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Present day
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“Are you sure you want to eat that?” Mason pointed to the piece of pizza on her plate that she was about to take a bite of.
Her stomach rumbled as the scent of the greasy pizza hit her nostrils. Two slices hadn’t been enough of this delicious, cheesy goodness. Rose stuck her tongue out at him. “Yup, it’s mine.”
Mason smiled and put his hand over hers. “You’re lucky I like you.”
She responded by taking a gigantic bite of the last slice of pizza.
“I hope you had fun. Do you want to do something else tonight?”
“I was going to hang out with Spencer later.” Rose took another bite.
Mason frowned and pulled his hand away from hers. “What are you going to do with Spencer?”
Rose shrugged. “Hang out at my house. Maybe play video games.”
“What if I told you that I want to keep hanging out? I’ll play video games with you at your house.”
Rose fidgeted with her new blouse that Mason had picked out for her. The material was itchy against her skin, and it wasn’t her usual style. It was a maroon, scoop-necked, lacy shirt. She preferred T-shirts showcasing her favorite bands and video games. But Mason liked it, so she had worn it on their date.
“I promised Spencer we would hang out. I’ve been spending a lot of time with you lately, and he’s my best friend . . .”
“Would you rather hang out with him than me? Can’t you cancel your plans?” Mason did that Flynn Ryder smolder that made her melt. His dark, curly hair swooped over his left eye perfectly.
Her heart stuttered. “Okay. I’ll tell him my plans changed,” Rose agreed.
“Good. Let’s go.”
When they arrived at Rose’s house, they went upstairs to her bedroom. Before Rose could set up Zombies Attack, Mason examined her desk and picked up the picture of her and Lily. She stared at him uneasily for a second before striding over to him and snatching the picture out of his hand.
“Please don’t touch that.”
“That’s your sister, right? Lily?” Mason asked with a stoic expression on his handsome face.
Rose gritted her teeth. He had to know she didn’t want to talk about her sister by now. So, why was he bringing it up?
“Yes,” she choked out, holding the picture frame to her chest.
“It’s wild what happened to her. I bet you miss her a lot,” Mason continued.
Rose set the framed picture gently back in its rightful spot on her desk. “Of course I miss her.” Tears sprang to her eyes and her stomach churned. She couldn’t deal with this.
Rose went over to her TV stand, rooted around to find two controllers, and handed one to Mason.
Mason gave her a blank expression. “What’s this?”
“A controller?” She smirked and picked up the other one. She was annoyed with him for bringing up Lily and was doing her best to distract him from the topic.
Her cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket to see who was calling. Spencer. She put the phone on silent and placed it on her desk.
Mason squinted at her. “Who’s calling you?”
Rose hesitated before saying, “No one.”
He moved closer to her. “Are we really going to play video games when we’re alone in your bedroom?”
Rose gulped nervously. “Um, yes? Spencer and I do it all the time.”
Mason scoffed and leaned closer to her, their faces mere inches apart. “Yeah, but do you and Spencer do this?”
Mason brushed his lips gently against hers and pulled back to stare at her with the full force of his bright blue eyes.
Rose felt her cheeks warm. “No, he doesn’t do that.” She wrapped her arms around Mason’s neck, clinging to him.
He kissed her again.
A knock came from her bedroom door, and they sprang apart.
“Knock, knock,” Rose’s dad said, entering her bedroom. “Oh. Hello, Mason. I didn’t know you were here.” He narrowed his eyes.
Mason waved stupidly as his cheeks flushed. “Hi, Mr. Blackwood.”
“Rose, can I speak with you for a minute?” her dad asked.
Mason sprang off the bed and grabbed his cell phone from Rose’s desk. “I better get going. I’m sure my mom will want me home to help with my little brother.”
Her dad nodded. “Goodnight, Mason.”
Rose got off of her bed and walked toward the door, stopping in between Mason and her dad. “Bye, Mason.”
Mason left, and her dad advanced further into the bedroom and shut the door.
“What is it, Dad?” Rose asked, her eyes widening with alarm at the expression on her dad’s face. She flopped back down onto her bed, grabbing a unicorn stuffed animal to hug to her chest.
Her dad remained standing.
He scratched at his close-cropped, dark brown hair before stopping himself and resting his hands at his sides. “The police found the body of a young girl in the Tyger River. It appears to have been decomposing for some time. She’s—she’s the right size and age for y-your sister,” he choked out before erupting into sobs.
Rose lurched forward to wrap her arms around her dad in a fierce hug. She didn’t know what to say, and anything she said at that moment probably wouldn’t help. All she could do was sob into her dad’s chest, hating herself for not being able to save her sister.
***
The next morning, Rose polished off the rest of her bagel and went to the fridge to search for a drink. As she was rooting around the fridge, the doorbell rang.
“I’ve got it!” Rose yelled to her parents.
She grabbed a soda and shut the fridge with her hip, bounding to the front door and opening it to reveal her sort-of boyfriend standing on the front steps, looking as handsome as ever. Mason’s dark hair artfully swooped over his left eye, and his blue eyes glimmered in the daylight.
“Hey, babe,” he greeted her, pulling her close to him for a kiss.
Mason deepened the kiss. She squirmed and tried to get free from his grasp. She didn’t want her parents to see them.
“Mason, stop it!” She shoved both hands against his chest.
Mason only tightened his grip on her. He chuckled darkly. “Now that you’re finally mine, I’m not letting you get away that easily.”
“Excuse me. Why are you talking to my daughter like that? There’s a little concept called consent,” her dad interrupted in a cold tone.
The front door was ajar. Her dad stood in the house’s entryway with his arms crossed over his chest, glaring at Mason.
Rose’s face flushed, and she felt her cheeks burning. She extricated herself from Mason’s embrace and moved closer to her dad without consciously thinking about it.
“I was joking around, sir. No one was meant to hear that,” Mason said.
“I don’t care if you were joking or not. I don’t like your attitude,” her dad responded, looming over them in the doorway.
“Dad, it’s fine. We’re going to see a movie. I’ll be home in a few hours,” Rose interjected, grabbing Mason’s hand and tugging him down the front steps.
“I don’t think so. You’re staying home today, Rose,” her dad said.
“Why? That isn’t fair!” Rose protested.
Mason shrugged his shoulders. “Whatever. I’ll text you later.”
As soon as he was outside, Rose’s dad slammed the door.
“Are you kidding me? Why are you hanging out with a boy who treats you like that?” Her dad stared at her, his hands on his hips in a defensive position. “Does he know I own guns? If he ever touches you again . . .”
“Dad, it’s fine. I-I’m handling it.”
“I hope you mean you’re breaking up with him. Why hasn’t Spencer been around here lately? You should hang out with him more,” her dad said.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m going to my room,” Rose replied.
She locked her bedroom door and picked up a controller, flicking on the TV so she could play Zombies Attack. Before, it had been a fun hobby that she shared with Spencer. Now it was becoming her escape from reality.
Rose couldn’t help but feel relieved her dad had intervened. After finding out yesterday that Lily’s body may have been discovered, she wasn’t feeling up to dealing with Mason, anyway. He didn’t understand what she was dealing with.
Several hours later, Rose heard a series of knocks on her bedroom door.
“Rose? Are you in there?” her mom called from outside her bedroom.
“Shit,” Rose muttered. Then louder, she said, “Yeah, I’m busy.”
“Can your dad and I talk to you for a minute?” her mom asked.
“Ugh, fine.”
Rose set the controller back down and unlocked her bedroom door, revealing her parents standing beside each other.
“Can we come in?” her dad asked in a gentle tone.
“Sure,” Rose said, returning to sit on her bed.
Her parents stood in front of her, her dad’s arm wrapped around her mom’s shoulder, a united front.
“Rose, I know you like Mason, but we don’t think he’s good for you. It isn’t just about what happened this morning. You’ve been hanging out with him every day. I can’t remember the last time Spencer was over here, not to mention Kasey or any of your other friends. Is—is he treating you okay?” her mom asked tentatively.
“It’s fine, Mom. What Dad overheard earlier was a dumb misunderstanding. But don’t worry. I’m going to break up with him. So you won’t have to worry about him anymore.” Rose attempted a smile, but her lower lip trembled.
“I’m sorry, pumpkin.” Her dad leaned forward to squeeze her shoulder. “At your age, every relationship feels like the one, but you’ll meet someone much better, trust me. Someone who respects you and treats you like the princess you are.” He stepped back, eyeing her carefully. “You sure you’re okay? Your mom and I are here for you if you need to talk.”
Rose shook her head. “No, I’m okay.”
Her mom smiled at her with a weak, watery smile. “Okay, then. Dinner will be ready soon. Will Spencer be joining us?”
“Not tonight. And th-thanks for checking on me.” Rose hesitated before asking the question that was burning inside of her. “Have you heard any updates . . . about Lily?”
Her mom shook her head and held her fist to her mouth, sobbing.
Her dad squeezed her mom’s shoulder and answered, “Not yet, but we’ll let you know as soon as we have an update. It’s Saturday, and the police said we should know more by Monday.”
“Okay,” Rose whispered.
Both of her parents hugged her, told her they loved her, and left her room. Rose closed the door and leaned against it, her chest heaving with sobs. Her gaze went to the framed picture of her sister on her desk. The picture she normally avoided looking at but couldn’t make herself put away.
Ever since Lily had disappeared, her parents hadn’t been the same. She understood why they were protective. With one child gone, all their attention was on Rose. They couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to their remaining child.
Rose attempted to shake away thoughts of her missing sister—well, potentially not missing anymore if it was really Lily’s body the police had uncovered in the river. Rose couldn’t worry about someone who was already gone. It wouldn’t do her any good to feel guilty over what had happened, but the guilt had been eating away at her for the last year, devouring her whole. She flipped the framed photo, so it was face down and plopped onto her bed, nestling her face in a pillow and shutting out the world.
***
“Do you know how embarrassing that was for me? I can’t believe you didn’t stick up for me in front of your dad. Now he probably thinks I’m a creep.” Mason exhaled loudly.
Rose had spent most of the day in her bedroom playing video games alone, but she felt forced to answer when he called later that night.
“I’m sorry you feel that way, but it’s my choice if I want you to touch me like that.”
“Don’t be so dramatic. I didn’t do anything wrong,” Mason replied.
Rose sniffled. “If you don’t know what you did, then I don’t want to be with you. I don’t think you respect me.”
Rose pulled the phone away from her face, doing her best to muffle her cries.
“Are you crying? What did I do wrong?” Mason asked, a mixture of unease and confusion creeping into his voice.
Mason sighed even more loudly when she didn’t respond. “I do respect you, Rose. I’m sorry. Is this about your sister? The one-year anniversary is coming up soon, right? That can’t be easy.”
“Why are you bringing up Lily right now? She has nothing to do with this!” Rose exploded, her emotions welling up inside of her and bursting.
“Okay, okay. Sorry. I thought—”
“Mason, you don’t know the first thing about me or Lily,” Rose said.
“Fine. If you’re going to act that way, I’ll text you tomorrow. Give you some time to cool off.”
He hung up.
Rose tossed her phone onto her bed, not caring where it landed. She was surer than ever that she needed to break up with Mason. Spencer had been right. Mason wasn’t good for her.