"You think Rose is a lesbian?" Max laughed after I told him about yesterday. It was morning and Max was over for breakfast again. I drank my orange juice and nodded.

"It’s not a funny matter!" I shouted at him. He tried not to laugh, but he ended up bursting out in laughter.

"I know," he said, "it’s not funny. It was just your expression when you said it."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "I just don’t want her to end up liking me, you know?"

He nodded at my comment. "If you’re so curious about her," he said, "why don’t you just creep into her room now? It’s not like she’s home."

That idea made sense! I could understand Rose more if I creeped in her room. "Good thinking!" I said and got off my seat. Max looked confused.

"What are you doing?" he asked. I turned around and made a ‘Duh’ face.

"Sneaking into her room," I said and opened her door.

"Bad move! I was only kidding!" Max shouted after me.

When I entered Rose’s room, everything was pink! And it smelled like tulips again. Someone has an obsession!

I noticed a drum set in the far corner of the room. Rose has drums? I’ve never heard her play it. Sitting next to her bed was a lime green colored guitar with the words "Open your eyes girl" on it. Rose’s name was also on it. Her lover must’ve been a guy then. Maybe I was wrong about her being a lesbian?

Max had creeped up behind me. "Wow! Drums and a guitar!" He ran up to touch it, but I grabbed him.

"Don’t leave any clues, dork," I said, holding onto his sleeve. He calmed down and walked over and looked at the drums.

"Rose couldn’t have been a lesbian," Max said, touching the drum sticks. "This must’ve been her ex-boyfriend’s."

I nodded and touched the guitar. I remembered someone in my past who also played the guitar. But I ignored that thought.

"Rose didn’t say anything about being a musician," I said, touching the green guitar. "She must really have an ex-boyfriend, not an ex-girlfriend."

"That’s why you shouldn’t drop to conclusions so soon," Max grouched. "Talk to her again about her past love life. Maybe then you can clear up if she’s a lesbian or not."

I nodded. "C’mon, let’s get out of here. We have to get to class."

Max and I were walking to Evergreen campus when we spotted Hero outside his limo, talking to a group of girls. I wanted to greet him, but Max told me not to. He told me to just ignore him and walk by. But I wanted to talk to him! I wanted to show those girls that I knew Hero the best!

We walked passed the crowd of girls. Hero was flirting with all of them! How a man did that, I did not know! He didn’t even see us pass by until I tripped over a stupid branch.

"Be careful, Shye!" Max shouted, helping me up. That was when I heard my name called.

"Shye!" It was Hero. He excused himself from the crowd of dumb girls. When I got up, I saw the image of Hero running towards me. It reminded me of a soap opera!

"Good morning," I said. He smiled when he caught up with us. He was so handsome! I loved seeing him in flannel shirts and faded jeans. So normal yet so handsome!

"I’m so sorry about the other night at The Flower," he apologized. I heard Max uttered a scoff. I glared at him then focused on Hero’s beautiful face.

"It’s fine," I said, not really meaning it. I brushed off a couple of leaves off my knees.

Hero grabbed my hand. "How about I come over to your place tonight?"

"I thought you were going to watch a movie with Rose and me at your apartment!" Max shouted. I glared at him again.

"Hero can join us," I said. Max crossed his arms. I knew what he was thinking. He didn’t like the fact that I liked Hero because he thinks Hero’s not good enough for me. He is good enough!

"That sounds great," he said, letting go of my hand. "I’ll talk to you later?"

I nodded. "Okay. See you tonight at 7."

Hero smiled and waved good-bye and returned to the crowd of girls.

"I don’t want him around," Max said as we walked away.

"I don’t care if you want him around or not," I said. "It’s my apartment. You don’t have to come."

"But I want to…"

"Then live with it."

Max picked up his pace and walked in front of me. "You’re so complicated, Shye Lee!

I couldn’t help but laugh at Max when he was being pissy. "Hold on, Shim Chang Min!" I chased after him and jumped onto his back. "Piggy-back me!"

Max and I turned the corner and found Rose coming out of her extremely pink convertible. She had on a purple Mickey Mouse tee and pink capris. She also had on a Mickey Mouse trucker hat. Very girly.

When she saw Max piggy-back me, she raised an eyebrow. I told Max to let me down.

"Morning!" I greeted and waved. Rose smiled and waved back.

"Morning."

Max and I approached her and Max blurted out tonight’s plan.

"Hero Kim, the player on campus, is coming to watch a movie with us," Max said. I punched him, but not too hard.

"Did you have to say it like that?" I scolded him. A grin spread across Max’s face. He was delighted with himself.

"It’s only the truth."

"Hero Kim?" Rose asked. I nodded.

"Yes, the hottest guy on campus," I said, dreamily. Then I came back to reality. I shouldn’t have said that! Max rolled his eyes at my comment.

"Um," Rose said, looking around. "I can’t make it tonight."

My face dropped. "Why not?"

"I’m meeting with my father at the city square tonight. He’s coming from Black Stone for this important meeting."

"I really wanted Hero to meet you," I said, grabbing her arm. "I’m sorry you can’t make it."

Rose looked uneasy when I touched her. "I’m sorry. It’s really important that I attend this with my father."

"He’s coming all the way from Black Stone City, Shye," Max added. "Let her go for tonight."

I sighed. "All right. We’ll just reschedule, then."

Rose nodded. "I wish I could back out, but my father’s making me attend his stupid meeeting with him. I’ll catch you two another time. I’ve got to get to class."

She dismissed herself and got into her convertible. We watched as she drove off in the distance.

"Is her father a doctor?" Max asked. "Since he’s from Black Stone, I kind of figured he was."
I nodded. "She doesn’t talk much about her past, really. I don’t really know. I assume he is."

At 5, Hero called me and had to cancel out on me.

"My parents are having an important dinner tonight," Hero explained. "I completely forgot! They want me to attend."

I sighed. First Rose, now Hero. "That’s fine. We’ll reschedule. I really wanted you to meet my roommate."

"I’m sorry. I’ll make sure I don’t have meetings to attend on the same night I want to hang out with you. Forgive me?"

"You’re forgiven," I said. "I’ll talk to you later. Max really wants to watch the movie."

"Tell me about the movie, okay?"

"Okay. Good night."

A couple of days later, Rose came with me again to The Tracks. We washed and folded laundry once again. And once more, the aroma of smoke filled the basement.

But this time, Rose did not complain about it.

"Are you and Hero good friends?" she asked out of the blue. I studied her face. It was blank.

"We went to elementary and middle school together," I said. "Then his family got rich and moved away."

Rose nodded. "Is he nice to you?"

I thought about it. What has Rose heard about Hero? I hope Max hasn’t been feeding her lies! Hero is actually very nice.

"He’s very nice and apologetic," I laughed, thinking about the many times Hero has apologized to me. "But he’s always very well-mannered."

"Do you like him?"

Her question stunned me! How did she know? I didn’t answer her, but I’m guessing since I was blushing, she knew.

"What do you like about him exactly?" Rose asked. I wasn’t bothered by Rose’s questions because she was a girl, unlike Max, who didn’t understand anything because he was a guy.

"Hmmm," I said. "There’s a lot of things, really."

"Well," Rose said. "What are the best things about him? I’ve seen him before. He’s quite handsome."

I smiled thinking about how handsome Hero was. "Well, for one, he is handsome. He’s very nice to me at all times. He never speaks down on me. He’s always very friendly. And he’s rich—that doesn’t hurt, right?"

I sounded so superficial. Maybe because I was.

"Max told me you liked him a lot," Rose said. Max! That little pest!

"Maybe," I laughed, trying to cover it up. "But he’s such a player. I wouldn’t want him for long."

Rose nodded at my comment. She was very understanding! And she listened and didn’t whine, like Max did. Oh, the difference between girls and boys!

"How was your ex-boyfriend like? Was he like Hero?"

I thought about my ex-boyfriend. No. He was nothing like Hero. Hero would never compare to him.

"No, he was nothing like Hero," I explained. "He wasn’t a player. He liked me a lot. He wasn’t as girly-pretty as Hero is, but he was pretty. And his eyes—those brown eyes were to die for! And he never disses me…like Hero. Wait. He did diss me once, remember what I told you?"

Rose nodded. "I remember…"

"How about your old lover?" I asked. Rose and I talked very well about past relationships. I assume that we share a same pain.

"I’ve never met anyone like them," Rose answered. "My old love was always there for me, laughed a lot, spoke the truth, was never sad,and of course, loved me a lot. And I can’t forget how their natural beauty amazed me."

"Sounds so dreamy!" I commented. "How could you just let that love go like that?"

The buzzer on the dryer went off, which made Rose and I jump. We shared a laugh. Oh, the feeling of laughing again!

Rose shrugged at my question. "You make stupid mistakes, but you have to correct them."

I agreed. "I hope your old love takes you back when you find them."

Rose didn’t look at me when I said this. "I hope so, too."

"Then you can kiss your old love again! Wouldn’t that be romantic?" I said, with my hands on my cheeks. "That would be so great…to have a kiss from an old love."

I noticed how Rose was staring at me.

"How great of a kisser was your old love?" Rose asked. I smiled widely.

"He was great!" I answered. "I’ve never been kissed like that. Wait. I’ve never been kissed afterwards. It was so great. Oh! What I would do to be kissed by him again."

Just then, Rose grabbed me and placed her lips on mine. We interlocked in a french kiss. I can’t believe how much I enjoyed it! It felt so…familiar. I enjoyed it a lot.

But when we pulled away and I saw that it was a girl I was kissing, I immediately freaked out. Rose’s eyes were still closed when I pulled away. I didn’t know why I ran away from the basement. But I was afraid!

I enjoyed a kiss from a girl!

* * *