United again

CHAPTER TWO : MEET WITH YOUR RIVAL

The classroom was already noisy when Roseline pushed the door open.

Every head turned.

"Roseline!"

Miss Florence put her marker down. "Why are you late on your second day of school?"

Rose felt her cheeks burn. 30 pairs of eyes on her again.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," she said quickly. "My car broke down on the road, and it took a while to get it fixed."

Miss Florence stared at her for two seconds, then sighed.

"Alright. Go to your seat. And don't make it a habit."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you, miss," Rose mumbled.

She hurried to her seat beside Elsa and dropped her bag.

Elsa leaned over. "Are you okay? You look stressed."

"I'm fine," Rose whispered, pulling out her books. "Just... car trouble."

"So," Miss Florence clapped her hands once. "We were talking about word modifiers before the interruption. Who can help us out with it?"

Silence.

No one raised their hand.

Miss Florence frowned. "You mean none of you knows it? Oh, alright." Her eyes scanned the room and stopped. "Jaden, help us out."

Jaden was slouched in his chair at the back, hoodie up.

He didn't move for a second. Then he stood up slowly.

"Word modifiers are optional elements in a phrase structure or a clause structure," he said in a flat voice. Then he sat back down like nothing happened.

The class went "ooooh".

"That was a brilliant one, Jaden," Miss Florence said, smiling. "But to explain further, adverbs and adjectives are modifiers, although they have many functions. For example—"

_DING! DING! DING!_

The bell cut her off.

"So, students," Miss Florence said, already packing her bag. "This is the end of the class. We continue tomorrow. Good day, students."

"See you later, Miss Florence!" the class shouted.

Rose turned to Elsa. "Hey, are you going for art class?"

Elsa shook her head. "No, Rose. We don't all do art. Only some of us. But I will follow you. Let's go."

"Thank you, Elsa," Rose said, relieved. "I would've gotten lost."

They walked out together, talking and laughing. After art class, they were heading back to their main classroom, books in their arms.

That’s when it happened.

_WHAM_

Someone crashed into Rose from the side. Her books flew everywhere. Pens scattered.

"What the heck is this?" Rose yelled, looking up.

Jaden.

He didn't even stop. Just kept walking.

"Excuse me!" Rose shouted. "Can't you say sorry?"

Jaden stopped. He turned around slowly, hands in his pockets. His face was blank.

"And why should I?" he said. "I didn't do it on purpose, and you weren't watching where you were going."

Rose's blood boiled. "I wasn't watching? You were the one on your phone!"

Elsa grabbed Rose's arm. "Rose, let's go. Please."

Rose shook her off. "No. You must be blind not to see me then!"

Jaden raised a brow. "Whatever. Don't waste time on people like you. It bores me."

He turned and started walking away again.

"You jerk, damn it!" Rose shouted.

A few students were already staring.

"Come on, let's get going," Elsa said, crouching. "All eyes are on us." She started picking up the books.

Rose sighed and helped her. "Do I care? He was so rude."

"Let it go," Elsa said. "That's just Jaden."

"Let's get some food, okay?" Elsa stood up. "I'm starving."

Rose nodded, hugging her books. "Of course. I might be angry, but that doesn't stop me from eating."

They both laughed and headed to the cafeteria.

---

The cafeteria was full. Noise everywhere. Smell of fries and burgers.

Rose and Elsa grabbed trays and sat at an empty table near the window.

"Finally," Elsa said, taking a bite. "Peace."

"Peace?" Rose was still frowning. "After that jerk?"

"Don't say his name too loud," Elsa warned. "You never know who's listening."

Before Rose could answer, a shadow fell over their table.

"Hey. This is our table."

Rose looked up. Jaden. With Tyler and two other guys.

She blinked. "Excuse me?"

Jaden crossed his arms. "You heard me. This is our table. Move."

Rose put her fork down slowly. She could feel the whole cafeteria watching now.

"And why should I move?" she said, voice steady. "Your name isn't written on the chair, so you have no right to tell me to get up for you."

Elsa froze mid-bite. "Rose..."

"What?" Rose whispered to her. "I'm not moving."

Jaden smirked. It wasn't a nice smirk. "I see you like being stubborn."

"And I see you like being rude," Rose shot back.

"But I'll show you I'm more stubborn than you," Jaden said, leaning on the table.

Tyler laughed nervously. "Bro, come on. Let's just sit somewhere else."

"Come on, Rose. Can we go now?" Elsa whispered, already half-standing. "Please?"

Rose grabbed Elsa's wrist and pulled her back down.

"We are not going anywhere," Rose said, louder. "He came late. He's the one who should go."

The guys behind Jaden started murmuring.

Jaden stared at her for a long moment. Then he looked at his friends.

"Guys, let's go. We can't keep wasting our time on this bully, can we?"

They all laughed and walked away to another table.

The moment they were gone, Rose let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"You jerk! Good-for-nothing bully!" she shouted after them.

The whole cafeteria went quiet for half a second, then burst into whispers.

Elsa patted Rose's back. "It's alright. It's alright. You could have just ignored him."

"I can't ignore rude people," Rose said, but her hands were shaking.

"He's a dangerous one," Elsa said quietly. "But I wonder why he didn't do anything. He could've yelled back or done worse."

Rose frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Elsa leaned in. "It's obvious to everyone else he must have his reason... or maybe he fancies you."

Rose choked on her juice. "What?! Elsa, no!"

"I'm just saying," Elsa grinned. "The way he looked at you. Not angry. Just... weird."

"There's nothing weird," Rose said quickly. "He hates me. I hate him. End of story."

"Sure," Elsa said, winking. "End of story."

Rose rolled her eyes but couldn't stop her heart from beating faster.

_Why did he look at me like that?_

_No. Stop. He's a jerk._

She took another bite of her food.

"So," Elsa said. "Tour after this?"

"Yeah," Rose said. "Tour. Then home. Far away from him."

Both of them laughed.

Outside the cafeteria, Jaden was leaning against the wall.

"Bro, that girl has guts," Tyler said.

Jaden didn't answer. He just stared at the cafeteria doors.

`TO BE CONTINUED...`