Jacob part 1

have you ever had a secret? the answer is probably yes. but have you ever had a secret that you could never tell anyone?that if you did, it would effect thousands,billions of people? no. you haven't. that is the weight i carry on my shoulders. it is the weight carried by people. Many people. across the world. i am one of many that are different then other people but yet the same.i wish to be what is around me. only a few are like me. i want to have a friend in this world that is like me. Someone who understands the pain and constant despair, even when i feel happy. You are probably wondering: who are you? well there are many words for what i am. but my kind are usually drawn to a single word that fits us to a "T". A mutant. You are probably saying: what the heck is he talking about? This guy is nuts!. but I'm not. this is where I'm from and what i am, and how i feel.I have to stay hidden in plain sight,blend in. because no one knows that we exist. Well they aren't supposed to, but some mutants have crap for brains and aren't helping to keep our lives a secret. most mutants have at least one mutant parent sometimes two. Unlike me. i was born in Seattle, from two human parents. Which is just cruel. Anyways they are happy with their "perfect" son with great grades, lots of human friends, and does what he is told. well they don't know I'm a mutant which you probably guessed. they don't know that i have the power to transform myself into any mammal of choice(my favorites to turn into are bears,dogs and wolves). they don't know that i am empty.i am ,to them, a regular 17 year old boy in high school searching for the right girl. one who will love me for who will love me and be able to understand how being a mutant is because she is one too. well it is sure going to be hard to find a girl like that in Seattle, where all the people care about i s when the sun is going to come out.

Roseleah

Wow.Seattle. What a great place. Not! How could Lisa and Tod do this to me?! I mean, I guess since they are my adopted parents, they have the right to do tourture me. You have no idea what it's like! Your real parents dead, your family has no isea what happened to you(less care), and you are a cursed mutant. That's right you heard me. You are probably thinking what the heck! This chick is nuts!
Well when i was 5 a "thing" came into my room. It was beautiful but i could still sense danger. It told me that i was way to powerful, having every power know to muthan and man-kind. So, she put a curse on my that is as old as time itself. When i find true love, all my powers will be restored. That's a load of bull.
I want someone who will understand me. Who I could be around and be myself. But when i found out that i was moving to where a mutant would never be, I'm trying not to give up hope, even though it is super hard. I mean really, all the people here prbably care about is 3 things:
One how to say dry, two coffe, and three when the sun is going to come out again!
Well lucky me, when the "thing" took away my powers, it left me with one. the power to be able to control water at any time any where. Truley, i love this power. But i do want the others back.
I mean the curse gave me it's own package deal. When i'm really angrey, my eyes turn blood red. I mean as i get madder and madder it goes from my ussual hazel to blood red. Which ,by the way, the red really flares with my paper skin. I mean really, you hold up my arm to paperand it's alost a perfect match except the paper is almost tanner! Everytime i try to get tan nothing works.
So my white sunglasses are my best friend. The shades are so dark, you can't even see my eye color when i'm wearing them. My locket is the other trinket i never go without. I got it the day i was born. It contains all my memoreis. Litterally. All i have to say to it when it is open is the password and it shows all the memories that i hold dearest to my heart.

My first day in my new high school starts tomarrow and these things will be with me. I have everyting ready. Except my confidence. I think i left it in California, or one of the many other places i have lived.



> Jacob


Well here it is. The flu of Monday has hit copper grass high. Everyone looks like zombies. it's the same every week,but yet the teachers still seem surprised. Truley, we only have half a month of school left and we have a new student today.
She's my age,medium in height, and pretty cute.I have every class with her, even electives. So far she hasn't said anything really.It's almost lunch and she hasn't even looked at the clock once. Personally i think someone should reach over and talk to her.I looked up at her.
She is probably five- eight. she has blond hair, with natural brown streaks in it,that has little twists at the ends. She looks like paper cause her skin is so white. Seriously the girl should stalk up! It looks like someone put her skin right over the bone! But by far her most beautiful feature is defiantly the eyes. they are a gorgeous hazel,but if you look deep into them you can see that she is hiding something. (i have like a six sense about that stuff.)Maybe my luck has turned. she could be one of us...probably not.
I don't have very good luck but this isn't about me and my luck. this is about her. I just wish that i knew her name so when i went up to talk to her, it would be less embarrassing. If only Mr.Sterling would not just look up and down at the attendance sheet and read it out loud instead like a normal teacher and wait for the student to say here.Well it would help this girl a lot. you know so she can match faces to names. I was about to raise my hand to suggest this but someone was saying it as i was raising my hand.
It was Greg Harrison.who was the total geek of the school. He hit on all the new girls but never got a single look. It was the same now.The girl just kept staring at her lap while twisting her necklace.
"That is a great idea Greg". Mr. Sterling turned his attention toward me. "Jacob do you have something to say?"
"No" I said as calmly as i could handle. I hated attention.
"But you had your hand up" I could see that Mr.Sterling wasn't going to let this go.
"Yeah. I had up but i was going to say the same thing as Greg said. Sorry"
"That is alright Mr.Dano"
I pulled my eyes away from his to look around the room. No one was looking at me.Except for one.The girl was looking at me. She was giving me the smallest smile i had ever seen. It made her eyes light up.Mr.Sterling called out Logan Lerman who wasn't here.
Next he called out Roseleah Martella.The girl looked up,raised her hand and called out here. Her voice was kinda soft but yet one that she could make very loud.After he was done with role, Mr.Sterling said that we were switching seats today. Roseleah smiled that small smile of hers. Mr.Sterling said as soon as we were done, we could get lunch. So,naturally, we knew we only has six minutes to get this right so we had to go fast.
We moved the desks into rows of two. I was put in the back of the room.Roseleah was the last person to be called and got put next to me. I hoped this was my chance to talk to her but Roseleah just sat down quietly,putting her things in her desk.She didn't have much. Just a notebook,a folder and a pencil. Those were all the school items she had with her.Other then that she had giant white sunglasses with extremely dark lenses.
The necklace that she had been playing with was a locket that hung on a long gold chain.The rims of the pendant were gold and as was the back.The middle was sliver with a small sliver flower surrounded by sliver water drops.
I wonder what it has in it? I was about to start talking to her when Mr.Sterling said "Well those of you who are buying lunch go get it. We will be eating in the classroom today. Roseleah do you need help finding the cafeteria?"
She shook her head.
"alright then." Mr.Sterling said with a small smile but not as small as Roseleah's smile.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i waited ten minutes for her to come back so i could have someone to talk to. In Mr.Sterling's class,when you eat in the classroom you can only talk to the person next to you so they better be someone you like.Five minutes later, Mr.Sterling said to me:
"Jacob why don't you go find Ms.Martella? I'm sure she is having problems remembering which room we are in."
He sounded positive but his eyes spelt worried.I nodded,got up and walked out of the room. i was worried too. There were these guys at our school who are always hyped up on drugs or beer and smell like smoke and are hitting on all the girls in school. Really its as though the teachers can't see them. As i walked down the hall i heard someone screaming out "Leave me alone" and "I'll hurt you!"
I could tell it was Roseleah by the sound of her kinda soft voice.I ran toward her voice until i could see Roseleah was against the lockers, eyes wide with fear and anger,surrounded by the guys who i was talking about earlier. I ran up behind the biggest one,jumped, and took his head in my hands,spread my legs out,threw myself over his head,seding him to the ground. I did the same thing with all the rest.
Soon there were six guys laying knocked out on the ground. I turned back to Roseleah. She was looking at me with a stunned,anger-filled,confused face
Roseleah
"Are you alright?" the boy said, a worried look plastered on his face,his eyes boring into mine. I was in just so much shock, I couldn't form the word yes or nod my head yet.I was also extremely angry at myself. I could have done exactly what this guy had done but faster. But no! I just stood there,the acid growing in my eyes,trying to reach my sunglasses but couldn't bend to get them.
As i was ranting to myself in my head,( i do that a lot not a thing I'm proud of),his name hit me. This guy was Jacob. Jacob Dano. Jacob was about three inches taller then me. He was totally six foot. He was tan (which is surprising 'cause he lives in Seattle,the place of no sun) with a voice that was deep,with a mix of husky and gruff in it. He had deep chocolate eyes the kind that if you held up a Hershey bar next to them, it would be the same.
While i was looking at him,spacing, he had said "Are you alright, Roseleah?" about six times now.
"Roseleah are you alright? Do you need to go home?"
I finally made my voice work. "No I'm okay. I think I will just go get lunch and go back to class"
"Roseleah the lines are probably closed by now. You can have some of my food. Anyways the food sucks here"
I smiled at him. A real one this time. "I'll take you up on that offer."
Jacob shot me a crooked smile as we walked back to class.
"You know Rosie, you gave the whole class quite a scare there"
I wasn't listening.
"What did you call me?"
"Rosie but if you don't want me to call you that i can call you Roseleah"
I shook my head."That's not it. Everyone, even my uh..parents call me Roseleah. Nothing else. Personally I love my name but i think it's kind of a mouthful."
"Really i didn't think about it i just said it."
We were walking into class when we were stopped by Mr.Sterling.
"Where were you two?"
I was about to tell him when Jacob beat me to the punch and was explaining it all. It was nice to have someone to talk to about stuff. I spent the whole day with Jacob, talking ,laughing. We even walked home together and with a see you tomorrow, he went into house 136 and i went into 134. This was going to be nice to have a friend in this was between mutants and humans and being new.. Lets just hope if he is a real friend ans finds out, he doesn't tell anyone about me, otherwise i will be locked up till the day i die.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~next chapter~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jacob

We only have one day of school left. Tomorrow i graduate high school.After this, I won't be coming back to Copper Grass high. I'll have to say goodbye to all my friends 'cause they are all going out of state for college, travailing the world and just having a great time.Except for one.Roseleah. Over the past few weeks, Rosie and i have learned almost everything there is to know about each other.We have talked non-stop from the day we met up until now.
I know that her full name is Roseleah Keria Martella.
I know that she has moved seven times in the last two years.
I know that she is adopted, with a zoologist for a dad and a home mom.
I've told her almost everything there is to about me. Really i think she is my best friend. I would love to just blurt out "I'm a mutant!" but i can't. I never will unless she is one. I do feel like there is something she is hiding from me. Something big but i understand how that feels. Rose and i have already got back to our houses. When I'm in i walk into the kitchen,dump my bag down on the bench and call "Hey Mom I'm home!"
I heard a loud crash from upstairs and an ouch
"hey honey!How was your day? what did you do?" she called
"Not much! you?"
"No. Well except cleaning out the spare room. I'll be down i n a second!"
"OK!" I said getting a piece of pie out of the frig.Mom popped into the kitchen about ten seconds after i started my pie.
"so who was that i saw you with?"
I swallowed hard. Oh no. Now I'll never hear the end of this.
"A friend"
"From school?"
"yeah"
"New kid?
"yeah"
"Well i see you come home with her a lot. Where does she live?"
"134 or next door"
"Really? that's great!"
"yep"
"what's her name?"
"Roseleah Martella"
"uh-huh. how long has-"
I cut her off. Mom thinks every girl I'm with is important.
"Mom! She's just a friend. She came to town about three weeks ago. I was the first and only person to talk to her on her first day of school and we've been talking ever since"
Mom smiled. "That was nice Jacob"
I nodded. I just put my plate in the dishwasher and hiked upstairs. It looked like something exploded up here. There were boxes everywhere labeled keep or sell all over the hall. It's a good thing my room is to the right and not anywhere near the spare room. I walked right by some of the boxes that were a little farther down the hall and went into my room. On the bed my cellphone was ringing. I closed my door went over and picked it up. It was Roseleah. My heart started to beat faster. Odd... I picked it up.
"Hey Jacob!"
"Hey Rosie"
"You ready for this?"
"For what?"
Silence for a minute.
"Rose?You still there?"
I heard a rustling on the other line. I smelt a delicious smell coming from downstairs. I heard my Mom talking to someone. No way my Dad was home yet. I heard running up the stairs.
"Rose you-"
My door flew open. In it's doorway was an excited Rose. I could feel myself staring at her with wide shocked eyes.
"SURPRISE!" she yelled with little jazz hands
"what are you doing here?"
Her face fell a little
"What? I can't visit my best friend's house with great news?"
I shook my head. "No it's not that, I'm just super surprised. I mean I just saw you what ten minutes ago?"
"Twenty" she said
"What could you have possibly done in twenty minutes?! I mean couldn't you have told me earlier?Outside?"
Her smile turned smug. "You don't want me anywhere near your Mom do you?"
I was getting a little annoyed."NO that's not it!"
She smiled again."Well good because since your my friend i will be over here a lot and i like your Mom. She's super nice! She asked me who I was and I told her and she let me right in and started making our favorite cookies. Why didn't you tell me chocolate chip is your favorite?"
I rolled my eyes.""Never mind that.You said you had great news?"
"Oh yeah! You need to come with me."
"Why?" Sheesh,couldn't she just tell me?
"Just come"
"K fine let me get my coat."
We ran back downstairs and I told my Mom we were going out. She shot me a smile which I replied with a eye roll.
"Be back soon Jacob. I'm making cookies. It was nice meeting you Roseleah.
Rose smiled."You too."
Then she was out the door.






Roseleah

This was so cool! I had to pull Jacob out the door,but it was totally worth it. As we walked he got more impatient.
"Rosie can't you just tell me?"
"No Jake!"
He glared at me and i shot him a smile. I turned back around to face forward and I could feel his eyes burning holes in my back.
"Give it up Jacob. We'll be there soon"
After that he ran up to walk beside me looking around with curious eyes, but said nothing...Until we started walking into the woods.
"OK Rose if you brought me out here to see a special tree I'm going to punch you"
I laughed. "No Jacob i didn't bring you here to see a tree. Now stay still!"
Before he could protest i ran up behind him and cupped my hands over his eyes so he couldn't see anything.
"Rose is this really necessary?"
"Yeah it is. Jacob could you please play along? I want this to be a surprise. Just keep walking and I'll guide you"
"Rose!"
"Please Jacob! Don't you trust me?"
I sounded upset.My heart started to beat faster at the thought that he didn't trust me.I was his best friend. He had to trust me. He gently took my hands off his eyes and turned to look at me. His face was full of emotion that i couldn't place. He gripped me by the shoulders hard.
"of course i do Rosie. We know everything about each other there is to know.You are my closet friend. I would trust you with anything."
He put his arms around me and gave me a big hug.I was ready to tell him now. Mutant, curse all of it but i stayed silent. He pulled away his face red and muttered "lets go see this place". I could feel my own face getting hot so i reached up and put my hands on his eyes again.This was going to be good. I just knew he would love it.I directed him the rest of the way. It felt like forever but it was really like only five minutes.
"Okay... stop we're here! You ready Jacob?"
"Yeah my hearts pounding with excitement at this suspense."
His voice was dripping with sarcasm but i ignored it.
"OK fine....now!"
I let go and stepped forward to see his expression.It was carved with pure excitement and aw.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~next chapter~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jacob

This place was amazing. It was beautiful.It was perfect for someone like me. I could feel Roseleah's smug smile and her eyes filled with satisfaction boring into me but i couldn't teat my eyes away from the field to look at her and tell her how much i loved it. This field was huge. It was wide with large trees off to the side surrounding it but there was a monster tree in the center of the field. If it was sunny it would cast o huge shadow that would stretch across the field. The grass wasn't very high but it was all a perfect green. That was all that was here. All i wanted to do was run. Rose grabbed my hand.I tore my eyes away and looked down at her.
It was drizzling now so her face had drops on it.She looked amazing.My heart starting thudding harder then it had before. Rose pulled me forward,starting for the tree. We were just walking in complete silence when she turned to me.
"You want to race to that tree?"
"The center one?"
"Yeah! I bet I could beat ya!
Her eyes shined with pure excitement. I was a fast runner and loved to race. Plus I couldn't say no to her.
"I bet you won't!"
"We'll see"
She stood tall and still."We start here"
I nodded
"You ready to get whipped?"
"In your dreams!" I got into a runners start.Rose didn't moved at all.She stayed tall and still her eyes focused on he tree.
"on go"
"Wait! Rose you start running like that!"
"Sure I can and i will.This works for me. Now quit stalling."
"K,I'm ready"
"Ready.... Set..."
I held ready like a spring
"GO!"
I bolted. I could feel the wind whipping through my hair. I took a quick glance behind me. No Rose but when i turned back around she was already done! DANG! That girl is fast!
When i go there she smiled at me.
"What took you so long?"
I looked at her in aw."how did you do that?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. Why? Do you not like that a girl beat you?"
"No way! I'm just asking cause that was fast."
"Okay whatever you say.."
She walked up to the tree.She felt its' bark and looked through the branches.She kicked off her shoes and jumped up to grab the closest branch. She pulled herself up and was about to grab the next one when i grabbed her foot.
"Rosie what are you doing?"
"What does it look like?"
I frowned at her."Why are you doing that?"
"Cause it's fun!Plus,when i get to the top I'll be able to see everything!"
"Roseleah stop being stupid. Your gonna get hurt."
She rolled her eyes"I'm so not! I do this all the time! It's easy. You should come up unless your scared that I-"
I cut her off "I'm not afraid! I just...I'm concerned for your safety"
"Whatever!Look I'm going up and you can't stop me! But you can come up."
Even though i was holding on pretty tight,she pulled her foot away and went back to climbing, catching each branch. Man she was fast at that! Every time she moved my heart stopped at the fear that she was gonna fall.Now she was up so high i couldn't see her anymore.
"Rosie?You okay up there?"
"I'm fine! You gotta check this out!"
I sighed. I grabbed the branch above me . I took a deep breath and tapped into my animal sense. I was up to where she was in about forty-five seconds. We were all the way up in that tree staring at the night of Seattle. All the lights on, car horns,yelling and sirens. Typical night in Seattle if you ask me but yet Rose seemed mesmerized by it all. It was raining hard now so we started to climb down. When we were at the bottom she stopped.
"This is so cool Jacob."
"What do you mean?" i said taking her hand
"This! i get to live in a place where I Have a great house,parents,school,neighborhood.. and you..." she blushed
I gave her a questioning look.
"I've never had friends this fast. It usually takes about a month for people to talk to me. I can trust you with anything. You get me in everyway. Jacob... I need to thank you."
She was blushing even harder now and i could feel my face warming up.
"Rose....I.."
I have to tell her now. She needs to know. She was totally right. I can trust her.She can trust me. I..... just as friends i should be honest with her.Rose looked at me hard.
" I have something to tell you too.but before we do that i think we should start for home."
I nodded. When were toward the edges of the field now when i stopped and turned and Rose ran right into my chest, and looked up at me. I held her close.My heart was pounding so fast and hard I think it might have burst out of my chest.
Rose was staring at me her eyes full of feeling.
"What is it Jacob?"
I took a deep breath
"I need to tell you something"


Roseleah

OK. This was it. Secret exchange time.Personally I have no idea how to tell me or more importantly what. I mean this wasn't a casual "hello" or "hey". This was life changing. I could tell he was serious. No fooling. He had this look on his face. It was set and stone. I had to tell him weather i wanted to or not.
Jacob was totally nervous. I could tell because he was clutching my arms so hard that they were going numb,his whole frame was shaking, his heart was pounding and he was holding me super close. I forced myself to look into his eyes. They were full of compassion,
fear ,strength and determination. It totally was melting my heart away.
Well i had something to tell him too and i have to admit i wasn't going to tell him everything. Just that I'm a mutant. The rest can come later.
"What is it Jacob?" i asked again my voice shaky but calm.
He stared at me with a huge intensity that made me melt closer to him grasping his shoulders in rain that could cause a flood. I'm sure we looked weird but i didn't care. I never wanted to let go.
"Jacob?"
"I....Rosie...I" He was stuttered. Now i was getting worried about him. He was shaking even harder now.
"Jacob we need to get you out of this rain."
I tried to pull away but he is really strong!
"No. It's not that Rose. I'm....I'm just nervous."
Alright I had to say it.
"No,really! I had no idea!" I made myself sound super innocent.
He gave me an irritated look. I rolled my eyes.
"Really Jacob you can tell me anything. I won't ever betray you"
He took a deep breath.
"Look Roseleah. You can't ever tell anyone about this. Ever. Or I could be in big trouble."
I nodded. "Of course Jacob it's the same for my secret."
He stared at me. The nerves were getting to both of us now. My heart starting pounding as fast and as hard as his.Another deep breath. Here it comes.
"Roseleah...I'm...I'm a mutant!"
My heart stopped. OH MY GOD TIMES TEN!!! i could feel relief wash over me and my whole body just relax. I smiled at him. He shut his eyes in pure relief.
'Really Jacob? What did you think I would do? Were you scared that i was gonna call the hunters and run for the hills?"
He gave me a sheepish smile and laughed. God it felt good to hear him laugh.
"Yeah Rose I kinda was."
"Jacob why would i do that? Then I-"
I stopped midsentance. I'm gonna go for a more suttle approach. Then i would say it unless he didn't get it. Jacob looked so confused that i wanted to laugh but i didn't.
"You what?" His voice said - what the heck is she talking about?
I took a deep breath and moved my soaking wet hair away from my face. I made a split decision. I would show him my power after i told him. All this rain is probably bugging him even though i love it. He might call the hunters cause he will be so scared. And just in case your wondering the hunters are a group of humans that get paid to put mutants in cages,lock them up forever, and keep them barley alive. Then they have these trackers that can find a mutant anywhere. I don't know why they are really called the Phantoms. They are more like hunters. Alright no more stalling. I have to tell him.
" You what?" Jacob repeated
"I would be hunted too."
His eyes widened really big with surprise.
"That's right Jacob. I'm a mutant too. Your not that special." I smiled at him.
He gave me a weak smile. I stepped away from him.
"Do you want to know what my uh.. power is Jacob?"
"Yeah!" He looked like a little kid on Christmas morning.
"Alright then."
I stepped at least ten paces away from him. I held my hands out in front of me and turned them up as though I was a waitress holding trays. I curled my fingers a little.The rain around us poured harder. Jacob was twirling around in amazement. I smile. I slowly clenched my hands into fists. The rain then turned to ice. Jacob smacked one out of the air and it hit the ground and was unharmed. Then i made my hands flat. It started pouring again. I raised my hand and I clenched slowly. It stopped raining alltogether. I dropped my hands and it starting raining again. I looked at Jacob. I expected to see fear but all i saw was pure excitment.

I spoke to her calmly. "Rose? Its ok Rosie. Im right here."
Slowly she started to calm down,the screaming stopped and her breating slowed but was still shaky. Then she was up with a lurch, deeply gasping for air again as though the had been underwater for hours. I wonder if she can breathe underwater?

She looked around, unsure of where she was at first, until she saw me.
"Jacob?"
"Hey Rose whats going on?"
She shrugged. "Oh not much.......How long was i out?"
"A few minutes. Lisa had to run upstairs for a minute....Any crazy dreams?"
"Nope. Just black. Why do you ask?
I stared in disbelief. She couldn't possibly be serious."Well because you were-"
"Roseleah. Tod wants to see you upstairs for a minute." Lisa had apperaed on the stairs.
"Alright Lisa, I'm comin'."
Rose got up and ran up the stirs with a glance back at me.Don't leave yet Jacob. I'm not ready to be yelled at just yet. There it was again. That erie feeling that she could just pop into my head and i could hear her, just like at the field. Before Lisa would notice, Rose disapperard up the twisted stairs and out of sight. I hated to be here alond with her "mother". It just made me feel odd and out of place.
Lisa came over to me. In her hands she held a picture frame, but it was turned from me so i couldn't see it. Lisa caught me looking at it.
"This is what we usually give to her to wake her up. This happens alot."
"She didn't even know what i was talking about though"
"She never does. She has no idea that she screams in her sleep. When she was younger, we tried to tell her but she wouldn't listen. Then she would always say that we were messing with her. So when this happens, we just ask her about what she was dreaming about but she always says nothing, just black."
She handed me the frame. It showed a family in it. Two kids, tow adults.
"This is what the orphanage gave us when we adopted Roseleah. It's all she had, at the time, but they said when she graduated high school,they would have something for her then. When we asked what it was, at first they said that we would find out. But we were persistant and when we asked again, they said it would have something to do with her family. I'm guessing that it has someting to do with the brother she never meet or the house and the things in it. They called every moth this year and when we told them that Roseleah was graduating, they said that the house is still untouched, and it is exactly the way it was before."
"So this is Roseleah's family?"
"Yes. Her mother,father and her brother.Her mother is holding her, and if you look close enough, you can see her locket."
Sure enough, when Lisa handed me the frame,I looked at it long and hard, mostly at Roseleah. Her locket was in her tiny fingers.As i looked at her family, only her mother looked like her. Same features all the way down to her tiny frame.It was insanity. But the whole thing was...... What had happened to them that caused their death and to have to leave behind two children?
"Mrs.Hakins-"
"Call me Lisa'
"I have to go. Can you tell Rose I'll see her later?"
"Of course"
That's when i left. I had to know more. I had to know more of Rose was still hiding.Something that she was just not ready to acept. I knew tht if I went back to her house, Lisa would tell me more.
Lisa was the key to Roseleah's past. The only one i knew of any way.
Roseleah
I sat on the bed in Tod's room.I have been watching him pace back and forth for at least 10 minutes. I heard the door close downstairs. I was so bored, I knew Jacob had to be.
"Tod what is this about? Am I just going to sit here and watch you pace around like a nervous puppy?"
"LISA!" Tod screamed so loud that I almost fell backwards.
I heard running up the stairs.
"what?"
"It's here." Tod handed Lisa an envelope. She went as pale as death.
"Alright i wanna know whats going on right now. Don't even try to lie to me. I'm not stupid ya know."
"young lady you watch your mouth or-"
"Tod. Stop. She should know." Lisa said in a quiet voice.
"Know what?!" This was so odd. The only time they ever hid anything form me was my birthday. Or thats atleast what i thought. I stood up slowly, not taking my eyes off of either one of them.
"Rosleah please sit down."
"NO! Just tell me whats going on!"
Lisa and Tod stared at me. They had never understood my rapid mood swings.
Lisa was the first to speak.
"Roseleah this is yours. It;s from the adoption center. It has something to do with your family."
She held out the envelope to me. I tentavily reached for it like it was a snake. Once i had it in my hands, it felt like a rock. I had no intention of opening it.
"Open it. The sooner you open it the sooner we know what it is."
I tore off the top. Inside was a letter and a very big packet, along with another piece of paper. I started with the letter.

Dear Roseleah,
In this envelope, you will find some of the paper work your parents left for you. Your brother will need to be contacted before you read the will. If you have any questions, you need to speak with them.
From:The West Virginia Adoption Center
I stared at it for a minute, the letter in one hand, the rest in the other. I dropped the letter like i had been burned, causing both my 'parents" to jump. Lisa tried to hold my should but i ran before she could. I wanted to be alone. My room door was already open so i ran inside and slammed it with my "parents" right on my heals.
"Roseleah! Roseleah you open this door! Honey? Are you okay?"
The banging of their hands on the door made me even more upset. My brother? Heath? the one in the picture? i never thought that i would have to meet him. it never crossed my mind. i looked at the packet still in my hands. i grabbed the thick paper out of it. It was the deed to my house with a note atached. After reading it i felt even more lost.
"When do i get to go?" I yelled over the banging. it stopped immeadtly.
"What?What do you mean?"
'When do i get to see the house?"
"Tomorrow. We knew when the packet showed up, we would book a plane ticket."
i opened the door. "So thats it?"
"Yes. And someone will go with you of course. So which one of us would you like to go with?
"Jacob." I regretted the words as soon as they were out. But it was true. Right now, i wanted to be as far away from Lisa and Tod as soon i could. And this was my chance.
Tod was as pissed as i had ever seen him. "No way! This is a family matter so you and your mother will leave-"
"Tod. It's fine. I'm sure she wants a close friend to be there and support her." Lisa gave me a sly smile and a wink that Tod missed. My face got hot.
"Lisa its really not what you-"
"Roseleah. I understand. Now your father and I need to discuss some things so why don't you go in your room, call Jacob and explain what's happening and if his parents say yes, you start packing?" I nodded and closed the door. My window was still open, but i didn't bother to close it. I don't really care if any one thinks im extremly clumsy and that it should be closed at all times. Really, I'm not.
I liked the sound of the rain pouring from the sky, hitting the grass and trees, exploding like tiny bombs when in contact with anything. My window seat was damp when i sat down but who would care at this point? I picked up my phone. No messages yet, but then i remebered. I pulled out the little piece of paper Stevie Rae had given me. Her handwriting was flawless.
Stevie Rae's #
972-869-7720
Call me!! TXt me whatever!!
I typed in her number into my Ekzera. I would text her tomorrow if i got the chance,but for now, i had to call Jacob and give him the news. Hopefully, he wouldn't hear my "parents" screaming at each other in the background.