It's Not All Roses by Maia Terry

It's Not All Roses by Maia Terry

Author:Maia Terry [Terry, Maia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-02-24T00:00:00+00:00


Atticus

Seeing Rose walking over to me, I give Amelia a sympathetic smile. I know she just wants her best friend back. We all do. Putting my arm around Rose, I kiss the top of her head before telling Trevor bye. “Ready to go?” I ask as we walk away from our friends.

“Go home and go to bed? Yes. Go back to class and see Derek again? No.” Her voice is low, and she is fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. “I don’t want to do this anymore, Attie,” she whispers.

Those words chill me to the bone. It’s the same thing Kayla said in her suicide note. “What do you mean, Rose?” I ask, as I stop in my tracks and drop my arm from around her shoulders. She looks up at me and studies my face for a moment before the realization hits her.

“I mean school, Attie. I don’t want to do school anymore,” she clarifies. “If I’m just going to have to look over my shoulder every time I turn around, or if I’m going to need buffers to walk me to and from each class, I don’t want to do it.”

The frustration is clear on her face. She isn’t used to being the one that needs help. She's the one that does the helping. It breaks my heart that she is in this position. “Can you do online classes until we get this figured out?”

“That would keep me from falling behind…” she reaches for my hand, and I lace our fingers together.

“Do you want me to go with you to talk to your advisor?” I ask, and she shakes her head.

“No, she wouldn’t let you in with me. She’s very big on student privacy,” she says and rolls her eyes.

“Are you sure? I can at least walk you to her office?” I offer, and she shakes her head again.

“You will be late for class. I’m just going to the student center. I will be okay,” she assures me.

Reluctantly, I sigh and squeeze her hand. “Alright, I will see you after class. Meet me at my car and I will take you home, okay?”

“Thank you, Attie,” she whispers as she stands on her tiptoes to kiss my cheek.

“Call me if you need me,” I tell her before she turns around and walks away. I watch her for as long as I can before she disappears behind the tree line next to the student center. Then I make my way to class.

Time drags by as the professor goes over the syllabus. Why can’t they just let us read it on our own? Finally, she dismisses us, and I gather my things, rushing out the door to meet Rose. As I near my Jeep, I see Rose talking to two other girls. Her back is to me, but one look at the other two tells me this is not a pleasant conversation. Their faces are twisted in disgust. Getting closer, I realize they are part of a group of jersey chasers.



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