by Libby Robare
Dawn’s Acapella
LIBBY ROBARE
Copyright © 2016 Libby Robare
All rights reserved.
For Chelsea, the Rose to my Dawn, except a whole lot better.
CONTENTS
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Final Note
About the Author
PROLOGUE
On a busy little street, in a crazy little home, in a peaceful little room, in a messy little bed, lay a hopeful little girl in a black and gray dress.
She was writing in a notebook, hurrying to finish a project her friends had dared her to attempt.
As much as I love them, my stupid friends have presented me with the stupidest writing challenge ever. Just because Lucy and Nick can write anything doesn’t mean I can. “Write something outside your usual stuff,” they said. “No Crossworlds allowed!” Ugh. Fine. I’ll do what you do, Lucy, and write about my friends. And I’ll do what you do, Nick, and write it as a poem:
Let’s go on an adventure, because these three oddities belong in fantasy books
A beautiful, tall curvy woman with thick flowing brown hair, and eyes like the ocean
A young skinny man, with tight dark curls, freckled skin and eyes full of wonder
And then there’s the third one, whatever.
The first would have gifts of healing, and a voice made of magic
She can shift anyone and anything into its brighter, better version
The second, a seer, aside from his own life
He knows the world, its truths and lies
The third, well, she can’t even write a poem properly
This is more like a love letter to my friends
Very stupid and cheesy, and I hate you both for making me do this
But hey, we’re all still legends, including me, I guess
My name is Rose, and someday I will be
“You’re late for school!” her mom called.
…allowed to finish my damn sentences.
CHAPTER one
the frehsman’s plan
Her pen flew across the page. Her hand was already hurting, but she couldn’t stop, didn’t dare take a break until every last thought was on paper...
“Hey, can you help me with something?” said a voice.
“One minute,” Rose held up her other hand and continued to write. “Almost... Got it!” She slammed the notebook shut and looked up. It took a moment for her surroundings to materialize in front of her again. She was seated at a booth by the window in an otherwise empty cafeteria. Class would start in five minutes, and there was a girl staring at her. “What’s up?”
Rose had never seen this girl before. She was small, with large eyes and long blonde hair. Clearly this was a freshman—she had that lost, excited look on her face.
“What’re you writing?”
“Nothing,” Rose said. “School stuff. What’s up?”
“Wow, you must be a really good student. It looked really long. What class is it for?”
Rose frowned at her. “Okay, it’s not for school, it’s just a story I’m writing.”
“You’re a writer? Cool! What’s it about? Can I read it?”
“Didn’t you need help with something?”
“Oh. Yeah. I’m a freshman and I need help finding my classes.”
“Should’ve known,” Rose muttered, gathering her things. “Sure. I’ll show you around.”
“Thanks. What’s your name?”
“I’m Rose,” she said.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Dawn. That’s a really pretty dress, by the way.”
“Oh, thanks,” Rose said. She was wearing her signature black and gray striped dress. She wore it so often people almost never commented on it anymore. But she loved it for its uniqueness, and would keep wearing it even if people hated it.
“I want one like that.”
Then it wouldn’t be unique, Rose thought, but kept her mouth shut. She led the girl out of the cafeteria and down a hallway. “Your math class is down here,” she said. “What’s next?”
“Global studies, and then biology, English, and then choir!”
“Wow, that’s intense,” Rose muttered, checking her schedule again. They continued down the hall, toward Dawn’s next classroom. “Are you taking all honors classes?”
“Yep! My parents want me to get scholarships for college. I try to be a good student and all, but I still wanna have fun…”
She continued talking as Rose led her to her various classes. When the tour was finished, Dawn wasn’t. “Walk me back to math?” she asked.
“Only because my class is nearby,” Rose said. She was finding it hard to keep listening to the girl’s constant chatter, which kept up all the way back to her first classroom.
“Can I sit with you at lunch?”
“Um, sure. But you better get to math, freshman. Study hard and stuff.” She shooed the girl inside.
“Thanks, Rose!” She gave her a huge smile before skipping to her desk. Rose giggled, and hurried down the hall to her class.
Classes were ordinary, and a little boring, but Rose was able to appreciate the familiar routines. At least she didn't have the same anxiety as she did as a freshman last year. Dawn was a bit annoying, but Rose decided she could help her out, at least for a while.
When the bell rang for lunch, Rose eagerly went to the cafeteria to meet her friends, Lucy and Nick. They bought food, claimed a table, and began discussing the latest news, from minor gossip and school-related topics, to the all-important news of their latest works.
“So, did you try writing something new for us?” Lucy asked.
“Tried,” Rose shrugged. “But I got nothing.”
“Come on!”
“I’m telling you, I can’t do it! But what have you got?”
Lucy rolled her eyes. “Whatever, Rose. You’re in my new story, but you won’t get to read it until you give me something to read!”
“Am I in it?” Nick asked.
“Yeah, later on,” Lucy said.
“She’s probably gonna kill you again,” Rose said.
“Again? When did that happen?”
“Oh right, you didn’t share that one!” Rose glanced at Lucy. “Oops!”
“Rose!”
“What’s that about, Lucy?” Nick said.
“Let’s talk about something else,” Lucy said. “Rose? Anything new?”
“I’ve got a freshman following me,” she shrugged.
“You’re not changing the subject!” Nick said.
The three of them laughed and argued until a voice distracted them. “Rose? Can I sit with you guys?”
Rose turned around. “Oh, hey there sunshine! Pull up a chair!”
Dawn smiled, and took a seat beside her.
“These are my friends Nick and Lucy,” Rose said. “This is that freshman I was trying to tell you about. Dawn.”
“Nice to meet you,” she said. “What are we talking about?”
“Lucy’s killed me in her story!” Nick exclaimed.
“Oh, chill out!”
“Are you a writer too?” Dawn asked.
“Yeah, we all are,” Nick said. “I’m mostly poetry, Lucy does short stories, and Rose, well...”
“Rose doesn't share,” Rose said.
“She’s got a novel, though!”
“Cool!” Dawn said. “Can I read it?”
“I haven’t let my best friends read it, freshman! You think I’ll let you?”
“Maybe when it’s done?”
“Okay. When it’s totally done.”
“Never,” Lucy muttered.
“Rose, where did you get that dress?” Dawn asked. “I really like it.”
“What? Oh, someplace at the mall. I don’t remember.”
“Well, you know, my birthday’s coming up...”
Rose giggled, and exchanged looks with Lucy and Nick as Dawn went on.
“Oh, and you’ll have to show me the choir room again, I already forgot where it is. Do you sing? You should join!”
“What if I don’t sing?”
“She does,” Nick said. Rose shot him a glare.
When the bell rang, Rose quickly showed Dawn to the choir room before hurrying off to her own class, meeting Nick at the door.
“Shook her off, did you?”
“No thanks to you,” Rose laughed.
A week later, Rose was busy finishing her homework before class when someone interrupted her. It took a moment for her to recognize her. “Dawn? What did you do to your hair?”
“Do you like it?” She ran her fingers through her new brown hair, cut above her shoulders just like Rose’s.
“It looks like mine, and I like my hair, so yeah, I guess I do. You look cute, sunshine.”
“Thanks! What are you writing?”
“I’m not, freshman, this is math.”
“Then what’s that?” She pointed at another sheet of paper Rose had in front of her. “It looks like a poem.”
“That’s not a poem.”
“Is it a song?”
“It’s a nothing, is what it is.”
“Sing it!”
“No!”
“Please?”
“I’ll make you a deal. Give me five minutes of silence to finish my homework, and I’ll sing a verse for you.”
“Deal!” Dawn said, extending her hand. Rose shook it. Dawn took out her phone, and put it down in front of her. “Stopwatch. Five minutes. Go!”
Rose rolled her eyes. But to her surprise, the little chatterbox was silent. Rose bent her head over her homework again, only glancing up every now and then to check on the freshman. Dawn was quiet for a whole five minutes. She finished her last equation, dropped her pencil, and swore quietly. “I really didn’t think you’d do that.”
“I wanna hear you sing.”
“Okay. Fine. Just don’t stare at me like that or I won’t be able to do it.” Rose averted her eyes from Dawn’s too-eager face, and began softly singing the song she wrote:
We’ve been through such crazy times
And I can see you’re scared for me
But I will be just fine
But I’ve never felt so strange before
Feels like my world’s turned upside down
And I can’t take no more
All these memories coming back and haunting me
But in front of me, lover you are all I see
Love I need you now, and I know you’ll stay with me
Always, always
“Awesome!” Dawn said. “Sing more!”
“I promised one verse. That’s all that was agreed upon.” She was already shaking, and her cheeks were burning. But Dawn was happy, so Rose didn’t fight too hard when the freshman snatched the paper out of her hand to continue the song.
“Is the tune the same, going on?”
“I’m not telling! Give that back!”
But Dawn had already begun to sing:
Neither of us thought I would ever go
And I thought I was strong but now it’s hard to hold on
What do I know?
I’ve dreamed of a life for us since so long ago
And I thought I could stay but now I’m fading away
What do I know?
All these memories, coming back and haunting me
I can hear your voice, saying love please stay with me
I will be with you, we will meet again someday
I will be with you, always
“Oh this is sad!” Dawn said.
“Then stop singing,” Rose smiled, but she had to admit she didn’t mean it anymore. Dawn had a lovely voice, and she was surprised to find herself enjoying hearing someone else sing her own words. And just as she suspected, nothing was going to stop Dawn.
I’m still here, watching you
I’ve seen it all from the start, and it breaks my heart
Knowing all you’ve been through
And I can’t believe, what’s been done
I could see it happening to me
But your life had just begun
All the memories, finally let them fade away
I am with you now, open up your eyes and see
It’s all over now, lover you are safe with me
I will be with you, always
Dawn put the paper down at last. “Is that the end?”
“It’s past the end,” Rose giggled.
“What’s it called?”
“I just call it ‘The Lost Girl’s Song.’ What do you think?”
“I think I wanna give this to my choir teacher!”
“Don’t you dare!”
“Okay. But I am going to sing it all day long! Try and stop me!” She skipped away, singing, “Na na na na na...” to the tune of Rose’s song.
Rose danced through the rest of the day, surprised to find herself so excited. She couldn’t get Dawn’s voice out of her head. She didn’t think anything could bring her mood down, after all, not even the assignment of a research project had. But when Lucy came to her table during lunch, her eyes were red from crying.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, it’s just Tiffany again…”
“Why do you still hang out with her?”
“I know she doesn’t mean to upset me… I like her, I like them all, I’m just... I don't know.”
“Well, do you want my advice, or do you want to just forget this?”
“Just to forget it. I need cheering up.”
“Okay.” Rose tried to hide her frustration. Somehow, Lucy had fallen into the “popular” group last year, and still spent time with them often, even though they treated her horribly. The more they found out about who Lucy really was, the more they picked on her. But for some reason, Lucy liked spending time with them. Rose knew she wasn’t about to change her mind, no matter how hard she tried. Lucy didn’t want Rose’s advice because she already knew exactly what it was: stop pretending to be friends with people who don’t care about you.
“Have you heard Dawn sing?” Rose asked.
“Oh, yeah I have!” Lucy laughed. “I’m so proud of you! You shared!”
“I did not! She made me!”
“You know she’s singing it all over the school, right? People are starting to copy her.”
“What? No!”
“Calm down, no one knows it’s your song. This way you’ll get honest feedback.”
“Stupid freshman! I’m gonna kill her!”
“Here she comes now,” Lucy said.
Dawn danced over to their table. “I brought cookies!” She dropped a bag of chocolate chip cookies on the table. “I baked them last night!”
“Rose?” Lucy nudged her.
“Fine,” she said, taking one. “You brought cookies, I won’t kill you.”
“Here, take a bunch!”
“Thanks, sunshine, but for some reason I’m too shaken up to eat.”
“Everyone loves the song, though.”
“Shut up with the song! Yummy cookies though, for real.”
Dawn brightened up at the compliment. “Let’s go walk around!”
“Why?”
“Maybe someone else wants cookies!”
“You wanna come with us, Lucy?”
“No thanks, I should wait for Nick.”
“Are you okay now?” Rose asked.
“Yeah. Thanks.”
Rose got up, and she and Dawn began to wander.
They spotted a boy in a gray hoodie, sitting on the floor in the middle of a dark hallway, hanging his head. Rose couldn't tell whether or not he was upset. His hood was up. H
e might have just been tired, bored, or cold. Whatever reason he had for slouching in a hallway alone, she decided he’d appreciate a random treat.
“Dawn,” she nudged her.
The freshman marched right up to him and tapped his shoulder. “Here,” she said, “have a cookie.” She handed it to him with a smile.
He looked up, frowning at her, “Um... Thanks, but... Do I know you?”
“Nope. You just looked like you needed a cookie.”
“Oh.” Rose couldn’t read his expression. “Well, um... Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” Dawn’s smile didn’t fade, despite his less-than-enthusiastic response. She skipped ahead of Rose, eager to find another person who could use a kind gesture.
The next day, Rose was unloading her things in her locker, blinking away sleepiness when Lucy hurried toward her.
“Rose, I gotta tell you something.”
“Too early,” Rose muttered.
“I just... I have to tell you before you find out from someone else,” Lucy said. “Tiffany and them started talking about us—I mean, you, Nick, and Dawn, and... They were saying really mean things, and... I’m really sorry, Rose, I went along with it, I didn’t want them to shut me out, I didn’t think...”
Rose slammed her locker shut. “Well, I’m awake now!”
“Rose I’m...”
“Sorry? Are you kidding me? So you’re gossiping about me now? What makes you so sure I’m not going to shut you out?”
“Because you’re my best friend.”
“So why isn’t that enough? Why can’t you stand up to them?”
“Rose, I’m really, really sorry. Can you forgive me?”
Rose was trying to decide what to say, torn between anger and pity, when Dawn appeared by her side.