Chapter 5 - A Stinky Rose

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Chapter 5 - A Stinky Rose
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Why fit in when you were born to stand out?
~ Dr. Seuss
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"Um . . . Can we help you?" Savannah asked.

For strange reasons, she appeared upset I had joined her group of friend. Truth be told, Babushka and Viktor should've been the ones complaining right now. We ditched the siblings.

"You can try," I shrugged. "But right now, I'm hungry. Maybe you'll help pass the roses out later on. Sound good?"

Everyone stared at me as if I had said something strange.

Toby disguised his laugh under a cough.

Savannah smirked at me and pulled out a rose-less stem with solid thorns poking out. "You mean these?" I frowned as she brought three more from her backpack. "No worries. Our Shakespeare group has the rest of your roses . . . Well, the stems, anyways."

Plot twist?

"Why are you destroying the flower petals?" I asked genuinely upset.

"Why are you sitting on my lunch table?" she shot back.

"Do you own it?" I asked curiously. A few of her friends snickered. I allowed my eyes to survey the unfamiliar faces and was pleased to spot Liam in the group. "Hey, what's up?"

"The c-ceiling?" Liam offered. I looked up for a second along with a bunch of others who subconsciously mirrored my action. "The ligh-lighting's a bit d-dim, isn't i-it?"

"What's wrong with that? You want a disco ball up there?" Toby said sarcastically. Liam rolled his eyes and proceeded to eat his lunch. "And you know each other?"

Liam and I exchanged an uneasy glance. No one here knew that Liam was a traitor.

"We have Chemistry together," I said quickly.

"A-amazing che-chemistry," Liam added, earning a chuckle from me.

"I see." Toby dropped the topic at that.

"Don't tell me you're switching sides just because she gave you a rose?" Savannah said in a warning tone. "She's desperate for friends and attention." Her friends gave me pitiful glances as if Savannah had insulted me.

"What's wrong with that? Who doesn't enjoy making new friends?" I asked slightly worried. I haven't attended a high school before, but I doubt it was against the rules to want friends. "In fact, I insist we all be friends and eliminate the hate between the Shakespeare Club--"

"Shakespeare sucks," Toby said, casually munching on his tater tots. "Tell me how a thirteen year old girl falling in love with like guy my age is an epic romance?"

"Epic because they killed so many people . . . including themselves!" one of Savannah's friends exclaimed. I sighed. All of the people around me were in agreement that it was impossible for a young love to be so pure and . . . true. Maybe they were right in what they believed, but like a coin, there are always two sides to a story.

Like a great therapist once said, "Our perspective dictates what we think, how we think, and even why we think."

"Why are you so quiet, now?" Savannah prompted. "Don't you always have to answer everything?"

Giving her a smile, I said, "If you really want to hear my thoughts, then you should've just asked." She rolled her eyes as if she didn't believe my words. "The whole point of Romeo & Juliet isn't about the death of two lovers. It's about reunification of two families who had unknown complications and couldn't accept even the mention of the other's name. It's about two teenagers who acted high on their emotions, exactly how teenagers behave. They fell in love--"

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