The Scarlet Sweater

13. End of the Curse

“Daniel? Daniel talk to me! Please!”

His eyes began to open slightly, “Jeni? Jeni. Juliearl.” He began to smile.

“I thought you had left me.”

“Never.”

It was a tender moment, but the only problem was that Daniel knew he was dying and so did Jeni. Here’s the kicker, dear reader, Daniel didn’t know that Jeni knew… Until now.

“You know that’s not true. You’re dying. You have been for a while now.”

“Wha- How did you…?”

“It doesn’t matter how I know. All that matters is that it’s happening and there’s nothing you or I or anyone can do to help!”

“I’m sorry.” He sounded so defeated, Jeni pulled him up into her arms.

While she held the depressingly damaged boy, Jeni thought about what she had come to tell him… How could she pile that information onto everything else that was going wrong in his life? It didn’t matter, she eventually decided, Jeni had planned to tell Daniel the truth and that was what she was going to do. Helping him up, Jeni led him to Mr. Krause’s room (there was a couch in there that he could lie down on). As soon as she got him settled in a somewhat comfortable position, Jeni became extremely serious.

“Daniel… I need to tell you something.”

“What’s that?”

“You… um… You know how you were being tutored by Nic?”
“Yeah.”

“Well… he… um… He’s been teaching you the wrong things so you would fail.”

“Wha-?”

“Let me finish… I dated Nic for a while before everything happened… And… We kind of tried to relight the flame that once flared. Then he found out about… us. He was hurt and he wanted to make you hurt, too.”

“I can’t believe it…”

“I’m sure he never expected it to go this far-”

“You were dating my best friend then you kissed me! You are a terrible person.”

“Forgive me. I’m a flawed individual.”

“I can’t.”

Jeni held him close and began to cry slightly (in truth, they were crocodile tears).

“Please, please” she begged.

“I shall forgive you.”

“Pfew. Thank goodness.”

They sat there, in Mr. Krause’s room, for hours. They held one another and talked of happier times than those that currently plagued them. Suddenly, Daniel had a realization.

“What if we left?”

“What?”

“School will be done soon and we are seniors. We could just leave and live together.”

“That’s brilliant.”

They spent the next two hours planning their trip to Salt Lake City, where they would live out their days together. Occasionally Jeni would think about Nic and how hurt he would be that his best friend and the girl he loves were running away together with their illegitimate child… But those thoughts made her sad so she moved on.

At around eight o’clock (the next morning), Jeni was getting ready to leave when (all of a sudden) Daniel reached up and grabbed her hand.

“Jeni? Jeni, I-” he passed out, but he sounded terrified.

“Daniel? He must be asleep. Oh well.”

He looked so cold. He shivered slightly. His facial features were quiet, but

his body language suggested his freezing temperament. She couldn’t let him freeze to death. She looked for a blanket to cover him with. There were none in Krause’s room. The speech team must’ve taken them to cover up their bursting awesomeness. Without a warm sheet to cover his body, Daniel would freeze! She looked down, and saw the “A” on her sweater, adorning her front.

Better to have him safe and sound than cold, Jeni thought. She removed her sweater and wrapped him in it.

Jeni got Juliearl and they left. She drove the two of them home, following the rules of the road. Upon arriving home, Jeni was struck by the odd fact that her parents were asleep in the living room. As she walked down the stairs toward her family’s sleeping forms, she noticed that they were watching the popular movie “Easy A.” “Pocketful of Sunshine” blared through the speakers and Jeni was rattled by the irony of the situation. She plopped down on the couch and proceeded to enjoy the cinematographic beauty that was this film on Cinemax.

The movie reached its end (symbolism caught by Jeni, who, after finishing The Scarlet Letter, understood completely). Jeni’s family (as well as her dog) hadn’t moved throughout the duration of the film. She looked at them closer and observed their physicalities.

No, she thought. They couldn’t be...?