THE COLOR RED | DALLAS WINSTON

xii. CHEMISTRY

HER MIND WAS A MESS OF CHEMISTRY ELEMENTS AND EQUATIONS. She couldn't think straight, perhaps it was from the exhaustion and distaste for chemistry blinding her. Moments like these made Charlotte wish that graduation was closer than it could have been. But every ticking second made her closer to both graduation and her test. It was a discomfort to have that kind of knowledge in her brain.

Then she heard the familiar sound of agile feet swinging their way into her bedroom. She pretended to not hear it, somehow tricking herself into thinking that pretending made things go away. Charlotte of all people had to have known that pretending only made things worse in the long run. Pretending prevented pertinent red flags from presenting themselves. Pretending was dangerous. And Dally Winston's little game of pretend when Charlotte was his therapist was just as dangerous.

"Whatcha readin', Lottie?"

"A chemistry book."

"Why?"

"Because I have a test tomorrow and it's very important that I pass." Charlotte replied, looking up at the hood with his hair all messed up. He never greased his hair and it made her wonder why. He was the epitome of a greaser, after all, yet he never bothered to grease it.

"Why don't y' just drop out, you could spend more time with me?"

"While that is a very enticing opportunity, I think I'd have more success staying in school."

"You'll never know unless y' try." Dally smirked at her

"I think that's a chance I'm not willing to take." Charlotte replied, turning back around to face her book. Her eyes scanned the information several times over. The lamplight was enough for her, but her eyes slowly began to ache from reading such small print. She then made the mistake of yawning.

"Tired?"

"Just a bit."

"Why don't you get some sleep, doll? You've been studyin' all night. Study on the bus."

At that point, sleep sounded like a sweeter release than death itself. It sounded like the warmth of the perfect orange and yellow combination. A combination that would feel downright refreshing with a tall glass of lemonade. Thinking about things relating to summer made the young artist pine for that season even more. She was so close and yet so far to the end. April. The month that reminded her of blues and grays, even if there usually wasn't too much rain that time of year.

Charlotte gave up on her protests, packing her books up and turning her lamp off. She walked as though she floated towards her bed. "Can you scoot over?" She asked the boy in the leather jacket, as though it should have been an obvious gesture on his part. Dallas did as he was told for once, scooting towards the wall. Charlotte laid down and could feel Dally's warmth radiating from his body.

"You want me to leave you here, Lottie?"

"You can stay... just for an hour. You won't kill me or have sex with me while I'm asleep, will you?"

"I'm not into any o' that, toots." Dallas replied with a certain bark in his voice that was as tough as nails.

"How reassuring." She hummed, her eyes drooping closed. After a long day, she was wrapped up in the embrace of slumber, cradling her gently. Dally looked over at the young girl, the young innocent girl. She was pure, so very pure. Corrupting her and her attitude seemed like a wonderful thing to do. But she seemed too good for that. She didn't deserve it like other girls in Tulsa might have.

He knew they had chemistry, but it would take time for either to notice. There was something about Charlotte. He'd heard about how chemistry had math and math meant equations. Lottie seemed like a complex math equation. It'd take work to figure her all out. Dallas would probably have to check his work as well, just to make sure he'd gotten her right before making more moves. They sure as hell were gonna be some sort of equation, but the solution was complex, it was heaven or hell.