Things were finally looking up, but it didn't take long for everything to come crashing right back down again. Now, Scarlett feels like her life is spiraling out of control. One aspect of her life after another keeps getting flipped completely upsid...
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"Scarlett?" A male voice gets her attention, and she looks up from her drawing to see who walked over to her.
The brunette's sitting on the bench in the school hallway, like she does so often, but she's usually ignored by the other students. Eric watches her from time to time, hoping to work up the nerve to ask her about what happened when they broke up, but he hasn't yet. Including now.
"My name's Mason. We have English together." The boy says, and she nods.
"I know who you are, Mason. Your trailer was only a few down from mine for years." Letty says, and he seems to sigh in relief.
"Can I sit with you for a minute?"
"Um, yeah." She then grabs her bag from beside her, and he takes a seat. "Was there something you wanted?"
"Yeah, actually." He nods nervously. "I, uh... I heard that you and Matthews broke up awhile ago, and... Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go out some time. Maybe get a bite, see a movie?"
"Oh." There's a small smile on her face as she looks down, and Eric grinds his teeth as he turns around and walks away. He can't listen to her set up a date with another guy.
"There are a couple movies playing this weekend that I think look alright." Mason says, and she takes a deep breath as she looks back at him.
"You've always seemed really sweet, Mason. I'm just not ready to go out with anyone else." The brunette tells him. "Truthfully, I'm not over my relationship with Eric, and I don't know when I will be."
"I understand." He nods, and she offers him a small smile. "You can't blame a guy for trying."
"I'm sorry."
"Maybe another time. My offer stands." He then gets up and heads down the hallway.
"Well, he was tall, dark, and cute." Hope says as she takes his seat beside her best friend on the bench. "Who was that, and what did I just miss?"
"Mason asked me to go out sometime." Letty tells her, and she raises her eyebrows. "But I told him that I'm not over Eric."
"I think that ship has sailed, babe."
"I told you what happened on New Years." She argues as she turns to face her, and Hope nods.
"Yes, and that's very sweet." She says. "But you two haven't spoken a word to each other since a hyperactive Shawn ruined the moment, yelling about some pregnant lady who had just popped out a baby."
"What is wrong with you?"
"Which part?" Hope asks. "The wording, or the fact that I'm not as hopelessly romantic as you."
"I'm not a hopeless romantic, but I do think that what happened was a step in the right direction." Letty argues. "He came over and talked to me. That's not nothing."
"You're clinging to the tiniest gesture."
"It's Eric, Hope."
"I thought you wanted him to move on."
"I'm conflicted and confused." She sighs as she looks down. "What if I can talk to him about it, and explain why I'm all screwed up? I mean... I don't know... W-What if we can at least be friends like we used to be?"
"Then you need to talk to him, Scar." Hope tells her, and she nods. "Sooner rather than later."
—
Hope and Letty walk into Chubbie's and they see a huge crowd surrounding the pool table in the back room, and then Jason calls the two of them over. "What's going on?" Letty asks as he rests his elbow on her shoulder.
"Eric and Frankie are playing pool." He tells the girls as Frankie takes a shot. The cue ball hits a striped ball and it goes into the corner pocket, but then it comes right back out.
"What the..." Hope quirks an eyebrow as Letty laughs.
"Only to Frankie and Joey." She shakes her head.
Eric hits the cue ball and it curves, not hitting anything at all before lightly tapping the side of the table. He sighs as he looks up and sees Letty with Jason and Hope. Jason drapes his arm around her shoulders as they both look over at Hope; she's smiling as she looks down at her baby bump and rubs her hand over it. One of the babies is moving around.
"I'm gonna go get a table so that we can eat." Hope tells them and then walks away from the back area of the restaurant where everyone's watching the world's worst game of pool.
"Hey, who's the girl with Eric?" Letty asks as she leans into Jason's side.
"You really wanna know?" The blue-eyed boy glances down at her, and she shakes her head.
"No." She sighs. "So?"
"The blonde is his latest attempt at getting over you."
Letty nods as she looks down. "Of course he's trying to move on. He should." She says, thinking about what Hope said at school earlier. That ship has sailed.
"I thought that was what you wanted." Jason says, and she nods again.
"Yeah. Yeah, no, it is." The brunette says, and he reaches up to wipe a tear from her cheek. She takes a deep breath as she rests her head against his shoulder, her eyes are closed so that nobody can see how glassy they are as she tries to refrain from crying in the middle of the crowded restaurant.
"I'm gonna go eat with Hope. You should come sit with us." He tells her, and she simply nods, not giving any other reply. Eric looks over at them again just in time to see Jason kiss the side of her head. "Things will work out, and everything will be fine." He whispers to her.
Letty offers him a small smile as she looks up at him. "Go eat." She tells him, and he squeezes her for a second as he rubs her arm, then he walks away from her.
The next morning, Letty leans against the brick wall in Chubbie's and looks at Eric as Frankie and Joey are making their way out. "You're here early." Eric says when he notices her.
"Hope can't drink coffee anymore, so I drink enough for the both of us. And Chubbie's is on my way to work, so..." The brunette tells him, and he nods. She looks at the pool table and chuckles when she sees how the balls are arranged. "You know, if you hit it just right, you can sink all of 'em."
"I haven't sunk a single ball in fifteen hours. That's not gonna change now." He says as he lets the stick rest against the wall, and she notices how he intentionally hasn't looked her way once.
"The only person who needs to believe in you is you, not some...preppy blonde who only dates jocks." Letty says as she takes a step back. "I'll leave you alone now, Eric. I, uh... I think I can let you go now."
Eric's heart sinks as he looks over at the brunette as she turns around and starts for the stairs. He hesitates for a second and then picks up the pool stick again before leaning over the table to take the very last shot. He hits the white cue ball and every ball rolls across the table and straight into a pocket until not a single one is left of the green cloth.
"The only person I ever needed to believe in me was you." He says, but Letty's already long gone. He tosses the stick onto the table and then grabs his jacket so that he can leave the restaurant.
