Scarlett White (29 page)

She pushed open her door and heard Tristan's gasp as he saw the state of her room. It was completely and utterly bare. The bed was stripped of any covers or sheets. Her chest of drawers was opened and empty. Her closet only had hangers dangling across the empty bar with no clothes hanging on them. Her curtains were gone. Her desk was cleared of all paper and pens and books.

"What happened in here?" he asked.

"Never mind that. This is what I found in my locker yesterday before lab." Scarlett thrust the crumpled up piece of paper into Tristan's hands and instantly went back to moping and pouting on her bed. She was determined not to look at him. She was determined not to believe him. She was determined not to trust him. Ever again.

"I didn't write this, Scarlett," he said after a minute.

"Then who did?" Scarlett didn't look up to face him.

"I don't know, but not me—" And then the obvious hit him.

Alice just happened to randomly be walking around in the hallways during lunch visiting 'Riley's' locker. The confusion between Scarlett and him during lab. Alice's whole act last night. She had set up the entire thing. Alice knew that Scarlett had been there last night. That was why she had glanced out the window before she had pretty much chewed off his face.

"Alice did. She was at your locker during lunch yesterday and she must have given this to you so you would be there when she was there. Scarlett, you have to believe me. I would rather kiss a bee than kiss her again."

After a while Scarlett sighed, "I suppose you're right. That does seem like the sort of thing Alice would do. I'm sorry for treating you like that," Scarlett said. How could she change her mind so fast? Maybe it was the look in his eyes. How sincere he looked. How pitiful he looked. How gorgeous he looked. How wonderfully safe and secure she felt when she looked into his caramel eyes. But she knew that this had to end. Long distance relationships rarely worked out. Why would it be any different for them?

"So what is going on in here?" Tristan asked, looking around the completely empty and bare room.

"Packing."

"For Ohio?"

"Yeah. How did you know?" Scarlett asked distractedly.

"Kate told me. Why are you going to Ohio?"

Scarlett gulped, "My mom's engaged."

"Well, that's good, isn't it? Why do you sound so depressed?"

"The guy is being transferred to Ohio. And we're moving in with him."

"What?" Tristan grabbed Scarlett's wrist and pulled her up from the bed so that she was eye level with him. "You can't. You can't leave me."

"I don't have a choice," Scarlett said; her eyes back on his shoes, filling with more tears.

"Yes, you do. You can move in with me. I'm sure you'd love my family."

"Tristan, I would love that, but I don't think my mother could survive on her own. She's very dependent on alcohol and drugs. She needs me more than I need her."

"But, Scarlett, please—"

"I'm sorry, Tristan." Scarlett put the palm of her hand to Tristan's cheek, and Tristan closed his eyes, relaxing at her touch. "I'll miss you. Thank you for giving me the best few days of my life. I will cherish them forever."

"When do you leave?"

"In a week," Scarlett answered quietly.

Tristan's face fell. He didn't have a lot of time then.

"This doesn't mean that we have to break up," Tristan whispered, his eyes snapping open.

"Do you really want a long distance relationship?" Scarlett asked, tired all of a sudden.

"Of course. Scarlett, I want to be with you. I want you to be mine."

Scarlett loved hearing those words on his lips and smiled for the first time in a long time. "Then we will make it work out."

Tristan smiled in response to her and then frowned again. "Will I ever see you again?" he whispered.

"I don't know."

Tristan's face hardened a bit, and then without any warning, his lips crashed down on Scarlett's with as much intensity as he could conjure up. Scarlett, who was shocked at first, relaxed and closed her eyes. Tristan's hands tangled themselves in her hair, and he pressed his lips more firmly to hers. They bodies crashed together, and Scarlett felt cool wetness against her cheeks, but she soon realized that they weren't her tears. She opened her eyes and saw that Tristan was crying. Her heart tore again, and she pressed her body even closer to his. As she felt his cool tears on her face, she realized that this was probably going to be one of the last kisses they would share for a long time.

When they finally pulled apart, Scarlett's eyes looked deep into Tristan's slowly turning red eyes. She felt a sharp pang in her chest as she took a deep breath, trying to suppress the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes.

Both of them eventually ended up on the side of Scarlett's bed. They talked for a long time; longer than Scarlett could ever remember talking to anyone else in her life, even her three best friends. They avoided the subject of Ohio and any other geographical northern state in America. They mainly talked about school and plans of calling each other every night after school. They tried to convince themselves that long distant relationships always worked out and that there would be a happily ever after for them.

Just then Scarlett heard another car pull up in her driveway. She didn't need to look at the clock to know that it was six p.m. and that Ginny, Kate, and Meghan were here to see and comfort her.

Scarlett looked up at Tristan, pleading with her eyes, and he immediately understood what she wanted.

"I'll stay up here while you go talk to your friends," he said with a sad smile on his lips.

"Thank you," Scarlett whispered before she lightly kissed him on the lips and ran downstairs to open the door.

As soon as Scarlett had left, nostalgia overtook Tristan. Why couldn't they have more time together? Why did their relationship literally last only one day? And the entire time that he spent any time with Scarlett, Alice was trying to sabotage it. Damn Alice for being a bitch. Damn Kyle for making Tristan go to football practice instead of spending as many last precious minutes as he could with Scarlett before she left. Damn everyone who went to Watson High for distracting him from the anger that had been building up in Scarlett since eighth grade. Maybe if he had noticed it earlier, they could have dated longer. And, most importantly, damn Scarlett's mother's boyfriend for taking her away from him.

Scarlett opened the door and was instantly knocked over by a bush of curly, black hair. Ginny's immense hug nearly suffocated Scarlett—not that she minded one bit.

She heard a sad chuckle come from the door, and Kate said, "Ginny, her face is turning purple."

"I don't care," Ginny replied, tightening her arms around Scarlett.

Finally, when Ginny let go of Scarlett, Kate took her place, and then finally Meghan took Kate's place. They couldn't stay long because Meghan's parents gave her a curfew, and she lived on the other side of town. But it was nice that they came over anyways even if it wasn't for an immense about of time.

Tristan stayed with Scarlett all night, not that Rosa realized it because she was passed out on the couch from drinking too much. Scarlett and Tristan had a lot more in common than either one of them realized it. Not only did they both hate Alice with a passion, they also hated one of their parents with a passion. Scarlett wasn't too keen on spending time with her mother, and neither was Tristan with his father. They talked for hours, kissed for hours, and held each other in their arms for hours. Scarlett fell asleep in Tristan's arms as he stroked her hair gently.

Every day after school, Tristan drove to Scarlett's house to pick her up, and every day they went on a date. For Scarlett, it was as if she had liked him her entire life. And Tristan couldn't stand the thought of not seeing Scarlett as often as he was this passing week. He couldn't believe how stupid he had been for being completely oblivious to her all these years. If only he had noticed her before, they could have spent more time together.

Soon enough nine o'clock rolled around the following Monday, and Tristan was sitting next to Scarlett in the waiting area of the airport. They sat side by side, holding hands, merely looking into each other's eyes while their hearts pounded, waiting anxiously for the inevitable call for the passengers of the plane.

"Flight 181 passengers, please report to Door 12A and prepare for departure," a female voice sounded through the speakers.

"This is us," Rosa said, lugging her carryon to Door 12A.

"I'll be there in a just a second," Scarlett called after her and turned to face Tristan one last time.

"I love you," Tristan whispered.

It was shocking to hear, and Scarlett froze. Her muscles stood still, her breathing stopped, and her brain was mush. She gulped, unable to say anything in response. Her once quick and witty mind was at a complete loss. But she didn't need to say anything; the look she gave him spoke more than anything her mouth could say. Tristan pulled her against him and kissed her with such ferocity that they utterly forgot themselves.

And this time not only was Tristan crying, but she was too, for this was the last time they would kiss for a very, very long time.

Chapter Fifteen

It was Monday,
and Scarlett was still getting used to her new "home." She had never in her life lived in an apartment. Timothy had been kind to her, and she had no reason to hate him, except maybe for taking her away from Tristan, Ginny, Kate, and Meghan. And what great timing he had? He couldn't have taken her away from her life when it was awful? No, he had to wait until her life was finally changing, and she was actually beginning to like going to school because of her social status to come into her life and force her to move. How typical? The only bad thing about him was he always had a flask in his hand and was constantly taking large gulps from it. And the entire kitchen reeked of beer.

Scarlett had been told that she was now to attend Humphrey Day. It was a high-end, fashion-forward high school. She had no idea how the hell Timothy and Rosa had been able to afford it, and she didn't ask. She just knew that if she didn't want to be picked on there, she had to dress to impress. And, in reality, she liked wearing clothes that showed of her curves. She liked being liked. She liked being popular. She liked people to know who she was. She liked the little pleasures of knowing people envied her. She liked not being at the bottom of the social chain.

Scarlett's bed was covered with all sorts of clothes. It turned out that Timothy had a daughter, Melody Harman, from a previous marriage who was now nineteen and didn't want any of her old clothes. So now Scarlett was left with more clothes. And she couldn't complain. These hand-me-downs weren't horrible. They were all designer outfits. She looked over the form-fitting shirt and short skirts that had the labels from BCBG, Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Baby Phat, Calvin Klein, Chloe, DKNY, Dolce & Gabbana, and Miu Miu. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at all of the patterns and one-shouldered shirts. And that wasn't even the best part. Melody apparently worked as an intern for some new designer, and she got tons of jewelry and accessories for free. She had donated some of them to her new stepsister.

Scarlett finally picked out a yellow ruffle front sleeveless blouse, a Thurley Bubble bow skirt, silk lined black leather gloves, Prada Sport black patent lace-up flat boots, wool-blend ribbed tights, and a Forever 21 black, glossy belt.

Scarlett looked at herself in the rectangular mirror hanging on the back of her door and took a deep breath preparing her for the first day at Humphrey Day. She had to make a good first impression. She didn't want to be known as the geek, or the nerd, or the loser of the school. She had to make a fresh start.