Collision

"Hey Joe, party tomorrow night at my place?" An eighteen-year-old junior yelled over the swarm of students in the over cramped hallway to his equally excited friend.

"You can count on it, bro." Joe, the redhead, yelled back in affirmation sporting a lop-sided grin.

Joe smirked to himself as he walked down the hallway, already thinking of the things he'd like to do at the party, from dunking to drinking, to other fun things.

His friend Jake hosted the biggest parties in the whole school, hence the excitement.

The redhead wasn't watching where he was going and so ended up bumping into an unsuspecting female that had her head buried in a book as he rounded the corner.

The book fell from her hand.

"I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I should have been more careful." The petite brown-haired girl apologized immediately when she saw the person she'd bumped into.

She was already down on her knees to pick up the fallen book when he snarled.

"Watch it, idiot. " He said, obviously pissed up by the 'nobody' that had ruined his morning.

She gasped softly, her eyes wide.

Joe roughly brushed past her and continued down the hallway shoving his hand into his pocket.

Her eyes burnt slightly but she quickly blinked back the tears.

She sighed, cursing herself for being so sensitive. She knew she should have been used to the comments by now. She heard it every day.

She got up, book in hand, and dusted herself.

Silver High has been less than pleasant for her this year. That was why she had decided to go under the radar as soon as school started a week ago, but looking at the red head's retreating form, she realized that that was no longer going to be possible. She sighed. Great.

Just great. She didn't want to end up being on his 'losers to bully' list.

"Hey, Rose." A velvety voice broke through her train of thought. Rose turned around to see her ex-best friend-Brenda.

They'd been friends for as long as she could remember and suddenly she just changed, like everything in her life recently.

"Bye Rose." And just like that Brenda waved past her with her clique of 'new friends', leaving Rose without a second to reply.

"Bye Brenda," Rose whispered. Not that the person in question could hear though...

Riiiiing!!

The bell rang for a change of periods, the last one of the day.

Rose sighed heavily tossing her books in the locker before taking the notes for the next class.

She quickly made her way down the hallway.

"Come on Rose, you can do this, just one more class and you'll be free." Rose encouraged herself.

That is until you come back the next morning and the whole thing repeats.

"You can do this." She sighed.

***********

"And so began the war between the two nations and...." She wouldn't lie, she totally zoned out after that.

The history teacher, Mrs. Franklin went on and on about the present state of the countries currently experiencing nuclear war.

It's true that a few wars have broken out over the past few years, since 2019. But America has been safe and for now, that was all she cared about.

For now, she didn't have to worry about the war threats hanging on their country's neck. She currently had her own baggage to deal with.

Rose was the closest to the west-side window and she couldn't help that her mind wandered to the softly blowing trees in the distance.

She closed her eyes inhaling. She needed an outlet, a moment of peace, a moment where she wasn't always plagued by her lonely thoughts, and her mess of a life. The weight of the argument she'd had with her mum the other night weighed down heavily on her. She sighed.

The wind feels nice on my skin though.

"What feels nice Mrs. Turner?" Her eyes widened turning sharply away from the window.

Oh no. Had she really said that out loud?!

She flushed noticing the eyes of the entire class on her.

Some were snickering and others were making not so polite suggestions to her seemingly quiet statement.

She turned beet red and it didn't help the situation when someone called her out on one of her biggest embarrassing feats.

"Oh my God! Her ears are red, I gotta video this." Two girls snickered three seats beside her, already holding their phones up.

Before long everyone had their phones up, taking shots and making videos. She covered her ears with her sleeves. If it was possible to pass out from blushing too much, she would have by now.

"Nothing, Mrs. Franklin," Rose mumbled.

Mrs. Franklin only hummed and continued the lesson but not before telling everyone to put down their phones.

"Freak." A boy to her far-right said not too quietly, chuckling with a bunch of his friends. She recognized that voice.

She turned to her right.

It was the guy with the red hair from before staring at her—Joe—the most rebellious guy in school.

He sat two seats away, looking at her; not in a dreamy way, far from it, but the look in his eyes said something else. She gulped and looked away. His eyes were too dark and piercing.

Rose had always been good at reading people and aside from the obvious contempt he had for her for bumping into him, there was something else, something she couldn't quite put her finger on. Something ominous.

A few minutes later and it was the end of class and school.

She sauntered quickly, packing her notes and textbook. Holding them securely in her hands, she made her way to the door.

Half the class was already gone by now.

Joe stood menacingly as usual by the door with his group of friends. She gulped. She had to admit, he intimidated her in more ways than one.

It was no news that he was one of the bad ones. No one messes with him and goes scot-free. She'd seen it so many times by the dreaded hallway.

So when he'd bumped into her, she'd apologized immediately. Yeah, he bumped into her.

She lowered her head quickly moving out the door.

Rose breathed a sigh of relief when she got to her locker. She grabbed her books and shoved them in her bag.

She hung her bag on one shoulder and headed out the school doors.

She looked around. Nature has always been one thing that calmed her down.

It carried a nostalgia that always gave her peace, though she's been feeling the opposite of peace these days.

She felt the heaviness on her chest once more as she remembered how bad things have turned out since the incident two years ago.

Unwanted tears threatened to break out but she held it in.

She exhaled as she walked towards the bus.

"Time to get to work."

**********

Rose opened the door to 'Bon Appetite'— a french restaurant she'd been working at for two years now.

It paid very well, not that she needed the money though, she was very well off, or rather her mother was. The job was only an excuse to prolong going home.

She was working a four-hour shift every day after school. And that was plenty of time for her.

She was waitering and was really good at it, but rarely did people see that.

"Hey Rosie, get over here!" Mimi, one of her many co-waiters yelled over the counter. Rose cringed slightly at how loud she was.

Mimi was like the head waiter. Been here longer than any one of them. She was the kind of gal you don't mess with unless you're seriously asking for it.

She was the free-spirited kind that catches the waves as it rises, but she was a little indulgent. She'd offered her a smoke more times than she could count.

But she was generally a nice person and she was friendly, especially to her. Rose wouldn't want to cross her though.

She gulped. A few customers have fallen victim quite several times- well their food mostly.

"Coming!" Rose quickly went to the changing room and changed from her simple trouser and top to the restaurant's uniform which was a simple yellow top which was ribboned black in the middle.

"Get over to table five and six," Mimi ordered.

"Okay." Rose nodded, making her way over.

"Oh, and be careful hon." The blonde winked and she felt her stomach deep to her ankles. Rose hated those tables.

About that time every day, two strange men would always seat and order the same thing at the same table. It was weird.

In all honesty, she would have run the other way each time if it were up to her but no one wanted to wait on them, so they sent the little guinea pig.

Her heart dipped a little bit lower at the thought.

"Bonsoir monsieurs. What can I get you?" Rose placed on the best fake smile she could muster, note pad in hand.

"I'd like a creamed cuisine, the usual and a side of you." He smirked. She sighed silently. She didn't even know why she bothered asking.

It was the same thing every day. She said nothing. The men were both old enough to be her father.

She took the other one's order and took it to the chef. On her way coming with their drinks, Brenda walked in with her 'friends'.

Rose wasn't surprised, it wasn't their first time coming in while she worked. Another downside with working at Bon Appetite, it was the closest restaurant to school.

"Hey, waiter! Come take our order." Brenda yelled over the chatter of her two friends.

"Oh, hey Rose." Her perfectly carved brows furrowed slightly together seeing Rose before she turned away again, texting away at her phone.

"Hey, Brenda," Rose replied lamely.

Looking at her now, she looked different from the girl she once knew.

Her brown hair was still long and her eyes still a turquoise blue but those were the only things that remained remotely familiar. She was like a whole different person.

Truth be told, she'd be lying if she said it didn't hurt seeing the girl she'd grown up with a bunch of people she hadn't until two years ago wouldn't even associate with.

Rose knew she was different, since she hadn't wanted to mix with the crowd like most people but had wanted to stand out and be her own person, not caring what people said about social statuses and hierarchies, and she'd thought Brenda had wanted that too but she guessed she was wrong.

As usual, Brenda was too busy with her friends to pay her any mind. Rose couldn't help rolling her eyes. Typical.

They stayed there all evening talking about a party taking place tomorrow at someone's house. Something that clearly wasn't any of her business.

And she steered clear of them until her shift ended.

Rose bidded Mimi goodnight and packed her bag. She made her way over to the door but she couldn't help but hear the girls whispering as she passed their table.

In reflex, her hand tightened around her hand-bag and she lowered her head.

Her beautiful brown, nearly auburn hair fell over her face covering her eyes.

She was about to walk out the door when the voice of a girl she didn't recognize called her back.

"Um, yeah?" Rose turned her head to the high-pitched voice.

"We're inviting you to the party tomorrow night." The blonde girl who'd called her back said abruptly.

Rose frowned softly. She didn't know the girl, only that she was one of the many people that now followed Brenda around.

They were three; the blonde who'd called her was seating beside Brenda and another girl who was a pretty brunette. They made quite the trio. Everyone at school thought so too.

Rose frowned softly. Wait, what? The question only now registering.

"A party?" Rose repeated, thinking she heard wrong.

"Yeah, it's at some guy's house on Elm's street." The blonde girl bubbly replied.

Elm's street? Rose's eyes widened slightly, she lived there. She glanced at Brenda who wasn't looking at her. She couldn't help but wonder. Why the sudden kindness?

"You can come with us if you want." The blonde added again, surprising her for the second time that day.

Rose wouldn't lie, she hadn't seen that one coming.

"I can?" She asked still shocked by the offer.

They were looking at her like she'd grown a second head.

Brenda, all the while was silent, she even thought she saw a guilty look past her face.

Why?

She had no clue.

She doubted it though. She's known Brenda all her life and the girl didn't feel guilty for anything she did, even when she should.

"I don't know." She hesitated. It was weird and out of the blue. The suddenness didn't really sit well with her.

"Parties aren't really my thing. I gotta go." Rose added hurriedly, already sliding her bag higher up her shoulder and walking towards the door.

"Rose wait." It was Brenda this time and she froze. Rose turned and their eyes met. And Brenda smiled and Rose did a double-take.

"Come on Rose, it'd be like old times and there are some things I need to say to you."

'Shock' wasn't the right word to describe the feeling that went through her as the words left Brenda's mouth.

She didn't know what pushed her to agree, the need to hear what she had to say, why she'd abandoned her all these years, or her curiosity about high school parties. Either way, she couldn't believe what came out of her mouth next.

"Sure." She couldn't help the small smile that passed her face, she still couldn't quite believe they were inviting her.

They all had smiles on their faces, beckoning her to agree.

"I'll be happy to go." Rose heard herself say, shocking herself.

"Give me your phone." Jenna, the girl that had called her initially asked. She was stunned for a minute before she shook her head, coming back to her senses.

"Uh, here." Rose gave her the phone and Jenna added her number to it and called herself from Rose's phone.

"That's my number, we'll get in touch."

And with that they all stood up and headed out of the restaurant, leaving her to stare dumbly at them.

"Did that just happen?" Rose checked her phone to make sure. She saw the number.

"Yup, I guess it did." It was almost too good to be true.

A party? She sighed.

"Fantastic." She muttered to herself.

She checked the time, 7:10 pm. It was time to go home.

Rose's doe brown eyes widened as she remembered, as she always did the hell that awaited her at home.

There was only one reason why she worked late at Bon Appetite.

It was because of the horror she never quite could escape, Marcus.