Rosa stood on top of the tallest tower in the academy. She was in her night gown, a loose, white dress made of silk. Her smooth blond hair fluttered in the wind. She glanced down at the ground, and only then did her sapphire blue eyes really see how far she had to fall.
"What are you doing?" someone called up to her.
Rosa looked down. It was Cleo. The character who was not supposed to exist. But it was strange how the more Rosa looked at her, the more it seemed that Cleo belonged to the book more than she did.
"You don't have to do this, Rosa!" Cleo called.
"You don't understand, Cleo. The message. The one that Mirabelle sent two years ago. I know what it means."
Cleo blinked at her.
"We can only escape this place if we die, because we do not belong to this world. Once we die, we will return to the real world."
"How do you know this?"
"Mirabelle, or rather Mira, was one of my best friends back on earth. We've been communicating for a while now. She suspects that there are nineteen people left inside the novel, and she was supposed to be the twentieth. Do you understand, Cleo? This is our way home."
Cleo shook her head. "Y-you can't die! Then what about Cecil? He'll be heartbroken without you."
Rosa smiled. "I'm sure there's somebody else who holds a higher place in his heart than me. You see, there is a difference between dying and setting oneself free."
And she jumped.
Cleo scrambled to slow Rosa's fall with magic, but she was falling too fast. By the time Cleo caught her, she had already hit the ground. Rosa was gone.
A moment later, the situation finally registered inside Cleo's head. She blinked. Rosa was dead. But she could not be, right? She was main character. There was no way she could die. But there she was, lying on the ground, blood pooling out from under her. Cleo felt like a failure.
This was all her fault. If only she had been faster. Then...
"Rosa!" a familiar voice cut through the darkness.
...would not have died.
Cleo looked up. It was Cecil, and he was running over. He scooped up Rosa's limp body into his arms, tears flowing like rivers down his face. Cleo knew what it was like to lose someone. She knew that she was supposed to cry now, or do whatever it was that would make her feel better. But she couldn't. She couldn't because she knew that this was what Rosa wanted. This was her own choice. But still...
"Cleo!"
Cecil's voice rang in her ears.
"Couldn't you have done something? Anything?"
He was right. She could have. She could have slowed Rosa's fall. She could have caught her. She could have prevented everything. And yet...
She didn't.
"This is all your fault. You could have done something! Why didn't you?"
He was right. This was all Cleo's fault. If only she had been faster, better, more powerful.
"Come on, man. That's enough."
Theo put a hand on Cecil's shoulder. "She just watched someone die. Give her a break."
Cecil was screaming at Cleo now. "And she just watched! She could have done something! Anything! She could have helped! She could have stopped Rosa from jumping! Why didn't she?"
Cleo stared at the floor. She was useless, a failure. Just like all the bullies at school said. And now Cecil was suffering because of her.
"Cecil..." Theo glared at his friend. "She didn't know."
"What do you mean she didn't know? She could've at least tried!"
"And how do you know she didn't?" Theo yelled, shutting Cecil up. "Give her a break, man. She's just a kid."
She's just a kid. That's what everyone said. A child who never grew up. A child who could not forget the past. A child who could never move on.
"What do you mean, she's just a kid? She's as old as any one of us!"
Would someone else have been able to save Rosa? Anyone but her? Cecil could have done it. And probably Theo too. Even Ari would have tried to stop her. Ari...Cleo missed her so much. Maybe she should jump off of a tower too.
"What happened?" a new voice. "Is everyone alright?"
"Oh, no. What happened?"
"Oh how terrible," Madeleine said, stepping through the crowd. "I wonder what happened."
"Come on," it was the first voice. "Let's get you back to your room, Cleo."
Yes, that was a good idea. She would like that. All Cleo wanted was to get away from the eyes of everyone, their gazes piercing into her. She wanted to get away from Rosa, and most of all, she wanted to get away from Cecil. Far, far away.
He reminded her too much of Nathan.