Rose-Ann "Rosie" Mae Connolly is freshly emancipated and finally returning to her home in the OBX after 3 months away. 16-years-old and living alone, she's ready to have the summer of a lifetime with her friends-since-middle-school pogue crew. But w...
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Rosie awoke the next morning in an empty bed.
She stretched out her limbs expecting to hit another body, only to frown as she grabbed at rumpled sheets. The teenager peeked an eye open to see the covers had been thrown aside. The only trace that JJ had slept there was the imprint of where he laid in the sheets and the familiar smell of grass and spearmint.
Rosie groaned as she forced herself to sit up. She felt a wave of déjà vu crash over her. It wasn't long ago that she'd woken up the same way. So Rosie pulled herself out of bed and pad out of her bedroom in search of JJ, who had lingered around the house last time.
"JJ?" she called.
No response.
She walked to the front room and stuck her head out the window to check if he had gone outside again. No luck. Rosie made her way to the bathroom instead. As she entered the small room, her heart fell at the sight before her. The sweatpants she'd given him to wear last night were folded neatly on the counter, and the clothes he'd discarded were gone. The folded sweatpants confirmed Rosie's suspicion that JJ had actually left.
She already felt uneasy about what had happened the night before, but the fact he'd left without saying anything made that worry twist her stomach even more. Rosie picked up the sweatpants we'd worn with a sigh and returned them to her drawers.
Recently, Rosie had found herself in many weird, sticky situations with JJ. Each time something odd happened, nothing really changed about their relationship. They'd continue to bicker and act as if it never happened. But this time, Rosie wasn't sure if that would work. Because this time, they did something that frenemies don't do; they kissed.
As Rosie got herself ready for the day, she wasn't able to shake off the thought as she had before. This time it was unrelenting, and it made her head ache. JJ kissed her. And then she kissed him. And worst of all, she didn't hate it. In fact, she wanted it to happen again--
"Ow!"
Rosie intentionally banged her head against the wall to cut off the thought formulating in her mind. She groaned and rubbed the spot she'd hit, but didn't regret doing so.
JJ left her. He regretted kissing her, and he made it perfectly clear by leaving. So there was no point dwelling on that stupid little voice of desire in the back of her mind. If JJ wanted to go back to normal, then that was exactly what Rosie would give him. Normal.
So with a shake of her head, Rosie grabbed her keys and left the house for her car. She climbed into the red Mini-Cooper, revved the engine, and set off towards Heyward's. At some point yesterday before the movie, Pope and Kie had mentioned something about working a shift there the next morning, so Rosie figured she'd find her friends there. The drive was short, and Rosie blasted music the whole way there to drown out her thoughts.
She pulled into the parking lot of the small store and hopped out. Just as she began to walk towards the main door, it swung open.
Rosie watched in horror as Pope was escorted out of the store by Deputy Shoupe.
