The Budding Rose

34. Monday at School

The morning seems to fly by, and soon it’s time for History class. Trent looks frazzled this morning. I nudge him, “I take it weekend studying didn’t go well?”

“Does it show that bad?” he asks me. “It was so nice this weekend. The guys and I spent most of it on the…

33. Muggy Monday

I wake this morning to a song about Daughters. As my mind comes to wakefulness, I make a mental note to find the sheet music for that song later. I get up and perform my morning exercise routine. I then apply some cream to the red spots I can reach, healing the burn, so that I don’t itch so much…

32. Sunday Evening

We head out and go for a light jog. I’ve seen Cassandra’s pace in gym class, so I match her speed.

Even though neither of us is wearing anything revealing, we turn a few heads in our jog. We stop at a nearby small park. Small play parks are peppered in each…

31. Sunday Studies

The Gallo household has a nice tall wall surrounding their three-story Victorian house, so I find a place where I can stash my bike out of sight. I climb the steps and Cassandra opens the door on my first knock.

30. Sunday Problems

My phone rings at seven, dragging me out of a deep sleep. I fumble for my phone, nearly tossing my glasses to the floor. I’m not awake enough to look at who’s calling. I just hit the answer button.

29. Supper and More

I power cycle home, mainly to clear my mind. In one weekend I seduced and nearly had sex with one of my new best friends. My mind is full of questions. Why did I do that? Why did it make me happy? What kind of person does that? What kind of person am I that I feel so little guilt? If Monique…

28. The Glade

We gather our things, hop on our bikes, and drive south, out near the edge of town. Travis suddenly turns right, and we follow a barely visible trail into the woods. Once past the tree line, the trail is relatively easy to follow until we break out into a secluded glade.

27. Saturday Cycling

I’m woken by a series of notifications in my ear. I blink, and rub my eyes, reaching for where I usually leave my phone, but confused that I can’t find it… another notification beeps by my pillow… Oh right, I fell asleep with the phone by my ear last night.

26. Friday Night Discovery

Travis and I head into the living room and start up his gaming console. We get into a racing game and start playing against bots.

“Sorry about my folks,” says Travis after a bit.