Keep Me Safe

Chapter Three

Lottie smelled like honey.

There was no way that it was a perfume. The only perfume scents that Agnes had ever smelled were the ones worn by all the old ladies in town, the ones that smelled too strongly of whatever egregious scent the store carried. Those women, who normally would have reeked of the musty church pews, practically bathed in the stuff. It was suffocating to be trapped in a room with them.

Unlike them, Lottie's scent was subtle. It was stuck on her hair, her clothes, her skin. Whenever a gentle breeze would drift past her, it would carry with it the smell of honey.

At first, Agnes was unable to identify what she smelled like. She caught a whiff of it as they were leaving the backyard, and it unlocked in her mind some long forgotten memory of summertime happiness. She was greatly annoyed that the identity of the scent was eluding her. It wasn't until they were halfway down the driveway that the image of the sticky substance appeared in her mind.

Agnes didn't stand a chance. The smell of honey mixed with Lottie's brilliant smile and soft eyes left her a blubbering wreck. It was even worse whenever Lottie, with that angelic voice, tried to strike up a conversation.

"Floyd always talked about you," Lottie mentioned as they started down the road. "I take it you two are very close?"

"Yeah," she stammered. "I guess."

"Do you mind if I ask why he calls you Red?"

"Huh?"

"Your nickname. Even back at the college, whenever he would talk about y'all, he never called you Agnes."

"Well-uh- it's kind of a long story." Agnes's cheeks started to burn when she realized just how embarrassing the story of her nickname would be to tell. She'd never had to explain it before because everyone in town knew the story.

Lottie smiled at her and slowed down so that they were walking side by side. "We have a long walk to town. I'd love to hear it."

Agnes began to scratch the back of her neck. "When I was younger, like maybe eight, I was out by the pond and I saw a nest with some big eggs in it on the ground, so I went up to it. Turns out it was a goose nest. I got chased halfway across the forest by it and, when I tripped on a root and fell, it jumped up on me. Took out a good chunk of my earlobe."

She pulled back her greasy hair, revealing the missing part of her left ear. There was a faded red scar along the bottom where it had been stitched up.

Lottie leaned in to look at it, bringing her face only a few inches away from Agnes'. She let out a soft gasp. "That must've hurt a lot. It looks painful. But what does that have to do with the name?"

Agnes let her hair fall back over the ear. She had never been particularly embarrassed by the injury, but now she felt awkward because of Lottie's surprise and intense examination. "I ran all the way back home with half my earlobe in my hand and blood everywhere. Floyd was the one who heard my screaming and found me hysterical in the yard. He started laughing and told me I looked like a red-eared slider. He kept calling me 'Red' even after I got cleaned up, and the name kinda stuck."

Her lips curled back into a slow smile and her shoulders began to shake. She quickly turned away, hand over her mouth, and let out a snort. "I'm so sorry," she said, laughing. "I wasn't expecting that."

A strange flower of emotions began to bloom in Agnes's chest. Seeing Lottie's smile and hearing her laugh, knowing that she caused it, filled her with a warm happiness. It spread from her heart all the way down to her toes. All she could do was smile.

"You know," Agnes said, playfully frowning, "I was terrified when it happened and I thought I was going to die. I passed out in the driveway and face-planted the ground. Broke my nose." She tapped her nose, which had been rendered permanently crooked by the accident.