Kisses, Crushes, and Fro-Yo

Chapter 11 - There Was Something There

I rounded the corner upstairs to Scarlet's bedroom, hearing the T.V. blasting what seemed to be Grey's Anatomy. I quietly pushed open the door, not wanting to disturb them.

Myra and Scarlet were lying under the duvet of Scarlet's bed, Scar with her head in Myra's chest and Myra gently petting Scar's red hair. I took a step forward, which resulted in a squeak of the floorboards, and both Myra and Scar jolted, whipping their faces to mine.

Myra immediately stopped soothing Scar, and Scarlet sat up. Her eyes were still vaguely red and puffy.

"Hey, Beena," Myra said. "How did it go?"

I smiled, looking down. "It went...well." I responded. Almost a bit surprised.

And so I launched into a rundown of how the night and Shane and I's "date" went. I included everything, even when Dash showed up. All except what Shane had confided in me on our walk back home. We didn't exactly go over whether or not he wanted to keep it to myself, but I decided I would. He didn't have to explicitly say it for me to understand that what he mentioned was personal, and he didn't tell people about it too frequently.

"Scar, can I borrow some of your clothes? To sleep in, I mean," I asked, already getting up from the bed. She nodded, which I knew she would. I stole one of her big t-shirts and some baggy shorts.

As I started to undress, I looked at Scarlet, wanting to know how her night had gone. "So Scar, tell me...what happened tonight? I mean, there's no way you got that worked up over just me, right? I suppose the kiss between Shane and I is still a little embarrassing, but I swear, we're cool now."

Scarlet looked up at me and sighed. I looked to Myra, but her head was down, checking her phone. I slipped on the shorts and grabbed the t-shirt. "Well...please don't hate me, but....I haven't been 100% honest with you guys..." Scarlet trailed off. She snatched a scrunchie from her dresser and looped her fiery hair into a bun, as if she was preparing for something difficult. Once I was dressed, I made for the bed, ready to grab her hand if she needed it.

"Calvin and I hooked up a few times." Myra flinched, and my eyebrows raised. I had no idea that they had even been talking.

Scarlet looked at both of us, clearly waiting for one of us to say something, so I spoke up: "Okay, so... how did this start? And, what happened with it? Is it continuing, or...?" I trailed off, waiting for her to fill in the gaps.

"A few days after the kiss, he direct messaged me on instagram. Said he 'enjoyed the kiss' or something that sounded endearing at the time but now just seems sleazy." She rolled her eyes and continued. "I thought we would start hanging out, like, for real. Get to know each other, like I always wanted. But he had other ideas. All he wanted was a quick hook up. Nothing serious."

My lips parted. "Scar, why didn't you ever tell us? We would've told you that he isn't worth your time," I said. Myra nodded in agreement.

"I know, I know," she said, shaking her head. "But I was embarrassed. He never wanted to be official. I didn't want for you guys to think that I was some stupid girl, chasing a player who was only using me."

I rubbed her shoulder, seeing her eyes tear up. She continued on: "I was ready to cut if off. But he asked for the double date, and I was so elated, I just had to say yes. And of course, I was mad about him bringing Shane, because it was a smack in the face to you, Beena, after you guys kissed...but there was also just a lot of pent up anger that I wasn't willing to acknowledge until tonight."

I wrapped her in a bear hug, wanting to stop any flood of tears. I pulled away, and looked to Myra. She was looking at Scarlet with watery eyes. Gently, Myra brushed back a strip of Scarlet's red locks that had escaped from her bun. "Scar," she said, without breaking eye contact, "you deserve so much better than that. Someone who really and truly cares about you." Her gaze was so intense that I looked away. As if Myra and Scar were suddenly in their own world.