Authors Note: I took a little time off from writing. Sorry. Couldn't really bring myself to write happy things. But you don't want to hear about that! I'm not going to say I'm back, but I couldn't let this story hang like this. Most likely new stories will come out when I feel I have time to complete them. I hope you enjoy the next part of this story! I don't think I'll end it here, but if I'm being completely honest, I don't know when the next part will be up. I'm sorry :/ If you would like to leave a suggestion of a story premise that you'd like to see from me, I will consider it for my next story, though I don't know when I'll get to a next one. Thanks!
*****
Sun streams through my apartment window. The natural light softly filling my room with warmth, teasing my eyes open. I wake up with a smile on my face, remembering the feeling last nights dream provided. I'm not sure there was any more denying it, or hiding from it, or... whatever I've been trying to do. I think I have feelings for Rose.
Good feelings. Great feelings, even. Those kinds of feelings you get right before a trip you've been waiting for. Mixed in with the feelings you get at the precipice of a cliff looking over the edge to see nothing below. Uncertainty, excitement, possibility. This wasn't a new concept, I wasn't breaking any records here feeling like I do. Though in this context they feel special. They feel new.
It was about an hour later when Rose finally woke up, stumbling out of her room. She walks past me on the couch, eyes still half closed, into the kitchen. The sound of liquid pouring into a glass proceeds the clink of said glass onto metal. She shuffles her feet back towards the living room, passing in front of me for a brief second before flopping down onto the couch. Her feet rise up to the armrest and her head lazily rests in my lap, arms curling in towards her body. She does so wordlessly. It felt so natural that I didn't quite realize it was happening until my hand rest back onto her hair. Rose gives a content sigh as I lightly scratch her head and play with her short ruby hair. I turn the tv down a few notches.
Rose and I laid like this until the end of the nature show I was watching. She turns her body to look up at me, her big eyes meeting mine.
"Whadda you wanna do today?" The words fall out of her mouth.
"Kiss you." Says the voice in my head.
"I don't know... Maybe just relax?" I say.
"Relaxing is for people who have stress."
"What, you don't have any stress? Not about school on Monday, or paying off loans or getting a job?"
"Who can be stressful when a cute girl is playing with your hair while you watch a nature documentary?" She grins. I stare down at her processing if I heard that correctly.
She breaks the silence by rolling another quarter turn towards me, blowing a raspberry against my tummy, and rolling off the couch, hopping to her feet.
I'm still giggling when she says,
"Let's go do something! You said you were putting together a portfolio right? Do you wanna go to the park and take some pictures? I can model for you and use those pictures in my own portfolio. It's a win win!"
"Yeah that sounds like fun. You wanna take some lunch with? We can make it a whole day."
"It's a date." She says before turning to get dressed.
Okay, relax brain. That's just a thing people say. It's a common expression!
I put on something comfy that I picked up last time I went shopping; a loose gray v-neck and a light brown leather bomber. I wear a pair of black high waisted jeans. I completed the look with dark aviators supporting a gold trim and a pair of brown leather ankle boots. I felt pretty good about the outfit, having gone from a graphic tee and ill fitting jeans.
When I came back out from my room, Rose was waiting for me. Her amber yellow sleeveless sundress fit her form spectacularly. The chest of the dress ruffles and cascades down into a little yellow ribbon around her waist before flaring out on the bottom. She wears pink tinted butterfly style sunglasses and a pair of open toed wedge sandals. When she sees me, she gasps and says,
"Yes! I'm loving that, you got so good at this so quick. Hey is this dress too... I don't know, 1940's housewife?"
"Yea, but you look like the 1940's housewife who divorced her husband to drive around the states with her 'best friend'."
"That's exactly the feeling I was going for." She says through a smile.
I grab my camera bag and put it into my book bag along with our lunches.
"Are you gonna let me take pictures of you today?" Rose asks.
"I'm the one behind the camera, you're the pretty model."
I think I see her blush quickly before turning to head out the door.
The walk to the park is scenic. I'm still not over the big city aesthetic; the contrast between hulking gray behemoths of buildings and the vibrant color of the digital billboards, arrant graffiti, and the pockets of nature that have survived the creep of steel and asphalt. Every other corner is a shot taken right out of a pretentious student film, yet it has such a charm to it that you can't help but be that pretentious student. The girl walking beside me, providing a constant glow, helps reinforce the feeling only new experiments can give you.
"What's your favorite thing about this city so far?" I ask Rose. She thinks for a second, tilting her head slightly.
"I really like that I don't know anyone here." She finally responds.
"Kind of a sad thing to enjoy about a place, don't you think?"
"No, see... I don't know anyone, so no one expects anything from me. No one has any preexisting notions about the person I am, so I'm free to be who I truly want to be. No one here knows that I accidentally called my teacher 'mom' once in third grade, you know? It's nice to not feel like I have six different people living inside of me that I have to bring out depending on who I'm talking to. I can just be Rose."
"I think I know exactly how you feel. This past week has been the least mentally taxing week of my life. Not having to pretend." She smiles at me, happy to know her feelings are understood. "However, there is at least one person here who now knows that you called your teacher mom, and for the record, I like 'just Rose'."
"As long as it's you who knows my secrets, I think I'll be fine."
The park is gorgeous right now. The sun isn't exactly at the top of the sky, allowing peaks of light through the newly blossoming trees. I frame Rose to get the blue sky contrasting her vibrant dress, and highlighting the fresh green grass. The smell of new plants just emerging from the cold winter cements this feeling of new beginnings in my mind. For a good twenty seconds, I forget to keep taking pictures. I sit in silence, only realizing I'm doing so when I hear Rose call out.
"Did you get it? How's it look?" She says, walking back towards me.
"Yeah I think I got a few good ones." She takes the camera and scrolls through the previous pictures. I opted for digital today, seeing as how I'd need to be taking a lot of photos.
"I think these will work, but I want to get a shot or two of you. Since I helped you pick those clothes out, I think it's only fair you model them for me." Rose says, peering through the viewfinder at me.
"Fine, but just one. I'm starving."
