Roses Are Not Red

GARRY

Natalie felt a wave of nausea poke her stomach as she stared at the ham sandwich sitting on her tray close to a small juice box. Her appetite was non existent and Natalie didn’t even want take a bite out of it. She rubbed her tired eyes and sighed. Her eyes wandered around the noisy cafeteria filled with teenagers wolfing down their lunch and chattering away incessantly.

Natalie had barely gotten any sleep last night. She had to stay up all night monitoring Stacy’s condition carefully. Aside from that, Natalie kept overthinking everything she had heard and seen that night. It was like she was arranging a puzzle in her head, but no matter how much she tried, it never added up to something comprehensible.

The effects of staying up all night were starting to affect Natalie. Her eye lids got heavier and she closed them, her head nodding off.

“Well, this is a rare sight.” A gravelly voice said.

Natalie opened her eyes and saw another tray in front of her. She looked up and saw Garry Brooks, her friend sitting in front of her. He was giving her a playful smirk and his deep set emerald green eyes were twinkling with wonderment. He wore a black sweater, the collar of his white shirt sticking out of it. His jet black, shoulder length hair was tied up in a messy man bun.

“You didn’t get any sleep last night?” Garry asked as he grabbed his juice box.

Natalie rubbed her eyes and picked up her sandwich.

“Not exactly. Seems like you didn’t get any sleep either. I guess you were up all night playing games.” Natalie said and pointed at the dark circles under his eyes.

“The usuals.” Garry replied with a shrug.

Natalie took a bite out of her sandwich and felt her stomach curse her for her actions. She placed the sandwich back on the tray and groaned.

“Yeah, something’s wrong with you today. You look pale, you’re sleep deprived and you have loss of appetite.” Garry pointed out like he was doctor reading out the symptoms of a patients disease to them.

“You’re never sleep deprived. What’s up?”

A thought crossed Natalie’s mind. She could brief Garry on everything she had heard yesterday. Natalie had known Garry since they were kids and she knew how trustworthy he was. But was it really okay to tell him everything, just like that? Even if she did tell him, what exactly was he going to do?

Garry sighed and threw his empty juice box in the bin. He grabbed Natalie’s hand in his and looked at her dead in the eyes.

“I know how you always like to keep things to yourself. But I know something’s wrong and I want you to talk to me.”

Natalie flashed him a smile. Despite his emotionless demeanor, Garry was always nice to her. She started to feel inclined to tell him about everything, but Natalie shook her head.

“Nothing’s wrong Garry, I’m f-“

“I don’t believe you.” He cut her short.

Garry gazed at her with strong, stern eyes. Natalie felt her walls crumbled. She let out a long sigh and squeezed his hand.

“Will you hear me out?”

Garry’s face brightened up and he smiled.

“Of course.”

Natalie looked around cautiously, like someone was watching them. She leaned in closer and looked him in the eye.

“Last night, I went over to sisters Lily’s office to ask her for some medicine....”

Natalie explain everything to him in great detail, without omitting anything out. Garry stared at her, his face void of emotion as he listened to her intently.

“Everything is just too much for me to take in and I feel trapped, I don’t know what to do Garry.” Natalie said as her face wrinkled with sadness.

Garry went quiet for a while as he pondered over everything Natalie had told him.

“First, the flash drive you, stole...do you have it with you right now?”

Natalie shoved her hand into the pocket of her jacket and pulled the small flash drive out of it.

“I carry it with me everywhere. It feels like it’ll get taken away if I don’t have it with me.”

Garry took it from her and examined it.

“How about we check out the contents of the flash? I have a desktop at home. We can go to my house after school, and i’m sure mom would be happy to see you again.” He suggested and handed the flash drive back to her.

Natalie nodded happily. She felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders, but also felt a slight anticipation at the thought of what they would possibly find in the flash drive.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

Natalie felt a sense of familiarity and nostalgia the moment she stepped into Garry’s room. The small bed placed at the corner of the room, the reading desk beside his bed, filled with books, a small lamp and a desktop, Natalie remembered everything like she had been here yesterday.

When they were both in the fourth grade, Natalie would come over to Garry’s house occasionally and they would play games on his console. Natalie felt warm inside as she reminisced the fun times they had together.

Natalie plopped down on the bed and ran her hands along the smooth bed sheet. It had a blue checkered pattern, the same sheets Natalie had always seen him use.

“Mom got use some cake.” Garry said as he appeared into the room.

Natalie gazed at the tray he held. It held two plates containing a slice of cake each. The cake looked scrumptious, but Natalie’s appetite had not return.

Garry placed the tray down on his bed and sat down at his desk. Natalie immediately handed him the flash drive as the desktop screen came to life. He inserted the flash and a folder popped up on the screen. Natalie watched, her expectation rising as the cursor moved towards the folder. Garry clicked on it and a file with the name “Apollo III” appeared on the screen.