38. The chapter where Rose runs away from Christian

Rose

I hurried down the stairs, making my way to the kitchen only to find it empty. I opened the back door, crossing the small lawn that separated the two houses, and opened the door to my father's kitchen, surprising myself to find him, my mother, and Alex sitting at the table, eating cereal.

My parents' attention focused on me immediately, and my mother quickly spoke up.

" Rose, did you eat Christian's waffles?”

" No! How awful! He's sick, why would you think that? " I returned in a shocked tone.

" Honey, your mouth is filthy," Alex warned.

I ran my finger over the corner of my mouth, wiping off some of the berry syrup that had accumulated there.

" You know, we were both alone in the room, there's a lot I could have done with that syrup," I tried to evade the subject, making them uncomfortable.

" Rose," my father's expression showed that they were not buying my story.

" I ate only a little, there was plenty left for him," I rolled my eyes.

" Rose! " My mother scolded.

" I'm sorry, but he didn't bother to offer me a piece, okay? " I lied. I'll go see if the others are awake yet.

I didn't give them time to reply, I walked away quickly, listening to my father comment.

" This girl is cunning as a snake, I don't know where she gets that from.”

" You swear you don't? " my mother returned.

I hurried up the stairs, almost bumping into Skyller who had already gotten ready and was about to start down the steps in search of breakfast.

" Hey, you're up! I thought you'd be sleeping late today," she smiled, "You're almost here this morning.”

" First of all, what were you doing up? It was almost morning when we got here! Secondly, I've screwed up really badly and I don't know what to do! " I stopped her in her tracks.

" Oh my God, what have you done? " Sky's eyes widened in alarm.

I took her hand, pulling her into a room down the hall that my father had turned into an office.

" Well, I took Chris's cell phone while he was being picked up yesterday. Actually, I took all of his belongings, but left his cell phone and wallet in my purse," I began to count.

" Okay, where does the big shit come in? " she stared at me confused.

I started pacing back and forth in the office, wondering if Christian was already talking to his parents and if he wanted my head on a platter.

" Well, he asked me to send a message to his parents, pretending to be him to reassure them, since he could barely keep his eyes open," I continued my account.

" Oh my God, what did you send them? " Sky's eyes widened.

" Calm down, that wasn't the point, I sent a generic message and that was it," I went on, "but then they decided to call, and I kept thinking that they might worry if he didn't answer, after all, my parents would get in the car and chase me around campus if it was me!

" Rose, what did you do? " she stared at me, crossing her arms.

I stopped walking, turning to her.

" Nothing much, I answered the phone just to reassure them that their son was fine, that it was nothing serious, and that he would call as soon as he woke up," I took a deep breath.

Sky frowned, not seeming to understand the big picture of the situation. But soon she would, I assured her.

" That was nice of you, what's the problem?

" I didn't think there would be any problem, the call didn't even last two minutes. But then, when I told them that he was sleeping and then called back, they understood that I was in bed with him.

" How could you make it worse? " she tried to remain serious.

" I tried to explain that I knew we were just at my mother's house together, and instead of them understanding it as a college group trip, they understood it as me taking him home to introduce him to my parents! " This time Sky didn't try to hide it, she practically laughed at my desperation " You're not helping me, I'm desperate!

My friend tried to catch her breath, controlling her laughter before speaking again.

" Okay, sorry. And how did he react to your little mishap?

" I don't know, I brought him breakfast and ran out of the room when he decided to call his parents to let them know he was okay. Don't you dare laugh, he could be down there right now, ready to rip my head off! " I pointed a finger at her, realizing that my friend was on the verge of another giggling fit.

Before she could express any opinion, my father's voice interrupted us.

" Rose, where are you? Your friends have already gone down to breakfast, Alex is on her way home!

I walked to the door, opening it before shouting in reply.

" I'll be right down, Dad," turning to my friend next, lowering my voice, "promise me you won't let Davis rip my head off?

" I can try, but I bet you can handle him better than I can," she insinuated.