Status: Active, work on it every now and then.
The Simplest Thing in the World
Thirteen
I woke up the next morning actually excited for school…kind of. I mean, I had friends to look forward to now. That had to count for something, right? I dressed quickly, throwing on my favorite pair of blue jeans and a t-shirt with my old high school’s logo on it. The Fighting Dragonflies. I’m not kidding.
Once again, Harold was busy rushing around the kitchen, but this time there was a significantly less amount of food. I snatched a few pieces of toast and a plate of eggs and sat down just long enough to scarf them down. Within minutes I had tossed my plate in the sink and was bounding out of the apartment. Once down in the lobby, I realized Rosemary was nowhere to be found. I started to panic. What if she really didn’t like me? What if she was just trying to get her kicks by teasing the new girl? Oh, god. My stomach started to churn and my insides felt like jelly.
I missed Zoey. And I missed Sean. I missed my home. I even missed my crazy emotionally unattached aunt and uncle. I had to do it. I had to leave as soon as possible. My birthday was coming up. In only a month and a few days, I would be eighteen. I would be legally free to leave London and go back home. To Sean. And…and we could do what he said. We could get married! We could do it. We’d figure something out… I sat down on bench by the mailboxes, feeling like I could cry.
Instead I pulled out my cell phone, planning on sending a text to Sean when I saw my lock screen. It was seven o’clock, a full half an hour before I was supposed to meet up with Rosemary. Resisting the urge to kick myself, I shook my head as if I were trying to rid it of all the insane thoughts I had moments ago. I couldn’t get married! I’m too young! I put my phone back in my pocket. I would text Sean later. Texting him now would only wake him up, and I know how cranky that boy gets when he doesn’t get enough sleep. So, with that in mind, I rested my head back on the wall and proceeded to take a half hour nap.
“Celia?” A voice resonated throughout my dream.
The closer and closer I came to slipping back into reality, the less and less I could remember about the dream. I hated that. My groggy eyes started to open slowly and adjust to my surroundings. It took me a minute to remember where I was and why I was where I was.
Rosemary stood above me wearing a nice summer dress. She made my ensemble look pitiful. Her short cropped hair hung pleasantly around her face and was held back by a yellow headband that matched her dress. Her eyes looked worried and her mouth was contorted into shape that screamed skepticism.
“How long have you been waiting?” She glanced at her watch (yes, she wore a watch. Something you don’t see too often anymore. It’s a shame isn’t it?). “It is 7:32 isn’t it? My watch isn’t off is it?”
I stood up, swaying a little from the sleep I was still fending off, “No, no! I haven’t been waiting too long. I just got down here myself!” I lied. I know I shouldn’t have lied to her, but I didn’t really want to embarrass myself. Oh, yeah, Rosemary. I’ve been down here for a half hour. I was just so excited to have a friend that I didn’t even check the time! Yeah, that would be sure to scare her off.
“Oh!” She said happily. “Great! Let’s go then.”
I jumped up and grabbed my book bag from under the bench while she adjusted hers on her shoulders, and we headed out the doors. Rosemary took me the same way to school as Charlie had taken me home. I looked up at his building as we passed it and secretly wondered if he was up there somewhere, or if he had already left for school. I assumed he was still home. Charlie didn’t exactly seem like the kind of guy that would get to school fourty-five minutes earlier. No, he seemed more like the type to get up twenty minutes before the first bell and hops around his room with one leg in and one leg out of a pair of pants, struggling to find a clean shirt and his shoes. That was the sort of guy I had Charlie pegged as.
“Sage and Parsley go to the University here in London. They’re only about a twenty minute trolley ride away. I remember when they were looking into universities that they kept looking at ones close by, and I used to scold them about it. Why would they choose a school so close? Isn’t the whole point of University to get away from your family and go out living life as an individual? Personally, I want to go to school in America. You know, new experiences.”
Rosemary had been rattling on for a few blocks, and I immediately felt awful as I had evidently tuned out of the conversation.
“What do you want to do after high school?”
I shifted my bag, “Oh, well I…I don’t really know yet.”
“No? Nothing that interests you?”
I shook my head. I mean, sure things interested me, but I still couldn’t fathom doing just one thing for the rest of my life. It seemed depressing. Not to mention boring. Rosemary on the other hand knew exactly what she wanted to do.
“I really just want to get out there and explore different places. Maybe do some volunteer work in third world countries, but my ultimate goal is to be a doctor. Not a nurse. A doctor. I think I can do it. I make good grades, and I am very—“
This continued throughout the whole walk to school. One thing that I learned about Rosemary that morning, she loved to talk. But…that was okay with me because I liked to listen. The more I got to listen to other people, the less I had to talk.
Once again, Harold was busy rushing around the kitchen, but this time there was a significantly less amount of food. I snatched a few pieces of toast and a plate of eggs and sat down just long enough to scarf them down. Within minutes I had tossed my plate in the sink and was bounding out of the apartment. Once down in the lobby, I realized Rosemary was nowhere to be found. I started to panic. What if she really didn’t like me? What if she was just trying to get her kicks by teasing the new girl? Oh, god. My stomach started to churn and my insides felt like jelly.
I missed Zoey. And I missed Sean. I missed my home. I even missed my crazy emotionally unattached aunt and uncle. I had to do it. I had to leave as soon as possible. My birthday was coming up. In only a month and a few days, I would be eighteen. I would be legally free to leave London and go back home. To Sean. And…and we could do what he said. We could get married! We could do it. We’d figure something out… I sat down on bench by the mailboxes, feeling like I could cry.
Instead I pulled out my cell phone, planning on sending a text to Sean when I saw my lock screen. It was seven o’clock, a full half an hour before I was supposed to meet up with Rosemary. Resisting the urge to kick myself, I shook my head as if I were trying to rid it of all the insane thoughts I had moments ago. I couldn’t get married! I’m too young! I put my phone back in my pocket. I would text Sean later. Texting him now would only wake him up, and I know how cranky that boy gets when he doesn’t get enough sleep. So, with that in mind, I rested my head back on the wall and proceeded to take a half hour nap.
“Celia?” A voice resonated throughout my dream.
The closer and closer I came to slipping back into reality, the less and less I could remember about the dream. I hated that. My groggy eyes started to open slowly and adjust to my surroundings. It took me a minute to remember where I was and why I was where I was.
Rosemary stood above me wearing a nice summer dress. She made my ensemble look pitiful. Her short cropped hair hung pleasantly around her face and was held back by a yellow headband that matched her dress. Her eyes looked worried and her mouth was contorted into shape that screamed skepticism.
“How long have you been waiting?” She glanced at her watch (yes, she wore a watch. Something you don’t see too often anymore. It’s a shame isn’t it?). “It is 7:32 isn’t it? My watch isn’t off is it?”
I stood up, swaying a little from the sleep I was still fending off, “No, no! I haven’t been waiting too long. I just got down here myself!” I lied. I know I shouldn’t have lied to her, but I didn’t really want to embarrass myself. Oh, yeah, Rosemary. I’ve been down here for a half hour. I was just so excited to have a friend that I didn’t even check the time! Yeah, that would be sure to scare her off.
“Oh!” She said happily. “Great! Let’s go then.”
I jumped up and grabbed my book bag from under the bench while she adjusted hers on her shoulders, and we headed out the doors. Rosemary took me the same way to school as Charlie had taken me home. I looked up at his building as we passed it and secretly wondered if he was up there somewhere, or if he had already left for school. I assumed he was still home. Charlie didn’t exactly seem like the kind of guy that would get to school fourty-five minutes earlier. No, he seemed more like the type to get up twenty minutes before the first bell and hops around his room with one leg in and one leg out of a pair of pants, struggling to find a clean shirt and his shoes. That was the sort of guy I had Charlie pegged as.
“Sage and Parsley go to the University here in London. They’re only about a twenty minute trolley ride away. I remember when they were looking into universities that they kept looking at ones close by, and I used to scold them about it. Why would they choose a school so close? Isn’t the whole point of University to get away from your family and go out living life as an individual? Personally, I want to go to school in America. You know, new experiences.”
Rosemary had been rattling on for a few blocks, and I immediately felt awful as I had evidently tuned out of the conversation.
“What do you want to do after high school?”
I shifted my bag, “Oh, well I…I don’t really know yet.”
“No? Nothing that interests you?”
I shook my head. I mean, sure things interested me, but I still couldn’t fathom doing just one thing for the rest of my life. It seemed depressing. Not to mention boring. Rosemary on the other hand knew exactly what she wanted to do.
“I really just want to get out there and explore different places. Maybe do some volunteer work in third world countries, but my ultimate goal is to be a doctor. Not a nurse. A doctor. I think I can do it. I make good grades, and I am very—“
This continued throughout the whole walk to school. One thing that I learned about Rosemary that morning, she loved to talk. But…that was okay with me because I liked to listen. The more I got to listen to other people, the less I had to talk.