Sub rosa:
Latin for "under the rose", used to describe things done in secret or the tacit messages that roses imply.

Sub rosa Lilac:
This mythical color represents enchantment and love at first sight.

Ah, THAT'S it, I thought, he's going to tie the hatchet to the rope and use it as a DIY grapple. Then-

"Boo!"

I instinctively gripped my pencil as a weapon and yelped. While I was breathing heavy, my brother was cackling behind me. I grit my teeth and tried to write. I pressed my pencil into the writer-calluses on my hand as I bit out,

"What do you want?"

His laughs lessened and he shook my shoulder,

"I want you to lighten up! You're lucky I wasn't my girlfriend. She'd make you lighten up."

"Yes," I said, "she'd learn, just like you, that it's hopeless."

He sighed, "And you'd learn that she's persistent as hell."

"Maybe I'll steal her from you by playing that game Hard To Get."

He smirked, "That a bet?"

"Don't like her like that anyway." I set my pencil down, "Nervous?" I joked, wiggling my eyebrows, acting as a brother would act.

"Pfft, use that confidence on someone else." He said, "Elementary and Jr. High was hard on ya."

I tensed, "Don't remind me."

He nodded, and smiled as he shook me, "And hell no I ain't scared of you stealing my girl!" He playfully choked me, "Seriously, you know my girl is gonna be like expand your horizons and crap. All you do is write, read, and play Halo 7."

"Bubble." I growled, he released me and sat on the bed next to my study.

"What if you meet someone there?" He said with a smirk.

The thought actually crossed my mind. I also fraternized over the concern of becoming overstimulated and embarrassing myself. I was actually worrying about everything before I started writing. I smiled and muttered,

"Then you saying something about it before it happens is probably the most cliché thing ever."

He rolled his eyes, "Well just don't wear something to formal okay?"

"Oh yeah," I replied sarcastically, "I'll just go nude."

"Hey! Only on Tuesdays!"

I laughed as he left and the arms of solitude enveloped me once more. I pulled on my desk drawer and fingered a drawing of mine. And sorted through some of them, I only drew when I was in a very dark place in my life. I'd like to think darkness and I were friends but darkness is friends with no one.

I fingered one I would name: Sticks, Words, and Stones

After a long moment I hid it back in my study and continued writing. Trying not to remember those thorns that brought me to drawing that. Hopefully I finally reach the roses tonight and not more thorns.

I hoped that my casual suit, fedora and cane weren't over-the-top formal. Ignoring my brother's dirty look I wrote stories on my phone. This one was about an alien race, the Odins, taking over earth in the search of the main protagonist.

The car door opened and slammed, letting in a chorus of cacophony. I sulked in my seat. I squinted my eyes like it was my arch-nemesis...

My soon-to-be sister-in-law, Maykala Marthajon I groaned mentally.

She squealed and pecked my brother on the cheek before she bellowed,

"I missed you!"

You saw each other two weeks ago, I thought.

"I missed you to, buttercup." My brother purred.

A blonde head rested on the shoulder of my seat.

"What's what Al? How are things?"

Despite my annoyance I smiled.

"I don't know, is my shoulder cold? I will give it to you for the rest of the night if you call me 'Al' again."

There was a challenge in her eyes and she dared to say,

"Al-" I went back into my writing, "len."

"Still counts." I said with a smirk.

"No it doesn't."

Once she saw that I wasn't responding to her she nudged my shoulder.

"Hey!"

I kept my eyes on my phone and she squinted her eyes menacingly. Bring it on, I thought, let the war begin. Although, to be honest, deep down I was a little worried about what I was getting into.

Open house=dread, that was my train of thought as my future enemies, frienimies, and friends talked and chattered about. I noticed some loners and bad apples keeping to themselves as I meandered about trying to figure my way around. It was a big school, a 5A education center with thousands of students. In city high schools like this one the school schedule is divided up much like one would do in a college.

I only had classes Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. That sounds great to some people but my brother said that the complexity of the shorter lessons and homework made up for it. Perhaps there are four inescapable things: death, taxes, school and homework. No, add another one: my brother's girlfriend.

"Still playing around?" She said with an arched brow, "I was going to introduce you to my friends if you stop being silly."

I grinned in defiance with the silent treatment and she snorted, smiling as she finished,

"I'm gonna get you back you little punk."

We always played these little games, even had a prank war. Before you ask... she won. I slipped ice down her back when I was younger and she got me back with a Mentos bomb with a Coke bottle filled with ice cubes... my brother helped her. Bros before Joes is just wishful thinking nowadays, but hey, maybe I'll get a sister out of it... and maybe keep half of my brother for whatever that will be worth if and when they get married.

Then there's the fact that they'd probably multiply like rabbits. Dear God, I half-thought, half-prayed, I don't want to be uncle to a bunch of loud brats that will leave brat droppings everywhere. I was looking at my map as I wandered around and realized that I was separated from from my family.

I checked my phone and mentally cussed when I saw the hail of 'where are you' texts. I strode past a staircase to look at the map on a bulletin board. I kept a mental tab of the 'you are here' blip and was about to send the others my coordinates until a rose scented woman clobbered into me as I passed the staircase.

My little league football instincts kicked in and I absorbed the impact with my arms wrapped around the woman. After the proverbial wind settled I was stricken by her face, scent, complexion, and her proximity to me all at once. It was a full ten seconds of some sort of ethereal pause in time.

Then fear took over in her eyes and she glanced behind her.

"Did-did you see-?" She squeaked and shivered.

I don't know why my hands tightened protectively to her as I sheepishly said,

"H-hey, it's okay, women fall for me all the time."

Her cheeks were flush as she leveled a confused glare onto me.

"What?" She sighed and rubbed her eyes and set her hands on me as if to push me away, "Look, thanks for catching me but if you keep saying stuff like that I'm gonna punch you."

Jock/player brothers are good for one thing, super-playa comebacks. Despite my heart pumping purple peanut butter I said, "B-But if you punched me, you'd be hitting on me."

She arched a brow, "I'll take your hat and beat you to death with it!"

I tried a defusing smile, "You taking my hat and hitting on me?" I tipped my hat to her so it sat lower on my head, "I'd like that very much."

She just looked at me in the purest form of utmost confusion.

"Hey!" A Hispanic woman my age with a student hall security vest yelled from down the hall, "Are you groping MY friend!?"

I had forgot about her hands on my chest until she pushed me away.

"That your Olag-hai?"

"My what?" The rose scented girl said.

"I swear, if this punk hurt you Sarahlinn I'm going to rip his spine out and impale his desecrated body on it!"

The rose scented girl, Sarahlinn's jaw dropped, "Hannah!"

I gave her a pleading look like: please intervene ethereal being! That Olag is going to rip my arms off and break all three of my legs with them! However I'm sure she didn't get that message, just that I needed help.

"Hannah, he's-," she cast a glance at me, "he's cool."

My face flatlined like: bruh, that's it? Hannah hugged her and Sarah began to shake and tear up. I almost became jealous of Hannah if it wasn't for this feeling that a lot of things were happening that I haven't been around for. I smiled weakly and scratched my head,

"Well," I bowed slightly, "princess," the girl smiled and wiped away a tear, and I said to the other girl, "Olag-hai," she about shoved Sarah away to kill me but Sarahlinn saved me after she buried a laughing head in her shoulder, "I must make my leave."

I picked up my cane and fled the burning in my cheeks with a determined stride. After disappearing into the myriad of people I even resorted to trying to take swipes at the heat in my cheeks. Then, that reminded me of how my arms enveloped her and I had to stop.

I was about to flip out. I haven't had my medicine yet, I was embarrassed out of my mind, and cacophony enveloped me on every side; the voices reverberating within the very confines of my brain-case. Then a strong hand rested on my shoulder. Oh brother...

I coiled my fists instinctively but when I turned I finally realized that it was, indeed, my annoying brother. He wasn't happy.

"Where have you been?! Groping up on girls or something?! You know how Dad worries about you, especially after Ma's death."

I brushed his hand off and tried to smirk but failed, "If only you knew, and don't remind me, I killed her at birth after all. Are we leaving?"

"Allen," he sighed, "don't beat yourself up over that, and yes we're leaving."

We talked as we walked.

"I'm not weak Junior."

"No, you're not weak." He set a reassuring hand on my shoulder, "You just have been strong for to long."

I rolled my eyes as we entered the parking lot and continued to our car.

"Whatever Captain America."

"Whatever," he playfully snarked back, "Jack Black."
------