The Only

Chapter 8

Lisa tells herself it doesn't bother her.

It's okay, she reasons to herself anytime she sees Rosie smiling at her phone. He's just some senior guy.

And then it goes on for days.

The first thing Rosie does when she wakes up is pick up her phone. She lays on her bed for nearly an hour, just tap, tap, tapping away with a little smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye. She later gets up to either shower or cook, depending on how busy the day was going to be for them and what org preparations they had to make.

Lisa had new recruits to the dance crew to train. Rosie had logistics and administrative matters to tend to as President - meetings and people to talk to.

Rosie brings her phone into the shower only for music to sing to as she washes herself. Music would usually be blasting the moment she steps in, followed by the sound of the shower knob being turned on and the splash of water streams on bathroom tiles.

But now a few minutes of silence pass when Rosie goes in. No music, no water. Lisa can only assume she's still texting on her phone and smiling.

Lisa has an overactive imagination and it drives her crazy.

When Rosie cooks, she has either a wooden spoon, thongs, or a spatula in one hand and her phone in another. She burned French toast once, and forgot to season eggs another time.

It wasn't like Rosie to be so forgetful. Sure, she could be clumsy and careless, but when cooking Rosie doesn't really have to think much - her body is so used to the activity that she just moves.

It was absolutely worrisome that she was missing little things - the little things that she used to just always, naturally do.

Like greet Lisa a good morning. Or tell her breakfast is ready and ask her to come eat. Or talk about whatever over their shared meal - the weather, school, the teachers giving her a hard time about administrative matters, future plans, dreams, her parents, her sister, and even her fish.

But now, some days, their meals were spent in nearly complete silence. Rosie's full attention would be on her phone. And Lisa's would be on Rosie, watching her.

Watching her not pay attention to Lisa. Watching her be so completely absorbed in something else other than her. Watch herbe in her own little world while Lisa was there right across her.

It's not like Rosie doesn't get absorbed in things. That was the thing Lisa loved about their relationship.

Or rather, their friendship.

They could both be doing entirely different things, they could be busy either doing schoolwork - Rosie would be painting, Lisa would be editing her photos or fixing her photography blog and posting pictures on her photography accounts on social media - but it never felt like Lisa was alone.

They were always doing things together, no matter what it was they did. And even when they weren't together, it always felt like Rosie was a call away.

Because Rosie hated texting. Rosie was the type of person to leave people on read or never respond to a text message. To get to her, you had to call her.

Or at least that was what Lisa thought.

Jaehyun seems to be the exception now.

Lisa ignores it. Or tries her best to.

It's okay, she convinces herself. It'll go away once school starts and we all become busy with classes and year-opening activities. He's a senior and he'll get really busy.