Rosie and I met in our second year of highschool.
I had been summoned by the disciplinary committee, the fiercest and most cruel old ladies to ever exist. I sat quietly in the committee lobby awaiting my sentence. Deep in thought, I didn't notice when someone took the seat beside me.
"Hi."
The raven haired girl whispered .
".. hey."
"What are you in for?"
I hesitated a little, "creation of 'illegal literature'."
"Wait really?! I'm in for possession of illegal literature."
Both our eyes lit up.
I scooted closer . " I was caught by Sister Agatha writing an alien erotica called-"
"Dominated!?" She blurted incredulously.
"Y,yeah?"
"No freaking way! You wrote that!? That's the novel I was caught reading-"
"Ahem!"
A stern voice interrupted our lively chatter.
We cautiously raised our eyes to meet a not-so-happy looking Sister Agatha.
"Miss Rosie and Miss Chloe," she adjusted her thin spectacles. " I see you have not yet reflected on your actions. Reading those corrupt books is not only against our prestigious academy policy, but also a means of mocking God himself!!"
I tried my best not to roll my eyes at the rest of her lecture. In the end were both punished to write 300 self-reflectory reports.
But that didn't bother to o much, I had acquired a new friend afterall.
Rosie and I clicked almost immediately. She liked reading stories and I liked writing them.
The rest of our highschool days were filled with us mischievously skipping classes and hidding in the furthest corner of our library. Where I would tell her all sorts of stories and she would engagingly listen, laughing along and even shedding some years on the emotional scenarios.
I felt utterly and completely fulfilled as an author. I had finally found someone to share the diverse worlds I created in my mind with. Of course I had other people actively following up on my novel. But the writing process took so long, given that I was handwriting it and not to mention the evil fun police(Sister Agatha). And none of my school mates were as obsessed with stories as we were.
I was the ink and she was my paper. Rosie was also convinced that we were soulmates, and rightfully so.
Even so, we did have a few differences. Perhaps too caught up in my imagination, my dating life was pretty much non-existent. To me, no real man could ever reach the standards my fictional crushes had set. Rosie on the other hand, switched boyfriends every week.
Her current relationship was the most long standing so far, with a new record of 3 weeks. I was yet to meet the lucky guy being that he attended a different campus.
Rosie spoke of the man as though he was a literal Greek god plucked straight from Mount Olympus.
"He's sooooo hot! Like seriously hot, like so hot one look from him and your panties melt right off."
I burst out laughing before quickly slapping a hand over my mouth. That earned me a mean glare from the campus librarian.
We quickly scurried out of there barely containing our giggles.
"And he's a literature major too, ah! I'm in love."
I cocked an eyebrow, " weren't you inlove(again)just last month?"
" No, this time I'm in love love. Like with a capital L . "
"Yeah right."
Rosie suddenly stopped before abruptly turning to me.
" You have to come and see him!"
She continued before I could turn her down.
" He is going to be in charge of presentations for an elective poetry class on behalf of his professor. And before you refuse, at least show up for the poems. Maybe it'll inspire you out of you author's block."
I chewed my bottom lip considering her words.
"Come on, Chloe my love. It'll be fun!" She gently nudged my shoulder and I couldn't help a smile.
"Fine."
**
Dark rain clouds loomed over me signaling an oncoming rain storm.
[Chloe where the heck are you??]
[??]
[Did you get lost?]
[The presentations have already started]
[Hurry up]
[CHLOE???]
My phone vibrated as more notifications from Rosie kept coming.
I decided not to answer since the auditorium doors were right in front of me. I burst through the entrance in a rush, only to find myself facing a crowd of seated students.
Shit.
Heat rushed to my face as I realized that I had accidentally interrupted an ongoing presentation. Luckily I spotted Rosie seated near the front, and looking like she was trying her best not to laugh at me. I squeezed through the rows, muttering apologies to the couple of toes I stepped on along the way.
"You definitely got lost didn't you?" Rosie asked in a half chuckle.
I had, but I didn't want to admit it.
I suddenly felt a piercing gaze on the side of my face. My eyes trailed to the front where a man—no, a fallen archangel was sat at the professor's desk.
I found myself entranced by the most striking pair of grey eyes. Half opened, as if he deemed everything far beneath him and terribly boring. Everything else about him was dark, from the locks framing his sculptured face to his neat yet simple black suit.
A hand suddenly yanked me back to my seat. I hadn't even realized I was almost standing.
"Where are you going?"
Rosie's concerned voice snapped me back to reality.
"I,I ...umh..."
"Are you feeling okay? You didn't even hear me calling your name earlier."
" No, I mean yes- no, wait w, what were you saying?"
I stammered.
"I was asking if you brought an umbrella, the forecast said it'll rain soon."
My eyes unconsciously dragged back to the beautiful man, only to find that he was already looking at me. I quickly turned away my pulse skyrocketing.
"No I didn't, I forgot-"
"Oh right!" Rosie cut me short," let me show you my boyfriend, Marcus Lockhart."
Oh right, the boyfriend. I had entirely forgotten about why I was even there.
"The handsome guy seated right there." Her voice could barely contain her excitement.
I felt my stomach slowly twist into uncomfortable knots as Rosie pointed towards the front of the hall, at my fallen archangel.
"Oh."
Oblivious to my expression, she continued rambling on about him though I heard none of it. The ringing in my ears made me temporarily deaf.
What is this disgusting feeling?
I stared at the bag on my lap for what seemed like a second and an eternity at the same time.
"Chloe?"
I raised my head.
"You are seriously so out of it today. What are you waiting for? Let's go say hi, the class is over."
"Huh?" I looked around and only then did I realise that people were leaving.
I tried to steady my breath as I followed Rosie to the front. I didn't dare raise my eyes.
Soon after, a mahogany desk appeared in my line of sight. Atop it were elegant fingers entwined together.
"Babe," Rosie purred," you kept looking at me during the lecture. Did you miss me that much?"
I felt like I'd been slapped across the face. I couldn't help the pang of disappointment.
Of course he was looking at her you dummy. Stupid Chloe. Stupid stupid Chloe.
" You brought a friend."
A low, velvety voice responded ignoring her previous question.
"Yeah, this is my best friend Chloe. The one I told you about, we've been friends since high school."
The sudden attention urged me to raise my head — big mistake.
Up close, his gaze was even more intense. I had heard about people with dead eyes, about how their gaze felt as if they could see through your deepest darkest secrets.
"Chloe.." He leaned back in his seat. " You must also then be a huge fan of Rosie, I presume."
I blinked, confused.
"Huh?"
"Her novels, I mean." He calmly explained. " I'm particularly fond of her first novel, 'Dominated'. I heard it was your favorite pick too."
I turned to Rosie expecting to see the same puzzled expression I had, but instead she offered me a guilty smile.
I stood there dumbfounded.
Dominated was my novel.
I wrote it.
And I vividly remember getting into trouble for that very reason.
What the heck is going on?
Rosie started gently tugging me away from Marcus.
"Chloe's not feeling good today. I'll take her home first." She hollered as we neared the exit, "talk to you later!"
**
As soon as we left the campus grounds Rosie finally let go of my hand.
"I am so sorry ." Rosie flashed me her saddest puppy eyes.
"Can you tell me just what exactly is going on? Why does your boyfriend think you wrote my novel?"
I pushed down the growing unease that bubbled in my chest.
" Okay, let me explain ." Rosie took a deep breath. " So, Marcus ended up reading your novel when I lent it to some chic from my eng lit class. Later he came looking for the author, and I kinda - sorta- may have-liedthatitwasmepleasedon'tgetmad....."
"You did what?!"
"I know! I know!" She palmed her face. " That was really low of me, and I feel so bad for taking credit for your work. But I was going to tell you, I swear! Marcus just—beat me to it. But I really was going to come clean!"
She desperately grabbed my hands.
" Please believe me Chloe! I wouldn't have done that if didn't fall in love at first sight."
'love at first sight? I nearly scoffed. There was no such thing—
Really? A tiny voice asked in my head,
can you really say after today?
My stomach churned with a emotion too putrid it nearly made me gag.
Jealousy
" Just give me a week to gather up my courage and confess the truth to Marcus." Her shoulders drooped and It broke my heart to see her like that.
"He might break up with me.." she added quietly.
I felt disgusted at the relief that washed over me at her statement.
"Okay, I'll give you a week to come clean. I'm not mad at you" I assured her," but I'd like some space-just to clear my head."
"Okay," she nodded ," I'll give you some space. Just call me if you want to talk ..or something."
I rejected Rosie's every offer to walk me to the subway.
It was basically drizzling by the time I got there. The train wasn't as crowded since it was a Saturday, so I easily found a my favorite sitting spot. I'd usually scribble new story ideas or continue writing my ongoing novel(if I had any) in order to pass time during the commute.
I reflexively took out my notebook and pen only to stare at the blank page for minutes on end.
"A writer's block."
I almost jumped out of my skin at the familiar voice beside me.
Marcus scanned the opened blank page, leaning in so close I could smell his cologne-a cool minty and spice.
" I have seen it before, but never this severe."
" W,what are you doing here?"
"On the subway? going home as everyone else I'd assume."
Silence~
"Ouch! I'm hurt. You mean to tell me you haven't seen me on the 6pm train before?"
His playful tone threw me off guard . I'd thought he'd be the kind to only speak in a formal tone.
"You ride this train often?"
There was no way I'd forget a face like his.
"Often enough to know you've been sitting in that specific spot for the last three months . But recently all you do is stare blankly into an empty page until you alight."
"You sound like a stalker." I mumbled.
A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.
" And if I am?"
Silence ~
" I'm joking, Chloe."
He chuckled and I found myself smiling along.
"So, how did you and Rosie meet?"
My smiled died down as fast as it had arrived.
I didn't know what version of the story she had given him. Even if I was a little upset with her, I wasn't planning on outing her either.
"In high school." I tried to make my answer as vague as possible.
" In the disciplinary committee lobby, right?"
"Y, yeah.."
" I've been meaning to ask, why was your school so against fictional novels?"
Perhaps due to a random wave of nostalgia I found myself speaking more.
"The school was founded in a monestary, so some of the older teachers (nuns) were still old fashioned . Not all them though. Actually it was just this specific one.."
The memory of one nasty tempered nun came to mind- Sister Agatha.
" It must have been hard hiding your novel from them."
"I got caught actually. It was pretty bad-"
I froze mid statement.
Shit!
Shit! Shit!!!!
I cautiously turned to face a very smug
looking Marcus.
" What I meant was, umh, well, you see..."
"Yes, go on." His smile widened.
"Of course it wasn't my novel, I just agreed with you since,.well, Rosie and I are so close that her novel just basically feels like it's mine—because we are so close and all-"
"Chloe." He interrupted me with a soft smile.
"I already knew."