CHAPTER EIGHT
SYMPATHY

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     School was always hell but since the case of Jason Blossom became a murder investigation, things got even worse. It was all over the news and in the papers and it was all Luna had been hearing about for days. Even when she was trying to play her guitar to take her mind off it, somehow it was still all she could think about. Luna groaned as she leaned against her head and stretched out her legs on the floor.

     "I officially give up," she mumbled as she stared at the ceiling.

     How was she supposed to take her mind off of the current situation with her guitar when she was still thinking about it? She sat up when she heard the door open and her mother stood there. She always walked in without knocking and it always annoyed her but she never said anything about it.

     "You've been strumming that old thing all day. What's on your mind?" Julia asked.

     "Everything," Luna said.

     "I'm sure you'll be fine," her mother said and left the room.

     Luna groaned as she threw her head back and adjusted the guitar in her lap. She put her headphones on and tried to relax as she started strumming the strings again. She lost track of how long she had been playing until she noticed how dark it was getting outside. She decided to put her guitar away and took her headphones off. She turned on the light so her room didn't look so dark and depressing and picked out a plain tee shirt and a pair of grey sweatpants to change into. Once she was dressed, she put her other clothes in the laundry basket and crashed on the mattress. She wasn't thinking about anything anymore but now she was bored. She left her room to go downstairs into the kitchen and find something to eat.

     Rosalie was already in the kitchen when Luna got there but she was texting while waiting for something to heat up in the microwave. Luna ignored her as she opened the fridge and took out some cheese and leftover chicken from dinner the night before. She grabbed the jar of mayonnaise and put everything on the counter. While she was making her sandwich, she heard her sister curse under her breath.

     "What got under your skin?" she asked as she cut her sandwich in half.

     "None of your business," Rosalie said as she left the kitchen.

     "Fine," Luna mumbled as she shrugged her shoulders.

     She rolled her eyes as she ate her sandwich and cleaned the plate once she was done. She went back upstairs and she stopped by Rosalie's room since the door was open and she could see inside clearly. Her sister looked up from her phone and glared as she stood up and closed the door in her face. Luna scoffed as she went to her room and sat on top of the blanket. Why was it that every time she tried to listen, she was pushed away but whenever she didn't listen she was scolded? Was that a normal thing between siblings? At this point, Luna just assumed it was.

     She turned the pages in her notebook and picked up the black ink gel pen. She ended up doodling on the pages as her mind wandered off on her but it was something to pass the time. She was lost in her own world until she heard the front door slam shut and her curiosity got the best of her. She put everything down and headed downstairs where she saw Rosalie kicking her shoes off.

     "What's wrong?" their mother asked and Rosalie sighed as she looked at her.

     "Sweet Pea and I are done," she said as she pulled her hair behind her ears.

     Luna raised her eyebrows as she rested her chin on the banister while she watched the whole ordeal.

     "May I ask what happened?" she questioned and her sister turned to look at her.

     "I dumped him," Rosalie said with her arms crossed while glaring at Luna.

     "Rosie, I am so sorry. I know it seems hard now, but you might look back on this one day and realize that you made the right choice," their mother said while rubbing Rosalie's shoulders.

     Luna rolled her eyes as she turned around and went back upstairs. She knew what her mother was really thinking. She was probably happy that Rosalie and Sweet Pea were no more but there was no way she was going to openly patronize her or even patronize her at all. Rosalie always had their mother's support even if it was going to end badly. Another thing Luna was trying to figure out was why Rosalie was giving her such a dirty look when she said she dumped Sweet Pea.

     She didn't really know much about him and he didn't seem too bad but she couldn't exactly stand by that statement since she didn't really know him and only spoke to him three times. She didn't know why they broke up but Rosalie was clearly unhappy about it. She thought maybe she could ask her what happened between them but she figured she would only get a death glare and the door slammed in her face as a response so she decided against it. Instead, she just sat down on her bed and fell backwards so she was staring at the ceiling. She turned her head when she heard her phone vibrate on the nightstand and she picked it up. She looked at the messages sent to the group chat and her eyes widened.

Peyton : Did your sister really break up with Sweet Pea?
6:48pm

     Luna had no idea how Peyton already knew about Rosalie's break up and she quickly typed a response.

Luna : How did you know about that? It hasn't even been ten minutes!
6:49pm

Naomi : Go on Rosalie's Instagram and Twitter. It's all over her story and she won't stop tweeting about it.
6:51pm

Kai : Everyone is really letting him have it.
6:52pm

Luna : But did he even do anything?
6:54pm

Maya : Rosalie hasn't really said what really happened. All she said is a bunch of breakup quotes and song lyrics and everyone knows it's about her and Sweet Pea.
6:55pm

Peyton : You better see for yourself.
6:57pm

     Luna closed her messages and opened up her Instagram account to see what her friends were talking about. She tapped on Rosalie's story and it was nothing but heartbreak quotes and broken heart emojis. She went to her Twitter and all her recent tweets were similar to her Instagram story. There were already so many people retweeting and sharing and commenting comforting messages. Some of them even went as far as insulting Sweet Pea and calling him horrid names. Everyone seemed to think he was the one who broke up with her but she was the one who dumped him. What made Luna feel worse was that Rosalie never said anything to clarify, she just thanked everybody for the "kind messages."

     Luna stood up and hurried down the stairs to Rosalie's room and knocked on the door. When she didn't get an answer, she continued knocking loudly without stopping until the door was opened violently and Rosalie was glaring at her like she wanted to kill her.

     "What the hell do you want now?" she asked and Luna showed her the tweets on her screen.

     "Are you serious? It's only been fifteen minutes since you came home after you broke up with Sweet Pea and you're tweeting all of these things and letting him take all the heat for it," she said before putting her phone in her pocket and Rosalie rolled her eyes.

     "Did you seriously come pounding on my door like the police just to lecture me about how I should handle my breakup?" she questioned.

     "I came pounding on your door like the police because you need to have just a little bit of human decency and tell the truth," Luna retaliated.

     "And then what? Have my messages flooded with people calling me a bitch for supposedly dumping the 'hottest guy in school?' No way."

     "So, just because you didn't want to get any backlash, you let him take the fall?"

     "My relationship is none of your business so why don't you just buzz off and leave me alone?"

     And with that, Rosalie shut the door in Luna's face and the younger sister just stood there with a heavy sigh. She went back upstairs to her room and looked at the other comments people said. There were some people asking if Rosalie "finally dumped his sorry ass" and there were others asking how Sweet Pea could be stupid enough to break up someone like Rosalie. As much as Luna loved her sister, she was starting to think that maybe her and Sweet Pea wasn't the best idea and it was better that they were no longer together. She knew that Rosalie wasn't exactly the nicest person but she always thought she only acted like that towards her. Now she was starting to think that maybe that wasn't the case and she was starting to think that maybe she didn't know her sister as well as she thought she did.

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     When Luna got to school, she assumed the latest news would be flying around and she was right. There was always someone talking about Rosalie and Sweet Pea and it made Luna wanna rip her own ears off so she wouldn't have to listen to it anymore. The thing about Southside High was that there was always something to talk about, meaning they weren't the exception from high school gossip, despite the fact that most people tended to mind their own business.

     "How long do you think until it dies down?" Kai asked while they all sat down in the cafeteria for lunch.

     "How long does Rosalie hold a grudge?" Naomi asked while looking at Luna, who only sighed heavily.

     "A long time. She still hasn't forgiven me for tearing her stuffed bear's head clean off its body ten years ago," she replied and Maya looked at her.

     "I had no idea you were such a morbid child," she said and Luna snorted.

     "Oh, yeah. And I laughed like a maniac while Rosalie yelled at me and told our parents and then they started yelling at me and then I was just smiling," she replied before taking a sip from her can of soda.

     "Hard to believe that's the same person leading this band," Peyton said and Luna laughed.

     "I was an annoying little shit when I was little. Rosalie thinks that's why our father left us but at this point I just laugh in her face and continue doing my own thing," Luna said as she shrugged her shoulders.

     "How do you put up with her?" Peyton asked while narrowing her eyes.

     "You get used to it after ten years. The more she says it, the more it loses its sting," Luna answered.

     "You guys literally remind me of that nineties movie, 'Things I Hate About You.' You're Kat and Rosalie is Bianca," Naomi said.

     "The difference is that you're the younger sister instead of being the older one and no one is preventing the other from dating," Kai said.

     "If you ask me, that's very accurate. My mom puts Rosalie on a pedestal and I just know that she wishes I would be more like her. She doesn't know all the stupid shit Rosalie did when she got a boyfriend only because I kept quiet about it so she thinks she's the perfect child. Meanwhile, I'm constantly being told I have an attitude problem when I refuse to let people walk all over me just because they think they're superior. Both think I'm not going to get anywhere far if I continue with music. Neither of them really bother to talk to me unless it's to lecture me or pick a fight with me except for the rare occasions when our mom comes into my room to make sure I'm not dead," Luna said while shrugging her shoulders.

     "My parents still don't know I'm gay. My mom thinks that once I'm done school I'm gonna marry a rich man and start popping out babies as soon as possible. She even tried to set me up with a family friend's son one time. The idiot didn't understand personal boundaries and constantly talked about how he wanted his perfect little wife to be. My dad on the other hand keeps trying to push me into being more 'ladylike,' whatever the hell that means," Peyton said while rolling her eyes.

     "Does anyone else in this group have any family drama they would like to share?" Kai asked while resting his arms on the table.

     "My parents seem to forget they have a third child. But since I don't plan on being a doctor or an entrepreneur, I'm not very memorable. I wanted to do something different and have my own name and live up to my own expectations," Naomi said.

     "I can't really say much about my parents. My whole life they raised me to be this quiet, well-mannered and perfectly behaved little girl," Maya said while shrugging her shoulders.

     "I guess that would explain why you don't talk as much," Peyton said and Maya laughed.

     "How have we been friends for months and are just learning these things about each other?" Kai asked.

     "Who just meets someone for the first time and says something like 'oh and by the way, for my whole life I've been compared to my older sister and have always been everybody's second choice?' Come on, Kai," Luna said while rolling her eyes.

     "Fair enough," Kai replied.

     When lunch was over, they went straight to class but even for the rest of the day, all people could talk about was her sister's breakup. She was starting to wish that the students had something else to talk about because not only did she have to deal with Rosalie's drama at home, now she had to deal with it at school too. At school, she was able to get away from her sister's antics and just be with her friends and discuss whatever they wanted. Now Luna couldn't go five minutes without someone talking about Rosalie or Sweet Pea. Even after class, she heard some Ghoulies talking about her sister and she couldn't but listen and this time, she was glad she did.

     "So that little Asian girl is free territory now?" one of them asked and the other one nodded as he smiled wickedly.

     "I would love to find out why Sweet Pea kept her around for so long," he said and his words made the girl sick to her stomach.

     What the hell is it with Ghoulies and Asian fetishes? Luna thought to herself. As much as she couldn't stand her sister and her drama, she couldn't just let some immature little boys talk in such a disgusting way about her. She tossed aside her mother's lectures about her "bad attitude" and walked up to the two boys.

     "Hey!" she said and they both turned their heads to look at her. "Are you guys talking about my sister?"

     "Sweet Pea's girl is your sister?" one of them asked.

     "Yeah, and I would appreciate it if you would stop talking about her like she's a piece of meat," Luna said while glaring at the two boys who only laughed.

     "And what's a little girl like you gonna do about it?" the second one asked with his face only inches from Luna's which only made her glare at them even harder as her grip tightened around the strap of her bag.

     Before she could say anything, Kai and the girls walked up behind her. "Listen, man. You mess with her, you mess with all of us," Kai said and Peyton narrowed her eyes at the two Ghoulies in front of them.

     "Now, scram," she said and the two boys snorted.

     "Congratulations. You just made yourselves fair game," one of them said.

     "If you so much as even look at them, you'll have to deal with us," a female voice said and Luna turned around to see who it was.

     She saw Toni and Fangs standing there glaring at the Ghoulies. Even Sweet Pea was there giving them a death glare and if looks could kill, those two boys would be six feet underground. The Ghoulies turned around and walked away and Luna sighed in relief.

     "Thanks, guys," she said while looking at her friends and the three Serpents.

     "We couldn't exactly leave you hanging," Fangs said and Luna smiled before looking at Sweet Pea, who was the tallest out of the three of them.

     "I'm sorry about Rosalie's drama," she said and Sweet Pea only shrugged his shoulders.

     "I've dealt with worse," he said and Luna smiled crookedly.

     "How were you able to date her?" Peyton asked and Naomi elbowed her in the ribs hard. "Ow! Doesn't anyone else feel any sympathy for the guy?"

     "I'm the one who has to live under the same roof with her twenty-four seven. I'm the one who has to listen to her bitch and moan about the most insignificant things that won't even matter in two days and deal with her stuck up attitude. If anyone should be getting your sympathy, it should be me," Luna said as she rolled her eyes.

     "She has a point. No one in this group has to deal with Rosalie as much as Luna does," Naomi said and the others nodded.

     "She even told us your band is only being held together by your denial the other day at Pop's," Toni said while looking at Luna.

     "Of course she did," she sighed. "Thanks again for stepping in."

     "Any time," Sweet Pea said and Luna nodded.

     Maybe she had more people on her side than she really thought.