Night Changes

Chapter 7- Momma

"memory is an abstract painting—it does not present things as they are, but rather as they feel," —line from Eugenia W. Collier's "Marigolds"

It was no surprise that Scarlett's father was not home yet when she woke up on Monday morning. Sometimes he stayed out a little later than he should have. But Scarlett was used to being on her own, so it did not bug her too much.

That Monday at school really did feel like a Monday for both Scarlett and Adam. After the extravaganza last Friday, neither had very few things going on. Neither teen had any desire to step foot into Willow's Creek High. Who could blame them?

Scarlett made a point to evade any sign of Adam, which was not too hard. Since the two of them only shared one class, all she had to do was keep her head down and make herself invisible. She was really good at being invisible.

"All right, Scar, spill," Devin said as he slammed his lunch tray down on the cheap plastic table. Scarlett looked up from her book with a sigh. Devin always knew when something was wrong with her. No matter how many walls she put up, she could not keep him out.

"What do you mean, spill?" She asked innocently, trying to play dumb. Devin just scoffed at her.

"Don't pull that. I want you to tell me what's going on between you and new kid! He's been watching you all day, and you're being more anti-social than normal. Spill your soul!" He gasped dramatically. He sat down across from her and crossed his arms, promptly waiting for an answer.

"His name is Adam," she said under her breath.

"Ha! See, you know his name, which means he's important, or at least some what significant," Devin persisted. Scarlett gave him a pointed look. It took him a moment to properly connect the dots.

"Oh my God. Is that the Adam? Adam as in the Adam who was your like childhood best friend and left and totally broke your little fetus heart Adam?!" He asked in shock. Scarlett gave a single nod in reply.

"Oh boy he better watch his back. Make one wrong move boy and I'll be on his ass so fast he won't know what happened," Devin said through gritted teeth.

"Oh stop it, Dev. He hasn't caused me too much trouble," Scarlett said.

"Has he spoken to you? Did he recognize you?" He asked quickly.

"I don't think he did immediately, but he did talk to me. His Uncle's girlfriend knows Roxi, so he was at the Grill last Monday. We spoke a bit, but we haven't since then. I have no plans of doing so again," she said calmly. She didn't say anything about the fiasco on Friday. She did not see any reason to drag him into her life drama too much.

"Well, it could've been worse. But I still think he's trying to pursue you," Devin insisted.

"Why?" Scarlett asked.

"Because he's walking over here right now," Devin declared nonchalantly, picking up a french fry from his plate. Scarlett whipped around to look behind her. Sure enough, Adam was making his way over to her with his head held high.

"Scarlett, can I talk to you for a minute. Preferably alone," Adam asked slowly, glancing toward Devin pointedly. Scarlett glanced back at Devin, whom nodded encouragingly, before standing up briskly. She walked over to the doors and stepped outside. She leaned against the brick school wall and waited for Adam to catch up.

"So what do you need to say?" She asked, keeping her face blank and emotionless.

"We need to talk about what happened on Friday night," Adam replied. Scarlett groaned in her head.