wowie wowie it has been far too long

oof

well

hey guys!!

also there's a lot of swearing in this chapter because it has both Adrian AND Rosaleen in it so uhhhh

and it also gets pretty dark towards the end so prepare yourselves

-𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓽𝔂

✘ - ✘ - ✘

One Week Before the Murder of Rosaleen Channing

Rosaleen's fingers tapped away at the screen of her phone.

"i can't wait to see you tomorrow"

Rosaleen let out a harsh sigh and rolled over, deleting her message. God, that was so cheesy. No way she could send that.

"alexa told me she's having a party this weekend, wanna come with me?"

Absolutely not. She wasn't even going to Alexa's party. She was a bitch anyway. What made Alexa think she was so much better than everyone else?

"i miss you."

Rosaleen was almost disgusted with herself, fighting back a gag. Rosaleen Channing didn't miss anyone.

"why don't we talk anymore? xoxo"

Rosaleen scoffed and closed out of her message app. She wasn't going to say anything. There was no reason to message him.

A soft knock at the door distracted her. She rolled out of bed, tossed her phone behind her, and scuttled to the front door.

She didn't even pause to watch for broken furniture. She knew her way through the shards of her family like the back of her hand.

That, and she had a pair of flats she wore around the house.

She swung the door open, already knowing who was behind it.

Her and Sam had been friends since, like, elementary school. Rosaleen could recognize Sam by the way she walked up a staircase.

"Sam, come in!" 

Rosaleen and Samantha shared a quick hug. They usually hung out at Sam's house or somewhere public (for obvious reasons) but Rosaleen had insisted. Just this once.

Rosaleen wasted no time before ushering Sam around the corner and into her bedroom. The last she wanted was for Adrian to come out of the basement, whining about how loud they were being.

Rosaleen closed the door shut, and launched into conversation. She had some gossip that she was more than ready to spill.

"You weren't at Killian's little Spring Fling thing, were you?"

Sam quickly shook her head no, as Rosaleen knew she would. Sam wasn't really... the party type. The only time Sam ever went to parties was when Rosaleen brought her with. Rosaleen also knew that Sam had this thing about not being able to say "no" so Rosaleen rarely asked.

"God, you're so basic." Rosaleen rolled her eyes. "Kidding! Well, anyway, Julia is a total snake...! I totally saw her hitting on Lance when she was drunk! She was just about to kiss him when I walked over. I wish you could've seen the look on her face. She was so pissed that I was getting in her way, I swear."

Rosaleen was very aware of Sam's feelings for Lance. Sam had never  told Rosaleen, and always insisted she didn't, but it was very obvious. Rosaleen had been very worried that Sam would steal Lance away from her, but she usually fought that thought away because she knew Sam too well.

Sam--very much unlike Rosaleen--would never steal someone else's man.

Sam's eyes were wide, "Oh no! What did you say to her?"

"Oh, I didn't say anything," Rosaleen said, a dark grin slithering onto her lips, "I just kissed Lance really good."

Rosaleen swayed slightly as she said "really good", swishing her hips.

Sam let out a soft gasp, "You're so evil...!"

Rosaleen's cackle could put the Wicked Witch of the West to shame.

Before Rosaleen or Sam could say anymore, loud stomping from outside Rosaleen's room interrupted them.

Rosaleen hissed a sharp "Adrian!" before opening the door. In the door way, she told Sam to stay put while she "dealt with it".

Rosaleen rushed out to find Adrian standing in the living room, hands curled into fists at his side.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Adrian spat.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Rosaleen retorted.

"Wrong with me? I'm not the one who--!"

Rosaleen interrupted whatever accusation he was about to make, opting for a cold "Why are you so angry? Did your dealer get arrested or something?"

Rosaleen was unaware of it, but Sam had appeared, drawn out of Rosaleen's room by all the yelling.

"Oh, screw you, Rosaleen!"

"Adrian-!"

Adrian turned away, but Rosaleen kept screaming. "You know what? Fuck you, Adrian! You're just jealous because people like me but they don't like you! Fuck you to hell!"

Adrian spun around on his heel. "Don't you ever say that to me again, you cutthroat bitch."

"Which part? The 'Fuck you' or the 'Nobody. Likes. You.'?"

"Are you that fucking delusional? Do you really think people like you? Do you really? Don't you realize? Nobody likes you. Nobody even cares about you. Sam's only here right now because of her loyalty. She knows you two have grown so different, that you have grown so toxic that no normal person would ever believe that you're friends. But you are. Because Sam's too scared to leave you behind."

Rosaleen was at a complete loss her words. A fiery anger burned in her blood, hotter than a thousand suns. Her eyes, blistering green, scanned the room for any item she could get her hands on.

The frame of a shattered painting.

No.

Her science textbook. It wasn't like she used it.

No.

A glass vase, half-wilted roses still dangling over the rim.

The vase was soaring through the air before she could think twice about it.

"I bet no one would even show up to your funeral if you died tomorrow!" Rosaleen screamed, "Because I sure as hell wouldn't!"

The vase shattered as it hit the hardwood floor, glass flying across the room like the flames of an explosion.

Adrian took several steps back, shaking his head in disbelief. There was a cut across his cheek and his forehead. He ran his fingers across his face, smearing the blood more than anything else. For a moment he was silent, staring at the hot redness staining his fingers.

"You're a fucking psychopath" was all he said. He turned and stepped out the back door, disappearing before Rosaleen said anything at all.

Rosaleen crushed one of the roses beneath her shoe, relishing in the satisfying crunch. Like a leaf on the ground in autumn.

Rosaleen rolled her shoulders, cracked her knuckles, then forced a smile onto her face.

She turned around, and saw Sam standing in the doorway. On Sam's face was a look of true, complete terror. Sam had been horrified into a still silence. Her face was a twisted, pale expression of someone who had never seen such a terrible thing in her entire life.

"So, do you wanna go see a movie or something?"

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*"Rosaleen was very aware of Sam's feelings for Lance."
which means that Rosaleen knew Sam liked Lance but still started dating him :/

*i feel like there are so many run-on sentences in this chapter wtf
i tried to edit most of them out, but it didn't really work

*writing the whole thing where Rosaleen complains about Julia made me weirdly uncomfortable so i hope it did the same for you when you read it

-𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓽𝔂