1974 || 5SOS

Chapter 1

Scarlett

"Scarlett, now think about this. What if this girl turns out to be a crazy murder!" My Mom screeches as she follows me out of the house to my blue Chevy truck where I throw my suitcases into the bed. I huff at her wild attempt to keep me from leaving. I think she knows at this point I'm not going to change my mind, but she is hanging on to the last bit of hope that I will.

I shake my head and try to ease her worried mind by saying, "Mom first off she is not going to kill me. Your niece, my cousin, meet her and said the girl was really nice and normal."

I walk back inside to grab the last of my bags, however, the air felt heavy with the weight of my mother's expectations. The walls of our small home were adorned with framed Bible verses, reminders of the devout life she insisted we lead. I couldn't remember the last time I'd had a friend over; she never approved of late-night gatherings or the kind of fun that involved anything other than studying or church.

As I approached my bedroom door way I see the golden rays of the setting sun caught the edges of my untouched homework scattered across the floor. I sighed, pushing a stray curl of my bright red hair behind my ear. Why couldn't I just be like the girls I saw outside? Free to roam, to laugh, to make mistakes.

My hand trembles as I grab the last bag and turn around, heading back to the truck. I have never been more than an hour from my home. In all honesty, I haven't actually ever left the state of Nevada.

Mom follows me through the yard trying to frantically come up with some reason I should stay and says, "You're going to just leave me?"

I take a deep breath of the hot dry air to soothe my racing heart, and remember why I'm leaving. I went one year to college to please her, but it was one of the worst years of my life. Although I have always done well in school I hated it. Everything from the routine to the people.

My mom continues on, "You could go to that nice little community Christian college not far from here and be close to me."

"Look, Mom, I get you're worried about me and want what's best, but me being here isn't it. I want to experience something for once. I'm nineteen and can make my own choices and I choose to get out of this town," I sternly tell her as I open the driver door of my Chevy. I love my mother, but with her constant watch over me as if I was going to explode at any second has held me back from experience most have already had. My last eighteen years of my life were just black and white. I have no color in my life. I understand she wants to protect me because ever since my dad passed when I was little I'm all she has.

My mom sighs finally giving up. She knows there was no changing my mind and I just hope that she won't worry too much about me. I pull her in for a hug and say, "It's only four hours from Minden to San Francisco. As soon as I'm settled in you can come visit okay?"

She hugs me tightly back, her warm embrace calming some of the nervous I have about everything. She strokes my hair and softly says with a chuckle, "I guess there's no stopping you. Call me lots and call me when you get there please."

Pulling apart I nod. Despite her overprotective ways, she is an amazing mother. Her eyes are misty and I know she's bound to cry at any moment.

"Bye Mom."

""Just remember, dear," she said, her gaze softening. "You can't stray too far from the path." With that, she stepped away and left me alone once more, leaving me to grapple with the suffocating expectations and the tantalizing possibilities that lay just beyond.

The engine rumbles to life and as I pull out of the drive way I glance in the review mirror. She's waving and I stick out my hand waving.

Once I'm out of town it was a straight shot to freedom. I turn on the radio that for so many years only played Christian music. I don't know much about my roommate, but I'm hoping she is wild and will introduce me to everything I have been held from in life. I have never listened to disco, blues or jazz music and I had been forbidden to listen to rock. My mom believes it is corrupting our society into being promiscuous and promoting recklessness. Of course when we were in town eating she couldn't control what they played not that she hadn't tried, so I had heard a few songs not that I had much of a chance to really listen and decide if I liked it or not.