Rosemary Dizznee

Ten Years Ago...From Rosemary's Memory
I'm exhausted. Lunch just started and after an entire session of being wind blasted, I already want to go home. It's not because I don't like school - I love it - It's just that ability testing is grueling. The other day was trying to walk through walls (by that I mean walk into walls), and the session before was sitting in a freezer. One time they spent an entire period staring at one another intently in an attempt to read one another's minds. That one was awkward.

My hair is a complete mess now, and I wish that I manifested like Celeste and Alexander had. Celeste manifested when she was seven while she was helping dad in the workshop like she always did, and mom says that's what triggered it so early. Alexander manifested as a geokinetic in his second year, so that only leaves me out of the three of us.

Speaking of three, it's my third year of Foxfire, meaning that it's the last year I'm likely to manifest. It'll be my last year of ability training, and my last chance to join my sister and Alexander in the silver towers one day.

I know there's nothing wrong with being a talentless, Uncle Lex and Pop-Pop are and they're super cool, but I just... I just want something more from life than alchemy or road work or nursing or secretary. I want to do something that changes people's lives. I want to be important. I'm not talking about fame or anything, the other wave kids and I get some of the reverb from our parents, I'm talking something like helping someone with only something I can do, something that can only be done with a special ability.

Only telepaths can read minds. Only geokinetics can control rocks. Only inflictors can make people feel things at will... at least, that's what I thought before mom told me that you can do most of those things without a special ability. If you practice being observant, you can tell what people are thinking. If you use your words wisely and your heart freely, you can make people feel things at will... as for controlling rocks... well, telekinesis is the best I'm ever get; that is, unless I manifest as a geokinetic within the next year.

What do I want to manifest as? Well, I'm not really sure. SO many abilities are SO cool, but it'd be pretty fun to share an ability with someone like Celeste and dad do, or Alexander and Aunt Marilynn. Maybe I'm a telepath like Aunt Sophie, Uncle Fitz, and Grandpa; or a technopath like Celeste and dad; or an beguiler like Aunt Bex; or a electrokinetic like Uncle Rex; or a Froster like Granny; or a vanisher like Gram and Mom. I'm more likely to get one of those abilities since sometimes they tend to go down family lines, but who knows, I might end up being a flasher.

Anyways, lunch just started and I can't find my sister or Alexander, so I'm just lost in a sea of people. I keep searching the crowd but I'm a lot shorter than most of the other students, I'm only 5'2" and I've almost stopped growing and Celeste, already 5'6", won't stop making fun of me. She and Alexander are about the same height, but dad says that he's going to shoot up and be super tall! I can't help but be a bit jealous, but mom says that I just need taller heels to catch up to them and Alexander said that he'd carry me around if it made me feel better (which it doesn't, I'm not some sort of doll!)

I've had a crush on Alexander since I was nine, so that's about four years... Only mom knows about it, I haven't even told Celeste, and she says that we're still young so I have to be patient. I don't mind being patient, but I'm worried about messing up and him finding out! That would change everything! The whole friendship dynamic would be different. It'd be awkward and weird and distant and I don't want that.

We've just always been a team, I guess. He always helps me take care of the little kids and he always referees Celeste and I's arguments. I can always count on him to be by my side and we know almost everything about one another since we've known each other for most of our lives.

When people say we're like siblings, I internally gag, but laugh it off. It's really awkward, because we've never really seen one another that way. We've always just been friends, even though Celeste sometimes calls him a "knucklehead brother".

When people ask if we're dating... that's when it gets weird and I start to worry if he'll find out. Is it that obvious? Am I that obvious? All of it gives me a headache and I have to drink some slumberberry tea to go to bed.

I get jealous when I see girls flocking Alexander. It's kind of obnoxious, really, the way they giggle and flirt and grab at his arms like some sort of orangutans. They're all pretty girls, like all elves are, and for the most part, they're all nice and nice to me, for the most part, but I just want them to go away so I can hang out with them. He says they're annoying, but he just can't say no. I don't blame him, I wouldn't be able to either.

Suddenly, I see him! He's walking with those girls again, and I see him searching through the crowd. Maybe for me or Celeste?

When he finally looks at me, his gentle blue eyes meeting mine as a few girls glare at me. I gasp as I realize that I've been staring for a while and I suddenly feel like a pitcher being filled with water in the span of a few milliseconds. I see Alexander frown in confusion and start to shake the girls off of him, who fall away like dominos, and he makes his way over to me.

I look down and see that I'm there, but when Alexander calls out to me, still a ways away, he looks around as if he can't see me, looking concerned.

"Rosie? Rose?" He asks aloud, then mumbles something under his breath like, "I swear I just saw her here."

I'm about to say something when this guy just walks right into me! I shriek in surprise and we fall to the floor. Just before he falls on top of me, he braces his hands on the floor with a loud smack, so loud that his hands would undoubtedly be bright red afterwords.

I don't recognize him. He has messy sandy blonde hair that curls around his ears and almost touches his shoulders. His blue eyes are a crisp sea blue. His freckles softly spay across his nose and sprinkle lightly around the rest of his face. I can't help but think that he looks like the embodiment of sunshine. He looks confused for a moment before he smiles, eyes twinkling, "You're a vanisher, aren't you?"

"W-what?" was the smartest thing I could say. Go me.

He laughed, and helped me up, "You just manifested in the middle of the hall? I've never heard of that one before."

"I... I guess so," I noticed that his uniform was red, meaning he was a level five. That explains why he's so much taller than me.

"Who shall I owe the congratulations to, fellow vanisher?"

I blinked, he was a vanisher too? I wasn't expecting that.

"You still there?" he waved with a grin.

"Sorry!" I blurted out awkwardly, "I just wasn't expecting you to be a vanisher too. I'm Rosemary Dizznee."

It was his turn to be surprised, "Rosemary Dizznee?" he let out a low whistle, "Man, you Dizznee kids are good at carrying on the family legacy. Your sister's a technopath, right? Just like your dad?"

I nodded, then realized that he couldn't see me, "Oh! Sorry, I nodded - I mean, yes, yes that's true."

I physically cringe at my own awkwardness. I'm not used to talking with older classmen unless they were Alexander, so I'm pretty nervous.

He laughed, "I'd be willing to bet that you're going to save the world like they did one day. The name's Braylon Gauge. Pleasure to meet you." He bows for me, and I giggle. He was about to say something else when Alexander walked up hesitantly.

"Rosie?"

"Hey Alexander," I wave, then remember that he still can't see me.

"Where... Did you just manifest as a vanisher?" Alexander asked hopefully.

"Apparently I did. What a time to do it, right?" I turn to Braylon, "I'm sorry for tripping you."

"It's okay," Braylon replies, "I've been there. Do you know how to bring yourself back?" I shake my head, but before I realize he can't see me, he says, "Just breathe and focus on your physical form. Think about it like pouring-"

"Water out of a pitcher," I finish for him, "I felt something like it before, like it was-"

"Water pouring into a pitcher," Braylon finishes for me this time, and I don't notice the expression on Alexander's face. "Exactly. Now, go ahead and try it."

Nervously, I take a breath, and I can feel Alexander watching me. I try to focus on pulling myself back together, back into view, but for some reason, it just feels like the threads are all squirming away from me, like worms.

My heart is racing and I try again, then again, then again, and I still can't get it. Why can't I get it? WHY CAN'T I GET IT?

"Rosie?" Alexander asks worriedly, reaching out blindly, "What's happening? Are you okay?"

I try to say something, but the words clump in my throat. What if I can't pull myself out of this?

"She's panicking," Braylon answers, "don't worry, I've got this."

I don't see him do anything, but from the look on Alexander's face, I guess he vanished. I thought vanishers couldn't see one another when vanished just like everyone can't see us?

Braylon looks shocked as well, "I can see you."

"I can see you," I reply.

"I can't see either of you," Alexander put in his two cents. "Don't vanishers usually see one another when they vanish?"

"No," Braylon says quietly, "this is... I'll have to talk to my mentor about it." He shakes his head, bringing it back into the game, taking my hand. "Okay, look at me and just breathe. Focus on picking up the pitcher"

"Loose ends?" Alexander asks skeptically and Braylon shushes him harshly.'

As Alexander grumbles, I do as I'm told and look up at Braylon. "Just relax," he says reassuringly, "when you panic, you're going to stay stuck."

I nod and take a deep breath, closing my eyes for a moment, keeping my mind around the handle of the imaginary pitcher as I dump out the light from it.

When I open my eyes again, I feel a hand on my shoulder and my ears grow red, especially when I feel that Braylon is still holding my hand.

"Hey Rose," Alexander smiles at me, "that was awesome."

"Yeah, nice job pulling through," Braylon agrees, and when Alexander looks at him, he drops my hand.

"Thanks for your help," I say as I ignore the tension, "I couldn't have done it without you."

"No problem," Braylon waves me off with a smile. "Always glad to help a fellow vanisher."

"Why don't we go tell the office you've manifested so you can get your schedule changed before tomorrow," suggests Alexander.

"Oh! Okay," I nod, "bye Braylon."

"See you around, Mary," he salutes.

"'Mary'?" Alexander frowns, looking offended.

"You call her 'Rose' and 'Rosie', I call her 'Mary'," shrugs Braylon, walking backwards before waving one last time and walking off.

"I don't like that guy," Alexander grumbles.

Present Day...
"I don't like that guy," Alexander grumbled as he carried Rosemary up the stairs, bridal style, "he let you twist your ankle-"

"Alexander," she said scoldingly, "I'm clumsy. He even helped me wrap my ankle. It's my fault for tripping."

Earlier that day, Braylon took Rosemary to a mountain where they hiked the trail to the top, where they stood on a ledge that overlooked the valley. It was absolutely breathtaking, but Rosemary had tripped on the way down the mountain, so Braylon had to help her down the rest of the way. At the base, he quickly light leaped to get supplies to wrap her ankle, and ever so conveniently, Alexander messaged her via imparter.

Rosemary hadn't planned to tell him that she twisted her ankle, at least, while on a hike with Braylon, knowing that Alexander would freak out, but when Braylon returned, he announced that he had the stuff for her ankle. Alexander interrogated the rest out of them before insisting on picking Rosemary up and taking her home. She loved Alexander with all her heart, but oi vey, her crush refused to like Braylon for some reason.

"He could have caught you beforehand. You're supposed to be connaturals, aren't you?"

"Connaturals are different from cognates and you know it," she swatted his shoulder lightly.

Alexander only grumbled again.

Rosemary and Braylon learned what connaturals were after they talked to their shared mentor, Lady Pippaman, who explained that sometimes people with special abilities just connect with someone who shares that ability on a deeper level so they are stronger together than they would be if they were alone. Connaturals are like a lesser, non-telepathic version of cognates, and the effects of having one are minimal, but useful. For example, when Braylon and Rosemary vanished together, they could see one another like they did the first time they met ten years ago. Now that they'd trained over the years together in a joint special ability session back in Foxfire, they could see one another even when only one of them was vanished. It was pretty cool, and they didn't have to take any special test or share all their secrets. They just were. Kind of like how your brother just is your brother. It's something that was already set in place and doesn't mean there needs to be an unearthly connection, though that didn't mean that Alexander accepted that yet.

"Why don't you trust him?" Rosemary asked for what felt like the billionth time.

"Instinct."

"Instinct?" she demanded, "That's ridiculous. It's been ten years!"

"And the instinct is still running strong," he shrugged slightly.

"I trust him, do you at least trust my judgement enough to be a little more trusting of him? I'm not asking a lot, just a little less blame-gamey."

"I trust your judgement, but that doesn't mean I trust him. Why don't you trust my judgement that he's bad news?"

"Because it's all on instinct and he's my connatural."

Alexander mumbled something like, "touche", and she couldn't help but smile.

Unwrapping one arm from around his neck, she cupped his cheek and turned his attention to her, "He would never hurt me, okay?"

His eyes softened when they met hers, and he stopped, "That doesn't mean I don't worry."

"I know, but he wouldn't, trust me. Just like you would never hurt one of your siblings. That's what connaturals are like."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Her hand fell away and Alexander kept walking. He set her on the couch of the living room and helped her prop her foot up. They didn't even have to communicate to know that they were going to watch a movie, as they'd done this many times before, and Alexander just simply held up movies until she nodded. It was so easy to be around Alexander. They already knew the answers to the questions left unspoken.

After setting up the DVD (The Imitation Game) and turning off the lights, he sat down next to her on the couch. As the movie started to play, she rested her head on his shoulder and he casually wrapped his arm around her. Rosemary's heart skipped a beat and she was glad it was dark so he couldn't see how deeply she was blushing. Even after fourteen years of having a crush on him, he still gave her butterflies. Celeste had known about it for seven years now and often told Rosemary to just confess or move on, but Rosemary couldn't do either. She was too scared to say something, and every day that passed made her realize a little more that this was it...

She looked up at him, watching his face as he watched the movie. A smile ghosted his lips and the glow of the screen left deep shadows and bright highlights. He was handsome. His black hair rugged, his facial features strong, and his blue eyes were like pure light settled in his irises. His heart full of goodness and love. He always took care of her and supported her. He always let her know what he was thinking and asked for her help. He knew her back to front, and she knew him just the same. He wasn't perfect with his protectiveness and jealousy, but Rosemary knew that he was perfect for her. Alexander was the one... all she had to do was confess to him.

This was safe, this was good, this was exactly what she wanted, but she just wasn't ready to risk all of that. Not yet. For now, she would be patient and hope that he didn't find out before she told him one day.