A rose should be red: Part 1 - Secrets

by Akaku Red

  “You are the fourth person to ask this,” Elise chuckled.

  Bob, Linette, Charlotte and now him.

  All of them wanted to meet me tomorrow.

  It had a simple reason: They knew that tomorrow was the date of the sentence nine years ago.

  08/11/2003.

  They wanted to change my bad memory into a good one, so I wouldn’t remember the date as the day of the light sentence.

  “This will be difficult for Jenny to meet four people on the same day. How about you all meet up together?”

  Elise suggested.

  “That’s a good idea, Mrs. Brown! But I am afraid, the people who invited Jenny won’t want to have an old man accompany them.”

  “Oh, I am sure Charlotte and Linette won’t mind it, since Bob wanted to meet her, too.”

  Jeffrey let his coffee sink on the table.

  “Bob said what? He tried to meddle again?”

  “How about you visit the amusement park, this would be the best solution for everyone.”

  Elise had a winning smile now. Her suggestion was the perfect solution and … I really liked the idea of going to an amusement park. The last time I had visited one was in Florida with my parents.

  “That’s a good idea but … it won’t be the same if you aren’t there with us.”

  I spoke for the first time since we had arrived at the coffeeshop.

  My mother wasn’t surprised by my words, she just hugged me tight and wished me lots of fun.

  “The next time, we will visit the amusement park together, but this time, you will go with them. I want you to have fun! And I feel at ease when you have a lot of people around you who care about you.”

  She kissed my cheek and sighed with relief.

  “So, it is settled! I will inform Bob, and you can inform the others. Tomorrow, we will be going to the amusement park,” Jeffrey said, and I nodded.

  I needed to text Linette, also Amy and Tyler needed to be invited.

  And … Dean, too!

  Yeah, I should message him, even though he hadn’t replied these past days…

  “Mrs. Brown, have a safe trip and come back safely!” Jeffrey said as we left the coffeeshop.

  “You, too! Take care of my daughter!” she responded with the most beautiful smile on her face.

  “I will.”

  As we bid our goodbyes, I noticed someone staring at us from the other side of the street, but before I could get a better look, the person had run away.

  This person ran as if death was running after him or her.

  It made me shiver for a moment, but I kept a straight face.

  I didn’t want to frighten my mother or Jeffrey.

  After Tyler and I had accompanied my mother to the airport, we went back to his apartment which looked the same as before.

  Neat, modern, and beautiful!

  I let myself sink on the couch, and Tyler did the same.

  “It’s been a long time,” he sighed.

  “The last time was just a few months ago,” I stated.

  “Well, for me it felt like years. I like you around me, and if you aren’t, then the time seems to stand still …”

  He breathed out deeply and placed his head on my shoulder.

  “But sadly … The time starts to speed up when I am with you. I am afraid it will be over in a heartbeat.”

  My gaze jerked away from the table to Tyler.

  He had just spoken my mind, and I was glad he felt the same.

  “I feel the same…”

  I whispered quietly which made Tyler look up at me.

  “You-What?”

  “I said, I feel the same. I missed you, and the last time we saw each other wasn’t really … well, let’s just say I wasn’t in a good condition, and we didn’t really talk.”

  His blue eyes shined brightly, and a gentle smile was on his beautiful full lips.

  “I am happy to hear it, even though you don’t mean it like I do.”

  I couldn’t really listen to his words, because my focus was on his lips which looked really soft and shimmered as he moistened them.

  “Like a wish come true,” he whispered. I managed to look away, but my gaze was now on his eyes, which made me blush since his stare was on my lips.

  “Tomorrow …” I whispered.

  Tyler’s mood changed. He looked at me with sorrow in his eyes, his smile faded as if someone had mentioned something bad, but I tried to shrug the thought away.

  “Would you like to accompany me and my friends to the amusement park?” I asked.

  He shrugged and leaned back on the couch.

  “Yeah, sure … Anything you want.”

  His voice was deep, although I had expected him to decline the offer because of his expression.

  “Thank you.”

  Without thinking much, I hugged Tyler and gave him a little kiss on his neck. His skin felt really smooth, and his scent enveloped me in a magic way.

  He stiffened for a moment, but then he wrapped his arms around me and carefully pressed my body against his chest.

  “You don’t need to thank me, but I would prefer you being around me like this every day.”

  I could hear, by the way he talked, that he was smiling.

  And as I looked up at him to confirm it, I noticed the dark circles under his eyes.

  “You look tired,” I said while brushing back his soft blond hair.

  “A bit…”

  I raised my eyebrows at his evasive answer.

  “Okay, okay! I am tired.”

  His confession made me smile.

  “You had a lot to do, but I don’t want you to feel alone or bored since Elise is not here to be with you.”

  His caring side came out again.

  “She will call me again and since we are going out tomorrow, I think we should recharge our batteries for this.”

  His look changed, and his smile disappeared.

  “Tomorrow…”

  His gaze went down to the floor, as if something was bothering him which made him look sad.

  “Are you okay?”

  I raised my hand to touch his shoulder.

  “Yeah … I am okay. You are absolutely right, we should rest.”

  He changed his expression again, trying to hide his feelings, but his eyes couldn’t lie.

  They looked sorrowful.

  I couldn’t fall asleep.

  I laid down on the soft bed and tried to count the sheep, but it wasn’t working at all because I couldn’t get out it of my mind…. In fifty hours … nine years ago, the light sentence was made.

  One more year and those monsters would get dismissed from the clinic.

  If they aren’t out already.

  My mind was spinning. I stayed up the whole night and watched the sunrise.

  Although I wanted to become stronger, wanted to change, it has been impossible.

  Just the freaking date gave me a hard time thinking straight.

  I didn’t want to stay like this …

  Even though today wasn’t the best day to start over again, I still wanted to try it.

  I wanted to change this heartbreaking date into a day with beautiful memories, so I wouldn’t endure the same nightmares and sleepless nights again.

  My phone vibrated as I got up.

  For a moment I thought that Dean had answered me, but it wasn’t the case.

  He still wasn’t online, nor had he even seen any of my texts.

  It was a message from Charlotte. She wanted us girls to wear white matching shirts to make cute pictures.

  Well, I didn’t really wear white shirts, since I was afraid that my scars would show… I only had a white blouse which my mother had bought me years ago for a dinner at a hotel in Florida— since Charlotte insisted for a white theme, I had to wear it.

  Tyler did me the favour and helped me get to my house, because I hadn’t brought the blouse with me.

  Olivia and our gardener Walter weren’t there.

  For the time b
eing, as long as my mother and I were staying somewhere else, they could take the days off.

  The house was quiet and lonely, but it still felt good to be back, even though I just needed to get my shirt.

  My room was still the same when I entered it.

  It took me some time to find the shirt, but when I found it, I quickly changed my top and closed the door to my room.

  I got back to Tyler who was waiting outside in his car.

  He still had dark circles under his eyes and looked like he hadn’t slept at all last night.

  Which might be the case since he gave me the feeling that he wasn’t found of today. Well, I mean, he looked hurt yesterday at the mere mention of the word ‘tomorrow’…

  We arrived and parked the car near the amusement park entrance.

  Jeffrey, Bob, Linette, Amy, and Charlotte were already waiting at the front gate. They all greeted me with a big warm hug.

  Jeffrey and Bob acted like my parents when it was their turn to wrap their arms around me.

  They asked about my wellbeing and if Tyler behaved himself, then they looked at him with a piercing gaze, as if they wanted to warn him about something.

  I didn’t really understand their behaviour, but I knew they didn’t mean anything in a bad way.

  Linette, Charlotte, and Amy pulled me out of their fangs and started to drag me through the gates into the park. They wanted to take a ride on everything.

  Well, I wasn’t made for all of the rides.

  The amusement park was big, and it had everything from rollercoasters to spooky houses, water slides, and a free fall from a height of 30 meters.

  Linette and Charlotte wanted to ride all of them, while me and Amy were not a fan of those scary rides.

  It was still early … The amusement park was not yet filled with many people, so the lines weren’t long, and we had plenty of time.

  “Let’s go to the rollercoaster first!” Charlotte said.

  “No, let us do the freefall.” Linette countered.

  “How about we go car racing?” Amy suggested.

  “NO!” The other two screamed.

  “Rollercoaster!”

  “FREE FALL!”

  “Ladies, don’t argue. we have the whole day! You can ride everything you want, but Jenny has acrophobia, so you shouldn’t push her much.”

  Jeffrey interjected, which didn’t make the girls favour him at all.

  “We should take it slow!”

  Bob tried to smoothen the situation, but he also got glared at.

  “How about this: We will go on this rollercoaster first and then we will systematically go through all the other ones.”

  Tyler pointed at the first ride from the park, which was a petite rollercoaster, not really high and not as scary as the other ones— Charlotte and Amy agreed without arguing, and their dead glares changed into fangirling faces fast.

  “So… a hot guy starts speaking, and suddenly the fight stops?”

  Linette sighed heavily and rolled her eyes as she flicked her short hair behind her.

  “You think I am hot?” Tyler teased.

  “NO! I am just stating that they don’t listen to the older and wiser people!”

  Bob and Jeffrey nodded to her comment, which made me smile a bit.

  “We are not valued by the younger generation,” they muttered.

  I linked my arms with the two of them and led the way to the first ride.

  “I value both of you.”

  My comment made Bob and Jeffrey smile as they turned to look back at Tyler who seemed left out.

  “That’s our little girl!” they said proudly, then they each gave me a peck on the cheek.

  I couldn’t see his reaction, but the two seemed very fond of the face Tyler was giving them.

  We got into the first ride and even though it wasn’t really big, it still was a little scary for me. Plus, the ride made me even dizzier from all the loops! The adrenalin rushed through my veins.

  Everyone screamed their lungs out, while I couldn’t scream.

  I closed my eyes through the whole ride and swallowed my scream.

  Even though it was a fun adventure, I still couldn’t scream because of my past. I wasn’t really mad about it because I enjoyed the fun with my friends.

  Yet, I noticed the concerned gaze from Jeffrey. He knew why I wasn’t calling out.

  And he knew it was bothering me a bit, but he gave his best to let it pass— normally, he would talk to me about it, so he could help me get over my fear of letting my voice ring out.

  The next ride was neither for Amy nor for me, so we both watched the others ride the freefall.

  Amy laughed about the faces they made and the loud screams.

  “I told you. This is a ride for crazy people! This is to dangerous…”

  I nodded after her comment, this was true.

  “Look at Bob!”

  She couldn’t stop laughing as she pointed at his moustache which was swinging up and down from the fall.

  Even though I didn’t want to laugh about it, I couldn’t help myself and chimed in.

  After this ride, Jeffrey and Bob needed a break. Their faces had turned pale, and they couldn’t walk in a straight line, which made us all laugh. They sat down on a bench while Amy and I bought some drinks.

  We supplied everyone with water, so their sore throats from screaming had something to cool down.

  “I will never do this again!” Bob said loudly after he had calmed down a bit.

  “Add me in, this wasn’t good at all! Our Jenny was wiser by choosing not to do this,” Jeffrey agreed, while Linette, Charlotte, and Tyler didn’t seem bothered at all.

  “Come on, Jenny, they all took a ride, let us go on this one!”

  She pointed at a teacup ride which didn’t look scary at all— and you could limit the speed yourself.

  “I will join you.”

  Charlotte said, but Amy shook her off.

  “It’s our turn now!”

  She took my hand and led the way to the ride.

  It was a relaxing one, because two people could get into one teacup. In the middle there was a wheel, which one of us could spin, so the cup could turn. Of course, we did it slowly, others tried to make themselves dizzy with the speed they had on, but we took it easy.

  The mild breeze was blowing around us which made our hair turn with the circles we made.

  Amy looked stunning with her golden, shoulder-length hair.

  Her brown eyes were shining with the sun, and her white summer dress fit her perfectly.

  She wore golden, round glasses and smiled throughout the ride.

  My gaze went up to the fake ceiling made out of glass.

  Only three little clouds were above the blue sky— it was beautiful!

  While spinning around, it seemed like the sun was dancing with the clouds.

  Suddenly, a flash startled me. Searching for the source, I discovered that Amy was the one who was causing it. She was taking pictures without asking me.

  “Hey!”

  “Aw! Come on, you look cute today!”

  She slid next to me and turned her phone, so the camera was facing us.

  Her arm was around my shoulder while she made a peace sign.

  “Say cheese!”

  She clicked for the photo, even though I wasn’t really prepared.

  “Aww! You look so damn cute! Let’s do another one.”

  Well, she clicked so many times that I couldn’t count how many photos she took.

  But I gave in after seeing her bright smile— and … I felt happy, too!

  We all head a lot of fun, and we systematically went on all the rides.

  Okay, not all of them since some were not good for me.

  But if I didn’t go on a ride, then I would sit on a bench out front with Jeffrey or Amy— or with Bob or Linette!

  Tyler couldn’t take a break since Charlotte was dragging him everywhere she wanted to go. It was funny to watch them both, and I was also glad b
ecause they seemed to get along with each other.

  “Are you okay?” Linette asked, while she took the seat beside me.

  It was now our turn to sit alone together since everyone else was visiting the haunted house.

  “Yeah, I am fine,” I answered after a while. “How about you?”

  She ran her fingers through her hair and started to shake them, so they would loosen up a bit. Then she leaned over with her head on my shoulder. Her short hair brushed over my cheek.

  “Today, I had so much fun! I haven’t had this many people around me in a while. Bob and Jeffrey are such beautiful human beings, I am glad you have had such good people around you in your past.”

  She said her long sentence carefully, as if she was afraid to make me remember something bad.

  “Yeah … I am glad we have found each other again, and I am so thankful for having you guys around me.”

  I patted her shoulders and hugged her slowly.

  “Thank you.”

  It was a moment in which we both appreciated the each other’s company while watching more people enter the amusement park.

  The more people came in, the longer the lines became for the rides.

  Right now, there was a blissful and joyful atmosphere around us. The main attractions were barely passable since most people wanted to ride them. We had a long moment of silence.

  “Why the long faces?” Bob asked, approaching us slowly.

  “Ah, nothing! We were just daydreaming!” Linette answered quickly and got up, just to sit straight back down on the bench.

  “Good! Then let’s stop daydreaming and get on the next ride!”

  He took my hand and smiled.

  “This one is a slow water ride.”

  Bob pointed at it as if he knew my reaction to that one.

  It wasn’t a spectacular ride. It was normal and for kids.

  But to me, it was everything.

  Back in the day when I was eight years old … when I couldn’t talk, Bob showed me a comic book, while I lay in the hospital bed with my bad injuries.

  In this book there was this fantasy water slide, and it caught my eyes; I wanted to get on one of those rides and never come back… drifting into a fantasy world… He asked me if I wanted to go there. At the time, I was afraid to tell anybody what I wanted, since nobody seemed to care about what I wanted, anyway— yet, he promised me to take me there.

  And here we were now, 10 years later.