Scarlett took a deep breath, shaking her hands at her sides as she strode backstage of the barn where EJ was standing holding the binder he seemed to be glued to the entire summer. She smiled gently once she was close enough that he'd hear her. "Hey." She tried to lighten the mood with a slightly joyful tone.
He looked up towards her with a small smile in return. "Hey." His eyes returned back to his book full of notes and she let out a shaky exhale.
"You got a minute to check in, Eej?"
He nodded quickly, turning his body towards hers now. "Of course."
Scarlett looked down at the binder and then up to his eyes. "Wanna put that script down?" EJ let out a small laugh as he looked at it before closing it carefully and placing it on the table beside him. "So, tonight has been kind of memorable, huh?
"Oh, yeah, everyone loves the camp prom." In his peripheral, he caught a boy around their age, maybe slightly younger, placing his cup on a prop for the show and he reached his hand out desperately. "Hey, please don't put that drink on Elsa's castle! We need it for tomorrow night!" His hands raked through his hair nervously as he turned back to the girl in front of him. "Sorry."
Scarlett looked at the floor, scuffing her shoe against the wooden slabs gently. "EJ, you missed the last dance."
"Oh, crap. Hold on." His hand reached for her arm as he went to circle around her. "I'll put on a song and we can just boogie around."
Scarlett spun around with him, letting his hand slide down her arm and into her own. She gripped it gently, stopping him in his stride. "EJ, stop. Please." She let out a small breath, her fingers subconsciously playing with his as his hand stayed in hers. "We've had totally different summers, we've had completely different nights Eej."
"Look, I'm a little distracted with opening night tomorrow, but..." He tried to defend himself but Scarlett's head shook slightly.
"But..." Her eyes drifted to the floor for a moment as she thought over her next words carefully. "Maybe it goes deeper, you know? EJ, you're not in high school anymore, you've graduated from East High. Your world is getting so much bigger and..." Scarlett tilted her head to the ceiling as she blinked rapidly to get rid of any forming tears. "I'm still at the photo booth trying to fit three moustaches on my face for a silly group photo and dancing with my friends in a silly barn dressed up for a silly theme."
He shrugged his shoulders, squeezing her hand that was still laced in his own. "I could do those things."
"You've done them all, Eej. You've lived it all when you were a camper here but you're not a camper anymore." She sighed, squeezing his hand back. "You're not a high school student anymore."
"I know that I don't have a solid plan for the fall, Scar, but if everything works out, then I think, maybe..."
Scarlett cut him off, her voice rising more than she expected. "I think the problem is that 'maybe' just isn't good enough for me. I deserve more than a 'maybe'." She cleared her throat, attempting to get rid of the lump that had begun to form. "I've never been a 'maybe' to you, EJ, or have I always been a maybe and I'm just too stupid to realise?"
"Scar, please."
"I came to this dance solo..." She scratched her cheek just below her eye as tears threatened to escape. She bit her lip. "So, maybe I should leave solo, too."
EJ shook his head. "Don't do this, we're great together."
Scarlett sighed, "I can't think of the last time we were really together. Not really. It's just been me and you this summer, not us. What happened to there being an us, EJ?" She took a deep, stabilising breath. "If that's a preview for some future where you shut me out and we can't be together at all, then I think I need to get out now."
"Scar, I swear after tomorrow..."
"This summer broke me EJ. I can't keep going along with that just because I love you!" She exclaimed.
EJ's face broke out into a state of shock. "You love me?"
Scarlett's mouth fell slightly open before she quickly closed it, her brain going into overdrive as she tried to find the words, any words. "Eej, I-... I'm sorry..."
His hand dropped back to his side and Scarlett brought her hand back slowly. It felt cold.
"But it's over."
The tears she struggled to hold back now began to fall as she let out a shaky breath, nodding her head gently.
Seb then walked into the room and Scarlett looked at the boy in confusion through her blurry eyes, she had been so busy worrying over everything to even notice he had shown up. "Elton John!"
She smiled slightly before turning to leave, sparing EJ one last look but his eyes wouldn't meet hers as she walked past him, her hand gently brushing his own as she resisted the urge to grab ahold of it and not let go.
The barn was still quite full and she let out a small sob as she hurried over to the coat rack, grabbing her purse and throwing it over her shoulder before stepping out of the suffocating building and taking a deep breath of fresh air. Scarlett brought a hand to her mouth, choking out another sob as she lowered herself down to the stairs pulling off her heels as tears dropped from her cheeks and onto her clothes.
She heard the door open behind her and a pair of arms wrap themselves around her shoulders. She instantly recognised Val's warm embrace and she leaned into her, smudging her makeup against her shirt as the latina's hand came up to gently stroke her hair. "It's okay." People walked down the stairs of the barn, staring at the pair to which Val rolled her eyes. "What? You've never seen a girl cry after prom before? Come on, move along."
Scarlett eventually calmed down, her head leaning against Valentina's shoulder as the two girls looked out at the camp. "I broke up with him." She quietly muttered, the other girl's hand gently rubbing up and down her back comfortingly. "And I think I told him I love him?"
"Hold on, what?"
Scarlett let out a small laugh as she shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I'm so confused." She stretched her back and wiped away the streaks of water on her face. "I think I just wanna go to bed, you know? Big day tomorrow." Valentina nodded, standing up before crouching so her back was facing the girl. "What are you doing?"
"Giving you a piggyback, come on." Valentina looked over her shoulder, giving the girl a smile. "Your shoes are already off so you've really got no other choice."
Scarlett shook her head with a small chuckle before she grabbed her shoes and wrapped her arms around Val's neck before the other girl gripped her thighs and hoisted her up. "Please don't drop me."
"I'm not going to drop you, have some faith."
___
It didn't take them long to get back to the Honeycomb and Valentina didn't drop her, although there were too many close calls to count and Scarlett was glad to let her feet touch the floor again as they came to the steps of the bunk. The pair walked in, the room's tension high as everyone was already inside and the brunette girl's sombre mood definitely didn't raise any spirits.
"Hey, are you okay?" Maddox questioned and Scarlett shrugged her shoulders as she reached for the hoodie on her bed.
She looked at it for a moment. It was EJ's. The Duke one he had left at her house that one time. She questioned putting it on, longing for the familiarity of it but she placed it down again, reaching for one of her own. "I think me and EJ are over." She pulled the fabric over her head, pulled out her hair and slipped on a pair of slippers before sitting on the swing in between her and Ashlyn's bunk. "I don't really want to think about it if that's okay."
"I guess tonight did end with a bang," Ashlyn stated.
Kourtney sighed. "Well, as long as it ends soon. I mean, who knows? Maybe I can wake up as someone else."
"God I hope so," Scarlett replied, bringing her feet up to the swing so she was sitting cross-legged.
Ashlyn stood up from sitting next to the girl. "Hey, Kourt, can I borrow your prayer?" The girl nodded and Ashlyn took a breath. "You're not alone." She nodded toward the others, inviting them to join in and Gina stepped forward, wandering to stand the other side of Kourtney.
"You're not alone."
Valentina walked over to Scarlett, grabbing her hands and pulling her up to stand. "You're not alone." She squeezed her hands gently before all the girls in the room finally joined together.
"You're not alone."
All of a sudden, Kourtney was standing and striding out of the Honeycomb, the rest of the girls following her as they made their way to the climbing wall. Ashlyn handed her a helmet as Maddox got the girl strapped into the safety harness before everyone stepped back, watching the girl make her way to the top of the tower. Once she had made it, the five girls erupted into cheers and applause, wrapping each other up in a long line of side hugs.
"Hey, Gadget? You know you're one of us now right?" Ashlyn stated proudly, hooking an arm around the girl's waist as she gave them a wide grin in reply.
Scarlett pulled the sleeves of her jumper over her hands as Kourtney was unclipped from her harness by Maddox. "As moving as this all was, I think we need a full debrief of the night, back in the comfort of the closed-off and more importantly warm Honeycomb?"
The girls all quickly agreed, all of them turning around and making their way back to the bunk, all of their arms looped with each other.
Slightly short but here we are. Scarlett's depressive breakup era is now in full swing.