Chapter 8

Meanwhile, back at the dorm, Rose was waiting for Jennie to finish up in the shower. They had gotten news half an hour ago, that Jiyeon wasn’t with the exchange program anymore. Rose had thought that her back-chatting had been the reason for her leaving, but her worries were washed away when the instructor told them that she’d left because she was moving schools altogether due to her parents business.

Rose had breathed a sigh of relief when she was told that Jiyeon was no longer staying with them. She was sick and tired of Jiyeon’s constant clinginess, which for some reason, was only prone to her and only her.

Anyways, while she waited for Jennie to finish in the shower, she lay on her stomach on the bed. She played some Mario on her Nintendo, and punched the air excitedly when she had won the race for the third time in a row.

Once she’d finished all that, Jennie still wasn’t done in the shower. Rose got up and went over to the bathroom door. She was about to knock on it when the door opened it.

There stood Jennie, her towel draped over her head, covering one side of her wet hair, and she was in a GUESS bathrobe with matching slippers.

Rose sort of froze when she saw Jennie, and they both just stood there staring at each other for a solid 6 seconds. Then Rose shook her head and apologised for blocking the way.

‘Sorry for taking so long,’ said Jennie. ‘I have this really itchy spot right in between my two shoulder blades, and I just can’t reach it. Do you think you could help me please Rose?’

‘Sure,’ said Rose.

Jennie carefully took off her bathrobe, so her back was exposed, but nowhere else was.

She had planned to just take the whole thing off, but she’d sensed that Rose seemed a bit tense when she’d just been untying the strap at the front of the bathrobe.

‘There … can you see it?’ Jennie asked, turning her head as if to try and see the itchy spot herself. ‘It’s probably red if it’s so itchy.’

‘Found it,’ said Rose, and promptly began to rub it a bit. ‘I don’t want to scratch it because that would just make it worse.’

She got up and went over to one of the drawers underneath the nightstand. She took out some cream and went back to Jennie.

‘I think it’s just an insect bite,’ said Rose, applying a bit of menthol cream to numb the area a bit.

‘Thanks Rose,’ said Jennie, putting her robe back on.

‘Wait! Don’t put it back on!’ cried Rose, and grabbed onto the collar area of the robe.

Jennie turned, her eyes wide.

The two were frozen in that position for a bit.

Jennie was sitting cross-legged on the bed with half of her robe on, while Rose’s fingers had wrapped around the collar of the robe.

After a couple seconds of silent eye-contact with one another, Rose suddenly realised what she was doing and let go straight away.

‘I-I-I meant – I meant don’t take it off because you’ll wipe the cream away,’ she said, trying not to flush with embarrassment.

Jennie was also trying not to flush, but it was harder for her because she was practically bare, with only a light piece of fabric covering her (A/N: that sounds weird).

‘Um, oh ok,’ Jennie said, taking the robe of her shoulders a bit, so it wouldn’t touch her back.

‘I’ll – um – I’ll go have my shower now,’ said Rose, and darted into the bathroom.

Only when she was inside the bathroom, with the door locked, that she loud a silent scream.

Oh why oh why oh why did you have to go and do that Rose? She asked herself quietly. Now you’ve only gone an made things super awkward with Jennie, your only roommate! You can’t afford to muck up your relationship with her and then spend the next couple of months in awkwardness every time you and her are in the dorm together!

She got in the shower and let the water run over her body.

I wish there was a bathtub in here …Rose thought. That way, I could go into it, slip underneath the water, and do a good, proper scream.

After she finished washing, she got out and dried herself. She put on her bathrobe and slippers, and shuffled out of the steamy bathroom.

Jennie was propped up against the bed on the window side of the room, scrolling through her phone.

Rose timidly walked up to her, twiddling her fingers. ‘Hey, um, Jennie, I’m sorry for what happened earlier. I wasn’t aware of what I was doing … sorry again.”

‘Hey, it’s all good. There’s no need to apologise. I totally understand what you meant before, it’s no biggie,’ said Jennie.

Rose gave Jennie a quick hug and jumped onto her own bed.

‘So Lisa bought you a new phone, didn’t she?’ asked Jennie.

‘Yeah she did. It didn’t feel right taking a brand new phone that she’d bought herself, when it was my fault my phone got broken in the first place. But, well, Lisa insisted I take it, so I did.’

‘Can I see it?’ asked Jennie.

Rose took out the phone from its box and gave it to Jennie.

‘Ooh! This model’s top of the range at the moment,’ said Jennie, looking impressed.  ‘She must’ve spent quite a bit. But if I’d known you needed a new phone, I could’ve bought you one myself. Or two. Or the whole Apple store if you wanted me to, y’know.’

Rose giggled. ‘Oh don’t be silly! Why on earth would you buy me the whole Apple store?’

‘Because I like y-, ’

Jennie slapped an invisible hand over .

‘You like what?’ asked Rose.

‘U-u-um n-nothing …’ Jennie mumbled, quickly handing the phone back.

She put on her slippers and hastily shuffled into the bathroom. She locked it, turned to face the mirror, and gave an almighty silent scream. When she finished, she brushed the stray hairs hanging over her forehead away and looked at herself in the mirror.

‘You are an absolute idiot,’ she whispered to herself. ‘You almost said it to her. You almost confessed your feelings. Aish! Why does my brain have to act this way? Her of all people! You just had to fall for her, didn’t you. No, that’s not right … I’m not in love with her. That’s crazy. She’s a friend … a friend who is annoyingly attractive for some reason. I need to get some sleep…’

Meanwhile, Rose was chewing her fingernail anxiously and staring at the phone’s screen. She was debating if she should text Lisa a “good-night” or something. After 20 seconds of debating with herself, she decided it was best to just not say anything. She placed her phone underneath the pillow, and lay down, getting ready to sleep.

She was just drifting off when her phone vibrated, indicating a notification. She bolted upright and checked her phone.

It was Lisa.

She’d sent a text that read: Are you sleeping yet?

Rose thought her heart would fly out of her chest. She texted first!

Her fingers practically flew over the small keyboard on the phone’s screen.

(i dunno why the pictures always come out so big ...)

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 (A/N: If you’re cringing at how cringe that was, than rest assured, you weren’t the only one.)

Ok, so at this point, you can probably tell that their relationship is no-where near established. I’m working on – er, I mean, THEY’RE working on it. Just give it a few more chapters … and yes, I’ve also realised that there’s way more “rose x jennie” stuff happening. I know I’m being a terribly mean author. Sorry.)

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