Listen to the song up above, please.
Scarlett
A little past nine, I pull up in front of Asher's after running a few errands including a quick run to CVS to pick up my medication. I forcibly shove the white paper bag under the passenger seat. I have no intentions of actually taking the medication unless it's absolutely necessary but if filling and picking it up keeps Barry, Angel, and my parents off my ass for a while, then so be it. I'll keep picking up these prescriptions and stashing them in my car forever. I cut the engine, and walk up to Asher's door while replying to a text from Lucas
Lucas: Are you feeling any better? Do you need me to bring you anything?
To Lucas: Still feeling like crap☹️and no I don't need anything
Almost immediately Lucas responds.
Lucas: Want me to come over? You have to be miserable stuck in that dorm with the devil herself
To Lucas: Nooo. I don't want you to get sick or attacked by your stalker
Lucas: Fine but I can't wait for you to get better ;)
A part of me feels terrible for having been lying to Lucas this past week instead of telling him the real reason why I wasn't spending time with him. I mean I am his girlfriend after all. There should be no reason why I'm sneaking around lying to him about something as simple as hanging out with Asher so he doesn't feel alone. However the other part of me, the part that knows if I tell him that, then I'm going to have to explain to him how we met, which will open up a whole slew of other things that I'm just not ready to tell him. I'm terrified that my secret is going to get out and then Lucas isn't going to want me anymore. I know it's silly and irrational because if he really liked me, then my past won't affect what we have now. In a perfect life, that would be true, but this life isn't perfect and neither am I. Once I tell him it's over. He's going to see me as this broken girl, with one hell of a past. I came here to get away from my past and to no longer be defined by it, but admitting my secrets, is going to effectively ruin this image I've created for myself. I don't want that. I just want to be normal for once. This desire for normalcy is the reason why I can't tell Lucas about Asher, at least not yet.
I walk straight into the Yates' household since Cheryl never locks the door. I think its a white people thing.
"It's Scarlett. I'm back." I call out as I start heading up to Asher's bedroom.
Cheryl comes from the kitchen with a dish rag draped on her shoulder, and bright yellow gloves on her hands. As usual, she looks so sad. There are worry marks permanently etched into her forehead. "Hi, Scarlett." She calls after me.
The majority of time spent with Asher this past week has been upstairs in his bedroom. Most times we just lay in his bed and talk about everything and nothing, other times I convince him to leave his room and go down to his living room where we watch corny 80's movies because those are his favorites. If I'm lucky I can convince him to go for a ride around the city but it never lasts long because he makes up some excuse for needing to be back home, holed up in that room of his.
Today, however, was different. Earlier Asher had insisted that we go to his favorite diner for a late dinner tonight. It was his idea, so I wasn't going to not go. It's one of the tips the therapist gave my parents when a few years ago. "If she actually wants to do something that excites her or makes me her happy, let her do it. It shows that she's getting through it."
So that's what I think this is. This is Asher finally starting to get through the darkness that has been looming over him since I had dinner with his mom. I'm excited about this breakthrough. The sooner I can Asher get through this, the sooner I can go back to being the girlfriend Lucas deserves. The normal girlfriend who doesn't lie about where she's been for a week.
