THE LOOK IN ELLIOT'S eyes was unlike anything she had ever encountered. Dead set. Unflinching. It brought goosebumps over her skin at the mere memory.
Scarlet parked in her driveway, mulling over the way her heart dropped down her chest leaving a hollow trail in its wake. It lingered as she turned off the engine of her car.
She wondered if maybe he wanted to talk to her. After last week, maybe he had something to say and found himself too late.
Hopefully he could find her on Monday, if he didn't forget what he wanted to say by then.
She unlocked the front door of her house, spying the television showing an old sitcom from the eighties. The sofa in front of it was empty. Scarlet frowned and threw her bag in a corner, forgetting all about her high school and all of its implications. Her homework would have to wait until the next day.
"Mom?" she called out, moving her legs to the kitchen. Scarlet sighed, crossing her arms over her chest as her mother served a plate with dinner—chicken fettuccine Alfredo pasta. "Gosh, Mom, I said I would make myself something."
Her mother turned around, offering her the plate with a bright smile. Scarlet couldn't even be mad. It was always a blessing to see her up and at it, having the energy to actually do stuff around the house. Anything could happen at any second, and it twisted her insides to know she didn't have control over it.
"You're busy with your theatre meetings," she said, as if that was the entire reason for her energy to cook up dinner. "And I don't want you to be hungry for too long. That's not good either."
Scarlet wanted to respond that it wasn't good for her to be cooking without company in her condition. In case of an emergency, she would not be able to get the help she needed, and that could go from bad to worse. But she bit back her usual comments and accepted the dinner.
"How are you feeling?" Scarlet asked, moving along to the dining table. Her mother followed suit, sitting down opposite of her.
"Today was a good day," she reassured her. Scarlet nodded, feeling her day's anxieties diminish. "I have chemo tomorrow."
Scarlet bit down on her lip, thinking of her list of things she needed to do. Most of it was tedious work, so she could take it with her as her mother sat on her chair taking in the chemotherapy. While Scarlet tended to work on her assignments, her mother would flip through magazines, collecting perfume samples and cutting out makeup items she wanted to buy.
She always envisioned them going out after her chemo appointments, but her mother never felt the best. She would be under the weather for a few days after, going through the side effects. Scarlet never left her side, sometimes passing out on the floor beside her bed, just in case. Once midweek arrived, her mother would start regaining strength, to the point where she could walk around the house and go up and down the stairs (though Scarlet wasn't too crazy about it). But she knew that her mother needed to live. Despite her condition, she was still a human with aspirations and dreams, so Scarlet worked hard to calm down her anxieties of the worst case scenarios.
"How was the meeting today? No mop accidents, I hope." Her mother gazed at her with a teasing glint in her brown eyes. Scarlet chuckled, rolling up a bite of the creamy pasta.
"No mops today," she said. "I had to design potential costumes for the cast."
"Oh? Was the cast announced?" Her tone switched to a purposefully innocent one as she swirled her fork around her dish. Scarlet's ears burned, remembering how she had gone on a rant about the auditions she saw, specifically a certain Romeo one during the week. Oh, to take back her words.
"Yeah, Lindsey Donahue got the Juliet part," Scarlet cut in before her mother could gush over the Preppy who had gotten her attention. After a few days, her tongue betrayed her, and talks of Jake Miller fell right out and into the ears of the people around her. So much for trying to forget about him. "I don't know how I feel about that."
"How so?" Her mother tried to disguise her smirk with a bite of food.
"Well, on one hand, I'm going to have to deal with the vulture for the rest of the semester. But on the other hand, I get to see her die on stage." Scarlet motioned with her hands as if comparing the two points. "You win some, you lose some."
Her mother laughed. "You and that Lindsey girl have never been able to see each other eye to eye."
"I don't make friends with vultures," Scarlet pointed her fork at her.
"That isn't very nice, Scarlet," her mother said, but her chastising tone faltered. Everyone knew of the Donahue's in Hales Bay, and it was not a nice reputation to have. Gabriel Donahue, Lindsey's father, was a feared lawyer in the state of California, known for his ruthlessness and how he moved the pieces of the chessboard of life to do his own bidding. Some of his attitudes rubbed off on his daughter. "She can be a lovely girl, and you shouldn't bring other people down, especially women."
"I'm all for women empowerment, but I dislike shitty people."
Before her mother could say anything else, the doorbell rang. Scarlet shot up from her seat, sending a quizzical look to her mother, who only shrugged.
She opened the door to find Sierra on the other side, holding a small cake in her hands.
"Sie?" Scarlet moved to the side to let her best friend in. Her mother stood up, coming over to greet Sierra. "What's... up?"
Sierra laughed. "I saw the strawberry cake your mom likes on sale, and since I also know you need a break from everything, I decided to get it and come over."
Her mother reached over, taking the cake from Sierra's hands. "Oh, sweetie, you are too kind. Why don't you join us for dinner? We were just in the middle of it." She walked back to the kitchen, placing the box of cake on the island counter, already fetching Sierra a plate for her pasta without her saying yes. The yes was implied.
They sat back down at the table with their newest addition. Sierra thanked Scarlet's mother profusely, already eyeing the plate of pasta with excitement.
"It's always a pleasure, sweetie," her mother said, going back to her own plate.
"Scar, you had a meeting today, right?" Sierra asked after swallowing down a few bites of her food. Her murky green eyes glanced at her innocently. Scarlet bit down on her lip, knowing full well where things were getting at.
"Scarlet was just telling me of Lindsey Donahue getting the Juliet part," her mother cut in.
"Ew," Sierra said, scrunching her nose up at the news. "That sucks, I'm sorry."
Scarlet shrugged. Lindsey had a knack of getting what she wanted. She was going to play Juliet no matter what.
"What about Romeo?" Sierra asked. By the look on her face, Scarlet knew that she knew. She cursed Aura silently for blabbing. She must have put two and two together and went ballistic on her friends. She hadn't checked her phone since she got home, so she expected her screen to be full of notifications of them freaking out over the boy that would be playing Romeo.
"Jake got the part," Scarlet mumbled, playing around with her fettuccine noodles.
Her mother grinned, placing her chin on the palm of her hand. Sierra's breath caught, and she knew that her best friend was holding in an Aura-level squeal.
"The Preppy you've been gushing over?" Sierra asked.
"I have not been gushing over him," Scarlet defended herself.
"Yes, you have. Every day at school it's Jake this, Jake that."
"What? That's so not true."
"Please, Scar, you've been talking about his audition nonstop. It's okay to have a surface-level crush on a cutie like him."
Scarlet shut right up, not even daring to look at her mother. The thought of Jake flamed her cheeks. His audition and his forward attitude caught her off guard. So much so that she confessed about it. Really, it was all his fault. No one dared to get close to her like that.
Besides, she was more intrigued. It wasn't like she hoped to get a taste of the Preppy side. Lindsey was more than happy to do that herself. She merely pointed out that his performance was stellar, and Mr. Williams clearly saw that too.
"I never thought I'd see the day," her mother said, chuckling to herself.
"It's not a crush!" Scarlet exclaimed, showing the palms of her hands in exasperation. "He's just a guy from the rich side who knows how to act. He seems nice. That's all there is. I don't have a crush. Crushes are not for me. I told you boys were pointless." She ended with a huff, dropping her hands over her thighs, scratching the denim of her distressed jeans to find something else to focus on.
Sierra smirked, taking another bite from her pasta. Her silence was enough to tangle her insides. After years of friendship, Scarlet knew how to read her body language like it was a simple chapter book. And in that moment, Sierra teased her with every expression she could do. Her eyebrow quirked, and Scarlet groaned over her meal.
"Denial," her mother commented. "You're just like your father." She stood up, having finished her meal, and went back into the kitchen.
Sierra switched her full attention to Scarlet. She held up a certain finger to her friend, but that only made her laugh harder.
"Jake, Jake, Jake," Sierra sang tauntingly. "Who knew you'd fall for a Preppy?"
"I'm not falling for anyone!" Scarlet cried out. Sierra clicked her tongue just as her mother came out with three slices of strawberry cake.
"Sierra, bless your soul for bringing this cake," her mother said, giving each their own plate. "I had forgotten how much I love it."
"Of course, Mrs. Turner," Sierra said, turning her teasing tone into a more cordial, sweet one. Scarlet stabbed her cake with her spoon, grumbling to herself. There was no need for the teasing when there was nothing to tease about.
"Oh, sweetie, you know you can call me Christine," her mother said, sitting down at her usual place. "And how are your parents? I haven't seen them in ages."
Sierra nodded. "They're alright." That changed her tone once more. Scarlet knew her friend didn't like talking much about the topic. She preferred to escape her home whenever she could, finding solace in school and after-school activities. Not that her parents were terrible. Scarlet had met them many times before, but they held some of the highest standards for Sierra, to the point where she just couldn't take it.
"That's good," her mother said. "Are they planning to go to the play?"
Scarlet froze mid-bite as her mother and Sierra laughed. "Since when was this 'go against Scarlet' day?"
"The moment you decided to have a crush," Sierra answered.
In response, Scarlet flicked a bit of frosting on her face. "I. Do. Not. Have. A. Crush."
"Whatever you say, sweetheart." Her mother finished up her slice of cake. She stood up and motioned to all of their plates. "Please clean up. I'm going to shower."
Scarlet blinked. "Do you not want me to..." she trailed off when her mother gave her a sharp look. "Just call me if you need anything."
Her mother walked back, turning off the TV before heading upstairs. Her steps were sure and agile, like nothing was wrong inside. Scarlet exhaled in relief when she heard her footsteps going around the second floor, no doubt looking for her clothes.
Sierra licked the frosting she scooped from her cheeks, nodding at its sweetness. Scarlet shook her head and stood up herself, clearing the dining table.
"So..." Sierra started, following her into the kitchen. "How was Jake like today?"
Scarlet flushed at the question, thinking about how he walked up to her twice. Once to see what she was working on and the other time at the parking lot. The last one made her inexplicably giddy. It meant he looked for her rather than mindlessly wandering around the auditorium.
The plates slipped from her fingers, landing on the sink with a loud clunk. Her breath hitched, but she shook away the shock and set to work. Sierra sat down on top of one of the counters, swinging her legs back and forth as if she was a little child.
"You haven't answered my question," Sierra said.
Scarlet sighed. "He was okay, I guess."
Sierra clicked her tongue again. "Aura had a few choice of words that would completely obliterate that 'he was okay, I guess.'"
She rolled her eyes. She was right about Aura blabbing after all.
"He came up to you to talk?" Sierra bit down on her lip as Scarlet stood back from the kitchen sink. "Like he went up to you specifically again?"
"Twice," Scarlet whispered.
Sierra gasped, smacking the counter under her. "Tell me everything!"
So Scarlet told her everything about Jake and his random interruptions during the meeting. She continued washing the dishes, trying to calm her erratic heart. She wanted to be annoyed at Jake, but he caught her eye ever since he walked up to her that first day.
And, sure, he was annoying. He walked up to her sporting that nice smile and easy-going nature. Her mind began to conjure up his figure in her memory, and she cursed him for being one of the most attractive guys she had ever seen.
With those kind blue eyes, light brown hair, and unforgettable smile, Scarlet didn't know how she could ever be indifferent to him. But she would try hard to forget about his calming smile if she wanted to survive her last semester of high school. She didn't need something else to add to her disastrous end of her senior year.
Scarlet had to focus. Now was not the time to slack off, especially when she had priorities to tend to, like her mother.
"You never know what can come out of this," Sierra commented after she was done tidying up the kitchen. Scarlet swallowed, not wanting to think further into what that meant. She was Scarlet Turner. She didn't do the whole love scene.
"Sie, you know I can't afford to," Scarlet sighed, dropping the wet rag she used to wipe the counters inside the sink. "I have to take care of Mom. I already feel suffocated going to school as it is. I don't need anything else to steer me off my path."
Sierra slumped her shoulders. "I understand the situation, but... I'm pretty sure you're allowed to live your life. Your mom would be more than happy to see you being a normal teenager."
"She's right."
Scarlet turned around to find her mother, leaning against the wall that divided the dining area and kitchen. She had traded her navy blue gown and bandana for her signature light pink.
"Scarlet, you know you can go live your life. I'm okay here." Her mother walked into the kitchen, reaching out for her hands. Scarlet grasped them. "So go out there and have fun. You may not like it, but I'm grateful you need to go to those meetings every Friday. You're finally getting out of your hardened shell."
She shook her head. "Mom, being out there scares me. I feel bad that I can't be there for you."
Her mother squeezed her hands. "Don't be. It's all exciting, sweetheart! Enjoy all of it while you can."
Sierra smiled, tilting her head to the side, as if saying: See?
Scarlet pursed her lips. She didn't think she would ever find herself relaxing while in that auditorium, but she would try for her mother's sake.
Though she felt that would be much harder than it sounded like.