them

Him

For the next few weeks, Scarlett hardly ever left my side. It was as if seeing her so totally broken had somehow brought us closer together. It felt like she needed me, like she was clinging on to me for dear life and if she let go, she'd fall. And it felt so good to be needed, especially by her.

Scarlett and I rarely talked about her mother's case, or the lead the police were working on, even though I knew it took up a good portion of her mind. She liked to keep that part of her life separate, even keeping most of the information from Poppy, who I learned had been best friends with Scarlett since they were two. I just wanted to help her feel better, help her get through this, even if it meant not saying anything at all. Because sometimes silence is better than words.

"So, blue or red?" Scarlett asked, holding up two lollipops. I snatched the blue one out of her hand and quickly unwrapped it, popping it into my mouth.

"Hey! You knew I wanted that one!" Scarlett pouted.

"I know, but you just look so dâmn cute when you stick your lip out like that." I reached over and poked her bottom lip, laughing. She mumbled something under her breath about me being annoying as she brushed my hand away.

"Anyways, I thought we could go star gazing tonight." I said casually, gazing over at her. Scarlet smiled at me and nodded her head, making her bun bob up and down.

"That sounds amazing," She replied. "Do you have blankets and snacks?"

"Obviously." I laughed as I put my truck into reverse and pulled out of the gas station parking lot.

We drove for a while and talked. We talked about everything that came into our heads, whether it be about how we're going to graduate in a few months, or how country music is ruining the world. It was so great being with Scarlett, because we could just talk.

I pulled up into a large abandoned farm and parked. The soil probably hadn't been fertile enough to grow the thousands of stalks of corn that Mahomet produced every year, so it was left, thrown away, to be used by people like Scarlett and I who just wanted to look at the stars.

We climbed into the bed of my truck and laid out blankets and bundled up to protect ourselves from the cold January weather.

"So. I've been thinking." Scarlett began.

"Well, that's always trouble." I joked. She reached over and smacked my arm.

"I'm serious." She giggled.

"Alright," I cleared my throat. "What about?"

Scarlett sighed, and then turned her gaze away from me and to the stars above us. "About life and death and what comes after. All this stuff with my mom has brought so many unanswered questions I've always had to the surface. What even happens after you die? Do you just cease to exist, or does your soul move on to a better place? I just wish we knew more about it so that death wouldn't be so uncertain and scary.

"And if you really think about it, you don't know when you could die. Today could very well be my last day on earth. Tomorrow morning, when I go out to get the newspaper, a car could hit me, or I could get shot in a convenience store robbery. And I don't know whether or not I would like today to be my last day. There's so many other things I haven't done yet. I haven't traveled the world, or smoked a joint, or gone to college, or had kids. I just.... I don't know. Everything is so foreign and uncertain. Except for one thing."

She stopped there, letting her last few words float around until they sunk into my head.

"What one thing?" I asked softly.

"That I want to find my mother's killer. And that I want him to go through as much pain and heartache that he put my father and I through. Dylan, this is scary and kind of messed up, but I want him to die." 

*******

so... um... yeah. Scarlett is a teensy bit mad that some guy murdered her mom. i mean, I would be too.

also don't hate me for making this so short, it's kind of a filler that is leading up to something big that gonna happen next chapter. brace yourself

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