The birthday weekend away will be a memory I'll always cherish. I didn't want that weekend to end but like all good things, they never last forever.
I was swept back to reality with exams set to begin the following week. It felt like everyone was studying and spending extra unwanted hours in the library. That week, I had never seen more people corrugating in the library ever than right now. All sorts of people, from the jocks to the nerds to everyone else that had any interest in passing their final exams.
What caught my attention was that fact that my old friends were busy with Bella and her crew. Michael, Chris and Theo all sat down with members of their group, preparing the girls for their exams rather than their own.
I know it sounded hypocritical but from across the library, something about this seemed off.
I didnt trust Bella and not just because of what Rose had been telling me about her. From an outside view, it looked like Bella and her friends were using them ahead of their exams. Taking their help and then ditching them straight after.
Again... hypocritical considering many people from school still believed the Saturday Night Five were using me in that exact same way.
I ran into Michael on my way home and knew I needed to approach him.
"Hey man, how have you been?"
He scoffed as he saw me approaching, we used to be such good friends and it was still a relationship I wanted to mend.
"What do you want Leo..." he spoke quietly, still walking.
By his side, I started to make a bit of small talk before I finally built the courage to bring up Bella and her crew and how they might be trying to take advantage of them. His eyes widened at the fact that I was being so bold to come to him with this.
Michael slowly began to laugh, "Oh really... the Saturday Night Five not enough for you? You want to try and take Bella's crew for yourself as well..."
"No Michael, Bella's toxic... the girls I hang around with... are different," I try telling him, "It's hard to explain but it's not the same."
"Please... if Bella is using us, then those girls are using you."
We went back and forth on the walk home from school but at this stage we were just butting heads. Neither one of us backing down from our own opinions or arguments. If anything, I was just making this even worse, it was time to start considering the fact that me and Michael may never be friends again.
***
The more I thought about it, the more I realised why I was coming off as a bit of a jerk. Michael rightfully so didn't trust my word. There was nothing I could do about that.
That night I went home and had an evening solely dedicated on my studies. I understood that I hadn't been as focused on it since I became friends with the Saturday Night Five. I was still continuing to help them study when and where I could but they appeared to be already back on track themselves.
Without a manipulative boyfriend, even Tayla who I was once worried about, was spending hours upon hours each week, studying for the upcoming exams.
The time flew this evening as I sat at my bedroom desk, finalising some psychology revision. My father popped his head in the door around 9:30pm to say they were off to bed downstairs.
Half an hour later, I was closing up my textbook, yawning at my desk. It so happened that my phone was vibrating on the bed as I was preparing to jump into bed. I tried to reach for the phone in time but I was too late, I had missed a call from Rose.
Unaware, I had missed multiple calls from the brunette.
"What the hell..." I muttered to myself.
I was reading a text that had followed the calls.
Rose: U awake? I'm out the front. Can you come and let me in?
Immediately I had to go and find her. I quietly moved down the staircase and to the front door. Behind the glassed window of the door, I could see the silhouette of a female figure on the front porch.
Letting her in, I directed her upstairs to my bedroom, cautious about waking up my parents. From the moment I saw her, I knew something wasn't right. Her smile was missing, her eyes were red and puffy which indicated that she had been crying not very long ago.
Rose knew my room well enough by now, she had a bag full of what I assumed was mainly clothes. I took it from her, and placed it below my desk as she dropped down onto the bed.
"Is everything okay?" I asked with concern.
She laid back on the bed with her hands moving straight to her eyes. I thought I could hear her laughing, that's what it sounded like anyway. The closer I got to her, the clearer I heard her.
It was tears, not laughter.
The brunette had her eyes covered, not wanting me to see. The moment I got closer, she flipped over on the bed and buried her head into my pillow.
"Rose? Are you alright?"
I heard her sob, muffled by my pillow.
I sat on the side of my bed and put a hand to her back. Over a baggy t-shirt she had thrown on before coming here, I gave her back a light rub. I didn't know what to do or what to say so I just continued to rub Rose's back as she tried to hide her emotions by covering her face.
This wasn't a girl that ever revealed her deepest emotions. While she sobbed, I wondered what boy had gotten to her this badly, trying to work out how on earth this could happen.
When the tears eventually stopped, she sat up and I finally got it out of her. She opened up to me and what I heard left me shocked.
It was her mother's boyfriend.
Meeting him once, I knew he wasn't a very nice person. But Rose started to tell me what exactly had been happening at home and what had pushed her to her limit. She briefly explained how they had yet another fight and this time the crazed man had slapped her with a back hand after she refused his drunk advances.
I was lost for words.
She couldn't go back there, not ever as long as he lived there. Even if she tried to go back, I wouldn't let her. I couldn't bare to let her go back to that environment.
Rose was adamant about not calling the police or reporting anything. I told her that she could stay at my place for as long as she liked.
I didn't know what to tell her, I was honestly shocked to hear this. It made me feel worse of a friend to not realise this was going on. Rose was so mentally exhausted that it didn't take long for her to fall asleep in my bed. I did my best to comfort her, staying close to her body as she slept.
***
Saturday Morning rolled around and I was laying next to Rose who was well and truly still passed out. It was a known fact that she loved to sleep in, on occasion she had missed first period at school because she would fall back to sleep after turning her alarm off.
I knew my parents would see her car in the side street which they now recognised at Rose's, and be wondering why it was there.
Wanting to clear things up with them, I got dressed and went downstairs to explain. I didn't go into detail but I made sure they knew that Rose had family issues at home which meant it wasn't safe for her to stay there. Of course my parents were understanding to this, offering up the spare bedroom for Rose to use for as long as she needed. For so long, having very little friends and no girlfriends, my parents were very receptive to my friendship with girls like Rose.
Giving her time to get up herself, I kept myself busy, even going to the gym off my own accord. By midday Rose was awake, showered and dressed, sitting cross legged on my bed, watching the tv.
"Hey, how you feeling today?" I asked, closing the bedroom door behind me.
Rose shrugged, "I dunno, fine I guess, I'm sorry about last night."
"Sorry? Are you serious, don't apologise for anything, I'm glad you came to me, I would have been annoyed if I found out you stayed there after that."
"Yeah, yeah I know... but I have to go back there eventually anyway, I just have to deal with my shit."
"I told you last night, you can stay here for as long as you need, I've already cleared this with my parents," I explained to her.
"Your mom told me, she set up the spare room for me," she said through a half-smile, "She's sweet. I see where you get it from."
"I just want to know that you're safe."
Rose sighed, I could tell she didn't want to talk or think about this any longer than we already had. What happened last night was her chance to get it off her chest, all at once, that was all she wanted to speak about the manner and I wanted to respect that.
"Anyway," I stated as I went to leave the room, "I can let you go, give you some space."
"Leo, it's your room for christ sake," Rose exclaimed, "If I wanted to hang alone, I'd chill in the spare bedroom."
I smiled, happy to see that she was too.
We organised time to help Rose temporarily move in, waiting for a moment where her house was empty.
Everything she needed, Rose brought with her. The brunette wasn't one for sentimental items, most of her belongings that she was bringing over were clothes and make up accessories.
For the rest of the afternoon, we set everything up in the spare bedroom which now felt a lot more like it belonged to her. I then let her settle in, fill the closet with her clothes and set up the room how she wished. In the meantime, I studied, prepared for the first exam coming up on Monday morning.
On my way to the bathroom, I stopped at the doorway and looked at what was an enormous pile of lingerie spread across the floor. Rose was on her knees, folding and sorted the whole lot.
"Wow... you own a lot of lingerie," I commented.
She chuckled, a thin light blue g-string in her hands, "You can say that again."
It was a sea of different colours in front of her, all sorts of materials.
"I'm obsessed with them," Rose commented again, "The different styles, the colours, my favourite thing to shop for... I'd love to design some one day..."
"Why don't you?"
She shrugged this time, now holding a light green lacy bra, "I couldn't... they've got professionals for that sort of thing, I'd be a amateur."
"Everyone's an amateur when they first get into something, you have to start somewhere," I told her, excited to hear Rose talking about a possible future career path or opportunity, "If it's a dream, you should pursue it, you've got nothing to lose."
Rose smiled very softly, "Thanks Leo..."
***
Despite the girls eagerness to always be out partying on Saturday Night's, with exams starting on Monday, no plans were created. I particularly was happy with this knowing I needed extra revision before my first exam.
My parents were out for a rare holiday for a week and left while myself and Rose were in the dining room, preparing for the first exams. They put down some cash on the kitchen bench, said we could buy what we liked for dinners, as long as it was used for dinner only and not put towards alcohol for the evening.
