3 Chapter 2.1 - 6 Years Later...

"Rose, wake up! Do you want to be late for the first day of fifth grade?" Rose's mom yelled at her daughter, after finding out her alarm had been ringing for 15 minutes.

"Mmmm....lolipops....chocolate....." Rose muttered in her sleep.

Rose's mom rolled her eyes and sighed. It was always food with this girl. She liked food so much, she was even dreaming about it. Rose could eat a lot but still remained healthily skinny just like her father. Her mom did everything to try to wake her up. From trying to push her off the bed to banging some stuff together she found in her room near Rose's ear. Just then she heard a knock at her daughter's door.

She looked behind to see Alex, neatly groomed and looking handsome. His brown hair was swept neatly to the left side of his face, while his sun-kissed tanned skin was so clear, no signs of pimples and blemished anywhere.

"Hi, Alex. Look at you, ready for school. While my lazy daughter is still sleeping. Sometimes, I wish she was more like you. You are such an obedient child. No matter what I try, this girl won't wake up" Rose's mom stated, loudly for her sleepy daughter to hear.

"Can I try Mrs.Claire?" Alex asked. Alex was so close to Rose's family at this point, he called them by their first names.

"Go ahead. I tried everything I can." She replied.

Alex took a deep breath and shouted, "OH MY GOSH! ARE THOSE GIANT GUMMY BEARS?!!?!?"

As if on cue, Rose directly woke up. She sat straight in her bed, not even acknowledging the people in her room.

"Wait. Where? Where are they???" Rose frantically got up from her bedroom and looked around her room.

When she heard Alex and her mom's laugh, she looked at them coming to her senses. She gave them both a glare. Then suddenly, a thought suddenly struck her.

"Wait...Isn't today the first day of school!?!? Why didn't any of you wake me up? I only have 30 minutes to get ready," she spoke fastly as she rushed into her bathroom.

Claire and Alex were still laughing at Rose's behavior.

"Come on, I made breakfast, your favorite Chocolate Chip Pancakes, and Banana Smoothie," Claire said changing the subject as she was going downstairs.

"Yay!" Alex replied giddily as he followed her downstairs.

Alex's parents had to leave early in the morning, so they entrusted Claire to take care of their boy. At first, it was stressful, but now, she got used to it. Rose's family treated Alex like their own son, and Claire knew that Alex's parents, Angela and Bradley, thought the same about her daughter.

As Claire was serving Alex his pancakes, Rose's dad came from the office room to greet Alex.

"Hey, kiddo. Are you excited for 5th grade?" Rose's dad asked Alex.

"Yes, Mr.Marc. I'm very excited. We get to pick the sports we want to do this year." Alex answered while munching on his pancakes.

"Ahhh, sports. I remember that I was very much excited like you. Do wrestling. Then you'll get muscles like these," Marc showed of his own muscles.

"Shut up Marc. The kid can do whatever he likes," Claire retorted.

Marc sneered at his wife jokingly as he sat down next to Alex on the island, helping himself to the aromatic pancakes.

Just then, they heard a large thumping sounds coming from the stairway. All three of them turned their heads simultaneously to see Rose rolling down the stairs. When she reached the ground she landed on her bottom with a big thud. She then looked up the three faces that were looking at her and burst out laughing.

"Haha, you should see the look on your faces," Rose teased her parents and her best friend as she got up and brushed herself off from the floor. She walked to the island, as if nothing happened and got herself a plate and servers herself the food she saw in front of her. The three people didn't even realize their faces were mixed with expressions of shock and amazement.

"What? It didn't even hurt," Rose said, noticing their glances and sat on the other side of Alex.

Claire just sighed and shook her head. She didn't even know what to say to her daughter. She then took her phone to pass off time on Instagram, when she realized the kids only had 10 minutes before they were late. Alarmed, she quickly rushed the two kids outside to her car. Once they got in, she quickly drove them to school, not even stopping at the stop signs.

"Wow, your mom really wants us to get to school on time," Alex said to Rose.

"Yeah. She always wants to be on time, if not then why even bother going? Rose replied mimicking her mother's voice.

Claire quickly gave a glare to Rose in the rearview mirror she kept on driving. Noticing her mother's death;y glare, she stopped right away. Claire was nice until she was angry. When she gets angry, she goes on screaming like a ravaging beast. But, Claire never gets that angry.

Finally, they reached the school. Pink Stones Elementary School. Everything in her town was named after the town's name. She still didn't understand why.

They quickly got off and walked to the entrance of the building, blending in with the other kids. Claire felt tears coming to her eyes. She had been watching them go to school without ever waving goodbye to her ever since kindergarten. This time, she thought of the little kids to the tall kids Rose and Alex became. She quickly suppressed her tears as she drove back to her home.