FREAK SHOW

Chapter 20: Nightmare

Chapter 20: Nightmare

WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER

~"I learned the people we love usual turn out to be one of the three things: a home, a holiday, or hell." ~ Beau Taplin, 'Three Things'

Scarlett could walk but Charlie acted like she couldn't and kept an arm wrapped around her shivering body the whole way to her caravan. It was a little odd having to walk by the mourners while she was drenched in salt water, a piece of seaweed tangled in her blonde hair.

Charlie didn't say anything the whole time. And for some reason it made Scarlett angry. He was making her feel like she disappointed him; it was the worst feeling. Maybe she could play it off like she slipped or couldn't swim? No, he saw her jump. He saw her try to drown. It would be pointless.

It was truly sad she realized. There was nothing sadder than a young person who has barely seen the world, yet who has seen enough to know they do not wish to be a part of it. Scarlett had seen the world, probably traveled all the ends of the country by now. It wasn't a pretty site.

Nevertheless, her room was empty when she entered it and no one was available to yell at her for bringing in water on the old floors. She wouldn't have cared anyways.

After dragging herself to the bathroom, the cold water from the shower didn't warm up and Scarlett could hardly scrub the kelp and the salt from her hair because her hands were shaking so violently. By now she wasn't sure if it was because of the temperature or  the nerves.

Once she was dressed in an oversized t-shirt and some shorts that were three sizes too small, Scarlett left the caravan to find Charlie waiting for her. He stood under the awning as usual, smoking a cigarette. Her hair was wet but the air between them was even colder.

"Those things will kill you," her words were frosted.

Charlie looked up at her, and his mouth twitched. He wondered where her sudden coldness came from. "I think we've been over this."

"You shouldn't have done that." Scarlett went straight to the point.

"What?" he had the audacity to act confused. She dropped down from the wood stairs and cornered him. She balled her hands up into tiny fists.

"I do not need you making decisions for me, ok?"

"What?" Charlie repeated for a second, "Wait- is this about me saving you?" He stubbed out his cigarette on the side of the caravan and tossed it in the grass. He crossed his arms over his chest before turning to her fully; Scarlett stared up at him in an equal defiance.

"Yes, ok? I wasn't drowning."

"Bullshit," he scoffed, "Really Letty'? That water was freezing, you would have froze to death if you weren't drowning."

Scarlett looked down at the floor, rubbing her forehead. "That wasn't what I meant."

"I-," she flicked her eyes back up to him. He was gazing down at her with that fond expression of his, even after she had just made him angry. Her breath stalled, fuck. She really didn't know how to do this when he looked at her like that. "You've kept me from drowning in more ways than one. But...now I know how to swim."

Charlie didn't get it. His eyebrow rose. "What are you saying?"

"Look I uh- just after everything that happened, I can't- I can't deal with you. No, no, I didn't mean it like that, just I need space." Scarlett could barely look at him now so she focused on the trees behind him.