Dawn's Acapella

On a busy little street, in a crazy
little home, in a peaceful little room, in a messy little bed, lay
a hopeful little girl in a black and gray dress.

She was writing in a notebook,
hurrying to finish a project her friends had dared her to
attempt.

As much as I love them, my
stupid friends have presented me with the stupidest writing
challenge ever. Just because Lucy and Nick can write anything
doesn’t mean I can. “Write something outside your usual stuff,”
they said. “No Crossworlds allowed!” Ugh. Fine. I’ll do what you
do, Lucy, and write about my friends. And I’ll do what you do,
Nick, and write it as a poem:

Let’s go on an adventure,
because these three oddities belong in fantasy books

A beautiful, tall curvy
woman with thick flowing brown hair, and eyes like the
ocean

A young skinny man, with
tight dark curls, freckled skin and eyes full of wonder

And then there’s the third
one, whatever.

The first would have gifts
of healing, and a voice made of magic

She can shift anyone and
anything into its brighter, better version

The second, a seer, aside
from his own life

He knows the world, its
truths and lies

The third, well, she can’t
even write a poem properly

This is more like a love
letter to my friends

Very stupid and cheesy,
and I hate you both for making me do this

But hey, we’re all still
legends, including me, I guess

My name is Rose, and
someday I will be

“
You’re late for school!”
her mom called.

…
allowed to finish my damn
sentences.

CHAPTER one

the frehsman’s plan

Her pen flew across the page. Her hand
was already hurting, but she couldn’t stop, didn’t dare take a
break until every last thought was on paper...

“
Hey, can you help me with
something?” said a voice.

“
One minute,” Rose held up
her other hand and continued to write. “Almost... Got it!” She
slammed the notebook shut and looked up. It took a moment for her
surroundings to materialize in front of her again. She was seated
at a booth by the window in an otherwise empty cafeteria. Class
would start in five minutes, and there was a girl staring at her.
“What’s up?”

Rose had never seen this girl before.
She was small, with large eyes and long blonde hair. Clearly this
was a freshman—she had that lost, excited look on her
face.

“
What’re you
writing?”

“
Nothing,” Rose said.
“School stuff. What’s up?”

“
Wow, you must be a really
good student. It looked really long. What class is it
for?”

Rose frowned at her. “Okay, it’s not
for school, it’s just a story I’m writing.”

“
You’re a writer? Cool!
What’s it about? Can I read it?”

“
Didn’t you need help with
something?”

“
Oh. Yeah. I’m a freshman
and I need help finding my classes.”

“
Should’ve known,” Rose
muttered, gathering her things. “Sure. I’ll show you
around.”

“
Thanks. What’s your
name?”

“
I’m Rose,” she
said.

“
Nice to meet you. I’m
Dawn. That’s a really pretty dress, by the way.”

“
Oh, thanks,” Rose said.
She was wearing her signature black and gray striped dress. She
wore it so often people almost never commented on it anymore. But
she loved it for its uniqueness, and would keep wearing it even if
people hated it.

“
I want one like
that.”

Then it wouldn’t be
unique
, Rose thought, but kept her mouth
shut. She led the girl out of the cafeteria and down a hallway.
“Your math class is down here,” she said. “What’s next?”

“
Global studies, and then
biology, English, and then choir!”

“
Wow, that’s intense,”
Rose muttered, checking her schedule again. They continued down the
hall, toward Dawn’s next classroom. “Are you taking all honors
classes?”

“
Yep! My parents want me
to get scholarships for college. I try to be a good student and
all, but I still wanna have fun…”

She continued talking as Rose led her
to her various classes. When the tour was finished, Dawn wasn’t.
“Walk me back to math?” she asked.

“
Only because my class is
nearby,” Rose said. She was finding it hard to keep listening to
the girl’s constant chatter, which kept up all the way back to her
first classroom.

“
Can I sit with you at
lunch?”

“
Um, sure. But you better
get to math, freshman. Study hard and stuff.” She shooed the girl
inside.

“
Thanks, Rose!” She gave
her a huge smile before skipping to her desk. Rose giggled, and
hurried down the hall to her class.

Classes were ordinary, and a little
boring, but Rose was able to appreciate the familiar routines. At
least she didn't have the same anxiety as she did as a freshman
last year. Dawn was a bit annoying, but Rose decided she could help
her out, at least for a while.

When the bell rang for lunch, Rose
eagerly went to the cafeteria to meet her friends, Lucy and Nick.
They bought food, claimed a table, and began discussing the latest
news, from minor gossip and school-related topics, to the
all-important news of their latest works.

“
So, did you try writing
something new for us?” Lucy asked.

“
Tried,” Rose shrugged.
“But I got nothing.”

“
Come on!”

“
I’m telling you, I can’t
do it! But what have you got?”

Lucy rolled her eyes. “Whatever, Rose.
You’re in my new story, but you won’t get to read it until you give
me something to read!”

“
Am I in it?” Nick
asked.

“
Yeah, later on,” Lucy
said.

“
She’s probably gonna kill
you again,” Rose said.

“
Again? When did that
happen?”

“
Oh right, you didn’t
share that one!” Rose glanced at Lucy. “Oops!”

“
Rose!”

“
What’s that about, Lucy?”
Nick said.

“
Let’s talk about
something else,” Lucy said. “Rose? Anything new?”

“
I’ve got a freshman
following me,” she shrugged.

“
You’re not changing the
subject!” Nick said.

The three of them laughed and argued
until a voice distracted them. “Rose? Can I sit with you
guys?”

Rose turned around. “Oh, hey there
sunshine! Pull up a chair!”

Dawn smiled, and took a seat beside
her.

“
These are my friends Nick
and Lucy,” Rose said. “This is that freshman I was trying to tell
you about. Dawn.”

“
Nice to meet you,” she
said. “What are we talking about?”

“
Lucy’s killed me in her
story!” Nick exclaimed.

“
Oh, chill
out!”

“
Are you a writer too?”
Dawn asked.

“
Yeah, we all are,” Nick
said. “I’m mostly poetry, Lucy does short stories, and Rose,
well...”

“
Rose doesn't share,” Rose
said.

“
She’s got a novel,
though!”

“
Cool!” Dawn said. “Can I
read it?”

“
I haven’t let my best
friends read it, freshman! You think I’ll let you?”

“
Maybe when it’s
done?”

“
Okay. When it’s totally
done.”

“
Never,” Lucy
muttered.

“
Rose, where did you get
that dress?” Dawn asked. “I really like it.”

“
What? Oh, someplace at
the mall. I don’t remember.”

“
Well, you know, my
birthday’s coming up...”

Rose giggled, and exchanged looks with
Lucy and Nick as Dawn went on.

“
Oh, and you’ll have to
show me the choir room again, I already forgot where it is. Do you
sing? You should join!”

“
What if I don’t
sing?”

“
She does,” Nick said.
Rose shot him a glare.

When the bell rang, Rose quickly
showed Dawn to the choir room before hurrying off to her own class,
meeting Nick at the door.

“
Shook her off, did
you?”

“
No thanks to you,” Rose
laughed.

A week later, Rose was busy finishing
her homework before class when someone interrupted her. It took a
moment for her to recognize her. “Dawn? What did you do to your
hair?”

“
Do you like it?” She ran
her fingers through her new brown hair, cut above her shoulders
just like Rose’s.

“
It looks like mine, and I
like my hair, so yeah, I guess I do. You look cute,
sunshine.”

“
Thanks! What are you
writing?”

“
I’m not, freshman, this
is math.”

“
Then what’s that?” She
pointed at another sheet of paper Rose had in front of her. “It
looks like a poem.”

“
That’s not a
poem.”

“
Is it a song?”

“
It’s a nothing, is what
it is.”

“
Sing it!”

“
No!”

“
Please?”

“
I’ll make you a deal.
Give me five minutes of silence to finish my homework, and I’ll
sing a verse for you.”

“
Deal!” Dawn said,
extending her hand. Rose shook it. Dawn took out her phone, and put
it down in front of her. “Stopwatch. Five minutes. Go!”

Rose rolled her eyes. But to her
surprise, the little chatterbox was silent. Rose bent her head over
her homework again, only glancing up every now and then to check on
the freshman. Dawn was quiet for a whole five minutes. She finished
her last equation, dropped her pencil, and swore quietly. “I really
didn’t think you’d do that.”

“
I wanna hear you
sing.”

“
Okay. Fine. Just don’t
stare at me like that or I won’t be able to do it.” Rose averted
her eyes from Dawn’s too-eager face, and began softly singing the
song she wrote:

We’ve been through such
crazy times

And I can see you’re
scared for me

But I will be just
fine

But I’ve never felt so
strange before

Feels like my world’s
turned upside down

And I can’t take no
more

All these memories coming
back and haunting me

But in front of me, lover
you are all I see

Love I need you now, and I
know you’ll stay with me

Always, always

“
Awesome!” Dawn said.
“Sing more!”