Forever and Always

Chapter 2

"Hey!" Scarlett hugged Levi, they were by his locker right before lunch. A few kids still gathered books or chatted.

  "Why are you so happy?" he asked with a laugh.

   "Nothing, I just love you so much."

   "I love you too, you know that right?" he asked, kissing her. Levi was at least a foot taller then her, she felt small when she was around him, but in a way she liked it. He had blond, longish hair that she ran a hand through.

  "I know you do," she said blinking up into his green eyes. "Now, come on, let's get to lunch I'm starving!" she said taking his hand and dragging him down the hall. A few kids waved at them and said "Hi" as Scarlett and Levi passed them. She rounded the corner heading for the cafeteria.

   "It smells like rotten cat food!" Levi said and without turning around Scarlett knew he was making a face.

  "Rotten cat food? Wow."

  "It does!" he retorted. "I'd rather eat bark off a tree!"

   "Have you actually tried bark? Because trust me, it is nasty stuff," Scarlett said grinning.

  "You've eaten tree? How can I even be dating you! You know I'm a tree rights activist!" he teased and let go of her hand.

  She laughed and turned to look at him. "You eat cat food, I eat bark/... the way I look at it nobody else would want us!"

   He thought for a moment and then hugged her, enclosing her body into his. "Ain't that the trut-"

  Scarlett heard a gunshot from behind Levi and pulled back to see what was going on. Grant O'Hara stood down the hall with a gun pointed at Levi. The rest happened in slow motion. Scarlett looked at Levi, and his back was bleeding. Then she let out a scream as another gunshot rang out, this time the bullet hit the back of his head.

  "NO!"Scarlett shouted as she grabbed Levi's falling body. "NO!" She knew he wasn't breathing, but she tried to convince herself otherwise. She could hear the screams of other students. She realized Grant was standing there with a smirk on his face, like he'd done something good for the world.

   "NO!" She shouted again burying her face into Levi's shoulder. "You can't die! I love you."

  Scarlett woke up gasping for breath. The day of Levi's death had haunted her dreams for the past week and a half. She clutched her stomach and cried again. She cried aloud and called out his name. She just wanted him to come bursting in with a movie, pop it in her DVD player and snuggle close to her.

   "LEVI."

   "Baby, come here." Christopher Jonas, Scarlett's father, pulled her into his chest. She didn't pull back, she let him hold her while she sobbed. She heard her mother's muffled tears in the doorway, she saw, from the corner of her eye, her little brother, Paul, hug their mother.

"Levi." She cried softly. "Levi."

    Sarah Onash, Levi's mother, stood in the doorway of his room. She watched Scarlett take the things she wanted. Sarah really didn't care what she took, maybe it was just the shock. Her only child had died four days ago, shot in a school hallway/... the victim of a boy who thought Levi had it all. She knew in a way Scarlett was also a victim, the school was a victim/... Sarah was a victim. Sarah watched Scarlett carefully pick up Levi's favorite green sweater, the one she had talked him out of wearing that day, because he was going to play football and she didn't want to wash mud out of it. Sarah broke down again and rushed into her room shutting the door. She picked up the cross that lay on her bedside table and threw it against the wall. She looked up to the ceiling and yelled to God, or another form of a high deity, "Screw you! You let my son die!"

   Scarlett heard Sarah's cries and quickly picked up Levi's things and left the oh so familiar house. It was a welcoming home, a place where Scarlett felt secure ... a second home. She passed the balloons, posters and flowers that lined the front fence of the Onash home, heading towards her own home. She didn't cry, she didn't even shed a tear, she kept her head straight and walked away ... it was probably the last time she would set foot on the property, she knew that.

  "She needs to let go!" Christopher yelled. It was early morning and Scarlett awoke to her parents fighting.

  "She needs to mourn Levi! Chris," she paused. "She loved him, she can't just move on. She needs some more goddamn time," Emma shot back.

  Christopher's fist hit the table, making it quiver. "I love her Emma, I can't bear to see my little girl like this. You saw her last night." His voice was breaking, he started to sob.

  "I know, I know, but she just needs a little more time,” Emma said hugging her husband, rocking him back and forth.

   Paul walked past Scarlett's door and then turned around. He stared at the door wondering if he should say something.

  "What are you doing?" Scarlett asked angrily as she opened the door. She stood there in a cami and underwear, her face still red from crying.

  "N-nothing,” Paul said looking down with sadness.

  "Whatever." She pushed past him and went down the hall to the bathroom. She warmed up the shower and then got in. She felt her short hair, it used to be a rather long length, but the day after his death she cut it into a short bob/... anything to help her move on.

   "I love your hair almost more then I love you." He said stroking her long hair.

   "Should I be jealous of my own hair?" Scarlett asked, her fingers running up and down his arm. They were laying on his bed, cuddling together.

  "Maybe..." he said smiling.

   She closed her eyes and sank down. She let the warm running water hit her face, her back. She sat there, her knees pulled up and her arms around them. She sat there for a good hour, her mind filled with memories and grief. "I love you." She whispered.