***
The school day turned out to be even more boring than I originally though. I felt very restless, and was only too glad when lunch came around, that way I could interact with the other students and do something at least a little bit amusing. Chris wasn’t really around very much, I did notice him from time to time, but he mostly hung around with other crowds of students and left me alone for the most part. It was almost like he was someone completely different than what he was earlier this morning.
“So, you never answered me earlier,” Scarlet said. We both stood out in the parking lot really just killing time before we had to leave school and go back home. Chris stood out at the other end of the parking lot.
“I never answered you about what?” I asked more interested in other things than Scarlet’s ranting.
“How do you like Chris? You guys seem to be getting along very well.”
I looked at Scarlet a little shocked that she was still going on about him. “I would hardly call staring at him getting along very well.”
“Halle, he walked you here that must have been a good fifteen minutes…alone… with him!” She walked in front of me and stopped to block my view and get me to pay more attention to her.
“Scar, we just talked, it was no big deal.” I stared down at my black converse shoes.
“Oh, yeah, sure, you just talked. That was it. Nothing else happened.”
Scar’s dark brown eyes glared at me. “We just talked about each other and random things.” I hurried to gather my thoughts, I hadn’t even really thought about it much or attempted to gain perspective on the situation. “It was basically two acquaintances keeping each other company on a short walk to school.” But I knew we were quite a bit more than acquaintances. We were already good friends, and he was that good friend I needed, but at the same time, someone I wanted to get rid of.
Scarlet lowered her head and looked up at me with accusing doe eyes. “Halle… acquaintances, seriously? You have nothing better than that.”
I gave a cheesy smile. “I’m ill, it’s the best I’ve got.”
Scarlet tilted her head to the side. “You do look a little sick.” She looked down at her watch. “My mom is late.”
“Maybe traffic is bad or something…” I shrugged. “Ah well, you get to spend more time with me.”
“Yeah, but she usually isn’t late.” Scarlet’s dramatic features crumpled and pressed together, as her eyes shimmered with worry.
“Call her,” I said logically. “You have your phone, don’t you?”
“Yeah.” Scarlet reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone, quickly dialing some numbers. I listened carefully to Scarlet’s phone call, noticing that I could hear the thing ringing and she didn’t even have it on speaker phone. I remembered Chris saying that werewolves had great hearing. I started thinking about the disadvantages of that more than the advantages. I mean, what if I didn’t want to hear what people were saying? I knew this could be a big disadvantage for me, and I didn’t really like the idea. I snapped back to reality when Scarlet shut her phone.
“She didn’t answer,” Scarlet said.
I shoved my hands in my pockets, “I’m sure she’s fine. Maybe she got caught up at work, she does work for the newspaper doesn’t she?”
“Yeah, but she always answers the phone,” Scarlet crossed her arms. I noticed my dad’s car pulling into the parking lot.
“Is your phone working?” I resisted the urge to grab the phone out of her hands to see for myself.
“Yeah, I just got a text from Rafael a few minutes ago.”
“My dad can take you home if you want,” I suggested.
Scarlet stared toward my dad’s car, his expression far away. “It might be a good idea,” she agreed finally.
Scarlet followed me out to Dad’s car, and I leaned in the passenger-side window. “Dad, we have to drop off Scarlet at her house, her mom didn’t come pick her up.”
I opened up the back door and allowed Scarlet to climb into the back seat, and then I shut the door and sat in the front seat next to my dad. He seemed slightly more cheerful than he usually was. Then again, Dad was almost always jovial.
No one said very much on the way there, and I was kind of happy for it, it was dangerous having the two people I shared lies with in the vehicle at the same time. It would have been so easy for Dad just to ask “so how was the sleepover?” but he didn’t. I think Scarlet was worried about her mother, and I’m sure Dad was just as uncomfortable as he always was around my friends. He’s just not that type of person, not really the “cool” type of parent. He was a good father anyways.
A short while later we turned on Scarlet’s street. It really was a shame we lived so far apart, she lived in the middle of town, and I lived basically as far south as you can go. I jerked my head up when I noticed flashing police lights; the police car was sitting stationary. Looking up in the rear-view mirror I saw Scarlet’s face, it turned ghost white and looked similar to mine earlier this morning. The police car was in front of her house.
Dad pulled the car to a slow stop. I jumped out of the car quicker than I normally would have and held the door open for Scarlet, but she didn’t move. She sat still in the car staring at her house. I followed her gaze and noticed two police officers standing at her doorstep watching us. My throat became dry for fear of the unknown. They were there for a reason, but I really didn’t want to stick around to find out. I grabbed Scarlet’s arm softly and pulled her out of the vehicle. I don’t ever remember seeing her eyes with such fear before.
Scarlet approached the officers. I shut the car door and peeked in the car window. “Dad, I think I’m going to stick around here for awhile, Scar needs me, I’ll walk home. Don’t let Mom worry, ‘K?” I glanced back at Scarlet.
“Call me if you need me, Sweetheart,” Dad said.
I nodded and stepped back so he could drive away. The officers surrounded Scarlet both looking high, mighty, and intimidating like they always did. I walked over towards Scarlet, attempting to listen to their words, but everything was like I was watching some kind of movie, like I wasn’t really there.
“Where is your dad?” the female officer asked.
“H-He’s at work,” Scarlet stuttered. I never heard her stutter before.
The female officer looked at the male officer. “Scarlet… Stutton is your name? Correct?”
“Yes.”
“Scarlet, any idea when your dad will get home from work?”
“He works afternoons.” Scarlet hugged herself. “He won’t be back until around eight tonight.”
“Who is this?” the male officer asked referring to me.
“Halle Fletcher, my friend.”
“Halle, could we have a moment alone with your friend?”
“Yeah, of course.” I unwillingly walked to the end of the property, but it didn’t matter, I could still hear everything.
“Miss Stutton, we have some bad news…” the male officer said.
I turned my head away unable to watch the terror that I knew would happen unfold.
“Your mother was in a car accident, she passed at the scene.”
I heard Scarlet gasping for air. I bounded over to her and grabbed her in an embrace I didn’t care that I wasn’t supposed to hear. I didn’t care that it wasn’t any of my business according to the officers. She didn’t moan like most would, she gasped for air and tears fell very slowly. They weren’t supposed to fall from her eyes, of all people, she wasn’t one to cry about anything. Then again, I would cry too.
The police both stood there, I hated them for the news they brought, it was never, ever anything good.
The police woman put her hand on my shoulder. “We’ll come back later.”
I shook my head in disgust. Scarlet’s gasps turned into wails. I put my arm around her shoulder and edged her towards the front door. I turned the knob but
it was locked. “Where’s the key?” I asked Scarlet.
“I-I don’t h-have one,” Scarlet said though her tears, I could hardly understand her. I looked down on the ground to see if I could find anything pointy and flat, but I didn’t. Looking back at Scarlet I noticed she had a bobby pin in her hair, I took it out gently and opened the front door with ease. I grabbed Scarlet’s hand and led her into the house. I was sure her vision was blurred by her massive outflow of tears. I had only been in Scarlet’s house a few times before, but it never ceased to amaze me how beautiful and well-kept it actually was. Walking in there was a fireplace—which was still lit, which I found odd being in the middle of the day—a couch to the right, and massive amounts of books and a computer to the left. Straight ahead was a hall, and I knew, the kitchen.
Escorting Scarlet with my arm, I moved her over to the couched sitting her down on an open seat. I sat next to her. She clung to me still crying and sobbing. Her body shook violently. My throat burned and I tried my best not to cry along with her. I don’t ever remember being in such a sad situation before, I didn’t really know what to do. I was never the one to console another person. My shirt was wet with her tears, but I didn’t really care, I was just happy I could do something—anything. But, even with that I still felt helpless.
I stared into the flickering fire. I found it odd that the police didn’t just call Scarlet’s dad right away, I thought someone would call him if there was an emergency.
It felt like hours passed, and with every moment I felt Scarlet’s pain, I could just imagine the things that were going through her mind. With nothing to compare it to, I compared it to how I would feel if my parents died. Lost, alone, and like no place you were, was home, even though you sat there now. Scarlet’s wails and cries eventually reduced to sobs. I still held her tight, and she still clung to me in the same way she had when we first sat down. I hadn’t swallowed in ages, or even uttered a single word or sound, for I knew that doing anything other than breathing would trigger tears, and I needed to be strong, for Scarlet’s sake.
“She l-left me,” Scarlet sobbed. “I-I’m here and s-she left me.” Scarlet had a relationship with her mother like no other person I had seen before, they were best friends. They both had something that I knew I would never have with either of my parents. They were even better friends than her and I were. “She p-promised s-she would not leave me.”
“Scarlet, anyone can promise that, but no one can keep that promise. Circumstances pulled her away, she didn’t go willingly,” I managed to choke out.
Scarlet sobbed harder, and I knew I didn’t say the right thing. She needed someone to agree with everything she said, not words of wisdom.
“You’ve probably heard this a million times, but I’m going to say it again because it’s true: she will always be with you in a way. What did she always tell you?”
Scarlet tried to stop her sobs, she looked up at me wiping away tears, “Big girls don’t cry.”
I gave a careful laugh, knowing it could easily turn into a sob.
“There are m-millions of g-girls out t-there who don’t give a damn a-about their mother—why m-mine?”
“It’s not about who deserves it or who doesn’t, because you, of all people, definitely don’t deserve this. It’s about whose time it is, and it was her time to go. There is no other explanation for that, and don’t you forget it.”
“But, she left me, a-alone. All alone, h-here. I want to go with her!” Scarlet yelled and stood up, she searched around the room for what I didn’t know, but I knew it wasn’t anything good. I jumped up after her, I saw her grab a pencil. She stabbed at her wrist, but I was only too glad when I saw that it didn’t break the skin.
“Scarlet!” I yelled and grabbed the pencil from her before she knew what was happening. Scarlet slid down the edge of the bookshelf with such force it knocked a few books out on top of her. I sat down in front of her taking her hands.
“You have too much to live for!”
“What? Should I become a lawyer like Mom wanted? Should I become a fashion designer like Mom suggested? Everything in the world is about her.” Scarlet picked up a fallen book, “This book is written by her.”
I sat back on my heels, “No, there are things in this world you don’t even know about, things that are worth living for. What about your dad, he needs you. What about me? I need you, what do you think I would do without you?”
“You have your parents, you’ll be fine. Dad is Dad, he’ll get over it, he never wanted me anyways.”
I gasped, “What makes you say that, he loves you. You are his flesh and blood!”
“He said so!” Scarlet said, she was hardly sobbing anymore and I knew she was in her anger stage.
“I’m sure he said that when he was angry. People say these things, Scar, and they don’t mean them. Your dad loves you more than anything in this world.”
“Yeah, now that Mom is dead he really doesn’t have a choice.”
“I need you, Scar.”
“You don’t! No one does!” Scarlet yelled hiding her face away under her hands.
I took a deep breath, “Scarlet, I need you—”
“Will you shut-up already?”
“Listen,” I took another breath, “I need you—there are things in this world, you couldn’t begin to imagine. Scarlet, I am a werewolf.”
Scarlet stood, “Oh, that’s low, that is so low.”
I scowled; I had no proof, why did I tell her this? Then I remembered the one werewolf feature I had even when I wasn’t transformed.
“I can prove it, and you have to believe me, give me a chance to prove it. That is why I was ill before. And I wasn’t ill last night at the party, I never left the woods. Christopher covered for me. Give me one chance to show you proof.”
Scarlet folded her arms, “I really don’t need this now, Halle.”
I held up a finger to her face, “One chance. I’m not messing with you. You wanted to know what me and Chris have been talking about? I’ll tell you. ”
Scarlet looked away, “Fine.”
I stood up to Scarlet’s height now, “I have wolf-like hearing abilities, I can hear nearly everything in this house from the end of the street. Stand here, say one sentence, and I will come back into this house and repeat it to you, word for word.”
I turned around without waiting for Scarlet’s response. I opened the door, closed it behind me, and walked all the way to the end of the property, so far that if I were to take another step I would be in the street. I saw Scarlet peeking out of the window at me, then she walked back away from the window. I listened and I listened hard. I heard her footsteps. She snuffled, then silence… more footsteps and the door opening.
“Well?” Scarlet said.
I walked back over towards Scarlet. I stood near her.
“Well?” she repeated forcefully.
“You said nothing.”
“Clever of you, that’s easy to say when you can’t hear anything isn’t it?”
“Oh, I heard, I heard you walking away from the window, I heard you snuffle, and I heard you walk to the door. You said nothing.”
Scarlet adverted her gaze in a cold hearted way. Surely she would believe me after that demonstration.
“If you’re still not satisfied, I can demonstrate that again.”
“Fine,” Scarlet said and closed the front door behind herself.
I walked to the end of the property again; the sun was almost set in the sky by now. I listened just as closely as I did before. “The reason for living is dying,” I heard Scarlet say faintly.
The door opened again and Scarlet peeked her head out. I walked towards her. “The reason for living is dying,” I said giving her a hard look. “Believe me now?”
Scarlet swung the front door open, and I knew she believed me. I felt a sudden relief that I wasn’t the only one that knew about my condition, I
mean, Christopher was fine, but he really was just an acquaintance. Scar was someone who knew me, whom I could talk to and trust for a reality check. It benefited me and her, since this insane information distracted her from the news of her mother passing.
I stepped back into the house.
“How long have you known?” Scarlet asked.
“Since I first turned last night,” I said. “But, you can ask questions later, know that I am here for you now. Not only do I need you, but I’m quite sure you need me too and I can’t live without you. No one else knows and no one else would believe me anyways, and it’s hard and scary and difficult.”
Scarlet suddenly looked grimmer than she did a moment ago; I think I reminded her about her mother. “I’m going to puke,” Scarlet announced running down the hall and into the bathroom.
I heard her vomit as if I was standing right next to her; this was definitely one of those disadvantages of being able to hear so well. I walked slowly down the hall. I was never really good at cheering people up or making situations better, I always had the knack of knowing just the wrong thing to say at the wrong time. Silence served me better about 90% of the time. I walked into the bathroom; she draped her body carefully over the toilet seat. I grabbed a wash cloth and bent down to her level. She turned her head towards me. I handed her the wash cloth wearing a forced smile.
I heard the front door open; both Scarlet and I jumped up from the floor and bounded out of the bathroom. I let Scarlet take the lead and stopped just past the end of the hall. Scarlet’s dad was home from work, he sat down his lunch box. His eyes were bloodshot; it appeared as though he already got the news after all.
Scarlet took slow steps towards her father. He embraced her letting out another round of tears; her dad did too, but not quite as much. It was such a sad sight, seeing two people whom have shed so little tears in their lifetimes to be making up for lost time now. I suddenly felt out of place and knew it was about time for me to leave. A few moments passed and they finally released each other’s embrace. I approached Scarlet.
“Call me, if you need anything, anything at all,” I said, and hugged her.
I took a step back, “My deepest sympathies go to the both of you.”
Neither of them said anything. Scarlet’s dad stepped out of my way, it felt awkward for a moment, but I should have known they would not have said anything anyways. I opened the door taking one last look at the unfixable faces, and closed the door behind myself.