Rose was your typical popular girl. She had many friends, a boyfriend on the football team, and was very kind. She was fairly tall with brown, curly hair and deep, brown eyes to match. She was a talented singer and was very smart.

Similarly, Charles was the typical high school playboy. Ergo, he was wealthy and had had many girlfriends. He was never truly in love with any of them. That is, until he met Rose.

About a year ago, Rose was playing a secondary roll in the school musical. Charles and his friends had gone to see the performance just to heckle. However, Charles found himself instead cheering for Rose.

The next day, they bumped into each other in the cafeteria. One thing led to another, and they'd been dating ever since.

However, Charles was not the only one to fall in love with Rose. That same night, there was a student in the audience named Ethan, who also fell in love her. Ethan was a year older than Rose. He was very smart and was in advanced classes. He was tall and muscular with jet black hair and bright blue eyes. He wore glasses with black frames that made him look smart. Though he was handsome, he was an outcast. The other students called him names and pushed him around, but he never fought back.

One day, Rose was at her locker, reapplying her deep pink lipstick. She had just finished math class and wasn't very happy with the C she received on a test.

"Hey," came a voice from behind her.

She spun around and smiled brightly at the blonde haired, pale blue eyed man. "Charles!" She exclaimed. She then noticed his nervous expression. "Babe, is something wrong?"

"I need to talk to you," he said with a nervous laugh.

"What's going on?" Rose asked slowly.

"I don't think this is going to work," Charles sighed. "This relationship, it's just too much for me."

"W-what?" The girl stammered. "How could you break up with me like this? After all we've been through together? You couldn't even do it in private?"

"I'm sorry," Charles frowned. "I just think it's for the best."

Rose slammed her locker closed and ran down the hallway, fighting tears. She had already been embarrassed enough, she wasn't going to cry and give people more reasons to pity her. Instead, she ran to the bleachers, looking for some peace and quiet. She wished to cry in silence.

What Rose didn't know was that someone was already there. He sat at the other end of the bleacher, wondering whether or not he should go up to her. After watching her cry for about five minutes, the boy moved over to Rose and asked softly, "Are you alright?"

Rose couldn't even formulate a response in words. She tried, but only sobs came out and she buried her face in her hands.

The boy hesitantly sat down next to her. "Did something happen?"

"You mean, you don't know?" Rose asked after taking a deep breath, her voice quavering. "My boyfriend broke up with me...at my locker."

"Ouch," the boy frowned. "I can't believe Charles broke up with you like that."

"You know him?" Rose sniffed, wiping her moist eyes with her sleeve.

"In a way," the boy shrugged. "He's the best quarterback on the football team. The whole school knows him...I'm Ethan, by the way. You're Rose, right?"

She nodded. "Ethan," she said thoughtfully with a faint smile. "I've always liked that name."

"Thanks," he blushed. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

Rose shook her head and stood up slowly. "I should go find my friend Melissa. Thank you for being so kind to me, Ethan. I'll see you around," she smiled, softly.

Ethan sat breathless as he watched her walk away. He had just talked to Rose Davenport and her boyfriend broke up with her. Was it stupid to think that he had a chance? Maybe, but he didn't care.

The next day, Rose's math teacher stopped her on her way out of class. He spent a few minutes convincing her to get a tutor and then called in an older student. "Mr. Darcy, I would like you to meet Miss Davenport. You will be tutoring her."

The teacher left and Rose smiled, "Ethan, it's good to see you again."

"The pleasure is all mine," he grinned.

Over the next few weeks, Ethan and Rose became very close. They studied together almost every day after school and ate lunch together frequently.

One day, Charles went up to Rose cleared his throat.

"How are things with the blonde?" She asked emotionlessly.

"I broke up with Diana," Charles sighed.

"Doing what you do best, I see," Rose said coldly. "What do you want?"

"I just want to talk," Charles said softly. "I was wrong to break up with you. Rosie, I want to get back together."

She laughed in frustration. "This is so typical."

"What is?"

"You. This. You think that if you come over here and apologize and flash that smile, I'll just drop everything and forgive you. Well, guess what, Charles? I won't. I'm not getting back together with you," Rose said firmly, shutting her locker.

"Why?" Charles whined. "Our relationship was perfect. Don't you remember?"

"I like someone else," Rose stated flatly.

"Who?" Charles questioned with irritation. "That nerd you've been hanging out with?"

Rose nodded. Before Charles could respond, she walked away to find Ethan.

"Hey, Davenport," he smiled as he watched her run over. "What's the rush for?"

"I need to tell you something," she said before taking a deep breath and admitting her feelings.

Her words made Ethan's heart soar. He wrapped an arm around her waist and cupped her cheek in his hand before his lips clashed with hers. He finally won over his Rose.

Author's Note: This was written back in March (of 2019) for a contest, and I had a 1000 word limit. If any of it seems rushed, that's why. Also, it used to be in a separate book, but I decided to just add it to my one shot collection, because why not? Haha.