Sterling Cook

Rose smiled a little and nodded. “You’d be surprised at how much of a try-hard I can be,” they laughed, looking over at Sterling with soft, brown eyes. They liked how easy it was to speak with him, even if they had just met. They tried not to think about it any further, lest they see their future with Sterling before it happened. 

“There are no rules- the sooner people realize that, the better off they will be. That’s what I think, anyhow. The amount of people who tell me who I should be because of X, Y, Z reason is insurmountable.”

“There’s always a witch around, especially here,” Rose smirked, laughing a bit in response. “Perhaps I am, I am quite good at earning trust,” they noted, trying to act like it was true. “As have I. People love to critique you and tell you that you’re a four chord wonder and not an actual musician unless your blood is on the guitar,” Rose laughed, rolling their eyes. 

“So it would seem, wouldn’t it? A second chance occurrence is hard to come by, and I can see the future,” Rose smiled. They looked up at Sterling, a bit embarassed to gossip, but they would anyway. Sterling seemed trustworthy, and he didn’t seem out to get them at all. “Well… Logan doesn’t like me too much. We’re in the same house, but we ended up having a physical altercation. I was afraid I would get put with him,” they admitted, leaning in closer to Sterling so they wouldn’t be heard easily.

Rose laughed and shook their head. “I usually keep it to myself, unless your future is dangerous, like today,” they told Sterling. “I had been looking for you all day, not to sound creepy or anything. Good thing I caught you,” Rose admitted, knowing that was possibly too much. Some people were scared of their futures, and therefore scared of Rose. 

“Sometimes it’s overwhelming. I don’t really mind it most of the time,” Rose shrugged as they walked down the street. The witch pulled him down an alley in order to find the shop. “Really? I play as well. Maybe we could jam sometime,” Rose smiled, immediately getting flashes of Sterling in the future, playing guitar at dive bars. “That’s wonderful, though. Music is the only thing everyone can mostly agree on. But college is the place to think about those things, I guess. Get a hold of your future, figure out what you want out of life. That’s why I came.”

Rose still couldn’t believe that Sterling hadn’t let go of their hand just yet. It wasn’t that Rose was unlucky in romance but… they were, to their dismay. Seeing clairvoyant visions of relationships failing before they even started was not helpful in having a healthy bond with anyone. 

Rose looked over at Sterling as they walked and nodded. “Psychology, on the counselling track. I’ve always enjoyed analyzing and listening, so I supposed it was the best thing for me. As to how I found this place… I saw myself coming here, actually. I’m clairvoyant. Sometimes I see things, sometimes I don’t, but I saw myself coming to Rosewood, so it was only a matter of time,” they laughed. “What about you?”

Rose looked up at Sterling and was honestly surprised- it was someone they actually knew. It was relieving, because as much as Rose liked meeting new people, they didn’t mind being comfortable with familiar faces. 

“I would, in such a turn of events,” Rose smiled, watching Sterling take a seat in front of them. The witch closed their notebook and slipped it into their apothecary bag. “Maybe you should, cheating is fun sometimes,” they laughed. “I’m relieved I got paired up with you, I was worried I would get paired up with some more… let’s say unsavory characters and leave it at that.”

Rose smirked and laughed gently, unsure if Sterling were serious or not. “Coffee sounds great, actually. I have to stay up late tonight anyhow,” Rose agreed, already having eyed up a coffee shop they thought looked cute during their bus ride up to Rosewood. “Well, I appreciate your lack of chivalry in accordance with your interest in me,” they teased, nodding gently and standing there before realizing they probably looked quite silly. “Shall we go? I’m new, and I haven’t explored anywhere that much yet. But it all seems lovely.”

Rose wasn’t exactly sure why they had even signed up for this blind date nonsense. Blind dates were for lonely old people who didn’t know how to socialize. This was college, how would they ever be lonely when they met a new person at every moment? Regardless, Rose had signed up. 

The witch sat at a table in a small, cozy coffee shop that they had seen down the street. Their hair was left down, and they were wearing a black, long sleeved top and a black skirt. They got there a little too early, so they had brought a notepad just in case, which they were now using to furiously scribble onto.

@sterling-cook

Sterling figured it couldn’t hurt, meeting new people, so he signed up for the stupid blind date thing and made his way to the coffee shop, curious who he was going to be paired with. His eyes fell on Rose and smiled at the familiar-ish face, moving over to them. “You wouldn’t happen to be my blind date, now would you?” He asked with a grin, taking a seat next to them. “Even if you aren’t, perhaps I should say you are so I don’t get stuck with someone who is a dud.”

Rose was looking up at him, their eyebrow raised in a bit of a challenge. “Very much so,” they agreed, noticing that Sterling hadn’t let go of their hand just yet. It was funny, because with all their clairvoyant powers, sometimes there were things they never saw coming. “What sort of debt? That’s quite chivalrous of you.”

He smirked, not moving to let go of her hand as they spoke. “Well, obviously I am going to need to take you to get some coffee or something.” He said with a wink. “At the very least, perhaps if you are feeling adventurous we could go do some exploring of the grounds.” He shrugged, “Chivalry has nothing to do with wanting to spend time with someone as cute as you.”

Rose couldn’t help but feel a bit hot under the collar at his statement, laughing a little despite themselves. They ran a hand through their shoulder length, brown hair before shaking Sterling’s hand. “I suppose I have, and to your benefit,” they smiled, trying to be as suave as possible. “Nice to meet you, Sterling. I’m glad I saved you, you’re quite cute.”

Sterling smirked, his heightened senses picking up on the effect his flirting had with Rose. He gave a slight nod, “In more ways than one, to my benefit I think.” He chuckled, “Well I’m glad you saved me too, and not just because you think I’m cute.” He said teasingly. “So now that you’ve saved me, I do believe I am in your debt.” He said, not letting their hand go. 

Rose didn’t have time to argue with the man, even though they knew that they most likely looked insane at the moment. “Just- I’m a witch, just move before-” the witch told him, attempting to push Sterling out of the way. As Rose was attempting to finish their sentence, a large branch fell down from the tree above them and landed at their feet. 

Rose’s hand was on Sterling’s arm as they stared at the branch. For a moment they were quiet, and then a smile cracked across their face. “That was close… I’ve been seeing that all morning, you know,” Rose said avidly, then looked up at Sterling and realized that this person was a stranger. 

“I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you at all. I’m Rose.”

Before he knew it, he was being pushed out of the way and a branch was falling from the tree above them. “Well fuck me.” He muttered, glancing at the branch and then at the person before him. “So what you’re telling me is you’ve been thinking about me all morning?” He smirked, winking at them. “I don’t scare easily, darlin. The name is Sterling.” He said, offering them his hand. “Nice to meet you Rose.” 

Rose was always thinking of something else. It was within their nature, they couldn’t help it. Especially because of their powers, it was difficult to focus on a conversation or classwork. There was always something grabbing their attention. 

Today, it was a classmate. They knew they didn’t have a lot of time, because in class they had seen something unsavory happen to this person, and it was almost noon. Sometimes, Rose could change events, but sometimes not. 

“Don’t- wait! Move away from there!” they shouted, their hands up, trying to get this person’s attention. 

Sterling was still settling into life at the school, especially a large school such as Rosewood. It was fancier than any place he had ever lived and he could only hope that he would quickly get to the point where he didn’t freak out every morning wondering where he was. 

It was a miracle he wasn’t running late, just barely making it to his class before the start, when a voice distracted him and he turned to look at the person, raising an eyebrow at the look of concern on their face. “Uh...this is my class...” He said, stepping over to them. “Is there any particular reason you are shouting at me and demanding I move?” He asked curiously.