Rosemary's Double Delight by Heather Rainier

other kids left Rosemary alone on the ride home.
    At home, Rosemary flopped on her bed and came to the realization that she needed to apologize. She had to make this right.
    Right now. Otherwise, seven long, lonely years lay stretched before her. After walking the short distance to their house, she asked Mrs.
    Garner if she could talk to Wes and Evan.
    Mrs. Garner said of course she could but then kindly asked,
    “Rosemary, how was your first day?” Rosemary could’ve sworn Mrs.
    Garner was a mind reader sometimes.
    Rosemary looked at the woman and finally cratered. Mrs. Garner held her as she sobbed and told the whole mortifying story.
    Compassionately, Mrs. Garner patted her back and smoothed her hair then shared a similar experience from her own life.
    “Honey, I guarantee you’re going to survive sixth grade. It doesn’t feel like it right now, but you will. This does explain why Wes and Evan were so quiet when they got off the school bus earlier.
    They’re in the backyard. Why don’t you go work all this out? Take these with you.” She handed Rosemary a paper plate with chocolate chip cookies Mrs. Garner had baked for them.
    Carrying the plate of cookies, Rosemary stepped out onto the back deck of the Garner house. Wes and Evan were occupied with their soccer ball. At first, she thought they didn’t notice her there, but after a while, it became apparent they were waiting for her to make the first move.
    She enticed them with the snack first. “Hey! I’ve got cookies.”
    The boys ran over to where she sat on the deck petting their cat.
    They each picked up a cookie and stood there munching on them, looking at her guardedly.
    “I came to apologize. What I said was so wrong, and I don’t even know why I did it. I hate that boy. He was mean to me earlier today, and when he got all those other kids laughing at me, I just…lost my
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    mind.” All her pent up tears streamed down her face, and her voice shook uncontrollably as she spoke. “I feel like my heart is breaking, and I wish I could take those words back.” She paused at the looks on their faces. Now they were furious. Did she say something wrong?
    Did they not believe her?
    “He was mean to you? What did he do?” Evan asked, his grubby hands curling into tight fists.
    Wes grasped her hand in his. “Yeah, what did he do?”
    Relief coursed through her. “He flicked my curls with a sharpened pencil and put a mark on my shirt,” she replied, pointing at the gray mark on her shoulder.
    “That rat bastard!” Wes muttered. “He could’ve hurt you.”
    “His pencil was sharp, and it poked me through my shirt.”
    Evan snarled and said, “Son of a—”
    Rosemary put her finger to her lips. “Evan, you want your mama to hear you talking like that? She’ll wash your mouth out with soap again. Let me get this all out, okay?” Rosemary needed to tell them everything. Otherwise, she might never get the guts again. “When they started laughing at me, I wanted to make them shut up. We laugh about gross boy-girl stuff all the time, but I really do love you both, like always. I’d be your girlfriend if you wanted me to.”
    She finished with a pounding heart, braced for the gagging and puking sounds to begin. Both boys just stood and stared at her. Her heart started pounding, and she felt an icy chill race up her spine.
    Wes spoke first while Evan looked on silently. “What are you going to do when that boy teases you tomorrow when he sees you with us?”
    Rosemary grinned at him and said, “I’m not going to do anything but watch my boyfriends beat the crap out of him.” Wes laughed out loud, and she gladly went to him and hugged him hard, so relieved they still were her friends. She turned to Evan, who was still quiet, although he looked like he’d enjoyed the mental image of punching that jerk’s face in. “Evan, can you forgive me? Please?”
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    Evan looked her in the eye and she caught a glimpse of the pain she’d seen earlier. She