Catching Up PV Aldor Finished

Rose still couldn’t help but smile as she spied the blonde boy coming toward her. “Aldor,” she said softly, recognizing him in no time at all. It was clear she was very happy to see him. “Here, you can-” She used one of her feet to spin the chair next to her ninety degrees, and shifted her own chair so the two were roughly facing each other, though still a comfortable distance apart. “-sit if you want,” she offered, tucking both legs under her chair and crossing her ankles.

Rose took to analyzing him, for only a couple of seconds. He looked a lot like he normally did- with his messy hair and his quiet, reserved demeanor. He had only grown a little bit since the last time they had met, which had sadly been too long. He would get his growth spurt soon enough- he might even be taller than Rose. That was how boys and girls worked a lot of the time. He was also holding a book (which wasn’t surprising), but Rose wondered what he was reading. They could talk about that later in their conversation. Anyway, he almost seemed the same, except for- something… something seemed off. Just a little bit different, but Rose couldn’t pin it down. She couldn’t decide what it was, and that wasn’t the best feeling. The feeling that something was wrong, except- except she had no idea what. Did he even need help or was he happier than normal? Was she just being paranoid? Maybe there was nothing to notice anyway?

He also called her “Miss Rose,” which she wasn’t sure what to make of. Maybe he was just making a joke, or maybe he respected her for being older? She didn’t want him to think that- she was only three or four months older than him, not even a year since she had a really late birthday and he had an earlier birthday in the year. She didn’t want him to ever feel inferior to her, even though he probably already did.

“It’s good to see you- thanks for coming,” she said, quieter than usual. Maybe it was just because they were in the library, which is famed for putting pressure on the students to being quiet. Or maybe it was that even though Rose’s voice was always softer than the average person, but on these better days, the days where she wasn’t snapping at everyone, her voice was even lower. “How have you been? It feels like I haven’t seen you in forever.”

"No, no, you're not late," Rose reassured Aldor. It was not unusual for him to ask her that, and she didn't want him to ever doubt himself, even if she knew he always, always did. Plus, she had just told him to come after classes. Technically, any time after classes had ended that particular day would be in that category. 5 o'clock, dinnertime, midnight, the next day, ten years from then- as long as he met her in the library after classes, she would be satisfied.

Well, really, that wasn't true. Rose would have felt almost abandoned if he had failed to show up, bringing up doubts in her mind if he even liked her presence or if she was just an annoyance to him, or if he really was okay, because she knew he would try his best to come even if he wasn't okay, and would be extremely concerned if he hadn't even come at all.

But she didn't need to think about that because he was here and he had shown up, just like she knew he would. Because that's how dedicated and good of a friend he was. Rose was at least glad he had told her he was quite all right, but concern sparked in her when he said he was dealing with some things, but rushed past it too quick for Rose to interrupt him kindly enough, and he asked her a couple of questions to check up on her. It would be rude for her to not answer his questions first, so she started by doing that.

"Don't apologize, it's totally fine," she reassured him first before continuing, "I'm- I'm alive," she said, trying not to lie to him while also not making him worried for her. Yes, she was still shaken by what had happened over Christmas Break, but she had found a way to cope with her anxiety about her mother and her sister and her mother's fiance by now. She was alive. Maybe not exactly "fine" or "okay," but she was alive. He complimented her by saying she looked fine, almost to reassure her he wasn't already super concerned by asking her how she was. "Oh- thank you. I haven't been doing anything super interesting, except for a Truth or Dare one of my friends organized with a whole bunch of kids from around school, and it was mostly fun. Very interesting, though." She supplied. Maybe that would further help her case of convincing him she was okay. But she did answer him honestly. Completely honestly, that time. "What about you? Have you been doing anything interesting recently?" she asked, which was only polite of her to reciprocate.

She would wait for him to finish talking, interested in how he was, and would listen to everything he had to say. Whenever Aldor had something to say, Rose always shut her mouth to listen until he was done. Rose knew she was one to ramble, so she didn't want to talk over him. Because he was quiet, Rose knew that if he had or wanted to say something it definitely was important. Otherwise, he would have just thought it in his mind and not said it out loud.

And now, to ask him what she really wanted to know. She cocked her head and asked, "What kind of things were you... dealing with? You mentioned it earlier." She blushed, feeling like she was imposing on his personal business, so she added, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to, I was just curious."

Rose gasped lightly at his comment on being able to help his aunt with a dragon book. That was so cool! Her eyes looked a little happier than they were before. "Really? I bet it will be all the more amazing," she said. Him mentioning things that Rose knew made him happy made Rose cheer up- it had made her day, in fact. He had always loved dragons, that much had been very evident, from him talking about them to reading about them, to even being one for Halloween when they had gone together. Rose was glad he had been able to do something with dragons, a subject he particularly loved.

She listened to Aldor's story about his aunt and her boyfriend. His mother figure wasn't making time for Aldor because she was going out with her boyfriend a lot- Wow, now where in the world had she heard that story before? Oh, maybe because it was the exact same thing that had happened to Rose and her siblings, especially her little sister stuck at home, over this year. She felt bad for Aldor that they were in the same boat, as she knew this boat sucked. There was a water leak in between the boards and it had splinters all over it, but at least Aldor hadn't fought with his aunt the way Rose had fought with her mother. Rose had straight-up yelled at her mother, showing off her pre-adolescent angst. She wasn't even thirteen yet! Imagine the mood swings when she was smack dab in the middle of puberty. Yikes.

Anyway, Rose nodded sympathetically. She knew what he was going through.

Then he asked her advice about love- romantic love, and pointed out she had a boyfriend, which made Rose go pink just the slightest bit. She didn't think Aldor was doing this, but Rose didn't want to be stereotyped with the popular girls who had a boyfriend that didn't really mean anything to them. Eyre meant so much to Rose, it would be difficult to describe. She pondered her answer first before voicing it.

"I don't think you need to be obligated to have a sweetheart to enjoy Valentines Day," she said. "I mean, like, there might be some people who have girlfriends and boyfriends, but I don't think you have to have one just to have a good day. Not that I do, but a lot of people have significant others just because they want to be popular or look cool. I don't think you really need to worry about it, Aldor. If you end up doing something with someone you like on Valentines Day, then that's really good for you! If you don't, you can treat it like any other day." Then, she added, "And there is certainly nothing wrong with you, Aldor. Quite the opposite, really."

She didn't want to make the conversation awkward, but she asked politely, "Is there really anyone you would want to ask out? Like, you can totally not tell me if you don't want to, I'm just curious." She wasn't trying to push him or anything, and she was really lacking assertion in the words that she said.

Rose nodded at his reply. "Yeah, that makes sense," she murmured. If Rose was in the same situation as him, which she was not, she would decide that they were too young for any serious love anyway, and so it was probably going to be meaningless asking some boy out. He said something about not wanting to take up any of her time, and Rose shook her head then, saying, "No, no, don't worry about that. I have plenty of time and not enough stuff to do with it, so I could definitely help you or be there for you whenever you need it," she said truthfully. She would always, always make time for Aldor, he was one of her best friends. "If you ever need me, I'll always be there. Don't worry about wasting my time and all that nonsense."

Never ever ever did Rose want anyone to worry about her the way she worried about other people. Never ever. It kept her awake at night, it plagued her thoughts during the day, it infected her life and almost every aspect. And it was horrible, she knew it. Knowing that anybody would worry about her the way she worried about others made her feel guilty for doing that to them. She wanted everyone to think she was supportive and strong, and she would always be there for people because she was strong and she could get through her own problems. She didn't want Aldor to worry about her.

"Like I said, Valentine's Day is not all that it's hyped up to be. Don't stress too much about it."

If Aldor had anything else to add, Rose would stay silent and listen to him.

Rose cocked her head, noticing the book that Aldor brought with him. It was very elegant, all black and silver and white, with his name on the spine. Carrying on the conversation, Rose's curiosity got the better of her. "What's this?" She didn't want to just take it and flip through it, so she just tapped it as she asked the question.