Scarlet Awakening ♥ [Published]

Prologue

"Holy cow, you have a lot to pack."

I glanced up at my doorway to see my sister, Ella, standing there with her hands planted on her narrow hips. Her red hair was styled in neat curls that framed her pretty face.

"Tell me about it," I muttered, sighing as my eyes swept over my messy room. All of my drawers had been emptied out onto the floor, and were cluttering the floors along with shoes, toiletries, and everything else that I needed for my trip. In reality, I'm sure that I didn't need everything that I planned to pack, but what if I left something behind and then when I got there I realized that I needed it? I couldn't take any chances.

Ella expertly weaved in and out of the stacks and piles that covered my floor and made her way to my bed. "I would help you, but I'm too tired after packing all of my stuff." She climbed up onto my bed and laid down on her back so that her head was hanging off of the bed and her eyes were focused on me.

Rolling my eyes at her statement, I continued to roll up clothes and stuff them into my luggage. I was only allowed two suitcases, and one carry on bag so I had to squeeze as much as I could into each bag. I reached over to grab my bathing suits, separating them from each other before holding them both up in front of me, one in each hand.

They were both string bikinis, except one was blue with white stripes, and the other was black with white dots covering it. My eyes flickered between the two before I groaned and stuffed them both into my suitcase. Boy was this going to be hard considering how much stuff I had left to pack, and how terrible my decision making skills were.

"I'm kind of nervous," Ella said suddenly, grabbing my attention. She was gnawing on her bottom lip, and her eyes were fixated on me.

"Why?"

She shrugged her shoulders, moving to sit upright. "For a lot of reasons."

I waved an arm out in front of me, gesturing to my messy, unpacked room. "I have time."

Ella sighed. "Well, first off we haven't seen mom since she moved out in December. It's been six whole months since we've seen her, and now we're going to spend the summer with her? It's just," she fished for a word for a moment before adding, "crazy."

I nodded my head in agreement. "You're right. How can they expect us to just go to California for the summer and act like everything is all right?"

"Yes!" she yelled in agreement. "Exactly!" Ella shook her head slowly before going on to say, "California."

"California," I repeated.

"We can't just go back and pretend like nothing changed," she spoke, her words coming out a few octaves above a whisper.

"I know," I agreed. "I wonder what's happened since we left."

Ella shrugged.

We sat in silence for a while, just thinking. My head swam with thoughts of seeing my mom, going back to my hometown, and memories of the past. I had left so many loose ends when I left California, and now I was going to have to face everything, and everyone, again.

"I'm going to miss Violet," Ella spoke, breaking the silence that had surrounded us momentarily.

"I'm going to miss her too. I think I'm even going to miss Blake." My eyes widened at that realization. After Blake and Violet had fixed everything, the three of us had began to hang out. Blake and I hadn't gotten close like Violet and I had, but I was going to miss him when I left.

"I think I'm even going to miss Brianna," Ella said with wide eyes. "How is that even possible?"

I laughed at her words, shrugging slightly.Brianna had gotten better after her and Violet had their mysterious talk. Violet never filled me in on what had happened between her and Brianna in the bathroom, but it had seemed that the two had come to a mutual agreement; to leave each other alone, and be cordial when they were in each other's presence. Brianna had even apologized to both Ella and Blake for blackmailing them. I wouldn't say that she was nice now, but she was definitely tolerable. She had even gone and gotten herself a boyfriend who seemed to make her happy. A happy Brianna made everyone around her happier, that was for sure.

"I don't think you'll miss Brianna, but I do think you'll miss being here. I know I will." I sighed, realizing just how true my words were.

"This place has become our home," Ella pointed out.

A breath of air left my lungs in a deep sigh. In less than a year, Virginia had become our home, despite all of the crazy things that had happened in just our first few months of being here. We had our fair share of drama, and wild events, but after everything had calmed down it was great. Ella and I had both made true friends. Violet was now not only close with me, but she was also Ella's friend too. We all spent a lot of our time together and sucked that we had to travel two thousand miles away and leave everything behind.

When my parents had gotten divorced, I was actual happy. Neither of them were emotionally involved in their relationship anymore and it was obvious that they had been staying together because of Ella and me. When my mom left to go back to California and told us that she would see us during the summer, I was actually kind of excited to go back. That is, until now. I hadn't thought about all of the things that California held; old relationships, a reckless reputation, and a past that I was ready to move on from.

I bit my lip, looking up into Ella's green eyes with an expression of uncertainty on my face. Oddly, her expression matched how I felt mine looked.

"I didn't think that we would be going back so soon," I mumbled.

Ella nodded, swiping hair out of her eyes. "I don't think I'm ready to go back."

I nodded in agreement with her statement. I wasn't ready to go back either. Going back meant that I had to face everything I had left behind, and I wasn't sure that I was ready for that.