Usually, Scarlet walked into school on Thursday over the moon. She should've been glowing today. But instead, she had tears threatening to spill over at any moment.
People would think she was insane for going to school when she should've been grieving, hence why she had to keep the tears in check. But she had something more important to do today. It's not like she wanted to be in that house anyway. The smell of blood still haunted her.
Cinder had to rest her elbows against the bathroom sink to keep herself from falling to the ground. Scarlet had just told her about her grand-mère's dying words when Cinder hadn't even recovered from Winter's bombshell.
"Oh my stars," was all Cinder could get out.
"Cinder, are you alright?" Scarlet asked.
"I'll be fine. It's just that Winter told me— Actually, Scarlet, are you okay? I mean, you just—"
"I'll be fine."
"Scarlet..."
"I'm happy to help, Cinder."
"Well, I want to be there for you, too. I know you want to hide everything from the world, but I can't imagine how hard this must be for you."
"Thank you, Cinder."
The two girls left the bathroom and entered the cafeteria. Émilie and Iko were chatting up a storm while Cress was nowhere to be found.
"Where's Cress?" Scarlet asked them.
"Where do you think?" Iko replied.
As if on cue, Scarlet turned her head to see Cress laughing at one of Thorne's corny jokes.
"And then there were four," Scarlet muttered as she took her seat.
Just then, Kai walked up to them.
"Hey, Cinder," he said.
"Hey."
A moment of silence followed as they stared awkwardly at each other before Scarlet elbowed Cinder just a little too hard.
"Ow!" Cinder whispered.
"Uh, Kai...we should probably talk," she said in a louder voice.
"Uh, yeah..."
"Ooh," Iko said playfully.
"Iko, that's not—" Cinder started before giving up on her sister's antics.
"Do you want to...come over today? We can talk then," Kai suggested.
"Okay."
With that, Kai walked away with a smile. Even Cinder's lips turned up just the slightest.
As soon as he was out of earshot, Iko could contain herself no more.
"O. M. S!!" she exclaimed.
"Iko..." Scarlet groaned. She was not in the mood for this.
YOU ARE READING
Artemisia High
FanfictionCrescent Moon never expected she would ever leave her orphanage. Now, she must begin a new life with new people who have problems of their own. From the boy whose father is dying to the girl who is being neglected, every student has something they a...
