Don't Forget Tomorrow

Chapter 2

Big, beige houses all lined up in rows. All the same. All rich. As I open the door to the outside, all I could see were these houses, nothing more, nothing less. Surprisingly, we weren't the only family that had this idea to go introduce ourselves. There were already tons of families mingling and playing around, as if they were old friends. 

Just then, my awe was interrupted by a football coming my way. I fall backwards in a daze, thankfully hitting my head on the grass instead of the cold, hard sidewalk. Just my luck.

Opening my eyes, I realize I'm now on top of a table, with everyone crowded around me.

"She's waking up! She's up!" Yells an older guy, who's voice I'm not familiar with, "look, I'm really sorry. I wasn't trying to hit you, if that helps." Right.. because knowing you didn't mean to do it really helps curb the pain in my head right now. My head throbs and I can only really understand bits and pieces of what people were saying.

"Should... ambulance?" I hear my mom frantically yell while she looks all around for a phone.

"5 minutes..." Was all I could make out from what I hear some woman say. I'm guessing I was unconscious for about 5 minutes. Or maybe they'll wait another 5 minutes for me to get up? Maybe the ambulance is coming in 5 minutes?

"HONEY CAN YOU HEAR ME?" My mom yells into my ear, practically bursting my eardrums. I don't think I'm gonna be able to hear anything after she just did that. And, of course, she's decided to keep yelling that into my ear until I give her some kind of confirmation that I heard what she's trying to say.

"I'm... fine," I struggle to get the words out of my mouth, but I do it in a raspy, hoarse voice. 

"SHE'S FINE EVERYONE GIVE HER SPACE!" My mom seemingly screams out, causing everyone to take a step back and evaluate the situation. 

As I attempted to get up, people crowded towards me even more. The smell of sweaty bodies increased my desire to lay back down on the table and give up. However, I accomplished my task and got back up onto my feet. Everyone stared me down, as if these first steps I took were on the moon. 

Walking around, like a normal human being, I began to lose everyone's interest in the situation and I was finally at peace. Until he decided to annoy me. 

"Sorry about that. I mean you were kinda in the way though. Like you could've ducked down or something," the boy from before when I was lying down tells me. 

"Maybe.." I grumble, "if you saw me in your way, you could've, I don't know, not thrown the ball?!"

"Calm the hell down.. it's not a big deal," the boy answers back.

"NOT a big deal?!" I ask, "It's not a big deal for you because you aren't the one who was just unconscious for the past 15 minutes!" At this point I'm fuming. He was just trying to cover his own ass by making it seem like I was being a diva.

"You're exaggerating. Chill..." He attempts to be less of an ass, but it doesn't really work. "Look, I'm Carter. Maybe we can talk, chill out? If you want." 

Carter. I always liked that name. How great that he had to go and ruin it for me. "Ya... no. What I want is for you to leave me alone, you've kinda done enough," I growl at him. Who is he to tell me what to do, right after he threw a football at my face?

"Right. So your name is....?" Carter persists, maybe he's trying to clear his conscience so he doesn't have to remember this... for today.

I glare at him, a blank expression on my face. "No. I'm not doing this whole friendly thing. Bye," I snarl, rather rudely. He still has that same stupid smirk on his face, completely not phased by what I said. 

"So, you see, I didn't ask you a yes or no question, so usually that means you're not supposed to give me a yes or no answer. I'm waiting..." He smirks, happy with himself.

"Well... I guess you're gonna have to be waiting all day," I answer, pretty contently, as I walk away and plan to forget him. Then, he jumps right back into my face, ruining my plan. I begin to notice the small features he has: his bright blue eyes, reminding me of the ocean; his award winning smile, reminding me of that of Zack Efron's. "Snap out of it," I remind myself, he's an asshole who hit you in the face.

"Snap out of what?" Carter asks, rather confused, stretching from behind a tree. 

"Huh?" I ask, confused. Oh shit, he heard that? "Uhm... nothing. So... you should leave me alone now. Bye!"

"Aren't you wondering why I followed you again?" Carter tells me. If I knew one thing about Carter in these few minutes that I've known him, it is that he's persistent. And an asshole. Okay, two things.

"Not really, no." I answer, not caring what he says, just wanting him to leave. I walk away from him, and after he realizes and stops getting caught in his own thoughts, he sprints after me.

"I still didn't get your name. I mean, it's only fair. I told you mine."

"Will you finally leave me alone if I tell you?" I check, to make sure I'm not wasting my time.

"Depends.." He answers, vaguely.

"Fine. It's Scarlet. Bye now," I state, for the third time. I walk away swiftly, back towards the gathering of people. Looking up, I realize the sun was setting. Carter and I must've been talking for way longer than I thought.

"Hey honey, I was about to go looking or you. You just ran off," my mom says annoyingly. I ignore her and walk towards the grill. Apparently, there's a barbecue going on and I'm not gonna stop until I get my hands on a burger.

After all the festivities, I start to say goodbye to all the people I talked to, my last words not being good night or goodbye, but "hope I remember you tomorrow!" Everyone returns to their respective houses, and I notice Carter lived across the street from me. Hopefully I don't have to deal with him tomorrow.

I inhale the smell of the pumpkin spice candles as I walk into my home. Everything felt so familiar. Knowing that this feeling wouldn't be back in the morning, I try to breathe it in and live in it for as long as I can. 

My silence is interrupted with a bunch of 'good night scarlet's and the sounds of people walking towards their rooms. I reply with the monotone, "Goodnight" and begin to head towards my room. 

After I got ready for the night, I snuggle into bed and try to reflect on the day, as I do every night. Not that I knew that. Only one memory prevailed, and that was that of Carter and his nagging. "Ugh, what a horrible last thought to have," I mumble to myself. 

Looking around my room, I scan every single item while hoping that if I do so, I'll have some memory of it in the morning. Of course, that never works. Since I can't sleep, I decide to go over to the window and look out there and try to scan every item in hopes of remembering. 

In the house across the street, through the window, I see Carter doing the same thing. He scans through everything until his face meets mine, and I assume he's noticed me. I try to pretend I don't see him, as he does the same, and we both resume our scanning of the area. At least he's leaving me alone now. Thoughts of how annoying Carter is prevailed through mind for most of the time before I went to sleep.

My eyes got heavier after thinking about every house and every detail, so I decide to go to bed like everything is normal.

Even though I know that it isn't.