Rowan

Chapter 10 | Rowan

Rowan leaned against the edge of the balcony, her gaze settled comfortably on the sleeping town. In her hand was a crumpled up piece of notebook paper containing seven digits.

He'd left her his number. So then why had he run away? Had she been wrong in thinking that the date had gone well?

It seemed that there was an insanity to the ebb and flow of the things in her life.

With one last sigh she uncurled her fingers from the wooden railing and slipped back into her dark apartment, sliding the lock into place behind her.

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"Does anyone know the answer to the question on the board?" Silence. "Ms. Easton, why don't you give it a try."

Rowan wanted to bang her head against the desk at her professor's statement. It had been one thing after another that day. First the message from her parents, and now she had to search her mind for the parts of the metabolic system. Why was biology even a requirement for an art student?

"Ms. Easton? Are you with us?" the booming voice asked, cutting through the muffled laughter. God.

She looked up to meet Martin Allister's dark eyes. He was a man in his late fifties who enjoyed the study of life, holding meetings in his office, and terrorizing students in his free time.

"I'm sorry sir. I'm not sure." she finally said, her heart clenching at his answering glare.

"Then it sounds like you need to get it together and find out. Mr. Russ?"

She managed to tune out the rest of the class and nearly screamed in relief when everyone began to pile into the hallway.

Leo and Emma were waiting for her in the cafeteria, and the lanky boy waved her over excitedly as they spotted her.

"Hey, guys," she said, dropping into one of the plastic seats.

Emma motioned towards the tray in the center of the table. "There's plenty of food to go around! Help yourself."

She grabbed some french fries, dipping them in ranch as Leo grimaced. "I'll never understand how you could disrespect them in that way."

Laughing, she shoved one in her mouth. "I'll never understand how you can say that when you've never even tried it!"

He scoffed. "Why would I try it when I already know how gross it would be? It would be li-"

"Rowan, you're never going to believe what happened today." Emma said, interrupting what was sure to be a long, rambling speech on why french fries were disgusting when eaten with ranch.

"Do I want to know?"

"I got paired up with Britney Johnson in history class!" she said, clearly outraged. "She's Lacey Johnson's sister. I swear, there is something wrong with that family. And they're up to something. I just know it."

Rowan laughed. "Like what? Maybe they're trying to get it on with the teacher?" She grinned at Leo, who spit out his mouthful of sandwich and glared at her.

"Come on! That was last year!" he whined.

Emma ignored him. "No. They've been going on and on about this guy. Apparently he hangs out at the cafe, and apparently they've got their sights set on him. God, I don't even know who he is and I feel bad for him!"

Something about the situation caught Rowan's attention. But surely it was another guy? She frowned as she suddenly found herself thinking about him again.

She'd been confused after James had left, and then she'd been embarrassed. Had she led him on in some way?

And then there were her parents.

"Ro, what's wrong?" Emma asked, cutting through her reverie.

"Oh, nothing." she muttered. Everything was beginning to bubble up to surface, and she suddenly felt claustrophobic. "I've got to go," she said louder.

She thanked them for lunch and then quickly left the cafeteria, guilt coursing through her at the confused expressions her friends wore. But she knew they would follow her, and she needed to be alone.

She pulled out her phone once she hit the sidewalk and shoved it up to her ear. A bitterness had begun to infiltrate the calm she'd built around herself.

"You've reached Marisa Easton. Please leave your name and number and I'll get back to you as soon as possible."

She swallowed against the lump in her throat. "Hey, mum. It's Ro. I'm just...calling you back, I guess. Sorry about the phone tag." The lump seemed to grow and the backs of her eyes began to burn. "I'm sorry. Give me a call when you have a minute."

She wiped a hand across her traitorous eyes, avoiding the curious gazes of passing students.

Her parents had loved Caden. They had hated her decision to go to school for art. They'd hated her decision to move across the country. Sometimes it felt like they just hated her.

She moved out of the way as a door was opened to her right, and realized that she was standing right in front of the cafe. She gave it an assessing glance, forgetting for a moment about the ache in her chest. Part of her was curious...

Acting against her better judgement, she decided to go in.

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A/N: I'm on the mobile app and don't know how to dedicate chapters to people, but if I could I would dedicate it to @WolvesandAnime166! Your support has made me so unbelievably happy!

xx