Please Don't Cross Me, I Asked Nicely

When we reached the tree, we sat under the humongous thing. It was larger than I expected and I even enjoyed the shade it provided, which was well more than necessary.

We sat in silence for a moment, taking in the scenery. Nick ran a hand through his curls just as a breeze went through the wind. He was stressed about something.

I could just... tell.

“What were you doing earlier in the store with the breathing thing?” he asked, his eyes boring into mind.

I opened my mouth to speak, then shut it again, contemplating whether or not I should tell Nick the truth.

I sighed deeply before speaking.

“Nick, you don't need to worry about that. I'm fine. I-”, but he cut across me.

“And why not because frankly, you don't seem fine. I can choose whether or not I want to worry about you, so spill”, he said firmly, his eyes burning with such intensity.

I sighed once more.

“You want the whole truth?” I asked.

“Yes”, he replied, almost without hesitation.

“Ever since I was young, about 9 at the earliest, I've always had these heart pains. They hurt a lot and occur at random times without warning”, I began, allowing my words to process in Nick's mind.

“Have you been to a doctor? Why do you get these pains?” he asked after a moment.

I closed my eyes and reopened them staring to my right.

“Yes, I have and they said it's due to unexplained reasons”, I answered.

“Does anyone in your family have this condition or asthma or something?” he asked.

Now he sounds like a doctor instead of a concerned friend.

“No, Nick. Just me”, I answered hesitantly with a sigh.

“Th-that's strange”, he said, wrinkling his brows in concentration.

“Yeah. I'll be fine”, I tried to convince him.

“When was the last time you had an attack like that? Does anyone know that happens to you?” he asked quickly.

My patience finally thinned.

“Nick, I told you I'm fine. Jeez. Just drop it, OK?!” I yelled angrily, standing as I attempted to walk away.

Another pain went through my heart. I stopped and started doing my breathing routines.

Nick rushed to me, obviously hearing me.

“Are you OK?” he asked, taking my hand, stroking my cheek a little.

I nodded quickly, repeating my breathing from earlier.

“Yeah. I'm fine”, I lied.

I continued walking, the pain slightly subsiding. I could hear the grass crunching behind me, indicating Nick was following me.

“You're not fine, Rose”, he said, placing his hands on my shoulders as he stood in front of me, causing to come to an abrupt halt.

“Nick, just leave me alone, OK? I don't need your concern so just leave me alone!” I yelled, taking off afterwards.

There was nothing but the wind blowing in my ears as I thought of the situation over and over again. I was wrong. My actions were uncalled for.....

I looked at my Iphone, reading the time. It was almost noon. I glanced at the dorm building, going up the stairs 2 at a time, my heart pounding in my chest, only a slight pain in it.

Pulling out my key, I attempted to unlock the door until a hand grabbed my own, the person pushing me against the wall.

“I can't believe you had the nerve to tell Melanie about all of that”, Jake said in a low tone.

“Whatever. People need to know how Vic is before they become friends with her”, I said in a harsh whisper.

His cold, brown eyes bored into mine.

“Just watch your back, Rose. You might regret those words one day”, he threatened.

“I don't regret anything besides being friends with you and dating Brian”, I replied coldly.

“You're full of shit, Rose. You know that. Every day after everything happened, you cut Vic off, not vice versa”, he retorted, partially ignoring my words.

“Excuse me?! Vic must have told you a lot of lies because she's the one who isolated herself from me. I isolated myself from everyone because I couldn't trust anyone anymore. You need to get your facts straight before confronting me with bullshit”, I said in an angry tone, my eyes hard like Jake's.

He rolled his eyes before chuckling.

“You were always the feisty one. Why couldn't you ever give me a chance instead of Brian?” he asked, his hand trailing on my left cheek.

I grimaced.

His hand then traveled to my neck, followed by my collarbone, while the other kept me against the wall. I started squirming, trying to slip out of his grasp.

“Aww. Don't be like that, Rose”, he whispered.

I spotted an opportunity after quickly allowing my mind to relax.

Kicking him where the sun doesn't shine, he fell to the ground, groaning, releasing me.

“Maybe you should keep that in your pants and never try that again”, I said.

Turning my back on him, I grabbed my key from the floor, quickly unlocking the door and shutting it behind me.

I heard the shower running, now realizing that Mel didn't hear anything that happened between Jake and I.

I pulled out my phone, staring at it.

Sighing, I pressed 2 on my speed dial.

The phone rung twice before anyone answered.

“Hi, Rose! My baby girl, well, one of them at least. How are you?” my mom asked.

“I'm fine, Mom”, I lied, but her voice put a smile on my face.

“Are you sure, sweetie? My radar is going off”, she replied with a light chuckle.

“Yeah, well... Ms. Thorne wanted me to share a room with Vic, but-” she cut me off.

“-but the two of you don't get alone, so you declined her offer. I understand, Rosie, but the two of you will have to get along again eventually. Just...keep trying, Rose. For me?” she asked.

I opened my mouth to speak, but mom started coughing. I froze.

“Are you OK, Mom?” I asked.

“Yeah, honey, I-” she got out before coughing some more.

“M-mom”, I stuttered. She calmed down a little and began regulating her breathing.

“Rose, honey. I'm going to call you back some other time, OK? Text me”, she said sweetly.

“O-OK, Mom. I love you”, I said quietly.

“I love you, too, sweetheart”, she replied. The line went dead.

The ringing of an alarm clock went off on my phone.

I read my memo.

Meet Vic at 6:00

Checking the time, it read 12:45.

“Rose? Is that you?” Mel asked still inside the bathroom.

“Yeah. It's me”, I replied.

I didn't want to tell Mel about everything. Screw this.

No. Not 6. Now.

I typed before hitting send.

“I'm going out. Come look for me at the gym if I don't meet you in the cafeteria in ten OK?” I called to her.

“OK”, she replied.

I quickly changed out of my skirt to a pair of dark blue, denim jeans. I packed my Iphone in my front pocket.

I had a backup plan just in case Vic tried something.

Picking up my key, I went out the door without a backward glance.