Scarlett White (49 page)

"Scarlett," Tristan said slowly.

Millie moved away, and Scarlett looked at him with her good eye. She felt a sudden surge of guilt when she met his gaze. She still couldn't believe that she had slept with his cousin.

"Scarlett, I'm sorry for punching you. I wasn't thinking properly. I wasn't in my right mind."

"I know. It's okay."

"And I want to thank you for telling Mr. Holden that Austin did it."

"No problem. Look, I need to go."

"Wait—"

"Charles is waiting on me."

"Scarlett, you can't go yet," Millie said. "I have to tell you something."

Tristan and Scarlett both looked at Millie.

She took a deep breath and said, "I'm pregnant."

"What?" Scarlett asked.

"I found out just the other day," Millie said. "And I have to tell someone. I can't keep it a secret."

Tristan thought about how fickle Millie's mind was. Only a few moments ago, she had told Tristan she didn't want to tell anyone; none of her friends, not even the father. And now here she was blurting it out to the first person she came in contact with.

"Shh…It's okay," Scarlett soothed as she hugged Millie again. "It's going to be okay. We'll figure everything out together. We can put the baby up for adoption. It'll live with a good, happy family. And you'll be fine. We'll make sure you can stay in school. I'm sure I can get Melody to come by and persuade the school board to let you stay. All of the teachers loved her because she was the top in her grade and got the school a bunch of publicity, so they'll listen to what she has to say. You're going to be just fine," Scarlett said.

Tristan wished he could have been that soothing when he was comforting Millie.

Scarlett stayed a few more minutes to make sure Millie was good and then she left to see Charles. The entire ride to the hospital she was only thinking of one thing. Tristan had apologized for giving her a black eye, but he hadn't apologized for calling her those degrading names. Maybe it really was over for them both. Maybe they were officially broken up.

And then another thought occurred to her as she read 'Frankenstein' to Charles. Tristan hadn't been shocked when Millie had told her she was pregnant. Tristan had earlier been hugging Millie as she sobbed into his chest. She obviously had told Tristan she was pregnant. She had told someone she barely knew she was pregnant before she had told her best friend. She would only do that if…if Tristan was the father.

Scarlett raked her mind. When could this have happened? Maybe the same time Christian and she had had sex. After Tristan had left Scarlett alone in the room at Chloe's house, where had he gone? Maybe he had bumped into Millie and, just like what Scarlett had done, got his anger out by screwing around with Millie.

Suddenly everything seemed surreal. Millie was pregnant with Tristan's baby. The simple thought caused Scarlett to choke as she sobbed into Charles's bed sheets.

Scarlett smiled on the outside as she held the bouquet of flowers during her mother and Timothy's wedding. She was the maid of honor and dressed in a long, velvety blue dress with a thin, gossamer shawl draped around her arms. Her deep red hair was straightened with some of it braided in a crown around her head. And Melody was even able to cover up her black eye with a full layer of foundation. She looked amazing on the outside, but on the inside, she was weighted down with dread and guilt.

She knew that she should feel angry with Tristan because he had slept with one of her best friends, but she had done the exact same thing. She had slept with his cousin, hence her guilt.

Scarlett glanced in Melody's direction. She looked absolutely stunning in the same dress as Scarlett. Her hair was curled and placed in a low side ponytail. Melody smiled at her encouragingly. She knew everything. Scarlett had filled her in on all of the details about what was going on with her life. Next, Scarlett's eyes slowly shifted through the crowd and found him. His blonde hair couldn't be missed. His brown eyes sparkled in the light of the sun. His flawless skin was impeccable. His body looked amazing in his black suit.

Suddenly his eyes locked with hers, and he smiled. Scarlett bit her lip. She hated the way he made her heart flutter. She didn't want to like him right now. And she definitely didn't want him to be her go to guy, nor did she want him to be her rebound guy. She pried her eyes away from Christian and looked back at Melody.

Melody cocked her eyebrow and gave Scarlett a side smile. Scarlett rolled her eyes and tried to ignore her new stepsister. Just then, her eyes were pulled over to another brown-eyed, blonde-haired boy. Tristan. Again, her heart fluttered. This time it was harder and hurt more. Her heart seemed to want to burst out of her ribcage and go to him. She missed him so much, but she couldn't. She knew that he had to be with Millie. He had to take care of her and their unborn child.

She sighed, glad the wedding ceremony was over as Rosa and Timothy started walking back down the aisle towards the building where the reception would take place. Scarlett met up with one of Timothy's nephews who escorted her down the aisle towards the same building. It was time for pictures of the wedding crew.

After they were done, Melody took Scarlett off to the side to talk to her. "You have got to choose one of them."

"What are you talking about?" Scarlett asked her.

"Christian. Or. Tristan," Melody said slowly.

"I don't even like Christian; he's just a friend."

Melody snorted, "Yeah, right."

Scarlett ignored her. "And Tristan and I are over. Besides, Millie's pregnant with his baby."

"Are you sure?" Melody asked disbelievingly, still uncertain about this whole situation. "If you ask me, it just doesn't fit."

"I'm positive. She told Tristan she was pregnant before she told me. Who else would she tell before her best friend besides the father?"

Melody stared into Scarlett's eyes. "But you still love him."

"I never really knew him though, did I? Yes, he swept me off my feet and made me popular, but then I moved away, and he went into a coma. We never really knew each other, so how can we love each other? It was just a façade. It was all fake."

"I can see it in your eyes, honey. You love him," Melody replied, sure of herself. "Now, I have to go. Ashton is here."

"Ashton?"

"He's just a friend," Melody moved her eyebrows suggestively, "with benefits."

"Scarlett!" Zoey called. "Scarlett, over here!"

Scarlett smiled and started heading over to Chloe, Zoey, and Millie.

"You look beautiful!" Chloe said.

"You look sober," Scarlett replied with a joking smile.

"Nice," Chloe said, acting offended.

Scarlett glanced at Millie. Millie looked at the ground. When Millie finally looked up and locked eyes with Scarlett, Scarlett gave her a look that meant she had to tell Chloe and Zoey soon. Millie nodded.

"Um…hey, can I tell you guys something?" she asked.

"I'll be right back," Scarlett said, giving Millie as much privacy as she could.

Scarlett headed over to the drinks' table and poured herself a cup of punch.

"You look beautiful," a voice said behind Scarlett.

She turned around and locked eyes with Tristan. Her breath caught in her throat. Her hands became clammy. Her heart pounded loudly.

"Thanks," Scarlett replied, turning around again, not wanting to see him. She always felt guilty when she looked into his eyes.

"Scar, I'm really sorry," Tristan said, grabbing her wrist and turning her around so she was looking up into his eyes. "I'm sorry for saying all of those things about you. I didn't mean them. I was just angry that you were getting along so well up here without me. I was angry that you hadn't had a better time in Florida with me. Somewhere deep down, I thought you would hate it up here and want to come back home with me, but I was wrong. And I was wrong to have wanted you to feel bad. I should have been happy for you. And, now I do. I've realized my mistake. And I am so sorry. I only hope you can forgive me," Tristan said all in one breath.

Scarlett searched his face for any sign of insincerity, but found none. She swallowed, trying to clear her dry throat.

And then she smiled a sad smile. "You've been forgiven of that in my book for weeks now. Oh, Tristan, I've missed you so much, but that doesn't change anything."

"What do you mean? Scarlett, I love you."

It took a long time for her to answer, but finally, Scarlett said, "I love you too, Tristan, but we can never be together."

"Why? Because we live in two separate states? We can work through that—"

"Tristan, I can't believe you would just ditch Millie like that."

"I'm not ditching Millie. Scarlett, what are you talking about?" Tristan asked urgently.

"She's the mother of your baby, Tristan!" Scarlett yelled.

Heads turned in their direction. Scarlett's eyes widened as Christian looked over at them.

"Scarlett, where the hell did you hear that?"

"YOU WERE HUGGING HER AND COMFORTING HER!"

"I'm not the father of her baby! Christian is!"

Gasps sounded through the crowd. And again, Scarlett noticed Christian was looking at them with wide eyes before he turned and stared at Millie. Millie was crying into her hands before she ran out of the room. Christian stood still for a moment before he hastily followed Millie out of the room.

"I have to go after them," Scarlett said, worried Christian might become furious.

"No, Scarlett, let them handle it." Tristan grabbed Scarlett's wrist, keeping her from following after Millie and Christian.

"She's my best friend. I can't just leave her alone."

"She has two other best friends, and they aren't following after her. Besides, Christian and Millie need to talk things out. Let them be alone."

"But I can't. I feel bad—"

Tristan growled, seeing he wasn't going to get through to her, pulled her against his body, bent down, wrapped his arms around her waist, and planted his lips on hers. At first, Scarlett tried to resist, but then she succumbed to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, allowing herself to simply have one moment of happiness before the troubles of Millie's and her own mistakes destroyed their perfect piece of contentment.

Epilogue

Nineteen plane
rides
, thousands of hugs, millions of kisses, and one year later, Scarlett, Chloe, Zoey, and Millie were down south with the Humphrey Day basketball team, who were playing Harring High, but they weren't really paying attention to the game. It was now near the end of their senior year.

"Ooh, that's so cute. I can't wait until I get a boyfriend," Chloe said. "Scarlett, your boyfriend is so sweet. I wish I had a boy like Tristan. How did you manage to snag him anyways?"

Scarlett answered, "Lab. We were assigned to be partners. And then...well, it's a long story. Not your typical romance story. Oh, I completely forgot." She lifted her left hand and smiled at her three friends who were all leaning closely in to her and hanging on to every word she spoke. Chloe and Zoey were wearing the Humphrey Day cheerleading uniform—even though they were supposed to be cheering with the rest of the team, they had decided that they needed a little break to talk to Millie and Scarlett—and Millie, plus Scarlett, was wearing designer clothing.