Rosalie (H)

He wouldn’t take her word for it, not when he turns to discover her watching him. To be fair, he did his share of people watching, but from a coffee shop window or out on his porch. Not up close where a conversation could occur. “I’m not jumpy.” He briefly chewed on the inside of his cheek. “I just didn’t expect someone to be following me.” That he wasn’t sure of, but that eerie feeling hadn’t left the moment he had entered the house. Being followed was one of his theories.

“I wasn’t following you,” Rose lied without hesitation. She didn’t want the stranger thinking she was being creepy, even if she actually kind of was. “We just... happened to be going in the same direction. It’s not that big of a house, you know...” Suddenly, she broke out into a small smile and held out her hand. “I’m Rosalie, by the way.”

Rosalie couldn’t help it, she was curious. Whenever someone entered the house that she didn’t recognize, she wanted to figure out who they were. She trailed behind the boy for a little while, mostly just to observe and see what she could figure out before she tried talking to him. However, she watching didn’t last long, because he had turned around and looked right at her. “No,” she answered, shaking her head. “Are you always so... jumpy?” She asked in reply, feeling as though he was merely trying to pretend he wasn’t scared.

“H–He doesn’t want anyone to know.” 

“Is he a ghost in the house?” Rose asked, confused as to who he might be talking about. “Who hurt him?”

“It’s scary down there… m–my friend got all clawed up.” He noted, eyes flickering to the door leading to such a place.

“Your friend?” Rosalie questioned, tilting her head to the side. “Who’s your friend?”

when she stepped closer, he instinctively scooted back, the fear of being hurt once more controlling him. ‘ i—i don’t have a room… ‘

Rosalie furrowed her brow at his response. “Why don’t you just stay in the basement?” She suggested. “That’s where I stay. I know a lot of people are scared of it, but it’s not that bad. If you ignore the mean ghosts, they usually ignore you.”

His attention immediately flew to the railing above him. He could could see the outline of someone— a girl? His voice was soft and subtle, “I’m Kaden… Who are you?”

“I’m Rosalie,” the blonde said with a small smile, taking a few steps closer to the boy, “It’s nice to meet you, Kaden... What are you doing sitting at the stairs all by yourself?”

At night, when the house was most quiet, Rosalie liked to wander around-- It was really the only time she could get out of the basement without running into all of the college kids. She was up on the second floor, walking through the hallway when she came to a sudden stop, hearing a voice coming from the staircase. “I’m here,” she said quietly, taking a few steps forward. “Who are you?”

“At least,” Eden sighed, glancing over to the blonde. Blue eyes lingered on her for a moment, the brunette saying, “You have really pretty hair. Do you curl it?”

A bit caught off guard by the unexpected question, it took Rosalie a second to process it before she shook her head. “Oh, no. It’s just like this,” she chuckled lightly.

Eden scrunched up her nose lightly, shrugging her shoulders. “Some of them are okay. But, most of the time, they’re really only good for raiding closets and shit.”

Rose nodded her head in understanding. “But there’s not much we can do about it. At least it’s not as crowded anymore.”

Eden nodded her head, glancing over to the blonde. “Fortunately. I thought they were never going to leave. Granted, all the normal living kids are here, but we apparently can’t get rid of them easily.”

“I don’t mind the ones that normally live here,” Rose admitted. “Because they understand, for the most part. It’s the ones that don’t know who bother me.”

Eli sat down on the ground, lanky legs crossing Indian-style. “War or poker, I kind of know how to play those,” he replied, looking to the blonde with a wide smile. “Unless you know any better games.”

“Hmm...” Rose thought for a moment, staring down at the deck of cards. “Well, I’ve never played poker... and I think I kind of know how to play war.” She looked back up at Eli. “Maybe you could teach me how to play poker?”

“Just a little,” Elijah said with a chuckle, running a hand through his hair. “And, alright,” he added, grabbing her free hand with his and ghosted the pair outside. Now in the gazebo, he glanced around before looking to the blonde with a wide smile. “Is here okay?”

Rosalie held on tightly to his hand as he ghosted the two of them outside, dropping it only when she saw where they were. “Yes, I think this’ll do,” she replied with a wide smile, sitting down where she was standing and placing the box down next to her. “What do you wanna play?”