I sat in front of Dani’s floor mirror in her studio apartment, tying my hair up away from my face. Music played in the background; it was always playing whenever I would come over to their place. Dani walked out to the living room already dressed up. She looks at herself in the mirror behind me, brushing the wrinkles off of her dress.

“Damn Micah, can’t you use the bathroom mirror for this kind of stuff? I’m trying to see if these shoes match the dress,” Dani whined. I rolled my eyes, getting up from the ground and letting Dani take over the mirror.

“Who cares,” I started to say. “It’s going to be a dark room with LED lights; no one is gonna see how your dress and shoes are two different shades of blue.” I laughed as Dani nudged me. Tanner walks into the living room from the kitchen being the only one fully dressed and ready to go.

“You guys still aren’t ready?” Tanner asked us.

“Blame it on Micah,” Dani pointed out. “He just told me the blue in my shoes do not match the blue in my dress!” Dani walks away from us, slamming her bedroom door shut. I couldn’t hep but laugh as Tanner loudly sighed.

“Dude, why do you guys get on each other’s nerves?” Tanner asked.

“That’s our love language,” I teased, looking at myself in the mirror once again. “She’ll be fine though.”

“Everything is set up at Rosie’s place?” Tanner asked as he changed the subject. I sighed hearing her name, thinking about the conversation we had earlier at her place. I guess Tanner picked up on the utter excitement hearing her name. “You guys alright?”

“Yeah, yeah,” I dismissed, putting my jewelry on. “She was just being a cranky bitch earlier today.” I didn’t even feel bad calling Rosie a bitch; that’s exactly what she was when we last spoke. Tanner winced at my response.

“I wonder why all of a sudden she was acting like one,” Tanner said in a sarcastic tone. “Possibly because of that magazine that you told her about–“

“Dude, the crazy bitch bought the magazine,” I turned around, facing Tanner. “Like, why the fuck would you waste your money in buying that bullshit magazine?” I was growing angry at the conversation. I didn’t understand why she even bought it in the first place and why she was pinning it on me. You bought it, Roe; not me.

“Maybe she was afraid of it being seen out in public,” Tanner suggested.

“She bought one copy; not the entire store,” I corrected him. “She made it this huge deal when really it’s nothing. I guess power-hungry girls get like that though.” Tanner didn’t say anything back. Dani walked back into the living room with a different dress on.

“Better?” Dani asked, annoyed. She now had on this lime green plaid shirt and navy blue top, actually matching the shoes she wanted to wear.

“Cute,” I began to say. “You’re skirt is gonna glow in the dark under the black lights. Dani rolled her eyes at me, grabbing her purse from the sofa.

“Let’s just get out of here,” Dani said, opening the front door.

…

I placed my headphones over my head to hear the music that was playing throughout Rosie’s place. There were more people here than I expected; a lot of them were people that I didn’t even know went to our school. Some people were dancing and mingling throughout the apartment; some occasionally would come up t the DJ booth to request a song here and there. I didn’t even get to see Rosie yet; the only time I physically got to see her was when we got to her place prior to the party even starting. Nevertheless, the party was going good and everything was working out in our favor. After playing the final song from my first set, I faded the outro and picked up the microphone to officially welcome everyone to tonight’s party.

“What’s up, everyone!” I shouted as everyone faced the DJ booth and cheered. “I hope everyone is having a good night! I’m your DJ for the night, DJ Salem; my goal for you all is to have a good time, ladies shake some ass and fellas to dance along with them!” The ladies cheered as the guys clapped their hands. “Of course, tonight wouldn’t have been possible with my co-host, Rosie Delgado,” I pointed at Rosie, finally noticing her for the first time tonight. I immediately was taken back; Rosie’s hair was straightened, which made her hair look even longer than usual. She was wearing a tight, cocktail dress that fit in all of the right places. I didn’t even know her body even looked like that. Some people clapped for Rosie as I pointed at her. I had to clear my throat before continuing the greeting. “Let’s have a good time tonight, everyone!” The party goers cheered as I began to play a random mix on the mixer. I took the headphones off, walking towards Rosie. She had her camera strap around her neck, taking pictures of the party scene. She finally looked up from the camera as I got closer to her, sighing once she saw me.

“Hi,” Rosie said in a monotone way. “Don’t you have to do your DJ thing or something?”

“I have a mix playing,” I answered. “I just wanted to see how you were doing and–“

“If you’re asking me if I’m doing my part of the project, then you don’t have to worry,” Rosie interrupted me, lifting her camera up for a brief moment. “No need to check on me.” Rosie started to walk away from me, trying to end the conversation there.

“Wait, Rosie–“

“What?” Rosie turned around, facing me. I took a deep breath before finally speaking about the elephant in the room.

“Are we… good?” I simply asked. “I don’t like how things ended between us earlier. We were doing so good and–“

“You don’t understand, Micah,” Rosie interrupted me once again. “You think you know me so well and think we are so alike and because of that assumption, you think that whole magazine thing is just stupid.”

“Alike or not, the magazine cover is stupid,” I emphasized. “You know how many stories that tabloids have twisted about me whenever I was seen out with Kalia? You think I gave a shit about what they thought about me–“

“This is pointless,” Rosie said as she rolled her eyes. “Let’s just focus on this party and this project tonight.” Rosie walked away as she began taking more photos with her camera. I couldn’t stop looking at Rosie. I couldn’t just let this go.

“Roe,” I called out, turning around in the direction she was walking. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to not say anything about the magazine. For me, I didn’t see any harm in it, but that doesn’t mean you didn’t.” Rosie turned around and sighed, finally facing me.

“It’s not your fault the magazine thing even happened,” Rosie finally said in a gentle voice. “I’ll deal with it in my own way, but let’s not come for each other’s throats about it. We’re supposed to be friends.”

Rosie was right. Our friendship was at its strongest when we weren’t thinking too hard about our lives outside of it. We clearly cared about each other enough to let ourselves figure out our own lives, but I personally hated the way she would stand up for Prescott. But the things she said earlier keep replaying in my mind like a broken record… is that the person Rosie truly is? Was I trying to convince myself of Rosie being something that she clearly wasn’t? Should I just accept Rosie for what she told me?

If it meant saving my friendship with Rosie… if it meant me actually being a friend to Rosie… then I guess I have to.

“You’re right,” I said, smiling afterwards. “And as your friend, I have to tell you that you have super long fucking hair when it’s straightened, like a horse!” Rosie nudged me as I laughed, but I was glad that she laughed as well.

“At least mine doesn’t look like a mop,” Rosie teased back, ruffling my hair with her hand. I swat her hand away, rolling my eyes as she laughed. “Let’s actually enjoy this damn party.”

I grabbed Rosie by the hand and walked her over to the DJ booth with me. She seemed nervous at first but seemed excited as soon as she saw the lights on the mixer.

“I’m gonna queue the next song, and I want you to play it when you feel like it should be played,” I directed Rosie. She immediately widen her eyes, clearly very nervous.

“What if I fuck up the transition though?” she asked as she looked down at the mixer, then back at me. “What if I fuck up vibe of the party by messing this up?”

“You won’t,” I reassured her. “I’m right here if anything goes wrong.” Rosie looked at me one last time before turning her head to face the mixer. She bumps her head along to the song currently playing, putting her finger close to the queue button. I look at Rosie, placing the headphones over her head to better listen to the song. She looks so fucking cool being in the DJ booth. It wasn’t long after that she caught the beat and transitioned into the next song. The people up and dancing looked up toward the booth, bumping your heads even more along with the new song. Rosie looked excited as she took the phones off and looked at me.

“That was so badass!” Rosie said as she smiled. “I’m about to change my whole profession and become DJ Rosie!” I couldn’t help but laugh at her excitement. How could she be so cute but be the hottest girl in this party? I let the song play for longer, grabbing Rosie’s hand to guide her toward the dance floor. To my surprise, she accepted the invitation to do so. We began to dance along to the song, getting engulfed into the flashing lights and loud music. Our dancing started off as playful; just being two friends having a good time. Rosie was the one that grabbed my hands first to place it on her hips. I was thankful the lights were low during the party or else she would’ve seen just how red my face got in that moment. She had turned herself around; her back now facing me. She started to dance up on me, moving her hips side to side to the beat of the music. We started to get closer to each other, closing the gap that was between us. It was like we were the only two dancing here, as if we were just dancing alone in her house.

I immediately snapped out of it as soon as I heard the final chorus of the current song.

“Shit, the next song,” I said as I quickly ran back up the DJ booth. I scrolled through the various playlists on my laptop, queuing the perfect song to play. When the timing was right, I blended the songs and transitioned to the next song. Rosie watched me, dancing to the next song that played. She threw her hands up, dancing next to the DJ booth. I couldn’t help but smile, feeding off of her good energy in that moment.

…

I finally had the chance to catch up with Dani and Tanner as they sat in a couple of chairs at one of the corners of the room. I wrapped my arms around both of my friends, standing in between them.

“How’s my posse doing?” I asked, clearly feeling good. Dani laughed as Tanner turned around and took a good look at me.

“Dude, you’re so smacked right now,” Tanner pointed out playfully. “You high off weed, or high off of dancing all up on Rosie?”

“You and Rosie were dry-humpin’ on the dance floor?” Dani teased, laughing as soon as she asked the question.

“We were dancing,” I corrected the both of them with a smirk on my face. Tanner couldn’t help but call my bluff.

“Nah, you guys were bumping body parts for real,” Tanner teased some more. I didn’t bother to fight it anymore; that’s exactly what we were doing on the dance floor. “Speaking of your dancing queen, where is she anyway?”

“She went to talk to a couple of her friends she invited,” I answered, looking toward the direction of her friends. I scrunched my eyebrows when I noticed she wasn’t with them anymore. “Well, she was.”

“Maybe she went out for a cigarette or something,” Dani intervened. “Maybe she drank too much; that would explain why she was bumpin’ and grindin’ on you earlier.”

I don’t know why, but something felt wrong. Sure, Rosie is allowed to do whatever she wanted, but she wouldn’t just leave her own apartment. I know Rosie well enough to know that she would’ve texted me if she needed a breather. I know Rosie well enough to communicate what she was doing and where she was going if it wasn’t in sight.

“She doesn’t smoke cigs or drink alcohol,” I quicky said before I walked away from my friends, toward her one friend she was talking to before. The girl quickly turned around once she felt me tap her shoulder.

“Hi, uhm, sorry to scare you,” I began to say to the girl. “I’m Micah; Rosie’s friend. Do you know where she went? She told me she was with you.”

“I haven’t seen Rosie all night,” the girl said, looking confused. “She came by earlier to take a couple of photos, but besides that we haven’t had a conversation all night.” This girl’s response caught me completely off-guard. Rosie told me she was going to chat with her friends about an hour ago… why would she just lie to me? I looked around her apartment through the various crowds of people in her apartment. Something doesn’t feel right. I walked away from the girl to walk toward the front door. At this point, I just needed some fresh air and some quietness to try to call Rosie’s phone.

I took my phone out of my pocket and dialed her number. She never picked up; it kept ringing before it suddenly went to her voicemail. Where the fuck are you, Roe? This isn’t like you. I began to walk down her front steps, redialing her number to call her again. I sighed as it began to ring without any answer. I finally got down to the sidewalk, trying her phone one more time before I got angry at her for not checking in. The line began to ring the same time I heard a faint ringtone near me. I looked around, but the further I got away from Rosie’s apartment, the less people were outside. I ran her line again and heard the ringtone play again; this time it sound like it was a lot closer than before. I looked around, scared out of my mind that I was hearing Rosie’s own ringtone play every time I called her. I eventually saw something glowing near a tree as I ran toward it.

It was Rosie’s phone in a small camera bag. I picked up the phone; the screen was completely shattered. The camera inside of the bag was nothing more than three big, broken pieces. My eyes widen in shock.

“Rosie!” I looked up, calling out her name in the street, looking around. “Rosie!” I began to panic, thinking the absolute worst happening to her.

“Micah!” I heard a girl’s voice call out. I turned around and let out a disappointing sigh; it was Dani running down the block with Tanner. “Dude what are you doing?”

I held up Rosie’s phone and camera bag toward Dani and Tanner. No words were able to come out my mouth.

“What’s that?” Dani asked.

“Is that–” Tanner began to ask, but i began to immediately panic.

“Rosie!” I called out her name once more, louder than before. I ran in the middle of the street, calling out her name once more. Dani and Tanner start looking around the block as they try to help me track down Rosie. My breathing began to shorten; I tried my best to grasp the little air left in my lungs. I couldn’t help but think that Rosie was injured in some way or went out with some random ass stranger from the party, leading to her disappearance. Rosie, please.

“Micah!” I heard Tanner call out my name. I immediately turned around and followed his voice; he had stumbled upon an alleyway between the abandoned building Rosie lived in and the one next to it as well. I ran inside the alleyway and saw Dani standing next to Tanner. She looked horrified as Tanner mimicked that same expression. I looked at them before looking down at the ground.

It was Rosie.

I walked out of my room for what felt like the thousandth time in the span of 2 hours, and the hallway to the front door had bags piled up as if I was moving out. My dad walks into the house, noticing the bags just sitting there. He looks at me while I have yet another bag in my hands, waiting to be piled on top of the others.

“What is all of this doing here?” He asked, steeping over the mountain of bags.

“The party is tonight,” I answered, placing the bag on top of the others. “I have to bring all this shit to Roe’s place.

“All of this for a party?” my dad repeated. “What happened to plugging a speaker to your phone and playing Spotify?”

“This isn’t the 2020s, dad,” I responded, rolling my eyes. “Plus, this is a party that both Roe and I are throwing, so it has to be epic.” He doesn’t say anything back to me, which I’m glad for considering I have 500 things that need to be done today. “Dani and Tanner are picking me up, I’ll keep you guys posted about what’s going on tonight–“

“Hey,” My dad calls out before I’m able to open the front door. I looked behind me, wondering what else he needed me to tell him about tonight. “Don’t get into any trouble tonight.”

“Why would you even put that bad energy in the air?” I asked, annoyed that he would think I’d do something like that.

“I’m just saying it to say it, Micah,” his voice deepened as he spoke. “I don’t need to get any phone calls about something that happened at your party.” I rolled my eyes, grabbing my bags from the floor. It didn’t bother me that he would automatically assume something bad would happen; I mean, I am literally my parents’ problem child; they always have to worry about what I do.

“Whatever,” I simply said, beginning to walk out of the house. “I gotta go.”

“Have fun,” my dad shouts from across the room. “And be careful.” I scoffed underneath my breath. It’s literally a party that no one will probably show up to because it’s for an art project; I’ll be fine.

It wasn’t long after that Tanner and Dani picked me up from my place. Tanner helped out all the bags in the trunk as I got into the backseat. Dani sat in the passenger’s seat; her feet propped up on the dashboard, scrolling through her phone.

“Thanks for helping, dude,” I said to Dani as I closed the car door. Tanner entered through the driver’s side.

“You had three little ass bags; Tanner was just being nice helping you out with your shit,” Dani turned around to face me and say. I rolled my eyes, putting on my seatbelt as I took out my phone. I unlocked my screen thinking that maybe Rosie messaged me about setting up for the party or some shit. I haven’t heard from this girl all day, which was getting me anxious. Why would she just disappear the day of the damn party?

“Rosie knows that we’re on our way to her place?” Tanner asked, looking at me through the rear view mirror as he drove. I sighed, putting my phone down on my lap.

“She hasn’t messaged me back all day,” I admitted, looking out the window. “Like, this was her idea; the least she can do is tell me what the fuck is going on.”

“Maybe she just feels weird about that whole magazine thing,” Tanner said. “Maybe she doesn’t know how to approach you now after that.” I looked at Tanner, not responding to his assumptions. The fact of the matter is that yeah, I should’ve spoke to Rosie about the damn magazine cover. I should have been honest and brought it to her attention. But, Rosie and I had been in such a good place in our friendship these last couple of weeks, and this would’ve scared her away yet again. I couldn’t handle Rosie leaving again or hating my guys again; she has become such an important part of my daily routine; plus, this was one stupid magazine cover that is now considered old news at this point.

At the red light, Tanner turned around from his seat to look at me as if he was waiting for me to answer. “Micah?”

“What?” I simply asked.

“Did you talk to Rosie about the magazine?” Tanner asked.

“Wait, what magazine?” Dani turned around and asked, intervening in the conversation.

“Nothing,” I tried to quickly dismiss, but Tanner had other plans.

“Micah and I found a magazine cover from a couple of weeks ago of him and Rosie out on what seemed to be a date,” he began to explain.

“It wasn’t a date,” I quickly corrected Tanner. “We were literally talking about our project–“

“But the media is making it seem like he’s now moved on with another woman,” Tanner continued to explain. Dani didn’t understand the severity of the situation; if she did, she would’ve flipped the fuck out at this point. “Especially after being seen with Kalia a couple of months ago when she was here.”

“Why does the media care about Micah and who he’s dating,” Dani asked. “No offense to you, Micah.”

“They care about Rosie,” Tanner emphasized before looking at me. “Bro, you have to tell Dani.”

“What the fuck is going on?” Dani was growing annoyed at us. “Somebody better fucking tell me!” Tanner looked at me, waiting for me to say something. I sighed, adjusting in my seat.

“Rosie has ties to the Jones family,” I finally admitted. “The family that created Joneson.”

“That billionaire family?” Dani asked. “How does she know them?” I bit my tongue, not wanting to say anything. Thankfully, my phone began to ring in my lap. I turned it over; it was Rosie.

“Roe,” I answered the phone. Both Tanner and Dani turn back forward in their seats. “Where the fuck have you been all day? I got the shit and on my way to your place now–“

“I had shit to do,” Rosie interrupted. “Relax, it’s 2 in the afternoon; the party doesn’t start until 8 tonight.” She had a point.

“Well, are you home, now?” I asked, a bit annoyed.

“Yeah, stop by with the party shit,” Rosie said before hanging up the phone. I looked at the black screen of my phone. What the fuck is her problem?

…

I knocked on the door of Rosie’s apartment, which took her forever to answer. When she finally did, I had let out a sigh of relief.

“Well for fuck’s sake, Roe,” I began to say as I got the bags into her place. “You could’ve met me downstairs and offered some help.”

“You could’ve called me before just showing up at my house,” Rosie spat back, walking away from me. Rosie was acting really weird today and it was pissing me off since today was the actual day of the fucking party.

“Yo, you good?” I finally asked, wanting an answer. “You do know that we have a ton of shit to do, and you being pissy over whatever it is that got you pissed off isn’t helping.” Rosie power walked across the room and grabbed something from her kitchen counter. She turned around and slammed it against the table. It’s the fucking magazine.

“So, you were just gonna come over, throw this party, and not tell me that this existed in the world?” Rosie asked.

“It takes two to tango, sweetie,” I scoffed, mimicking her gesture. “You’re the one that actually bought the damn thing.” Rosie yanked the magazine away from the table, throwing it now toward her bed.

“Do you know how bad this looks, Micah?” Rosie asked in a panic. “For fuck’s sake, do you know what Prescott would say if he found out?” Prescott. The one thing that made my friendship with Rosie work these last couple of weeks was because there was no mention, or regard to Prescott and how he felt.

“Do you know what Kalia would have to say if she found out?” I mimicked Rosie once again. I didn’t realize until this moment how much Rosie and I were truly alike. As much as we didn’t want to admit it, Rosie and I live our lives going through almost the same exact experiences. What were the odds that I would know another person dating someone so heavily in the limelight? And, what were the odds that I would know another person dating someone in limelight who we cared about so much but didn’t reciprocated it back because of their job and status?

“Oh? Caring about your ex-girlfriend’s opinion about what you do with your life while she’s filming a movie in another country?” Rosie mocked. I didn’t want to go down this rabbit hole again with her. I think we both had a mutual agreement that our friendship worked better if we didn’t mention Prescott or Kalia, especially if it was used in a way to make the other person feel better about themselves and their shitty situation. I really thought that we were doing good and actually building what seemed to be like a solid friendship. Maybe we were both just kidding ourselves.

“Caring about a man that only claims you out at his social events?” I snapped back. “We both can play this game, Rosie. It’s not worth–“

“You think you know me so well, Micah,” Rosie interrupted, beginning to raise her voice. “You think just because I told you a couple of things about my life that now you know what’s best for me and what isn’t? I told you what I wanted to tell you; that’s what you fail to realize,” Rosie looked at me right in the eyes as her words hit me like they were venom. “You think you can relate to me and my experiences and tell me what to do with my life just from what you’ve went through with your little famous girlfriend. Hate to break it to you, but we are nothing alike and our situation as are nothing alike either.” Rosie turned around and began to empty the bags full of the party supplies, not playing any attention to me. I watched her, frustrated and angry as she did, analyzing everything I brought over. I didn’t like this for us, and I wish that we were able to get past this catalyst in our friendship.

“You know you shouldn’t have to care about a man that treats you the way he does,” I finally said, letting my intrusive thoughts win. “That much I know.” Rosie turned around to face me again. To my surprise, she’s not as reactive as I thought she would be. She scoffs, even mocks me for saying what I said. Is she trying to piss me off? What game is she trying to play?

“Maybe I like the way he treats me,” Rosie spat back. I couldn’t help but scrunch my eyebrows together, angry that she would say that. “Maybe I tell Prescott to treat me like that because that’s just the thing that gets me going–“

“You don’t mean that,” I finally spat out. “I know you don’t mean that–“

“Then why keep going back to a man that’s so openly abusive?” Rosie asked as she cocked up an eyebrow. “If I didn’t like what he was doing, then why would I even go back to a man if I didn’t accept, or like what he was doing?” What the fuck are you trying to do, Rosie? “Ever thought about that, smartass?” At that point, I don’t know what came over me, but my natural instincts took over my body for the slightest moment. What the fuck are you trying to do, Rosie? I grabbed Rosie by the collar of her shirt, bringing her closer to my face. I looked at her straight in the eyes and never took them off of her. I saw the immediate shift in her body language from being stoic to absolute fear.

“Try saying that shit to my face now, Rosie,” I whispered to her, looking at her in the eye. She stays mute, searching for something in my eyes in that moment. She then quickly grabs my hand and releases my grip from her shirt.

“Don’t ever fucking touch me like that ever again,” Rosie spat back at my face, walking away as soon as I release her. “Just go. I’ll handle the rest of the shit for the party.”

“Yeah, whatever,” I said, beginning to grab my bag of DJ equipment. I didn’t trust Rosie anymore to leave it at her place. “See you tonight, Delgado.”

“Fuck off, Kamalani,” Rosie shouted towards me as I slammed her front door. I shut my eyes, taking in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Was I truly wrong about Rosie? Did I really not know who the fuck I was hanging out with? At this point, it felt like there was no return of our friendship being like what it was these last couple of weeks. I knew that whatever we were trying to be was a complete lie and that I put way too much faith into Rosie’s character. There are girls out there like that; they like to be controlled by men because they think it’s some flex that they can keep one for so long, especially if they are of Prescott’s status. Maybe Rosie was right, maybe I don’t know the entire story behind her situation, but I know that when getting close to Rosie the way I did, she was mortified. I saw her fight or flight instantly kick in. I know she isn’t who she says she is.

But who fucking cares at this point if we keep just going in circles about this? Maybe Rosie is like those girls that do not want to be saved. A

And just like that, everything I felt about Rosie just turns off. She’s not even a friend, she’s not even an acquaintance. She’s some bitch that I got stuck doing some project with and that’s all I’m working on tonight for this party.

Fuck Rosie Delgado.