Rose Blossom

Rose Blossom

Copy Right

© 2010 Renee Travis. All rights reserved.

First Edition

ISBN
:
978-1468029505 

Dedication:

This is book I for mom, from her Best and Brightest, without her I would not have anything.

This book is for every little girl out there who put on a pair of vampire fangs and went, “Booya! This is SO what I want to be when I grow up!”

This book is also for my Sunshine girl, may she find her way in the dark.

Chapter 1

              The heart is a mystical thing. It keeps us alive by pumping blood to every part of our body. It is a strong organ which scientists say has no memory. But the heart is also a thing of great speculation and power; spoken, written, and even put into songs, by many great authors, singers, actors and poets around the world. The heart is supposed to be the center of love, feeling, loneliness and heartbreak.

             
And it was that organ, that great red Valentine's Day sought-after-object that was at present causing me trouble.

             
"Rho are you EVEN paying attention to me?" My best friend Mel, who was nothing like her name, punched me gently in the arm.

             
"No," I muttered, eyes still trained on what had caught my attention, causing my heartbeat to skip and sputter, literally.

             
Mel spun around and I groaned a little, because if my staring wasn't obvious enough she had to intensify the embarrassment. "Ooh, I see," Mel grinned and turned back to me, humor and worry lighting up her bright green eyes. She stepped in front of me blocking my view of....him.

             
My eyes darted up to her face, a small hint of panic making my heart flutter even harder, "please be quiet Mel, please, I don’t want him to hear us," I practically begged.

             
The he we were talking about was the new boy in school. He was handsome and smart and so out of my league, I knew I didn’t stand a chance with him. Provided my parents would even let me take that, or any chance, which I knew they wouldn't.

             
Julian and his younger sister Avalon had started attending our school last year; and they were still the topic of some pretty healthy gossip since our town was so small. Newcomers were always looked upon with mistrust, fear and sometimes, awe.

             
Mel's smile dimmed a little and she reached up, pushing a strand of her shoulder-length blonde hair behind one ear, a nervous habit she'd had our whole friendship, "Rho c'mon, it's only Julian Daramonth. He's pretty OK, I have him in Botany, he's nice."

             
"To you maybe, but you also play sports and actually get to interact at school. I'm just the girl behind the book in his English class." I rolled my eyes and leaned against my locker, eyes trailing back to where he had been standing, but was now an empty spot. I sighed; I took every chance I got to look at him, or to scribble his name in my notebook, just like in junior high, according to Mel.

             
"Just say 'hi!' " Mel said, exasperated, linking an arm through mine and leading me down the pale orange and yellow school hallway.

             
Las Plumas High School in Oroville, California was pretty typical. Boring and full of the same cliques, teachers and classes of every other high school in America. Ours just seemed to be in a smaller town with smaller people and even smaller minds.

             
"Just say 'hi,' and have my mom have a heart attack when someone tells her that I was talking to a boy?" I pitched my voice higher and mimicked my mom, "Boys lead to touching..."

             
Mel laughed and cut me off, "and kissing, and kissing leads to..." both our voices lowered and we whispered together, "sex."

             
We giggled together and kept walking, "Well whatever, talk to him or don’t talk to him, but I have to go to class," Mel said as we came to the end of the hallway, where the doors opened to the softball field.

              As seniors, we got to choose our last class, anything we wanted, so Mel took an extra PE class versus a regular, dull elective. She spent the last hour of school practicing her pitching; Mel was the star pitcher of the varsity softball team. I, on the other hand went to a mind-numbing class where all I did, as usual, was read while other students did homework, played board games and chatted. It's not that I was a snob or unpopular, but I kept pretty much to myself and had a small circle of friends.

             
I watched as Mel pushed through the doors, disappearing outside. I would have given anything to have joined her outside in the fresh air, playing, running...doing something.....athletic.
              "Why are ya looking so bummed?" asked a rough teasing voice near my ear. Startled, I jumped and whipped around, my heartbeat skipped as I focused on who had come up next to me.

             
"Athol," I groaned and smiled. Athol and I had gone to school together just as long as Mel and I had; we'd grown up together and had, at one time, lived down the street from each other.

             
Athol was short for his age, but was well-built, with light brown hair and pretty hazel eyes. He was an attractive troublemaker.

             
"Sorry Rho, didn't mean to startle you," he laughed, his eyes crinkling.

             
"Dork. You need something?" I asked, my hand resting on my chest as I took a deep calming breath.

             
"Nah, just saw you standing here and thought I'd come bug you," Athol shrugged. He grabbed my bag from me and slung it over one shoulder, bowing awkwardly, he winked, "May I walk you to class fair lady?"

             
I shook my head and grabbed back my bag. "Get up Athol, sheesh." I rolled my eyes, "and you can walk me to class if you really want to, I guess."

             
What I thought might have been hurt passed over his face and was gone in a second as he gave me a lopsided grin.

             
"I was just teasing Rho, you know my last class is woodshop, in the opposite direction of Study Skills," He looked toward the doors we were standing next to and I was again filled with a sense of longing to have a class not so....boring.

             
"OK, well see you Monday, Athol," I told him. He walked away, turning briefly to give me a silly salute and then disappeared just like Mel had.

             
I walked into class and looked around; I was the first one there. Study Skills was in a small classroom, painted in what I thought the worst shade of brown in the whole school. It smelled faintly of pipe tobacco, as Mr. Larson was known to sneak away more than the stoner boys to smoke his pipe in the teacher's lounge.

             
I chose a desk in the back, like normal, and sat down, pulling out a battered and worn copy of Bram Stoker's
Dracula
.  I had finished all my new books, but mom said I wasn't allowed into a book store for a couple of weeks; too exciting for me, apparently. Just thinking about it was enough to make me roll my eyes and wish I was an orphan.

             
I was completely engrossed in the part where Mina tells them she has been forced to drink Dracula's blood, when a soft male voice spoke to me. I looked up and my heart, that betraying organ, beat so loudly, I was positive he heard it.

             
Julian Daramonth was standing in front of me, with half a smile on his beautiful, full lips.

             
"What?" I asked, blushing and feeling incredibly stupid.

             
"I asked if I could sit next to you Rose," he repeated.

             
"Ummm, my name's not Rose," I told him. Great, didn't that make me feel even more like a loser?

             
"No, it's not, but Rhodanthe means 'rose blossom,' doesn't it?" he asked, his lips curving upward in a smile.

             
This time I smiled back and as my heart sputtered again, he frowned, like he could actually hear it.

             
"Now, Rose, may I sit next to you?" he asked again. This time I nodded and then dove right back into my book, letting my waist length pitch-colored curls fall a little in front of my face. My hair was the only thing I was truly vain about, so showing it off made me feel a bit better.

             
I tried to get back into my book but it was hopeless with him sitting so close to me. He smelled good, like the musky sweet incense that my dad burned in his office. I wasn't really supposed to know that because my mom wouldn't let him burn it near me, but when she wasn't looking, dad would let me curl up in one of his big leather chairs and read with him.

             
I glanced over at Julian; he looked like what I had always imagined the Greek god Hades would look like. His skin was pale and smooth and I had to restrain myself from reaching out to touch it. His hair was almost as dark as mine, with a little curl to it that fell across his forehead shading his eyes. His features were sharp and he looked to be right between the stages of boyhood and manhood.

             
Almost as if he could hear my thoughts or sense my gaze, he looked up from his Botany book and caught my eyes with his. I held my breath, a little frightened and excited at the same time. His eyes were crystal blue; almost too bright to be natural, but I couldn't see a boy like Julian wearing contacts.

             
I looked down at my book as soon as I could break from his stare, I could have sworn he chuckled.

             
"Rose, why don’t you look at me?" he asked.

             
I looked back up and smoothed my curls back so my hair didn’t obstruct my own view of his striking face.

             
"I was looking, but it's impolite to stare," I heard myself say.

             
"I'm staring at you, am I impolite?" he questioned, the smile widening on his lips.

             
"No, though I don’t know why you're staring at me." I told him.

             
"Because lavender is a very unusual color," he answered.

             
The blush on my cheeks deepened and my breathing became shallow, which just irritated me. Couldn't I at least flirt with someone like a normal person! I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths, and jumped when a cool hand touched my own. I looked down to see Julian's pale, long fingers wrapping themselves around my hand.

             
"Are you alright?" Julian asked, a worried look crossing his face.