4

Easy to Tease

"Watch it, mute. You are just mute, right. Not blind too?" Blaze Winters shoved Rosie's shoulder with his own, causing her to stumble and nearly drop all of her books. She was walking through the campus to get to one of her lectures when she had crossed paths with another one of the rude people who loved to make fun of her for being the quiet, non-talkative person she is.

Rosie bit down on her lip, hard, to stop herself from croaking out any sob-like noise. She was used to be treating this way but it didn't make it easy.

Blaze looked at his friend, Andrew, both of them laughing when Rosie hadn't said anything. She tried to move past them and keep walking.

"Come on," Blaze sighed deeply, dramatizing the sigh. "Give me something, Rosebud. One little comeback or comment. A little spar."

Rosie clutched her books to her chest, keeping her gaze on the ground as she stood frozen in spot. She knew walking away would only make them continue to holler at her. If she stood here silently and let them get in all the snickering they wanted, they would eventually grow bored with her silence and leave her alone. Even if she wanted to snap or yell at Blaze, she knew she wouldn't be able to. At most, she would open her mouth ready to finally erupt, but no single word would exit her mouth.

Blaze circled around Rosie until he stopped in front of her. He placed his hand under her chin, using only his index finger to lift her head so she would look at him. He smirked when her eyes locked with his. "There we go, sweetheart. Look at those gorgeous eyes." He leaned his face closer to his, his voice falling into a whisper, "Too bad you're mute, I'd love to hear your moans in bed."

Rosie shivered in disgust, her face scrunching up in distaste. She shook her head, causing his hand to fall to his side. "I'm not mute," she muttered out through gritted teeth.

Blaze quirked an eyebrow, his smirk growing. "Look at that, she speaks."

Rosie glared at him. She clenched her jaw, trying to hold her ground but her legs started to feel like jello. The discomfort she was feeling couldn't even be described.

Andrew nudged Blaze to get his attention. "Come on man, we got to get to class."

Blaze shook him away. He didn't tear his gaze off of Rosie for even a second. "Why's the cat got your tongue? You can whisper any dirty little secret you want to me."

Rosie wanted to look away from him but she was even more afraid of being the one to break their eye contact. It was like Blaze had her trapped in his gaze, making her physically unable to look away. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction.

Rosie exhaled deeply through her nose to keep her breathing from becoming rapid and shallow. She was losing all sense of calmness she was so tightly trying to hold onto.

"Dude," Andrew groaned, giving Blaze a tired look. "Continue this later. If we're late, you know professor Dickens is going to be on our dicks."

Blaze clenched his jaw out of frustration before he finally pulled his face further away from Rosie's. He stood straight, looking down at her as he towered over her small frame.

"Lovely conversation, as usual." He shot her his signature smirk before him and Andrew walked the opposite way from where Rosie was headed.

Once the boys were out of sight, Rosie finally exhaled and felt her body start to relax. Her knuckles ached from how tightly she had been gripping onto her textbooks. She shut her eyes for a moment, exhaling deeply to compose herself before she nearly had to run to her lecture so she wouldn't be late.

As soon as Rosie's lecture was over, she headed to the library to work a shift. She practically ran away from the campus before anyone could stop her again.

"Rough day?" Simon, one of her co-workers, asked as she walked into the library and exhaled a deep huff.

Simon was also a student at the same university as Rosie. He was a year younger than her, only being a freshman. Similar to Rosie, Simon was quiet, didn't have many friends, and liked to spend his time alone rather than with other people.

Because both him and Rosie seemed to be similar in those categories, it was easy for them to get along. They usually didn't make much more than small talk. The odd times they would have longer conversations, it was simply because they understood each other and neither one of them needed more than someone understanding to listen to their venting.

Rosie sighed as she placed down her book bag. She slumped against the checkout desk that Simon was seated behind. "Rough day."

Simon frowned, leaning back in the spinning chair and looking up at Rosie. "What happened?"

Rosie bit the inside of her cheek, not entirely wanting to explain the embarrassing and pathetic encounter she had with Blaze.

"Winters."

The one word was enough for Simon to know exactly what she was referring to.

Simon scowled, his face twisting into a look of dismay. Simon knew just how much of a bully Blaze Winters was so he knew exactly why Rosie looked so worn out.

"Calling you mute with a side of dirty comments again?"

Rosie let out a humourless laugh, nodding her head.

Simon frowned. "He's a jerk. Sorry you have to deal with him."

Rosie shrugged her shoulders. "Nothing unexpected."

Simon sighed heavily. "The world loves to tear on the freaks of the world."

Rosie straightened her posture, offering Simon a small smile as she headed away to put away the crates of books that needed to be shelved. It didn't take Rosie long to finish the usual daily work she had at the library. Once the work was done and Simon was on checking books in and out duty, Rosie helped herself to grab a new book to start reading.

Rosie had a secluded area that was hidden away in the library. She only knew it existed because she spent more time than anyone else in this library. It was her safe space. The hidden room was her little getaway spot that she didn't tell anyone else about.

There was a storage room at the back of the library. If you pushed back the right area of the wall, it would open up into a tiny hidden room that was filled with old, rare and vintage books. The room was wooded and cozy, almost like an old cabin.

She spent the next few hours hauled up in the room with a book to keep her occupied. She left a few times to see if Simon needed any help but the library was usually empty and hardly got any customers, occasionally a student or two looking for a book for class but with the internet, the library was progressively becoming more and more unknown to today's generation.

"You'll lock up?" Simon asked as he gathered his belongings.

Rosie nodded, watching him head out.

"Night, Rosie."

Rosie smiled at Simon as he left, locking the door once he was gone since the library was now closed. Instead of going home, she stayed at the library for a while longer to finish assignments and spend some time reading and sketching.

After many more hours passed, she was finally headed out to walk home. She had a car but much rather walk. Her apartment was close to both the campus and the library she worked at. Her almost daily walk allowed her to clear her head and gather her calmness. She found it peaceful to walk home from work at night when the streets were quiet and vacant.

"Need some company?"

Rosie spun around, nearly jumping out of her skin.

"Sorry," Anthony laughed sheepishly, walking closer towards her. "I was out on a run. Just saw you leaving the library."

Rosie pursed her lips, taking a moment to catch her breath and calm her pounding heart. "I can manage."

Anthony caught up with her when she had already started walking. "We're going to same way. I don't mind."

She wanted to object but like most times, she chose to remain silent. The two of them walked in a mostly comfortable silence. The sky was dark, the streets were empty with only a few passing cars occasionally driving by.

Anthony kicked some rocks on the sidewalk as the two of them walked. He wanted to make conversation but he knew Rosie would prefer the alternative option of walking in silence.

"You've been working at the library a long time." He finally spoke, stating the obvious because he didn't know what else to say. He just wanted an excuse to say anything.

Rosie only nodded, keeping her gaze on her shoes as she walked. She felt bad that she was such a poor conversationalist when it was evident Anthony was just trying to be friendly.

"Must be peaceful working there."

Rosie sighed softly. "It is." She wanted to squirm, feeling unsure about how to respond to him. The way Anthony spoke to her, she knew he was being cautious and speaking in sentences that gave her the option of remaining silent with her responses. As much as she could appreciate that, she also felt like she was being nothing but a bore and a burden.

"My grandfather... he loved books more than anything." Anthony's tone was warm, his voice quiet when he spoke. He looked down at the sidewalk, continuing to kick small rocks and pebbles as the two of them walked. "He had a massive library filled with so many books, I didn't think it was possible for someone to read all of them within a lifetime. He thoughts books were so magical. He said they could make you travel without moving your feet."

A smile tugged on Rosie's lips. She glanced at Anthony through the corner of her eye, admiring all that he just told her.

Anthony didn't know why he was telling her all this. It felt like the words were spilling out without him being conscious about it. He just found it easy to talk to her, even if she wouldn't say anything in response. He found her company calming, allowing him to say anything.

"They do," she mumbled quietly, ducking her head so her hair would curtain around her face. "Make you travel, I mean."

Anthony peered down at her, a smile dancing across his lips. "I never understood what he meant by that. I never thought much about books, nor did I like reading. I guess I always preferred watching on-screen action instead of reading pages and pages of a story."

Rosie chewed on the inside of her cheek as she listened to him speak. She liked that she was learning about him, and not being as scared to hold a conversation with him.

Unlike with everyone else, she didn't feel like she was being put on the spot, or that she would get judged by her responses, or lack of responses. Rosie felt like she could continue to be herself, as awkward as she may be, and it didn't make her nervous because Anthony always seemed fine and unbothered with the way Rosie worked.

"You travel because..." Rosie paused, exhaling slowly. "When you're reading, you escape reality for a little while and fall into a whole other universe. It gives you somewhere else to go when you're stuck where you are."

Rosie sucked in her bottom lip as soon as she had finished speaking. She quickly shook her head, heaving out an exasperated breath.

"Sorry. That all sounds very boring and dumb." She winced at herself, continuing to shake her head. She felt silly for saying all of that.

Anthony shook his head frantically, halting in his tracks to get Rosie to stop and look at him. He frowned. "Don't do that."

She held a sheepish look on her face, her eyebrows pulling together in question.

"When you say something, don't think it's dumb or boring." He smiled softly, his warm eyes peering in hers. "It's not, you're not. The things you say and the things you feel, it matters, Rosie."

Rosie exhaled a shaky breath, her whole face heating up. She was glad it was dark out so he couldn't see the blush that was spreading across her cheeks. She offered him a hesitant smile, turning to start walking again.

The rest of the short walk remained in silence but it was comfortable and neither of them minded it.

They stopped outside the apartment complex.

"And so we part ways," Anthony grinned at Rosie, a playful look lighting his eyes up.

Rosie smiled, looking down at her shoes as she shifted on her feet. She was slightly disappointed they had gotten to the apartment building so soon. She hadn't felt this comfortable in someone's company in as long as she could remember.

"Goodnight, Rosie." Anthony gave her one last smile, his eyes lingering on her for a moment too long before he turned to continue walking to his own apartment building.

"Thank you," Rosie spoke, her voice coming out in a breath. Anthony turned to look at her, an eyebrow quirking. "For the company."

"Safe travels, Rosie."