Caroline's Roses

It was almost warm enough to walk outside in the sunlight without a sweatshirt on. In fact, if there wasn't still a cold breeze blowing through the town, Caroline bet she probably would have taken it off.

"I should have followed your lead," she said aloud, looking at Remington's long sleeve black shirt. She herself was wearing a burgundy zip-up.

"That's your own fault," said Remington. They walked side-by-side down one of the quieter streets, their respective routes home exactly the same, save for the fact that Remington lived half as far away as Caroline did. The tall, slender boy walked with his hands shoved in his pockets and his head slightly inclined towards the ground. "You should know Spring around here never knows what it wants to be."

"I relate to that," Caroline snorted, earning a chuckle from her friend.

"So how's the new neighbor situation going?" Remington asked, looking at Caroline.

The girl shrugged her shoulders, casting her eyes at the sandy pavement before her. "Fine, I guess. It's just weird because Alex was the first friend I ever made, and now he's back and I'm not even sure if I like him all that much. He's loud and it's just weird seeing what he's grown into," she answered.

"He seems to fit right in around here," said Remington.

"I know," agreed Caroline. "He's got tons of friends already. I think that he was excited that he remembered me but I'm sure it'll fizzle out. Everyone seems to like him here, I'm pretty positive he'll get so wrapped up in that that he'll realize we aren't really cut out for the same crowd."

"They're probably just excited to hear about someone that lived in a real city," Remington pondered, turning the corner onto his street. Caroline would walk with him until they got to his house, then continue up the hill to the neighborhoods that the town seemed to have forgotten about.

A day had passed since Alex had given Caroline a ride home from school. Their car ride with jack was eventful to say the least, and Alex had invited her to continue hanging out with them before dropping her off - to which she respectfully declined, given that she was so accustomed to going home to her grandmother and her garden every day.

"By the way," said Remington, changing the subject, "You finish that book I told you to read yet?"

Caroline smirked and shook her head. "Not quite. I've got a couple more chapters left. You dying to have it back?" she asked.

"Not yet," the boy scoffed. "A little. But I want you to really enjoy it, it's seriously gonna be one of my favorites. We should go to the book store this weekend."

"Hell yeah. Coffee shop and book store it is," Caroline smiled, looking at him. "I'll be sure to finish that book by Friday!"

"You better!" said Remington, stepping around a puddle that had formed in the street. It was still early enough in the Spring that there was runoff from the snow that had melted into the ground, but wintery days were long behind the little town now.

"I will, I will," she reassured him. "I'm thinking about latte's right now though." She looked up as they reached Remington's house.

The boy began walking backwards in front of her, hands still shoved in his pockets, and stopped at his mailbox with a grin on his face. "Almond milk soy bullshit whatever with mocha?" he joked. "On me this time if you finish the damn book. See you tomorrow Caroline," he said with a laugh.

"See you!" Caroline waved, flipping her hood up to cover her ears as she resigned herself to the walk up the hill, and making a mental note to call him on that promise when she finished the book of poetry that he had lent her - currently sitting on her nightstand at home.

The wind whipped a few of her locks of hair around, but she reveled in the fact that it wasn't icy. It was cloudy today; not good for the perennials that she was caring for. She reminded herself that this was likely one of the last cold days anyways, and that soon she'd be wearing shorts and a T-shirt and daydreaming about water halfway through her walk home.

As she reached the top of the hill, the wind finally stopped, leaving the neighborhood to sit in peace. In almost the same instant however, Caroline turned to see a dark green Jeep rolling up the hill, coming to a stop right beside her, the window slowly rolling down to reveal a grinning Alex, glasses adorning his face.

"Hop in!" he said, beckoning to her and unlocking the doors.

Caroline gave a small smile, but walked around the front of the Jeep to climb into the passenger seat next to Alex. Given the chill in the air, she wasn't going to turn down the free ride.

"Thanks," she said, buckling her seat belt.

"No problem," he said. "And no Jack this time either. He skipped earlier today."

"And you didn't?" teased Caroline.

"Nah," said Alex, chuckling a little. "It's a little too early in the game for me to be pulling stunts like that. I have to hoodwink all the teachers into thinking I'm actually a good kid first, you know?"

Caroline laughed, looking out the window as they turned onto another street. "Sure," she said. "Glad to see you're working to make a good impression. Throwing things at the back of Mr. Mckinnon might not be the best way to go about that though."

Alex chuckled at her remark. "Maybe not. But that class is boring. School is boring. I'm pretty over it honestly," he admitted.

"You just got here!" said Caroline.

"Doesn't mean I've just been ignoring school for the last 8 years Carrie!" he joked. "Don't worry, I've had my fair share of education."

He turned the Jeep onto their street, not slowing for a moment as he barreled over potholes in the road. Granted, this was nothing the all-wheel drive vehicle couldn't handle. Caroline couldn't imagine seeing Alex zoom around New York City in such a back road-friendly car.

"It's so weird driving up this street still," he said as he neared Caroline's driveway.

"Why?" asked the girl.

"Just like, weird nostalgia. I can only kind of remember being a little kid here. But some memories are clear as day. Like the lake and the Apple Orchard," he explained. "Hey, Carrie," he started to say as he pulled into her driveway, shifting the Jeep into park. The girl turned to look at him as he finished his sentence. "Can we go to the lake? Just walk down there? For old time's sake," he grinned.

A prickling, anxious feeling ticked at the back of Caroline's neck. It was rare she ever walked out to where Alex and her used to hang out as little ones, but on the nicer days she still did it. Sometimes her grandmother would even ask to her to walk with her a little past the garden.

"I mean..." she trailed off.

"Come on, it'll be fun," he encouraged.

"Alright," said Caroline. "Just down to the lake and back... I - uh, I have to like, help my grandmother and stuff," she struggled out.

"Just a few minutes!" said Alex gleefully as he hopped out of the Jeep.

Caroline rolled her eyes, grabbing her school bag out of Alex's car before shutting the door behind her. She walked around the house to the back yard with Alex by her side, stopping only to throw the bag towards one of the benches in the garden.

"Looks like you take good care of that," said Alex, looking over at the garden.

"My mom always did," Caroline explained. "So I do it for her. And because it's fun and peaceful. Its just nice watching things grow; they start off looking so dead in the Spring and by the beginning of Summer they're full of life and flowers. And the annuals are fun to plant, because every time you get a sprout it's just exciting. I grow spices too, and it's rewarding getting to use them in the food me and Gram cook."

"You're into it," said Alex, smiling at her.

Caroline shrugged and crossed her arms, blushing a little at herself.

The hill down to the lake was filled with tall grass, still yellow from the cold. It was much easier to walk down there now before the growth thickened out; albeit a little muddy from the melted snow. It would be dry soon enough however.

Since the trees had only small buds on they for leaves, they could see straight down to the lake from the top of the hill. There was a small trail that neighbors and kids had beaten in down to the water. The two teenagers moved onto that path, with Alex leading the way down and Caroline following behind him, pulling the sleeves of her sweater over her cold hands.

"Oh my God, this brings back so much," said Alex. "Running down here when it got hot. And when we wanted to hide from my parents..."

Caroline watched him and chuckled a little. Childhood innocence seemed like a distant daydream to her now. They dipped into the trees that surrounded the lake, keeping on the path that lead to large boulders that formed a very small cliff down to the water. A few plants grew in the cracks, and moss covered a few spots on the white washed stone. There was a tree that had fallen in a storm that formed a bench perfect for sitting on; Caroline could remember doing so with a nice book, long after Alex had left, on a warm Summer's day.

"Wow," said Alex. "Everything looks so different, and yet the same." he came to a halt at the top of one of the rocks, looking out over the water. "Wow."

Caroline carefully stepped up beside him, the wind pushing her hair around once more and causing her to flip her hood up again. She crossed her arms, shielding herself from the weather. When the sun was out, it was markedly prettier. But with the gloom that the clouds cast over the water and the two of them, she could only imagine the images it was churning up in Alex's memory.

"Carrie," he said after a moment. "I still can't believe you're still here. And that I actually moved back and that we're standing here again. Granted we're a little bit taller than I remember," he chuckled.

"Yeah, me either," said Caroline. "I thought you were gone for good the day you left," she admitted.
Alex shrugged, inhaling deeply. "I wanna come back down here when it's warmer out. Go swimming or something maybe."

"You're more than welcome to," said Caroline, scoffing a little. "You live across the street. It's not like the other neighbors don't come down here to go fishing."

"I'm totally going to," Alex laughed, turning to look at her. "Alright," he started after a moment. "Let's head back up. You look like you're about to freeze and I should probably get home."

Caroline nodded, turning to walk back up the path.

For another moment, Alex stood there, looking over the lake and turning his head to stare down the rest of the path that lead around the lake. He ran a hand through his hair, fixing it as much as he could against the wind. Then he cast his eyes back to the ground to watch where he was stepping, and followed his friend back up away from the lake.

---
Whenever they started yelling, Alex would sneak as quietly as he could out the sliding glass door that lead to the backyard. He never wanted to hear more of the conversation than he had to, but lately he had been hearing them talk about leaving, about a place called "New York", and about leaving and hating this place more and more. It scared him to bits, but he ignored it.

Once he was out of the house, he would sneak around to the front and cross the never-busy street to get to Carrie's house. He never went to the front door in case his parents saw, so he would sneak around to the back where the garden was. Carrie was usually there, and if she wasn't, he would go to the back door that lead to the kitchen and knock on the glass.

Today, Carrie was sitting on the bench, watching her mom prune some of the bushes.

"Carrie!" Alex exclaimed.

"Alex!" said the girl, turning to smile at him.

"Hello Alex," said Carrie's mom, smiling at the boy as well. Carrie looked just like her; they had the same smile, the same eyes, the same hair color.

"Can we play?" the little boy asked.

"Let's go to the lake!" decided Carrie, excited to see her friend, even if they had played until the sun had disappeared just yesterday, and every day before it.

Carrie's mother put her hand on her hip, still holding the garden shears in one hand. "Be careful kids. Don't go too far; I'm going to make dinner soon. You're more than welcome to eat with us Alex,"

"Thank you!" said Alex as Carrie got up to stand with him. "Come on!" he said, grabbing her hand and tugging her towards the hill.

In that moment, any memory of his parents fighting was gone to him. It nagged at him, knowing that his mother wasn't happy here. But as long as he could ignore it, maybe it wouldn't matter in the end.

"You saved me!" Carrie piped up suddenly.

"huh?" asked Alex. The pair were running briskly towards the water, careful not to trip over the rocks and the roots that stuck out on the trail that they knew so well.

"Momma was teaching me about which vines you should cut so that lilacs can grow the right way. Which ones will choke out certain things or make everything die - I really don't know. I wanted to play though, I'm so happy you came!" she smiled.

Alex giggled and sped up his run. They were so close to the tree line that circled the entire lake, turning into a much deeper forest the further you went along the trail on either side of the water. Carrie always had way of talking a lot when she was thinking and it made Alex laugh. Once, when they were in kindergarten another girl made fun of Carrie for it, so Alex made it a point to talk as much as he could, for as long as he could, right next to her. The girl's face got bright red, and Carrie laughed until she cried again.

When they reached the water, they finally stopped, panting and struggling to catch their breath.
"So did something happen today?" Carrie asked when she could speak again.

Alex shrugged, walking over to the rocks and sitting down. This was the best place to sit; it was right by the water and you could see the entire lake. It make him feel like he was the king of the world when he stood there.

Carrie followed suit, plopping down right next to him and pushing her long hair out of her face.

"They just kind of fight like this almost every day. I kinda ignored it," he said, grinning at her. "I don't think they even know I'm gone."

"My mom told me that your mom just calls here now every day," said Carrie. "She knows you're not telling your parents whenever you go out."

"You didn't tell her about the fights, did you?" said Alex, his eyes showing his concern.

Carrie swiftly shook her head. "Of course not," she assured him. "You asked me not to."

"Thanks," said Alex, turning back to look at the water and thinking about his parent's argument. He wondered what kind of place New York was, and if he would still be able to see Carrie if they went there.

Carrie reached over and grabbed his hand. "It'll stop," she said smiling. "And you can always just come find me too and we can come here or go pick apples."

"Thanks," said Alex again. "I better be able to come find you. Your mom cooks good dinner," he joked.

Caroline laughed, letting go of his hand to hug her knees into her chest. Alex took the same position, resting his chin on the top of his leg, letting the Summer breeze rustle his hair all over the place, ready to lose track of the day with his best friend.