Love, Rosie (123 page)

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Rosie

Stephanie

Best
friends
stay
with
you
forever

Oh
wise
and
wonderful
sister
Stephanie
you
were
right!
When
I
was
sev-

enteen
you
told
me
that
girlfriends
come
and
go
but
best
friends
stay
with

you
forever.
I
found
myself
saying
today,
“I
wonder
what
slutty
Bethany
is

doing
these
days
.
.
.”
The
exact
statement
I
never
wanted
Alex
to
have
to

say
about
me.
I
didn’t
believe
you
at
the
time
but
I
sure
do
now!!

Thanks
Steph,
best
friends
do
stay
with
you
forever!

chapter
27

k

You
have
an
instant
message
from:
RUBY

Ruby:

Rosie:

So
you’re
still
here
then.

Oh
your
words
of
support
are
like
a
breath
of
fresh
air
my
dear

Ruby.
Yes
I
am
still
here.
The
hands
of
Dublin
have
got
their
fists

tightly
grasped
around
my
neck,
choking
me
and
refusing
to
let
go.

Yes
Ruby.
I
am
still
here.

Ruby:

Rosie:

Ruby:

Rosie:

I
see;
nice
little
analogy.
So
you
found
your
daughter
then.

Yes
we
have
her
trained
to
come
running
back
after
three
whistles,

a
clap
of
the
hands,
and
a
little
twirl.

Impressive
.
.
.

I
reminded
myself
that
Alex
and
I
ran
off
together
a
few
times
when

we
were
younger.
The
first
time
we
ran
away
because
Alex’s
parents

refused
to
let
him
go
to
some
theme
park
to
visit
Captain
Tornado

for
the
weekend.
I
now
understand
his
parents’
point
of
view

because,
well,
the
theme
park
was
in
Australia
.
.
.
in
a
cartoon
.
.
.

Anyway
we
must
only
have
been
about
five
or
six.
We
packed
our

school
bags
and
ran
away.
We
literally
ran
away,
we
thought
that

was
what
we
were
supposed
to
do,
run
down
the
road
which
was

extremely
inconspicuous
of
course.

love,
rosie

191

We
spent
the
entire
day
roaming
streets
we
had
never
been
to

before,
looking
at
houses
and
wondering
if
the
pocket
money
we

had
saved
up
that
week
was
enough
to
buy
a
house
of
our
own.
We

even
looked
at
the
houses
that
weren’t
for
sale
.
.
.
we
hadn’t
quite

grasped
that
concept
yet.
As
soon
as
it
got
dark
the
two
of
us

became
bored
with
our
freedom
and
a
little
scared
too.
Eventually

we
decided
to
head
back
home
to
see
if
our
protests
had
made
a
dif-

ference
to
the
Captain
Tornado
situation.
Our
parents
hadn’t
even

noticed
we’d
been
gone.
Alex’s
parents
thought
we
were
at
my