The One They Left Behind

F I F T E E N

That Monday, Rose caught up Yasmin over lunch.

"He asked you to be his girlfriend?" Yasmin stage whispered.

"Yeah. Even though we've only gone out a couple times, it doesn't seem as rushed as it should. Maybe because we've known each other for a while? I don't know." Rose answered, her cheeks hurting from how much she was smiling.

"Hey" Sam greeted, sliding into the seat next to Rose and surprising both girls with his entrance. "Talking about me?" 

"Now why would you think that?" Rose asked, a smirk finding its way onto her face. 

"You're talking about someone, is there already another guy I should be looking out for?" He said, a teasing glint in his eyes.

"Only fictional ones." Rose joked, eliciting a snort from Yasmin.

"Heh, true" Yasmin muttered through a mouthful of pizza, still snickering to herself quietly.

"You know Yasmin, right Sam?" Rose asked by way of introduction. She held her breath, hoping the two would hit it off.

"Yeah, we've got fifth period Law together, right?" He asked, leaning on the table.

"Oh yeah! You're on the defendant's side for mock trial tomorrow, right?" Yasmin responded, giving Rose a reassuring smile. 

"Yeah, can you believe what Mr. Killingham was saying about it?" He answered and the two of them began a conversation about their class and their unanimously disliked teacher. Rose immediately knew that she didn't have to worry about them getting along and was glad to have one less thing to worry about. 

***

That afternoon, Hillary walked into Rose's classroom as she was cleaning up after work.

"Hey! I feel like I haven't talked to you in forever, how was your date?" Hillary asked, leaning against the counter.

"It went really well! Sam asked me to be his girlfriend and I said yes." Rose answered, peeking over at Hillary.

"Wait, this is what, your second date with him? Isn't that a little premature?" Hillary pointed out, looking a little weary of the answer.

"Probably, but I've known him for a while and we like each other, why not just make it official?" Rose answered, she had been prepared for Hillary's reaction and wasn't offended by it. "I also told Jonathan I would see him tomorrow."

That seemed to catch her attention.

"What? Has he told you where he's been for the past four years?" Hillary hissed, her eyes hardening into a cold glare.

"Not yet, I said I'd give him the chance to talk to me about it all tomorrow when he comes over for dinner." Rose said, avoiding Hillary's eyes.

"So you're just going to let him back into your life? He broke your heart worse than any guy could and you're just going to let him waltz back in? He's going to hurt you again!" Hillary protested, her eyes searching Rose's.

"You don't know that, maybe he'll surprise us! Plus, I can take care of myself." Rose insisted, aggressively dumping the brushes she had been cleaning  into their cupholder.

"Just because you can take care of yourself doesn't mean that your head is in the proper place to make this decision! You haven't thought this through, you don't know what been going on in his life. You're being too trusting, hun." Hillary said, the level of her voice quieting.

"Look, you don't have the right to tell me whether or not this is a bad decision, because it's mine!" Rose nearly shouted, then she sighed. "I have to do this, I need to understand why he left so I can stop pretending it doesn't hurt me everyday." She explained quietly.