Chapter Five - So Close, but Untouchable

Theme Song: "Untouchable" by Taylor Swift


Valentin: 17, Rosaline 15

 

 That night, Valentin was busy making dinner.

While he was making dinner, he sang cheerfully. Ever since the day in the forest, he loved to sing... in the bathroom, when he went to fish, and even when he cooked. He was singing a song called "Under the Hot-Dessert Sun".

It was hot indeed especially when a fire almost burned the kitchen. Rosaline was there and  got panicked. Things got worse when the fire extinguisher stopped working for a while.

Fortunately, Valentin managed to extinguish it before the fire spread out.

Rosaline planned to make the stove fireproof.  But, since both of them were feeling hungry,  she asked Valentin to stay away from the kitchen... and the stove, and then  gladly showed off her expertise in cooking. 

It felt so different living without any parents. Those household duties were quite tiresome and exhausting to be done.  At least,  they understood  why their parents often asked them for their help. They realized though,  as long as they did those  tasks together and helped each other, it would be so much easier for them to do those tasks.

The positive thing was Rosaline and Valentin became almost inseparable each day. They spent their time studying together. Both were still in high school. Rosaline was in her first year, while Valentin was in his last year. Even though they were in different grades, Rosaline gladly helped him out with his studies. She often threw him questions from his books and Valentin would answer them. "It will help you to memorize things." Rosaline said, and also, by doing so, she would know a thing or two about lessons in upper grade, so it wasn't a waste of time for her after all.

Their efforts paid off. Rosaline got A,  while Valentin got B. Even though he earned lower grade than her, he didn't feel agitated at all.  It was a hard work for him to get that B. Besides being a student, he must also be able to manage his time to find  money while studying hard. It would be one more month until the graduation day and after that, he would be able to find a decent job.

 

After studying together, they went to bed because it was already late at night. Unexpectedly though, they heard  someone  knocking on the front door.  Rosaline wondered who might have come. She did not suspect that it was Pierre. Rosaline and Valentin would not  mind by his coming,  except when Pierre came late at night when everyone was  feeling tired and in a need of sleep.

In the morning, Valentin decided to hang out in a park. That day was Sunday, a perfect day for him to play chess in the park.

There, he met a girl he had never seen before. She looked quite pretty. "Do you want to quit now?" Valentin asked her as she threw the chess men away. 

She had  lost the game.

She left the park with a grunt...

... but looked back with a  smile.

Back at home, Valentin spent his time with Rosaline watching the football game. He asked her about Pierre. He mentioned how often Pierre hung around in their house and in unexpected hours.

"What were you two doing here, Rose?" Valentin asked her with his pierce eyes, as though investigating her.

"Nothing, we just talked."  

"I know, Val. Pierre did really disturbing once. If you don't like him to be around here that much, I will tell him."

Valentin had no idea of how to reply her. Rosaline is a good girl. He believed that she and Pierre  had not done anything wrong. "It's okay, Rose. I want you to have friends."

After she left, Valentin wondered why he asked that question anyway. Rosaline is a grown-up girl, and she could have friends or dating guys whoever she likes. Maybe he was just trying to play as the big brother's part here?

Whatever the reason was, he hoped that Rosaline would be fine even though they were living without their parents.

Rosaline slept in Valentin's room that night. She heard noises one evening, so they exchanged rooms since then. She was very tired and went to bed earlier. She didn't know that Valentin was there, in her room, standing beside her...

looking at her,  smiling.

The day after, Valentin met the girl who played chess with him in the park. They chatted  and he  found that she was studying in the same school. Her name is Annabelle Trottier. She's  nice and often laughed at his friendly jokes. Valentin must admit that she had a wonderful smile.


Their school would hold a Galas or Prom Night in two weeks. Annabelle asked him to go the Galas together. Valentin hadn't found a date, yet. She's nice, so why not? 

However he became  nervous because he had never danced with a girl or went to a date before. To practice his dancing skill,  he asked Rosaline to dance with him. 

"What are you doing, Val?"  Rosaline asked him when he suddenly grasped her hands.

"Practicing my dancing skill. Galas will be held soon. You don't mind if I practice it with you,  don't you, Rose?" He asked her,  but one arm had already reached  for hers while the other was holding her waist. 

He carefully led her to dance.  He wasn't doing bad as a beginner -- at least, he hasn't stomped on Rosaline's foot yet.

"I guess this is the time when you should do a spin. Don't worry, Rose. I'll catch you if you fall."

"I know." Rosaline stared at him.  She believed him, even though he was doing a strange dancing style and was being a bit clumsy. 

They danced so close. It was a slow dance that was supposed to be done in a romantic kind of way. He would do this  dance with Annabelle, but  the girl he was holding was Rosaline. The girl he knew from a little, when he was still a kid back then.

He knew almost everything about her: the way she cried, laughed, and angry. She had grown to become a lovely girl and in a few years later she would become a young woman already.

"Don't hold me like that. It tingles." Rosaline giggled. 

Valentin watched her smiling. Sun was breaking through the window frame, brightening her lovely face. He didn't know why, but he could not help himself from gazing at her.  Tingling feelings were all over him. She felt so soft in his arms.

 

The ringing of the phone broke the moment between them and he quickly aware of himself. 

It was Annabelle who called him.

Annabelle asked him to meet her in the park. 
"Valentin!" She called and walked toward him.

The next thing he knew her lips were already on his. It was a sudden move.

And it was amazing. Valentin had never been kissed by a girl before. That was the first time and he was almost speechless.

Annabelle wanted to go over to his house, but Valentin never invited a girl before. It would be the first time, so he tried to explain about his condition to her: that he was living only with his sister because his parents had died. Annabelle listened to him and then said: "No parents? It would be great!"

However, it wasn't so great after all. Things got crowded in the house because Pierre was as usual doing his routine on visiting Rose.

Annabelle turned  the radio on  so she and Valentin could dance, but Valentin could not turn his eyes away from Rosaline and Pierre.

Annabelle, who noticed how often Valentin looked at another direction, danced a bit wilder. She thought that it would attract his attention. It worked. Valentin was a bit surprised, 

but he turned his gaze at Rosaline again whenever he had a chance.


"I'm sorry, Pierre.  It's getting dark. Maybe you should go home?" Rosaline went upstairs to her bedroom. She was feeling a bit tired and not in a good mood. In a polite way,  she asked him to leave.

Next morning, Valentin decided to visit Annabelle.  It was the first time  a girl confessed to him that she liked him very much. Valentin knew so little about her, so he decided to meet her and her family.

He found out that her parents were very nice, and her dad seemed very fond of him a lot.

In the middle of his conversations with Annabelle's dad, unexpectedly, Annabelle kissed him in the living room. It was  great and he did not reject it, but he felt a bit uncomfortable about it. "Annabelle,  I don't think it's appropriate now. I mean... your dad is here."

"Inappropriate? Now, you're ruining my mood, Valentin!" Annabelle snapped out.

"I'm just trying to be polite in front of your parents."

"My parents? She is not even my mother. She's  my dad's mistress."

Mary Ann, the woman whom Annabelle talked about, overheard this. 

"Annabelle, watch out your mouth, Young Lady!" Annabelle's dad said to her. 

Mr. Trottier asked Valentin to leave the house.  "I'm sorry, Valentin. It was nice to meet you, but I need  time to speak alone with my daughter here." 


"Okay, Monsieur." Valentin left the house in a hurry.

One week passed by and Annabelle had not called him, not even once. The Galas was going to be held in  a few days. Should Valentin call her first?

It seemed, he didn't have to bother.  Annabelle came over in the afternoon. 

"You're not angry, right?"

"Why should I be angry?" 

"You're such a cute boy." Annabelle kissed him gently.

Rosaline had just finished tending the garden and was going inside the house when she found Annabelle and Valentin standing in the living room.

"We have this place for ourselves. Why don't you show me your room? It's upstairs, right?"

Valentin saw Rosaline coming in.

But his attention got distracted when Annabelle reached for his hands. "What are you looking at?" 

Rosaline left the house.

She stood outside.

She needed a friend to talk to.  There was no one else on her name list she could call, but Pierre. "Pierre,  do you want to hang out?"

She went to a park. It's small, but it's  a nice place.  There, she saw a family: a father, a mother, and a little boy.

.
"Will everything be different now?" Rosaline mumbled. Pierre was sitting beside her.

"What?"

"Eh, nothing" Rosaline turned her gaze away, looking at the family again. Her eyes darkened.

Pierre had no idea of how to persuade her to talk.  Even though they were best friends, she could be so quiet sometimes. There were  so many things  he had not known about her.

They spent their time in the park that afternoon. They did not speak -- just sat there and did nothing.

Pierre left the park at 5.00 p.m., leaving  Rosaline who still wanted to spend  her time  a little longer in the park.

She looked at the family again. They reminded her of her parents and the little boy  almost looked like Valentin when he was still a little kid. 


She missed her mom, dad, and now that Valentin has a girlfriend, would everything change?

Why couldn't life remained still at a time when they have their parents alive?

Back at home, Valentin was still busy with Annabelle. She was quite hard to resist, but Valentin managed to control himself so far.

It was very late and Rosaline hasn't come home yet. Valentin began to worry about her. 

"Annabelle, don't you think it's  late? You should go home now. Your dad might be worried of you."

"Let him be. It's about time he worries about me. We have this night for ourselves, let's spend it together." She kissed him again and  made him breathless. Valentin stopped her in the middle and said. "I must find  her. It's late and she hasn't come home." 

"She is a grown-up girl. She can take care of herself."

But... Valentin pushed her gently. "I'm sorry Annabelle, I really have to leave."


Annabelle stood in a shock -- couldn't believe at the fact that Valentin had left her to search for his little sister.

After looking for almost an hour, Valentin still could not find her. He had searched for her in the park, library, and café, still without  result, but there was one more place to go. A place where she'd like to go.

Just as he expected, he found her sleeping on a bench in the graveyard.

"Rose, why are you sleeping here?" He asked her as they sat on the marble bench.

"I don't know. I like it here. It's  quiet." 

"It's dangerous." 

 Rosaline glanced at him. "It's okay. I'll be fine. I can take care of myself."

There was silence between them, but he broke it off by saying: "We can spend the night here if you want to. Come ... come over here!"

"Huh?" 
"It's okay. You can put your head on my shoulder. We can sit here and wait until the sunrise, besides you will get tired if you're sitting like that."

Rosaline smiled and then leaned her head over his shoulder.

It wasn't long until they both fell to sleep.

 

To Be Continued to Chapter Five – Part Two -- and this is linked to Ch. 12 a Farewell Part One