Forever Crimson

Chapter 15

THE ACCUSATIONS NEVER STOPPED, they became nonverbal. Ms. Stanford was always ready to say something to her, but Scarlet didn't give her the time of day. She would rush out of the classroom before her teacher could say anything.

The tiptoeing had been going on all week.

Fortunately, she had escaped unscathed for the most part. She needed to survive rehearsals if she wanted to avoid more confrontations. She had a plan. All she would do was evade her every time she got near her. She would only allow talks of the play, most likely the set. (Although she did remember that Rory and Caitlyn were bringing in the first sample of the Romeo costume). But any other topic that would subsequently lead to comments about her irresponsibility were not to be tolerated, and Scarlet would stand by that.

If anyone were to come to her to talk about anything other than the play, it would be Jake Miller and his gorgeous eyes. Otherwise, she was set on focusing on the one thing she hated: the play.

Scarlet walked through the doors of the auditorium, taking in the greatness inside. She breathed in as Mr. Williams hopped up on stage to take attendance. She looked around at the cast, hoping to see the familiar mop of brown hair, but he was nowhere to be seen. She scolded herself for the hollow feeling in her chest, but almost jumped out of her skin when someone tapped her shoulder.

"Jake?" she asked, looking up at those eyes that had been chasing her in her dreams. Dreams she welcomed with open arms.

"Can we talk?" He studied her eyes. "I really need to speak with you."

Scarlet looked over at the rest of the auditorium, specifically at the opened backstage door where her group started to file through. A few of them already headed towards the stage to continue working on the sets.

She was surprised to see all the progress made on the balcony. Fake stone climbed up its mold, ending about half-way.

But most importantly, Ms. Stanford was nowhere to be seen.

"Sure," she told Jake, and he led her right back outside. Instead of taking her to sit by the huge tree pots, he took her to the roof. Her heart sped up as he motioned for her to take the lead up the stairs.

Once up there, she twiddled with her fingers, wondering where things were headed.

"I haven't been able to concentrate at all since last week when you ran off," Jake confessed. "I keep thinking about what happened, what call came in, what you meant about... Elliot." He ran his hands through his hair, making it stick up in odd angles.

Scarlet gazed at the ground. "That's a lot of locked levels you're jumping to," she whispered.

Jake pulled his bottom lip in between his teeth. "You were going to tell me something about Elliot. And can you blame me for being worried? You don't have to tell me, I just need to know that you're okay."

"I kissed Elliot," she blurted out. The confession brought a sour taste to her mouth. "No, I am not okay."

He stepped back. "You... kissed Elliot? The same Elliot that you would never date?"

"That's the one." She chuckled weakly. "Not my proudest moment. Ever."

That afternoon was ingrained in her mind. That moment where the undeniable tension and the pull towards him was too much, she had to close the distance. But she wished that magnetic force pulled her to someone else.

With the person standing right in front of her.

"Why?" he asked.

"I don't know." Scarlet threw her hands in the air. "The day sucked and he offered to take me out. I said yes because I didn't want to be in school, and then things just escalated."

He stared at her in complete disbelief.

"It was like I wanted it, but I didn't at the same time." She wasn't sure why she was telling him about it. Of all people, him. "It was weird, and now I can't forget it whenever I see him."

Jake stared into her eyes. "Do you want to forget?"

"Yes," she exasperated. "More than anything. At least he agreed that we were nothing. That it was a mistake."

"He said that?" Jake stepped closer to her as she nodded. "Really?"

"Yeah, he... agreed to leave it in the past, but it's been eating me alive because it didn't feel right. He didn't feel right for me. He felt like this..." she trailed off, not knowing what word to describe the great guilt that snaked around her chest when she came to it. "He felt like poison, if we want to go into the dramatics."

"And what do you want to feel?" he asked. Scarlet tilted her head to the side not knowing what he was referring to. "If not poison?"

"Maybe some sweetener would be nice," she found herself saying. She didn't know where that came from, but it rang true. After all the bitter and sour things life had served her, something sweet would be perfect. Something that wouldn't add to her already bitter life of tragedy and difficulties.

For the first time since her confession, Jake managed a tiny smile. He reached into the inside of his jacket and produced a juice box from a pocket. She messed with a strand of her hair around her finger, accepting the juice.

"Maybe this can start to add some sweetener into your life," he suggested. She stabbed the straw on the top and took a sip.

"You're a real charmer, you know?" Scarlet admitted as she studied the green juice box from an arm's length. "Giving girls juice boxes. I bet you have a long line of people waiting for you."

A flush covered Jake's cheeks as he chuckled. "I promise it's just you."

Scarlet walked away, taking in the view of the evening sky. Clouds hung over them as they passed through rather quickly. A warm orange embraced the blue as the sun went down.

"You really don't feel anything for him?" Jake asked.

"No," she said, looking out into the open. "Never have, never will. It was a lapse of judgement, and me wishing it wasn't him." She searched for his eyes, wanting to go drown in them. Instead she handed him her empty juice box. "Why don't we head back? Stanford is probably losing her mind that I'm not there."

Half-way across the roof, Jake called her name. "I need you to know that I think you're cool," he said, pushing his hands inside his pockets. "And I like being around you, thief."

Scarlet turned away, not wanting to show her flaming cheeks to him. She didn't need her physical body proving anything more. Instead she allowed his words to permeate her soul and fought against a big grin.

That play was more than she bargained for.