too late ♡ hemmings

+ sixteen +

I feel someone nudge my side and I snap my head up.

“Scarlet, the counsellor wants to see you.” My maths teacher, Mr Lilley, repeats and I nod, wriggling out of my seat. I hear all the murmurs as I stand.

“I wonder why she’s going.”

“F*****g mute.”

“Attention seeker.”

 “What a freak.”

Biting back the tears, I ignore the comments and make my way to counsellors’ room. It was my first time being called and I was planning on saying nothing. I never liked the whole concept of a counsellor, you express all your problems and trust in them and all they do is tell you, you need professional help; what’s the point of that? There is no point. I knock on the door and hand the middle aged woman the slip. She smiles up at me and I mentally roll my eyes. This is such a waste of time.

“Scarlet Jones?” I hesitantly walk over to the lady as she welcomes me in. She sits on her chair, crossing a leg over the other, her curly red hair bouncing as she faces me.

“My name’s Avery, it’s nice to meet you Scarlet.” She says giving me a small smile. Avery couldn’t have been older than 26, she had light freckles scattered around her tiny nose and rosy cheeks that easily stood out from how pale she was. Her grey blue eyes sparkled as she waited for me to reply. I gave her a slight nod.

“Do you know why you’re here?” I shook my head, crossing my arms over my chest and I heard her sigh.

“Scarlet, your teachers are worried about you. They tell me you were such a chirpy and bubbly girl, what’s happened? “She asks staring at me pen and paper in her hands, ready to jot down some notes but I shake my head.

“Well answer this for me; are you happy with your life?” My eyes well up with tears and I sniff before shaking my head in response.

“Do you hurt yourself?” I snap my head away and turn to look out the window.

“Scarlet…” She says, making her way towards me.

“Take off the bracelets.” I shake my head.

“Please.” She looks at me with pleading eyes and I slowly remove them making her gasp.

“Scarlet, you can’t do this to yourself, please tell me why.” I reach at my bracelets and slip them back on as she remains staring at me, waiting for an answer. Shaking my head once again she exhales before giving me a light nod.

“But I’m making another appointment for you, Scarlet. When you’re ready to tell me, you can.” She says before resting her skinny hand on my shoulder. Reluctantly I agree and leave the room. My session with Avery took longer than expected causing me to miss the rest of Math and go into lunch. So I made my way to the table I sat at every lunch, the memories of Luke coming back to me.

Luke’s POV

I sang the last line of Heart-Break Girl and the screams from the crowd went louder.

“Thank you L.A. so much! You guys have been the best crowd, love you all!” I said and the boys all cheered with me. The girls were going crazy, screaming things like,

“I LOVE YOU LUKE!”

“MARRY ME!”

While others cried or yelled out the most random things. We gave one last wave and went off the stage.

“The crowd was great today.” Ashton said smiling and everyone agreed.

“Luke, you alright mate? You seem a bit out of it.” Michael says looking straight at me, concerned.

“Huh? Oh yeah I’m fine, just tired.” That was partially the truth, I haven’t slept much but I just can’t stop thinking of Scarlet. It’s been two weeks since she last called, I’m kind of worried…

Calum walks over to me, sighing.

“Luke you don’t have to lie to us, obviously Scarlet’s on your mind.” I groan, burying my face in the palm of my hands causing them to all crowd around me. They stand there awkwardly, unsure of what to do. Michael’s the first to speak up.

“Look, we miss her too. But we’re flying back in a month, ending the tour in Sydney and then you’ll get to see her all the time!” he says causing me to smile and he smiles back.

“Yay everyone’s happy!” Ashton cheers and tackles us in a group hug.

Hopefully she’s happy to see me when we get there because I can’t wait.