Two Faces

Chapter 10

   After I was done with my work, I decided I had to talk to Scarlet. I had a feeling there was something she was hiding. When the bell rang, I got up to leave, but then noticed Scarlet was already leaving, and half-running out the door. It's like she knew I was on to her.

   Without saying anything to Louise, I quickly walked after Scarlet. "I've pieced together some things, and something just isn't adding up," I said, coming up beside Scarlet. "And what's that?" she asked, not looking at me. "Who in your family is dead, and how long ago did they die?" I replied.

   "I thought you f-" Scarlet began, but I cut her off. "Just answer my question."

   "Well, the rest of them died last week," Scarlet said, looking at the ground. "The rest of them? What do you mean?" I pushed on. "Everybody that was alive in my family! I'm the only one left!" Scarlet yelled, tears in her eyes. That's enough, I thought. She wasn't going to tell me anything more, and I now had more information, but there was still something that was missing. How had the rest of Scarlet's family died in the same week?

   I would ask her more questions later, now was not the time. When Scarlet and I were standing in the line to go to Science, Scarlet looked at me and there was fear in her eyes. "Jetta?" she said softly. "Yes?" I replied, just as gentle.

   "Can I tell you something?" Scarlet asked, her voice going softer. "Of course, what is it?" I answered. "I-I" she hesitated. "Scarlet?" I said. She quickly went inside the classroom, not saying another word to me. She was definitely hiding something, and I was almost positive it was going to take a while to get Scarlet to talk. When I walked in, the teacher made the person that sat at Scarlet's table switch spots with me. The next thing I noticed was Scarlet looking around nervously.

   That was very strange. Then, a thought came to me. Was Scarlet afraid of something? Was she in danger? If she was, this situation could get serious. I really needed to figure out what was going on.

   A few minutes later, the door opened, because someone was coming in. Scarlet then jumped up in surprise. "Scarlet, is everything okay?" I asked, my voice filled with concern. She only stared at the door, her eyes filled with alarm.

   I then got up, walked over to Scarlet's side of the table, and got in front of her, where she was looking at me, instead of the door. "Ok, time's up. What's going on?" I demanded. "Nothing," Scarlet quickly replied.

   "Oh, really? Then how did the rest of your family die in one week? How'd you have a dream that your parents died right before the night they actually did? Why do you scare so easily now? Why do you look around like somebody's about to jump out and grab you!?" I said, almost out of breath now. "Why do you even care?!" Scarlet screamed. "I care because you're my sister and my best friend!" I answered.

   That's when Scarlet finally gave in. "Fine, I'll tell you," she said, looking around. "But not here." she added.

   That's fair enough, I thought, sitting back down. When the bell rang, Scarlet got up to leave. "Wait," I said. She stopped and looked at me. "Will you be ok walking to your next class alone?" I asked. "I think so," Scarlet answered, walking towards the door. "I hope so," I said under my breath.