Wherever You Went

Chapter Two ~Scarlett King~

    My bedroom is on the second floor, along with my dads. Our house had three bedrooms, two bathrooms. My bedroom had a jack and Jill bathroom with the bedroom next to mine. My parents had planned for two kids when they bought the house, before my mother got sick.
     My room, the farthest one down the hall, was the second biggest besides the master. I hadn't changed the lilac colour of my walls since I was nine. I had two windows in my room, one above my bed, a half circle that overlooked the neighbors house, and a bay window that looked out at the front yard. The wall around my bay window was covered in banners, academic awards, my first cheer uniform framed, and photos dating back to my first hours of life. 
    I walked over to a certain point on my photo album wall, the summer Thea's parents took us to Los Angeles for a week. We spent most of our time down at the beach, drooling over the tan surfers. There were so many pictures taken of us. Especially when we had attempted to surf. There was this one photo of Thea falling off her board in mid air, and me, just happening to look like a pro right before I joined her in the Pacific. I touched the wall gently, as I had many times before. I closed my eyes and whispered a small prayer, even though I wasn't very religious.
     Turning away, I opened my dresser drawers and gathered underwear for my shower, and throwing it on the counter in the bathroom, along with a towel. I went over to my closet and sorted through my "date" clothing. I was getting impatient with my clothing, so I closed my eyes, and reached for the section that had my pants, then the same with my shirts. Looking at what I had chosen, I was fairly pleased. For pants I had randomly picked high waisted black jeans, and for a shirt, a dark blue peplum top that matched my eyes. I threw the two items on my bed, along with my choice of shoes, and a jacket.
     I closed the bathroom door when I stepped in, turning on the fan, and the shower. I liked hot showers, the steam hitting my body. Even if I had just got back from a run, I always chose hot over cold.
    Getting out of the shower, I could smell the jasmine that my shampoo and conditioner were fused with. I dried myself off, got dressed, and put a towel around my shoulders, letting my hair fall around it. I wiped away the steam on my mirror, and stared at my reflection for a moment. I had the signature sapphire eyes, with a strange gray colour circling them, with dark, thick lashes, that all Kings had, surrounded by a pale face that stood out against my inky colored hair. My hair hung flat to the middle of my ribs, with blunt bangs straight across my forehead, and that was it. It wouldn't even frizz, or have a small wave. Dang hair.
    I played around with my hair in the mirror when an idea struck me. I stripped out of my clothes, so not to ruin them, wrapping a towel around myself, and headed back into my room. I went to my knees and looked under my bed, and there, a single cardboard box stood, hidden from sight. I reached out, grabbed it, and brought it to my bathroom, spilling its contents next to the sink. I didn't even think about what I was doing. I mixed the red colouring into the bottle of bleach and shook it vigorously, until it was a dark red mixture. I took certain strands of my hair and doused them in the bleach, making sure it didn't bleed onto other strands. When I was done I took a pair of scissors from a drawer below the sink, and cut parts of my bangs, straight up, giving them an edgy look. Without hesitation, I switch the scissors to a blow dryer and finished drying my hair. The steam was gone from the mirror and I had a full view of my head.
     I saw the sides of my mouth curl up towards my eyes as I admired my new look. I decided for tonight to emphasize the new color, by twisting the red forward and hiding as much of the black as possible, leaving the bangs out. I tucked the sides into a bun that hung on the base of my hair line. Slipping back into my clothing, I took out my makeup that had been left untouched for months. I choose a black pencil, powder foundation, concealer to hide my purple bags, a touch of blue, and pinkish red lipstick. My eyes looked smoky and my attire was edgy. Smacking my lips together, something Thea used to hate, and I would do just to irritate her, I turned off the bathroom lights and walked back into my bedroom.
    Slipping on my two inch black boots, and grabbing my wallet and coat, I went out of my bedroom. I quietly went down the stairs, when normally I would skip every other one on the way down. I peeked in the living room for my dad, no sign, he wasn't in the dining room either so I snuck into the kitchen and I saw the back of him. I was about to say something when I heard a moan.
    No.
    Way.
    I finally saw the smaller figure in front of him and I widened my eyes.
    "Mrs. Rose?!" My eyes already hurt from opening them so wide. I couldn't close my mouth either. Kerri Rose, Thea's mother, was very, very married to the her husband, our town's mayor. Kerri, Robert (Theas father), my own dad, and my mother had been friends since high school! Kerri had been with Robert since the eighth grade, and she had never strayed from him. This was shocking.
    "Scarlett.." She heavily breathed my name and my dad turned around. Although he looked ridiculous with Mrs. Roses lipstick all over his mouth, I didn't really feel like laughing.
    "Lettie, I can explain-" thank god at that moment there was a knock at the front door. I whipped around and almost sprinted to the door. I threw it open and ran into David. I stumbled a bit but then wrapped my arms around his stomach tightly. He was surprised for a moment but quickly returned my tight embrace. I could hear footsteps, and turned around, still against David.
    "Scarlett we have to talk about this!" My father tried but I held up my hand to him for the first time in ten years.
    "Don't- please. I really don't want to hear, or deal with this right now. I have a date." Without another word, I turned and closed the door. I walked around David and headed to his car. I heard him following me.
    I had to almost jump into his truck, something we'd always laugh about, but tonight was different. I was getting more and more angry as I failed to get in. David was already sitting in the driver's side looking at me, trying to contain a smile, and failing miserably. I stopped trying and just stared at him.
    "Well?!? Are you going to just sit there, or are you going to come help me get into your death machine?" I really hated trucks. For starters, I couldn't get into most of them, and David didn't have anything to help me get into it. He quickly got out and jogged over to my side. I waited to feel his hands on my waist, when I did a pre jump, then an actual one to get in. He lifted me up, and I was careful not to put my butt directly in his face. I could hear him chuckling under his breath. I gave him my death stare, which just made him laugh more, and I slammed the door and faced forward.
    Out of the corner of my eye, I watched David climb into his truck with ease. I tucked my legs up underneath me and faced my door. I heard David finally calm his laughter and take a deep breath.
      "I like your hair." David stated.
      "I needed a change." I snapped back, not taking the compliment
    "Ookkaayy. So what was Mrs. Rose doing over at your house? And the shouting at your dad? I've never heard you yell at him before." I kept my position and answered him with hate dripping from my voice.
     "Making out in the kitchen."
     "What?! Jack and Mrs. Rose?!" David's face was in complete shock.
     "Yep. Thea is gone three months and her mother is back to her old games." I huffed.
      "Old games?" David had just stopped the car at a red light that connected the end of my street to the town's Main Street.
       "It's not the first time Kerrie Rose has cheated, and it's not the first time I have caught her." I admitted. I turned away from the door and faced him. "I'll explain it to you someday, just not tonight."
      "Of course," David reached over and took my small hand in his, "so where do you want to go tonight?"
       "Corvallis." I answered immediately, not thinking it through.
       "Corvallis? Why?"
       "It's pretty at night, like a mini New York City all lit up."
       "It's far from New York City but if you want to-"
       "It's not big deal, we can just stay in town if you want. Chinese?" I cut him off. It was a stupid decision, but whenever we had a bad day, Thea and I would drive to Corvallis and have a night out.
       "Scar, if you want to go to Corvallis, I'll get on the highway now." he said.
       "Really, it's fine." I squeezed his hand reassuring him that it was fine. Thea and I normally went to Corvallis to go dancing at a club/karaoke bar called "Down Under", named for the fact that it is under ground. It's a club where most college kids go to, or underaged kids looking for a good time. Then of course, I remembered who I was with, David would never have let me go, and if he knew.... Let's not even think about it.
        "No. Scar, we are going to Corvallis, it's where you want to go." I smiled at how kind and thoughtful he was.
        David took a long breath before the red light we were at turned green, and we turned onto the highway towards Corvallis.
    "Get off on exit 28." I told him, David only nodded in response.