Chapter Sixteen.

The snow fell down around me, and it sprinkled my red hair with small white pictures that soon melted away into nothing. I stood on the edge of the balcony, staring down at the beautiful garden below me. In my hands, I held the rose that I had found on my pillow – it had still not wilted since the night I found it. My fingers grasped at the largest petal I could see, and I pulled away at it slowly, until the tissue and veins all tore away from the heart of the flower.1

“I love him.”2

My breath breathed out before me in a puff of fog, and I shivered at the cold.3

“I don’t love him.”4

The backpack that I had packed with my favorite clothes sat beside me on the side of the balcony.5

“I love him.”6

“I don’t love him.”7

“I love him.”8

The petals all fell away, stopping to land on the white, snow-covered earth as I let them fall from their haven.9

“I don’t love him.”10

“I love him.”11

“I don’t love him.”12

Tears stung my eyes as I pulled the last few petals away.13

“I don’t love him.”14

The last petal floated to the ground. Slinging my backpack over my shoulder, I followed suit – landing on the ground with a loud “thud.” With the thorny stem still held in my hand, I slung my backpack over my shoulder and took off across the courtyard and into the trees of the forest. 15

Luckily, there was no wind, so it wasn’t excessively cold outside. I ran through the trees, hoping that it wouldn’t take very long to reach the highway that was about a mile or three on the other side of it. True, I was being a coward, and Dedrick would never talk to me again – but Dedrick was the reason that I had left so quickly. When I talked with him, he always enchanted me with his words… but this time, I was listening to my emotions.16

My tears seemed to freeze as they dropped from my eyes. I had given up everything for Dedrick… my mother wouldn’t talk to me, and my friends damn near hated me. I bit my lip and tried not to sob. It was so dark out, and I couldn’t see much of anything. Far-off voices called my name and I turned around to see the dim light of a few flashlights. With my attention turned away from where I was running, I didn’t see the root that stuck up from the ground and caught hold of my foot.17

Thudding to the ground, I quickly sat up and brushed the snow away from my face with my frozen hands. I shivered, cursing myself for my stupidity; what was I thinking? There was no way I would’ve been able to run away in this cold at night, but it had been the only time I thought I could get away with it. 18

My ankle throbbed angrily – not allowing me to stand up, so I pressed my back against a tree trunk and brought my legs up to my chest. I closed my eyes, and tried to rub my hands together, but I could barely feel my own touch. The cold began to get to me, and I felt myself drifting off.19

Images of Dedrick filled my mind. He had been so wonderful at first… why had I not loved him? Why had Gregory seemed to be keeping something from me when it came to Dedrick? 20

Mothers shouldn’t abandon their children.21

Jasmine shouldn’t have gotten so mad at me.22

I didn’t love Dedrick.23

Dedrick.24

Dedrick.25