****CHAPTER4:THORNS OF A ROSE WRITTEN BY WUNGA *****

‘’Y ou have failed your session!’’
The computer made a loud roaring noise and the screen flickered angrily at me.
As usual.

Why was this stupid thing so hard?
I groaned and clicked onto my Summary report, which showed me my grade for the month.
‘’In English you have scored an average of 56 percent..’’
I slammed down the lid and stuffed my face into my sweatshirt.
‘’This is dumb. I’m not doing this,’’ I sputtered out to no one.
It was an old habit I had picked up from some TV show. The person turned out to be insane, but I thought it was cool.
So now I talked to myself all the time.
I grabbed my backpack which Tim had gotten me and headed outside.
Luckily Dad had dropped off my old bike, so I could ride it wherever I wanted.
Until someone fixed my baby.
Something about the old gas caps inside it had been blown out.
‘’Why hello Dahlia!’’ Old Mrs. Larkspur waved at me with her plant clippers from her garden.
She was always planting roses for her son Josh.
I used to have a crush on him with his sparkly teeth and brown shaggy hair.
He died in the army, but she was convinced that he was coming back for her flowers.
‘’Hi Mrs. Larkspur,’’ I stopped over and smiled.
‘’Are you busy this afternoon? I need someone to help me with this big soil,’’ she sighed.
I sure did feel bad for her. She couldn’t get over Josh.
It broke my heart just as much as when Timmy left me. But I knew he still loved me.
He just needed some time that’s all.
‘’Of course. I’m just going for some breakfast at the cafe,’’ I hopped onto my bike.
Mrs. Larkspur nodded and bent down, gently plucking a weed out.
‘’My little Joshie visited today. He liked the daisies,’’ she crowed.
See what I mean?
‘’That’s great. He should pick some when he comes back again,’’ I tried not to sound sarcastic.
It kinda worked, but a frown overcame her face so I quickly left.
I peddled my fastest toward the cafe and locked up my ugly white bike, slipping off my sweatshirt.
The conditioning felt like heaven when I walked in.
‘’What should I get?’’ I muttered to myself, imagining Lilly still in my belly.
She would kick twice which indicated chocolate chip pancakes with extra syrup.
Extra syrup.
‘’Pancakes it is,’’ I decided sliding into a sticky booth.
One of the regular waitresses, Tina, walked over and yawned showing off yellow teeth.
‘’Rough night?’’ I guessed, laughing.
‘’Oh you know it baby. What can I get ya?’’ she sniffled.
‘’I’ll just take a cup of Joe, and then my usual pancakes,’’ I swiftly slid her the menu.
Tina nodded and walked off, fiddling with a pencil tucked in her hair.
That was her trademark.
While I sat slouched at the booth, I tried to imagine Tim sitting across.
He would still have his bed hair and bright red eyes, scrolling through his media.
Every once in a while he would tell me a news story.
‘’Hey did you hear about that feud?’’
Or
‘’Did you know bugs are good for you?’’
And then I would laugh and just wonder how I could ever be in so much love with someone.
Now I wondered if he had really felt the same way.