The Agreste Internship - Book 2

Chapter 19: Roses are Pink

Kagami stood there awkwardly as she surveyed the ex-room in the ex-houseboat of her ex-boyfriend. It was still a mess, there were drawers open, and clothes on the floor made it look like a teenager still lived there. A Jagged stone poster was on the wall, and a few signed records were on a shelf.

"So... this is his room," Juleka said.

"It looks like he never fully moved out."

"Um, I guess. He drops by occasionally and stays a while. You know like on holidays. Or when certain people break his heart." Juleka's dry tone made Kagami wonder if she knew more about her and Luka than she was letting on.

Kagami searched her mind for something to say that would be disarming, to throw off any suspicions, just in case. "Oh. Um. Did you have a nice spring break?"

"Uh, that was over a week ago. You don't have to fake small talk for me," Juleka said before going to her own room and shutting her door.

Kagami sighed a sigh of relief. Good. I hate small talk. At least she and Juleka had that in common. Kagami picked up some of the clothes on the floor and threw them in a nearby hamper. She put her suitcase on the bed and started to unpack. But when she went to hang up some of her clothes in the closet she saw that Luka's sweatshirt was still there.

She put her clothes in the closet and tried to ignore all the pictures of Luka with a band named kitty section and a few pictures of him with Marinette.

This wasn't going to be easy.

Juleka closed her door and then sat down in her bed. She looked around her room, letting her mind wander as she looked at all of her things. A few movie posters hung on her walls, a collection of skull jewlery and knicknacks lined one of her shelves, books by Edgar Allen Poe and other horror writers lined the other shelf, and her new bedroom furniture resembled coffins. The color scheme was black, purple, and gray. The only things that diverged from that colorscheme was the pictures of her friends and family. One picture that stood out the most was Rose in her striped pink dress. Her blue eyes sparkled like saphires, and her blond hair had grown out more from when she was sick. But even on her sick days, Rose was always beautiful.

Juleka went to her full length oval mirror and examined her reflection.

Her earrings resembled a dangling pair of safety pins that had a group of safety pins threaded with little skull beads. Today she wore a black t-shirt with a little skull and rose print. Her skirt was a short black and purple tulle skirt, her leggings were purple and ripped, and on her feet, she wore knee-high combat boots with steel toe spikes. She hadn't changed her style that much in the last 4 years. She still favored black and more somber colors. She still wore pale makeup, wore mostly black, and wore a pair of fingerless fishnet gloves that matched her old hairstyle--black with a purple streak. But now it was streaked with pink, a color she rarely wore. Pink was Rose's favorite color.

Juleka sighed as she looked away from the mirror and went to her desk and opened up her laptop and called up Max on messenger. "Hey, Max."

Max smiled and adjusted his glasses. "Hey, Juleka. How are you?"

"I'm good. I'm sorry I haven't visited you in the hospital. I... hate hospitals."

Max nodded. "Yeah, I know. I got your texts."

"Then why didn't you answer them?"

He shrugged. "It's hard to talk over text. I'm being released from the hospital today, and I'll be in school tomorrow."

Juleka smiled. "That's great news. I can't wait to see you and give you a hug."

Max sighed. "As a friend."