Rosebush by Michele Jaffe

Author:Michele Jaffe
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Group USA, Inc.
Published: 2010-09-22T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

The door closed, leaving me alone with the guy named Pete. As he walked toward me, I gauged he was probably only a little older than me, with skin a shade past olive and close-cropped brown hair. He looked like he could be Indian or Pakistani, except that his eyes were very, very blue.

He stood by the side of my bed, looked at his watch, and said, “Oh well, it’s over for you. Call the code at 2:03 p.m.”

My eyes widened in shock. “That’s what they say when someone dies.”

“Exactly.” He nodded. “Women have fallen in love with me after staring like that for only thirty seconds and I think you just took a full minute. You’re doomed.”

He said it completely seriously, deadpan, like it was a fact, but his eyes proclaimed he was joking. He was wearing jeans, Adidas, and a white T-shirt stenciled to look like a doctor’s coat, complete with stethoscope and the name tag Dr. Feelgood. Really. I rolled my eyes. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

“No. It’s a curse.”

“You’re bearing up beautifully.”

“Bearing up. Good one.” He pointed to the windowsill of flowers. “Have you considered that maybe you’re OD’ing on all the pollen in here? This place is like a high-end funeral parlor.”

“Wow, is that in poor taste. Besides, it’s nice that people send me these things. Thoughtful.”

Now his eyes got wide. “Sure. It means they really like you. That you’re really popular and adored—” He tilted his head to read the card on the popcorn tin. “By Pontrain Motors.”

“That’s not fair. You don’t know anything about me. There’s a DVD my best friends made over there, right next to the two-dozen long-stemmed roses, and it has everyone from my high school saying how much they miss me. You should watch it and educate yourself.”

“Oh sure. I’ll get right on that,” he said, taking the DVD out of its case and spinning it around on his finger. “But I already know one thing about you.”

“What?”

“You’re a lousy judge of people.”

I turned my head away from him deliberately. “I think I want you and your hipster T-shirt to leave.”

“I know I want to leave and my T-shirt thinks the company here stinks. But I can’t go anywhere without violating the terms of my parole, so you’re stuck with us.”

“You’re on parole?” Great. Not only did no one believe me but now they were leaving me with a convicted criminal.

“It was a figure of speech.”

“If you’re going to loiter, at least stop insulting me. And put down my DVD.”

“I wasn’t insulting you. You insulted me. I’m being frank with you. Is that so unusual in your pollen-drenched world that you can’t distinguish between the two?” At least he slid the DVD back into its case.

“What is wrong with you?”

“You mean my unflinching honesty or my uncanny good looks?”

“Are you insane?”

“Are you?” He shook his head. “Never mind, don’t answer that.”

“I can’t believe this,” I said, more to myself than to him.

“Why don’t you like that guy? Joe?”

I glared at him.

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