Chapter 11: A dozen dark roses

It was Monday. Gossip had already flown that Jojo and Rosie were going out, so they just went along with it. Mono and his new girlfriend, the same light green who from before, had already gone to class, and Orrin was running for his life with a camera, yet somehow laughing, from an extremely angry Mar, and bright red Nirro. You guess what happened!

"Will he EVER learn?" Laughed Rosie. Jojo shook his head, smiling.

"Aw, come on, Mar! What would you have done if you caught your brother and his secret girlfriend..."

"CAUGHT would have been on accident! YOU happened to have a camera with you, that's not suspicious at ALL!" Mar yelled, sarcastically.

"M, I*O! M*W*T*K*M!" Orrin screamed. It meant, "Musa, it's Orrin! Mar wants to kill me!" He'd been using that code a LOT lately.

"MAR! Leave Orrin alone!

"But Musa! He..." Mar stopped, snatched the camera, and pointed to it. Looking at Nirro's red face, Musa guessed what had happened.

"Oh, you know how he is. Besides, what would you do if you caught..."

"IT'S NOT CAUGHT UNLESS IT'S AN ACCIDENT! HE HAD A CAMERA!"

"Can I at least have the camera back?" Orrin asked, in a small voice. "It's the only one I have," Mar looked at him, then back at the camera. She pushed a few buttons, deleting the offending picture. She handed the camera back.

"Here. Just remember, next time, you'll get it back in pieces," He took it, gulped, nodded, and fled. Rosie laughed again, and opened her locker. A small paper floated down. She picked it up. It was a song! She tucked it away and headed for class, smiling.

When lunch time rolled around, she went and sat with her friends, and boyfriend. But an unlikely who came over to her just as she sat down.

"Hi," Tiffany said quietly.

"Ummm... Hey," Rosie replied. Tiffany seemed... Different.

"I went to your concert last night, and... Ummm... It was really good,"

"Thanks,"

"I... I've been a jerk. I was just so jealous, and... I shouldn't have treated you the way I did. I... I'm sorry," Rosie blinked. TIFFANY, apologizing?

"We both are," Stacey said, coming up from behind her friend. "Anyone who can sing like that, in front of so many people, and still be modest, and sweet, and caring, well, shouldn't have to put up with whos like us. We're sorry," Rosie got up from the table, and her friends did the same. Tiffany looked up from the ground.

"Friends?" She asked. Rosie gave her one of her famous smiles, and hugged her.

"Friends," She said. Orrin, Nirro, Mono, Mar, and Jojo closed their two former enemies into a group hug. Mono's new girlfriend, disgusted, threw a rock that she somehow managed to find on the floor at him, signaling she was through, after only three days. Mono looked sad, but Stacey put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He smiled at her.

"You're part of the family now!" Orrin cried. Musa, who was always in the lunch room when they were, walked up with a smile.

"Yes, you are!" She said, hugging them. Orrin was watching Tiffany intently, and Mono elbowed him with a grin.

When school was out, all nine friends said goodbye, and left. On the bus, Tiffany sat next to Orrin, while Nirro sat alone, smiling as he texted Mar. Jojo and Rosie sat together, as always.

"You've got something on your mind. What're you planning?" She asked. Jojo smirked, and kissed her. When she got home, she was still in the clouds.

"Rosie, this was in the mail for you. Hmm, 12 roses is supposed to mean love," Her mother said, smiling. She was holding a dark green, crystalline vase, in which a dozen darkly colored roses were neatly arranged. They were absolutely beautiful. She brought it in her room, and put it on the dresser next to her bed. She looked at the note. It read, Thank you for everything. Love, anonymous musical genius.

She smiled, and looked up at the observatory. Jojo didn't have to be mayor when he grew up anymore, and he was happy. That made her happy, as well.

That night, she heard the very same song from the paper in her locker playing. She got up with a smile, opened the window, and sang along.

Do you hear me? I'm talking to you,

Across the water, across the deep blue ocean,

Under the open sky, oh my, baby I'm trying,

Boy, I hear you in my dreams,

I feel your whisper across the sea,

I keep you with me in my heart,

You make it easier when life gets hard,

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend,

Lucky to have been where I have been,

Lucky to be coming home again,

Ooh, ooh, ooh,

They don't know how long it takes,

Waiting for love like this,

Every time we say goodbye,

I wish we had one more kiss,

I'll wait for you I promise you, I will,

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend,

Lucky to have been where I have been,

Lucky to be coming home again,

Lucky we're in love in every way,

Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed,

Lucky to be coming home someday,

And so I'm sailing through the sea,

To an island where we'll meet,

You'll hear the music fill the air,

I'll put a flower in your hair,

Through the breezes through the trees,

Move so pretty you're all I see,

As the world keeps spinning 'round,

You hold me right I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend,

Lucky to have been where I have been,

Lucky to be coming home again,

Lucky we're in love in every way,

Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed,

Lucky to be coming home someday,

Ooh, ooh,

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.

And the neighbors didn't even bother to quiet her.