Chasing My Reflection

Chapter 4: Scarlett

Liam's dad rushed up the front steps when he heard his wife screaming. Liam followed behind him. His dad quickly unlocked the door.

"Abagail! Abagail!" Nelson yelled running into the living room then into the hallways. Liam went upstairs. "Mom! Where are you?" Liam yelled.

Liam heard Timmy crying. "Dad up here!" He yelled. Liam walked into his room and saw broken glass all over the floor by his dresser followed by some red gooey looking stuff. Nelson walked in to see his wife cradling Timmy and picking what seemed to be glass off of Timmy's hands.

"Thank God you two are here." She said standing up and running out of the room. Nelson stopped her and asked what happened. She walked passed him and went into the bathroom. Turning on the water she rinsed off Timmy's hands and arms in the sink. Timmy had a little bit of blood coming from his finger. The mom's hands were shaking and Liam could tell she was really worried.

"I don't know. I heard Liam's air conditioner making strange noises so I ran up to his room and saw dust coming from it. I put Timmy down on the floor next to Liam's dresser so none of the dust got to him. When I went to the air condition to see what's wrong that's when I heard glass break. I looked over at Timmy and that's when I noticed Liam's lava lamp fell. It fell right next to Timmy and some glass got on him." She said as she was checking Timmy's hands and arms. Timmy had calmed down a bit.

"How did it fall in the first place?" Nelson asked.

"I don't know. Maybe Liam left it at the edge of his dresser." She said giving Liam a look. "Timmy must've of leaned against the dresser and made the lamp fall."

Nelson looked over at Liam. "Liam you have to be more careful. That could've killed Timmy." His dad said taking Timmy and looking him over to make sure he wasn't hurt bad.

"I didn't! I didn't leave it at the edge of the dresser. It was in the middle where I always keep it." He said.

"Honestly Liam, we've only been here for two days and you've been very irresponsible ." His mom said with her hands on her hip.

Disappointed, Liam quickly walked out of the bathroom and went into his room. He closed his door and sat on his bed.

"Why do they always blame me?" He whispered looking at the broken glass on the floor. "It's not my fault."

He looked at his closet door. It was fixed.

Just then there was a knock at the door. "Liam?" His dad said. Liam didn't reply. His dad came in with a broom and dust pan. "Hey now now Liam I know you're upset but really, your lava lamp could've killed your baby brother. We just need you to be more responsible okay?" His dad said sweeping up the glass near Liam's bed.

There was still gooey liquid stuff on the ground. His dad used a few paper towels to get it up but a red stain remained.

"We'll mop this up now before it stains. How about you go out and explore the neighborhood. School's tomorrow. You should probably get familiar with this place." His dad said, then walked out of the door with the broom and dust pan full of glass.

Liam nodded to himself. He wanted to get away from his parents for a while. Liam put on a leather black jacket. He grabbed a pen and small notepad out of his dresser then headed for the door and as he did he heard the air condition again but this time he ignored it and went out the door. "Stupid piece of crap." He said as he left the room and headed outside.

Liam placed his pen in his mouth and held onto it with his teeth. He walked off his lawn and onto the side walk. There was a green sign about halfway down the block. When he got to the sign he read it. 127 Grand Ave. That was his street name. Taking out his note pad and pen he began writing the name of his street. He jumped when someone tapped his shoulder.

Turning around he saw the same girl that he met when he went uniform shopping. She was wearing a white dress designed with blue and yellow polka dots. The dress went up to her knees. Underneath were some black leggings. She wore white shoes although they looked liked she had found them. They were very tacky looking. Her hair was tied back and her face seemed as if she was very tired again, although her grey eyes seemed to glow. Liam thought maybe it was from the sun but something about her eyes were very beautiful he thought, very unique. She wasn't smiling or frowning.

"Hi Liam." She said. Both her hands were behind her back while she looked down.

"Hey...uh I really didn't catch your name back there." Liam said putting his pen and notepad into his back pocket.

She looked at him. "It's Scarlett. Scarlett Siedad." She said. "Pronounced Syda, it's Russian."

"That's a nice name." Liam said not knowing what to say but he was happy he said it because it made her smile. He loved her smile.

"Thank you Liam." She said.

She walked closer to Liam. "Is that your house down there?" She said pointing to his house.

"Yes..." Liam said looking down the street.

"What were you trying to tell me about it earlier. You know last time we spoke you was telling me not to go near something. Then you sorta just vanished." Liam said with a half smile.

Scarlett looked at Liam then she started looking around. She looked at Liam once again and took a deep breath. She opened her mouth to say something but looked pass Liam for a moment then closed her mouth. Liam looked back to see what she was staring but he saw nothing.

"Just. Don't go near the black widow spiders, we get loads of them around here." She said looking pass Liam again. She looked at him and reached for his note pad in his back pocket. Liam back away and started to blush.

"Do you draw?" She asked.

"Oh no." Liam said showing her the notepad. "I wanted to write down the street name. I'm starting school tomorrow and just wanted to make sure I knew where my street was for the bus." He said smiling at her.

The girl opened up the notepad. "Can I use your pen?" She asked.

"Uh. Oh sure. Here." Liam said giving her the pen.

She began writing something inside of it. When she was done she closed it and gave it back to him. "Open it when you get home." She said smiling.

Liam nodded. "Okay." He said. There was an awkward silence between them. "So, where do you live?" Liam asked.

Scarlett raised an eyebrow. "Oh I am sorry. Father doesn't like me to give out personal information like that." She said. "How old are you?"

She can ask about my whereabouts but I can't know about hers? Okay then. He thought. "14." He answered. "But I'll be 15 next month. And you?" He asked.

"I'm sixteen." She said. The wind started blowing and the sky turned grey. It seemed a storm was approaching.

"Liam!"

Liam looked down the street and saw his dad waving to him gesturing him to come home. Scarlett looked behind her and saw Liam's dad.

Liam looked at Scarlett." I have to go. Bye." He said putting one hand behind his head, scratching his hair.

Scarlett smiled at him. To his surprise, Scarlett hugged him and Liam, who was in total shock just stood there. She let go then walked in the other direction slowly as if she didn't care it was going to rain at any moment.

Liam ran to his house and it started to rain. Before he went inside he looked down the street one more time to see Scarlett, but again, she was out of sight.