Rosalyn awoke to the sun glaring her in the face; Tricia, her mother, must have taken off her curtains when she realized Rosalyn wasn’t home. Rosalyn blinked a few times as she got out of bed, trying to adjust to the blinding light the flooded her room.
She quickly paced over to the mirror to inspect how heavy the damage was. She grabbed her brush that was lying on her drawer and quickly began to run it through her long black hair. She gazed at her reflection impatiently, wondering how long it would take her to make herself look decent when she saw Alexander. She continued to stare into her mirror, trying to think of an outfit to wear, but only her lucid blue eyes staring back at her.
“Rosalyn!” Tricia called out impatiently.
“What do you want, Mother?” Rosalyn asked impatiently, while still trying to get ready to for whatever the day may bring.
“Come down here right now,” Tricia demanded; Rosalyn could hear the impatient tapping of her mother’s foot.
“I’ll be right down,” Rosalyn sighed as she pulled on a red tank top and her denim jacket.
When Rosalyn reached the bottom of the stairs her mother stood there glaring at her impatiently with Rosalyn’s father by her side.
“Rosalyn, where were you last night? I waited for a while but you mom got impatient, so I just went to bed,” Rosalyn’s father commented, slight worry expressing itself in his green eyes.
“I’m sorry, Dad. I went to the park and ran into a friend. I didn’t realize it was so late until I got home,” Rosalyn calmly replied.
“Are you really going to believe her, Darius? I know she was up to no good,” Tricia complained to Rosalyn’s father.
“I don’t see why not. If she wanted to tell us the truth she would, and if not them there’s nothing we can do about it,” Darius replied calmly. Tricia glared at Darius for a moment then returned her gaze to her daughter, who stood impatiently on the stairway.
“If it’s not too much trouble can I go now? I promised my friend I’d meet up with him” Rosalyn said, matching her mother’s cold gaze.
“Of course you can, dear. Just please be home on time tonight,” Darius pleaded as he reached his hand towards her. Rosalyn flinched away from his hand and turned towards the door, not missing the death glare her mother shot at her.
“I’ll see you later tonight, Dad,” Rosalyn said abruptly as she walked out the door.
“Take care…” He whispered back, watching her leave.
Rosalyn sighed once she closed the door; she hated it when her dad tried to be nice to her, but was she hated even more was how much she knew her rejection had hurt him. Rosalyn lowered her head and let a few tears fall from her eyes.
After a few seconds Rosalyn regained her composure and began walking towards the park. She still had no idea of what she was going to say to Alexander. Gymnastics maybe? No, to cliché, She thought to herself.
She arrived after a few minutes and of course, as though he were reminding her, Alexander stood against the giant oak tree.
Alexander looked up, smiling lightly when he saw her, and knocked the tree lightly. No, he wasn’t going to let her off easy, mush less let her forget.
“H-hi,” Rosalyn stuttered when she got within earshot.
“Good afternoon,” Alexander chuckled, noting Rosalyn’s obvious embarrassment, “So do you want to start by explaining things to me, or would you rather have lunch first?”
“Um… maybe we could go get something first,” Rosalyn sighed. She wanted to prolong the inevitable for as long as possible.
After debating on where to go for a few moments they ended up at a near by McDonalds, mush to Rosalyn’s displeasure. She ordered a drink and some french fries, and sat down at a table close by a window a far from anyone else.
“So are you going to tell me now?” Alexander questioned, his golden eyes seeming to pierce their way into her soul.
“I work out a lot?” Rosalyn guessed, hoping to be left off the hook after that.
“Then why didn’t you fight me off last night?” Alexander noted.
“Quite the observant one aren’t you?” She commented.
“My eyes don’t miss much,” Alexander replied, a slightly cocky tone to his voice.
Rosalyn sighed deeply; she couldn’t tell him and she knew it. She turned her gaze to look out the window, hoping for some kind of distraction.
“I can’t tell you,” Rosalyn whispered, trying to avoid his gaze.
“Why not?” Alexander asked, his confused golden eyes tried to look into hers, trying to read whatever it was she was thinking.
“It’s a secret. No one is supposed to know,” Rosalyn continued to whisper, still trying to find something that would avert Alexander’s attention.
“I have my share of secrets too,” Alexander replied, still fishing for the answer to his question.
“So if I tell you mine, will you tell yours?” She asked, raising her eyebrow at him.
“No, probably not,” Alexander retorted, a cocky grin spreading across his face, knowing it would drive her insane.
Rosalyn sighed in anguish, half because of how frustrating Alexander was being, and half because of the way his smile made her heart race. She looked up at him, her crystal blue eyes instantly meeting his golden ones.
“I’m not… normal,” Rosalyn finally said, giving in to his nearly hypnotic eyes.
“Well I figured that much,” Alexander replied slyly.
“Then why did you keep bothering me about it?!” Rosalyn demanded, rage began to display itself in her eyes.
“Because I wanted to see what kind of abnormality you are,” Alexander stated simply, his cocky grin returning to his lips.
Rosalyn’s heart probably would have leaped out of her chest, had it not been for the fury that kept it in place. She glared at him as though he were the last person she would ever want to see.
“I hope you realize I’m still not going to tell you,” Rosalyn growled.
“I’m fine with that,” Alexander said, blowing off her resentment, “I’ll find out eventually.”
Rosalyn glared at him for a few more moments and then gave up.
“So now what?” She asked indignantly.
“What do you mean?” Alexander asked, his voice taking on a very puzzled tone.
“I sort of told you what you wanted to know, so do I get to go home now, or were you planning to do something else too?” Rosalyn asked impatiently.
“Well if you’re in a hurry to go home, go ahead and go. Otherwise, I wouldn’t mind some company if it’s alright with you,” Alexander replied with a smile.
Rosalyn eyed him suspiciously for a moment and then smiled in return. It was the first time in a long while that anyone had offered to spend time with her.
They sat together, just talking for a few hours before they decided to switch locations. They debated for a minute on where to go, but in the end they ended up at the park beneath the tree where they first truly met.
“You want to know something I just noticed?” Alexander asked as looked over his shoulder at Rosalyn.
“What is it?” She replied curiously.
“You’re short,” he responded simply.
Rosalyn stood frozen in her tracks staring down at her feet. She clenched her fists into small tight wads and bit her lip. Rosalyn was about an average five-foot-three, while Alexander stood at a staggering six-foot-four. Of course she was short in comparison to him. They stood together in silence for a few moments before Alexander couldn’t stand the silence anymore.
“Rosalyn, are you okay?” He asked nervously, but received no response. Alexander turned around, almost nervously, only to be met with a shoe in the face. He stumbled for a moment before regaining his composure. He looked at Rosalyn, ready to demand what had caused her rash behavior, when he noticed the look in her eyes.
Rosalyn’s normally lucid crystal blue eyes seemed to carry a grey haze about them as she glared up at Alexander; every fiber in her petite being looked like it wanted to rip him to shreds. Her bronze hair flapped in the wind, almost like wildfire as she stood there looking to her feet with her fists clenched, and the last, but possibly most important detail that he noticed, her left shoe was missing.
“What did you call me?” Rosalyn questioned, her normal, soft, delicate voice replaced by an extremely malicious tone.
“Nothing, I just said you were short-” Alexander was cut off by another shoe making contact with his face once again.
Alexander struggled to, once again, regain his composure as he stared at Rosalyn in disbelief. He couldn’t comprehend how Rosalyn’s personality had done an entire one-eighty, just because he had commented on her height. The sweet, shy, and seemingly innocent girl he had just gotten to know only a few hours ago, had suddenly become this fiercely enraged maniac. Though to him, her outrage seemed to be nothing more than a simple tiger-kitten fury.
Suddenly a sadistic grin spread itself across Alexander’s lips. Rosalyn tilted her head to the side, puzzled by Alexander’s choice of actions.
“So, what are you going to do about it, Shorty?” Alexander teased, accenting on the “shorty”.
Rosalyn leaped at him, screaming and yelling while she was at it. Alexander easily dodged her, but Rosalyn was instantly back on him and he didn’t have the time to move this time as she knocked him to the ground.
“Who the hell are you calling short?!” Rosalyn demanded, “What else do you want to call me? Half-pint, midget, pipsqueak? I’m still growing, you abnormally tall idiot!” Rosalyn nearly yelled at the top of her lungs.
Alexander swiftly and suddenly hit Rosalyn’s shoulder, knocking her off of him and flipped himself on top of her. Rosalyn yelped in surprise at first but then turned beat red when she noticed the position they were in; Alexander merely chuckled to himself at her embarrassment.
“A-alexander? Can you please get off me?” Rosalyn stuttered nervously.
“Promise you won’t try to tackle me to the ground again?” Alexander chuckled; Rosalyn smiled mockingly.
“As long as you don’t call me short anymore,” she replied sarcastically.
“Deal,” Alexander laughed as he got off of Rosalyn. She joined in on his laughter once she sat up, her laugh echoing like wind chimes in the wind.
Alexander sat down next to her and began to stare into her eyes once again. Rosalyn turned her head to face Alexander when she paused and just stared back at him in awe.
The light of the sunset did the most amazing thing to Alexander’s appearance. It painted his mid-length spiky black hair with a golden tinge, and his golden eyes seemed to dance with the light of the sun; his normally slightly pale skin gleamed against the sun’s light.
Rosalyn stared at Alexander in awe. The sunset nearly turned him into a different person, something not of this earth.
Realizing this Rosalyn gasped, that would explain everything. “Because I wanted to see what kind of abnormality you are,” Alexander’s words began to repeat themselves in her head. How else could he have known, yet not known, what she was. There was no way to explain it other than he was like her; he was one of the forsaken.
No…It’s not possible. It can’t be. There are only a few of us here, if he was I would have known instantly. Rosalyn stared blankly at Alexander, trying to figure out how everything added up.
“You too?” Rosalyn questioned her eyes almost watery.
“What do you mean?” Alexander asked, obviously puzzled.
“You’re not one of them either, are you?” She asked, looking into his eyes, trying to find the answer.
“And you said I was the observant one…” Alexander mumbled, a small smile spreading across his lips.
“Why didn’t you just tell me?” Rosalyn demanded, half out of frustration half out of relief. There was someone like her right inside of her very town, she finally had someone she could really talk to.
“I’m not one of them, but I’m not like you either Rosalyn,” Alexander replied solemnly.
“What do you mean?” Rosalyn asked; his response had taken her completely off guard.
“You’re a savior, I’m a monster. I’m nothing like you Rosalyn,” Alexander explained, “The only thing we have in common is that we’re not like them.”
“How did you figure it out? I never said it,” Rosalyn’s confusion just kept growing. What did Alexander mean he was a monster?
Rosalyn suddenly leaped to her feet. No… it can’t be, he can’t be one of them. He can’t be, not someone like him. He’s a good person, he can’t possibly be one of…
“The fallen,” Alexander said in unison with Rosalyn’s thoughts.
