Guess it's Story Time with Rosie...

You sigh just a little. You were hoping you wouldn't be read so easily. Now you have to get straight to the point. You were sure you were able to power through and explain everything before, but now you're not so certain. Everything's so easy when you're thinking it in your head and not bringing it to action.

"I was in a study group, to catch up and all," you begin, "when one of the other girls got called away. She was obviously going to... you know, have sex. I'm a little put off by the idea of just doing that on a whim, but... if it works like this around these parts, I guess you can't stop the tide. So I decided to try the same. With Seraphine."

Alex seems to be thinking something over. "Let me guess, she turned you down?"

"Quite the opposite, actually. She led me to some sort of archive and invited me to... you know, do it. But she was really quiet all the time, and didn't even react after we'd done. It was like... I'd let her down." You feel the panic and self-doubt rising up again. "I didn't let you down, did I? I know I'm not... perfect. In fact, I'm nowhere near decent. I must have let you down, I'm so sorry, I can't do anything right, I'm..."

Your lips stop flapping with your anxieties when they meet with Alex's. You feel that rising tension leave your body, slowly but surely, as if her kiss has freed you of some burden.

"Rosie... Darling. Please trust me." She holds your face, forcing you to look right at her. Her tone is all at once comforting and authoritative. "You could never disappoint me. You could never let me down. I'm not the type to lie just to make people feel nice. So, you'd have heard already, right? Please trust me. You're never not good enough."

You can't really respond verbally, so your face just sinks into a smile.

"I tell you what, Rosie. I was going to surprise you with this later in the week, but might as well, right? I was planning a sleepover in my dorm with all of my best friends Friday night, to celebrate Life After Test, you know, and thought you might like to come?"

Your instinct takes over immediately. Your instinct to deny anything good offered to you, because you're just not worthy. "O-Oh, no, I couldn't, I feel like I'd be intruding. I mean, all of your friends, and then someone like me..."

Alex shuts you up again - not with a kiss this time, but a finger pressed to your lips. "Rosie. You're one of my best friends. Please don't put yourself down." She takes it away, and goes back to stroking your face. "So, Friday night. Don't go making plans without me, right?"

"R-Right..." You're still not sure if you'll fit in, but hey, you've at least got something on your schedule now. And - most importantly - you've got Alex. With her by your side, nothing can go wrong.

The next day, Alex is gone.

Completely gone. Not next to you in your classroom, taking up the majority of your shared desk. Not sharing lunch with you. Not even responding to your texts. It's as if someone called Alex never existed, and no mention is made of her. Not even when taking register do you hear her name. After classes are out of the way... she's not there. She's never been there.

And so, once again, you're going it alone. Just as you'd dreaded.