Scattered Black Roses

I got dressed and packed the second set of clothes. This time I remembered to bring a pair of black sneakers with skulls on the laces. The boots from yesterday were stashed under my bed so I wouldn’t even think of wearing them soon. Bruises were all over my feet and heels. Luckily, the bruises weren’t so dark that they’d stay for a long time.

My phone started to vibrate and Matt’s name appeared on the screen. With a sigh, I flipped the phone open and said “Matt.”

“Hey, we’re outside.” I could hear the roar of the engine in the background.

“No, Matt, just go on to school without me. I want to drive my car today. In fact, I’m driving the rest of the week.”

“Did I do something wrong? It was what I said wasn’t-”

“It’s not you. It’s me and my idiot ways. I’ll see you at school. Bye Matt,” I hung up and grabbed my dusty car keys from my key rack. I went downstairs, grabbed a pear, and walked into the garage. As usual, my little ocean blue BMW was covered by a black sheet. It was brand new, and by “brand new” I mean I literally just got it a month ago.

The cover came off easily. Sure there was a little dust on it, but it did a good job protecting my car. It’s funny that the simplest things could do so much.

I folded up the car cover and got in my car. My backpack was heavy as I hauled it into the passenger side. The zipper wouldn’t close all the way and it bugged me to no end. When I took a closer look, I realized a CD was sticking out of it and the reason for the zipper trouble. I took it out and realized it was the band on Derrick’s shirt the other day. With a shrug of my shoulders, I slid the CD into the built-in CD player. Immediately, the sounds of the electric guitar surrounded me. Hmm, this is not a bad sounding group.

At last, I finally took out and made it to school in almost no time. I’m not sure why, but I parked in the back parking lot, despite the fact that Benn had been there more than once. My gut was telling me to confront Benn. What kind of an idiot was I? Well maybe fate was just trying to mess with me because right then Benn got out the car parked next to mine. Uh oh.

Benn slung his black backpack over his shoulder and closed the door behind him. There was something different about him. He seemed really tense...

“Benn!” I called as I got out of the car and rushed towards him.

He turned around and I could swear I saw shock in his eyes. “What?”

“We need to talk,” I grabbed his arm. Then I felt scratches on my fingertips. Some felt like they were deeper than others.

He turned away as if looking for something or someone.

This stopped him in his tracks. He turned around with no expression, but something was in his eyes. Benn walked past me, but grabbed my arm and led me towards the forest.

“Where are you taking me?” I asked stupidly. I guessed I was freaking out because of how close we almost were. Almost.

He said nothing as we stopped right before a clearing. There was nothing but trees around us. Hopefully, it wasn’t the druggie clearing.

“This isn’t the same place as last time,” he leaned against a tree just like when I spotted him as Rena carried me into school. Nostalgic much.

“Well why’d you bring me here?” I questioned.

“We need to talk, right?” Benn didn’t look at me.

He made talking difficult. “Yeah, but…”

“Rose, I saw what you did. You’re not innocent as you pretend to be. Sure, you’re a klutz sometimes, but you’re not as sweet as everyone says you are.”

I scoffed at his remark.

“People change, Rose. If you think everything stays the same in your world-”

“You don’t think I know that? I’ve been through enough already-”

“Is that really what you think? You think you’ve been through enough?!” he came towards me.

I took a step back because of the anger in his voice. Maybe confronting him wasn’t the brightest idea. Then again, this could be a lot worse and involve the druggies. “You talk as if you know tough times.” I no longer looked at his face.

Benn cornered me up against a tree and put his face close to mine, “I’ve been through a hell of a lot more than you would ever know.” He pushed me roughly against the tree; put a hand next to my head and used his other hand to tilt my chin up.

Before I knew it, Benn’s mouth was against mine. Oh my gosh, Benn kissed me! I could hear the fireworks exploding and the crowd cheering in my head while I closed my eyes and enjoyed every moment. Actually that’s what I imagined, but honestly he was a good kisser.

Slowly, Benn pulled away with a smirk on his lips. There was a look of amusement in his dark eyes. Oh my god, tell me I didn’t blush!

“What?” I asked in a daze.

“My mom’s a prostitute, my older brother committed suicide, and my dad is in jail. Is that enough for you?”

I was speechless. How could I possibly reply to that? That does suck! Why was I such a dork?

“That’s right, it’s worse than you thought huh?” he moved his hand and started to move away.

I don’t know why I suddenly wrapped my arms around his neck, pulled him closer than before, and kissed him roughly. His arms wrapped around my waist as he kissed me back. Surprisingly, he didn’t push me away or anything. But, even more surprising, I pushed him away. What the hell?