Scarlett White

by Chloe Smith

  "Yeah. I said some pretty fucked up things to her the other night at Chloe's party, and we haven't spoken since."

  "She's been a little dazed lately. I mean, her grades have been slipping. In history, I saw that she got a seventy-one on her test. And she's never gotten below a ninety-six on anything in that class," Christian commented.

  Way to lay it thick. Tristan was already moping about, now he had Scarlett's impeccable academics to blame on himself as well. "I don't know how to make it up to her."

  Again, Christian froze, but not from surprise or shock, instead he seemed to be thinking hard. "I don't think she's as angry anymore. I think she'll forgive you easily if you would just talk to her."

  "I was too much of a jerk to her."

  "Ignoring her isn't going to solve your problems. If you really do…love her, as you say you do, you need to man up and show her that you really care about her."

  Tristan was shocked. He had never heard his cousin say anything remotely as smart as that.

  "Then I guess that settles it," Tristan said.

  "Settles what?"

  "I'm going to Rosa's wedding."

  "I'm glad for you, bro. Oh, and hey, if you ever do anything nearly as stupid as you did at Chloe's party, I'm going to serve your head on a platter, okay?" Christian said with a joking smile.

  "Sounds like a plan."

  "Well, I better be off. Coach has been getting on my case about being late to practice, and we've be practicing all the way at the new gymnasium about twenty minutes from here."

  "See you when you get home."

  As Christian left, Tristan saw someone who looked slightly familiar. At first, he thought it was someone who had gone to his school, but then he remembered the girl's face from one of Scarlett's new friends. He couldn't quite remember her name though. He never had been good with names. It started with an M. Mandy? Melissa? Malory?

  "Hey, Chris—Oh, shit, sorry, Tristan. You really do look like your cousin; it's hard to tell you two apart," Melanie said. No, that wasn't right.

  "Yeah, our parents used to joke that we were actually brothers when we were younger," Tristan said, racking his brain for her name. "Wait a second, are you okay?"

  Minnie's eyes widened. "Yeah, why?"

  "Your eyes are red. Have you been crying?" Millie! That was her name.

  "Oh, that. No, I just…contacts."

  Tristan cocked an eyebrow at her. "Are you trying out for the drama club?"

  "No."

  "Good, because you need to work on your lying."

  Millie bit her lip. "Okay, so I was crying. It doesn't have anything to do with you."

  "Well, I would hope not," Tristan said. "What happened?"

  "I can't tell you."

  "Sure, you can. It's not like it's going to get around school. I don't even go to your school," Tristan persuaded her with a half smile, looking at her from underneath his eyelashes.

  "Damn, you look like Christian," Millie whispered.

  "What's wrong, Millie?" Tristan said seriously, not being distracted by her comment as she had intended.

  She took a deep breath. "It involves Christian. You can't tell him, no matter what. Promise?"

  "Yeah, sure. What did he do?"

  She took a long time to answer. "I went to CVS this morning."

  "Okay," Tristan said after another long pause.

  "And I got a…a…pregnancy test."

  Tristan's eyes widened.

  "Are you sure it's Christian's?"

  "Yes," Millie whispered. "He was my first and only."

  "How long ago did this happen?"

  "A couple of months ago. But, it was way before Scarlett got here."

  "Why is that relevant?"

  "It wasn't like I tried to steal him from her."

  "He was never hers."

  "I mean…" Millie's eyes widened, as if she just realized whom she was talking to. "All I meant was that I wasn't being a slut. Christian hadn't set his eyes on Scarlett yet, so it wasn't like I was jealous or anything."

  Tristan was still suspicious. He knew Christian liked Scarlett, but Millie made it sound like he and Scarlett had hooked up or something. He shook his head; he didn't want to know anymore. As long as they hadn't slept with each other, Christian's fantasy with Scarlett was fine by him.

  "And you're sure that you're pregnant? You didn't read the test wrong, did you?"

  "Well, seeing as the word 'positive' looks completely different than the word 'negative,' I'd say no, I didn't read the test wrong," Millie said. She tried to smile, but it faltered, and her shoulders started shaking.

  Tristan didn't know what to say, so instead he wrapped his arms around the damsel in distress. Millie hugged him tightly as well.

  "I can't tell anyone else. I can't even tell Chloe, or Zoey, or Scarlett. And I definitely can't tell Christian. And if the school found out, I'd be kicked out. I don't know what to do."

  "It's all right. Everything's going to be just fine," Tristan tried to soothe her, but he wasn't sure if he was doing a very good job of it.

  "How?"

  "You just need to tell Christian. It'll be hard, but I can come with you. And, you know, his parents would do anything for the mother of their grandchild. I'm sure they'd persuade the board of the school to let you continue going here."

  "You think so?"

  "Definitely."

  Scarlett's breath caught in her throat as she stifled a gasp. She couldn't believe her eyes. Had she missed something when Tristan had first met her new friends? Had there been some subliminal chemistry between Tristan and Millie? Why hadn't she noticed it before?

  Damn, she felt guilty. She couldn't believe she had fallen into his trap. Christian's trap. She had slept with him. And that was, after all, what he had wanted from the beginning. Sure, he had pretended to be her friend. Sure, he had been kind and generous to her. But that was his plan, wasn't it? Isn't that what he had wanted from her? Sex? But he wasn't the only one to blame. She had done the deed as well. She was the one who had wanted to get back at Tristan for calling her a slut. And how had she done that? By doing exactly what a slut would do. Fucking the first male she saw next.

  Scarlett shook her head. She shouldn't be jealous. She shouldn't even care. Tristan wasn't hooked to her side anymore. They were broken up, right? Well, were they? Scarlett thought back on that awful night. Neither one of them had said the word. She had simply said she wanted him to go away, but neither she nor he had officially said they were broken up. This was just a fight. Fights were good for relationships, weren't they?

  Still, Tristan and Millie were hugging each other for a rather long time. Scarlett turned around and started retracing her steps, walking back to where she had come from. She was torturing herself by watching Tristan touch another girl. Even if that other girl was Scarlett's friend, she didn't want to see it.

  As she walked, she was thinking hard about her feelings. About how she needed to get over them. About how she missed Tristan's touch. About how she wished she could take back that night. She almost ran right into…Austin. She remembered him instantly. She remembered him from the yearbook she had looked through in the hospital after she had first woken up from her coma. She remembered him from her recollections on the plane ride home. She remembered him and two other dark figures cornering her that awful day at school and beating the shit out of her.

  Suddenly her mind went blank. She didn't think about Tristan and Millie hugging. She didn't think about having sex with Christian. She didn't think about Chloe's party. She just didn't think.

  "Oh, look who it is," Austin said tauntingly. "The little bitch who thinks she can back-talk me without any punishment."

  "Austin, I remember it was you who did it to me, but I haven't told anybody, and if I told the school, you'd be expelled, so watch your tongue," Scarlett threatened.

  "You think you scare me?"

  "Just leave me alone," Scarlett whispered. "I don't want a repeat of last time."

  "Some
times," Austin replied, seeming not to have heard Scarlett, "I lay in bed at night," Lie in bed, Scarlett corrected in her head, "thinking maybe one more punch would have killed you, and then I wouldn't have to worry about you anymore."

  Scarlett smiled, Perfect.

  "So you're admitting that you did beat me into unconsciousness?"

  "Of course, I am. Nobody else has the strength or the nerve to do that. But it doesn't matter; no one's around to hear."

  "Well, then it's a good thing technology was invented, moron."

  "What are you talking about?"

  Scarlett pulled her cell phone, which was recording every word that was spoken, from her back pocket.

  "I turned this on when you called me a 'little bitch,'" Scarlett explained to Austin's confused expression.

  "You slutty whore."

  "That's kind of redundant, don't you think? Oh, wait, I forgot…you don't think, do you?"

  "Give me that." Austin grabbed for her hand.

  Scarlett had a firm grip on her phone as Austin's right hand squeezed her wrist; with his left hand, he tried to pry the phone out of her hand, but she wouldn't let go. Austin growled and dug his nails into her wrist while twisting her arm around. Scarlett clenched her teeth together, fighting the urge to scream, but finally, when it began to feel like he might break her arm again, she let out a loud cry that echoed off the walls.

  Tristan felt awkward. He wasn't sure how long these types of hugs were supposed to last. Suddenly, a sharp, loud scream broke their embrace apart. At first, Tristan was only worried for the person who had made that shriek, but then his mind registered whom the voice belonged to. Millie and Tristan both gave each other a quick glance with wide eyes before they sprinted off in the direction of Scarlett's scream.

  It didn't take long for the pair to reach Scarlett. When Tristan saw the fiasco in front of him, an angry rage gurgled in the pit of his stomach. Millie let out a surprised gasp and skidded to a stop. Tristan did the exact opposite. He let out a loud snarl and rumbled towards the boy twisting Scarlett's wrist.

  The offending boy noticed Tristan right before Tristan ran straight into him. Both of the boys fell onto the ground, rolling as each tried to punch as much of the other as they possibly could. Both girls screamed from shock.

  "Austin, stop it!" Scarlett yelled.

  "Stop, Tristan, stop it!" Millie cried.

  Scarlett felt a short, sporadic pang of jealousy that Millie had been the one to say Tristan's name.

  Scarlett glanced at Millie and saw the same exact expression that she was sure was on her own face. Absolute, confused horror. She didn't think she could stand much more of this. There was already a little bit of blood on the pavement. She cautiously approached them. She knew that you weren't supposed to get in the middle of fights, but she didn't want Tristan to end up how she had.

  She carefully and slowly reached down trying to grab some limb to pull away from the ball of fighting. She grabbed Tristan's right arm, but because Tristan's mind wasn't thinking properly, his left arm swung out, intending to hit Austin, but instead, he punched Scarlett right in the eye.

  Scarlett cried out, staggering backwards away from the boys. Everyone seemed to stop. Millie gasped and stared at Scarlett with wide eyes. Tristan held his breath and looked up at Scarlett worriedly. Austin, also surprised by what had just happened, simply sat there, looking up at Scarlett, on the verge of laughter.

  "What is going on here?"

  All four teenagers turned and looked at the vice principal walking their way.

  "Mr. Holden!" Millie explained; the first to thaw out, "Austin, he did it. He beat Scarlett up that day! He was the one who put her into a coma and he was hurting her today. He was twisting her arm! If it hadn't been for Tristan—he's Christian Cox's cousin—Austin might have seriously hurt Scarlett again."

  Mr. Holden seemed to be taking this all in.

  "And who hurt Scarlett's eye?" he asked calmly.

  Austin glanced at Millie. Millie glanced at Scarlett. Scarlett glanced at Tristan. Tristan glanced at the ground.

  "Well?" Mr. Holden prompted.

  "Scarlett's eye was punched by—" Austin started with a sadistic smile.

  "Austin, of course," Scarlett interrupted.

  "What the hell? No, I didn't. I didn't even touch you!"

  "Really? You didn't break my wrist? You didn't punch the crap out of me? You didn't give me a bloody nose? You didn't give me a black eye?"

  "That wasn't today!"

  "Then you didn't do this to my arm?" Scarlett asked, raising her hand to show everybody the nail marks she had received from Austin's digging of his nails into her arm.

  "That doesn't prove anything!"

  "Well, then this should…" Scarlett flipped her phone open and played what she had recorded. 'Sometimes,' Austin's voice said, 'I lay in bed at night, thinking maybe one more punch would have killed you, and then I wouldn't have to worry about you anymore.'

  'So you're admitting that you did beat me into unconsciousness?' Scarlett's voice asked.

  'Of course, I am. Nobody else has the strength or the nerve to do that. But it doesn't matter; no one's around to hear.'

  "Is that enough to prove that Austin is the only one who inflicted all of the pain on me?" Scarlett asked, looking at Mr. Holden.

  Mr. Holden grabbed Scarlett's phone and looked at the date and time the recording was taken. And then he nodded. "Yes, I'd say this is proof enough to get this young man expelled from school."

  Millie and Scarlett both smiled brightly as Mr. Holden led Austin to his office. Millie squealed and gave Scarlett a great, big hug.

  "I've wanted that kid expelled since freshman year, and you did it!"

  "Yeah, I only had to go through a coma, amnesia, a broken wrist, a bloody nose, and two black eyes," Scarlett said with a small smile.

  "Oh, let me look at it," Millie said, pulling back and examining the bulging, black eye.

  "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 broke
n 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.