Technically, last night could have passed as a nightmare. After a few more moments of pondering Rose decided to tune into the conversation Clary and Simon were having. Eric had started his poem reading by now.

"Turgid is my torment. Agony swells within!" Eric wailed.

"Oh, the agony. My heart will tear in two. I can't..." Rose whisper-yelled over-dramatically while putting the back of her hand to her head and pretending to collapse into the couch. She heard someone snicker and smiled to herself. "Thank you. I'll be here all night." Rose then caught Simon's eyes, and it was almost like he was asking her something. Rose just raised her eyebrows in confusion and Simon sighed before turning back to Clary. Clary listened intently, and it seemed to be a serious conversation, but that wasn't what caught Rose's attention. Clary had placed her coffee back onto the table, and her jacket sleeve had pushed up her arm, exposing a thin, red mark surrounding her wrist and that's when Rosalie knew. She knew the events from the other knight was no dream, because that mark was from Isabelle's whip. Sure a bracelet or something could have dug into Clary's wrist, but Clary never wears bracelets. Rose shook herself from her revelation and decided to drown her panic in sweets, so she broke off half of her cookie, dipped it into her milkshake, and stuffed it into her mouth. She kept eating her cookie, and drinking her milkshake until parts of Simon and Clary's conversation finally reached her.

"... I like someone else," Simon was saying. Rose paused and looked over at her best friends. Simon was clearly nervous and Clary was as oblivious as always. Rose caught Simon's eye and gave him a big thumbs up, encouraging him, before she went back to lounging on the couch and drinking her milkshake, trying not to cringe at Eric's poetry. That was before she heard a cough from behind her. One of those coughs that people made when they were trying not to laugh but was failing epically. Rose turned in her seat and her eyes widened. Sitting right behind them was none other than Jace, the blonde psychopath from Pandemonium. Rose blinked her eyes, making sure he was actually there, before turning to Clary, who was also looking at Jace. The boy raised his left hand and gave a little half wave before rising to his feet and walked out the door.