Scarlett White

by Chloe Smith

  "I know. She's practically an angel, compared to the rest of the students at our school."

  "She's still coming down here during Christmas break, right?"

  "I don't know," Chloe said slowly. "I'm not sure her stepfather will like the idea now that she has amnesia."

  "Damn it," Ginny swore.

  Ginny missed Scarlett. She wanted to see her again. It had been almost one month and a half since she had last seen her best friend. And Tristan needed her. Ginny just knew that if Scarlett came home for only a little while, Tristan would wake up. She didn't know how, but she just knew he would wake up.

  "She needs to come home," Ginny said, sounding defeated as if she already knew she was fighting a losing battle.

  "I mean, if we could convince Melody of thinking it's a good idea for Scarlett to come home, then it would be a straight shot from there," Chloe said.

  "Melody?" Ginny asked.

  "She's Scarlett's stepsister, and Melody gets anything she wants with just one bat of her eyes," Chloe elucidated.

  "Perfect. But, wait a second, why exactly do you want her to come down here? Are you trying to get rid of her or something?" Ginny asked suspiciously.

  "Not at all. Scarlett is like my fourth sister. But, honestly, I think that if Scarlett goes back to the place where she grew up, something might spark her memory. If she sees her old friends, her old school, her old classmates, maybe even her old home if it's still on the market, it might help her remember," Chloe replied.

  "Good point. Maybe you could use that to convince Melody to talk to her father," Ginny said.

  "I will. I'll talk to her today actually. I think she's coming by the hospital to visit Scarlett in a few hours. Okay, well, I gotta go. Talk to you later," Chloe said and hung up Scarlett's phone.

  "Hey, Chloe, I think she is remembering some things," Zoey said from the seat beside the hospital bed where Scarlett was sitting up in.

  Scarlett was still in her cast, which had been signed by as many people who could squeeze their names on to it as possible. Chloe, Zoey, and Millie had been the first to sign it. Christian had been the fourth. Christian had come to visit Scarlett about three or four times a week after school. He felt miserable for leaving Scarlett by herself in that lonely hallway. He felt awful for what had happened to Scarlett. And even though she couldn't remember anything about what had happened, Christian apologized multiple times for it. Christian hugged her as soon as she had opened her eyes two days after she was beat up with no memory whatsoever.

  Christian had visited her so often that at one point Scarlett asked, "I'm sorry to be blunt, but are you my boyfriend?"

  Christian's brown eyes snapped up to lock with her face. What he saw in her eyes was complete confusion and wonder. She couldn't remember a thing. She couldn't even remember the kiss. Christian's heart sped up a little bit. He almost gave her an affirmative answer, but he said, "No. We're just really good friends."

  After that Christian began telling Scarlett everything he knew about her. And Chloe, Zoey, Millie, Melody, Timothy, and Rosa all helped with the rest. Scarlett had even held a long four-way phone conversation with Ginny, Kate, and Meghan. They told her everything about what had happened ever since they had known her. They even told her about what happened to her in eighth grade, her forgotten past. She learned about Charles and how he had accidentally killed her father and stepmother. Kate even told her about Francis and their short relationship. She was also told about Tristan though she had no recollection of him at all. They told her he was in a coma, and she had planned to come back to Florida to visit them during Christmas break. Scarlett also learned that she had been in the top two percent of her class at Watson High and the top five percent at Humphrey Day.

  She had been overwhelmed at first, but as she learned more and more about herself, the more she felt like an outsider in her own life. How was it that she couldn't remember a single thing from her past? When she tried to recall some images from her life, she came up completely empty. All she could see was black emptiness when she closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could to remember anything from her existence.

  Right now, Zoey and Millie were talking about shopping trips and movies they had gone to together, trying to jog Scarlett's memory. Chloe was standing in the corner of the room talking on Scarlett's cell phone to a girl named Ginny, who was one of Scarlett's best friends in Florida.

  "Here you go. This is a picture of your real father," Millie said and handed Scarlett a photo of her dad.

  She looked at the man in the photograph. He had green eyes, her eyes. He had black hair and tan skin. His pearly white teeth were shinning against his skin. He looked kind and sincere. And wealthy. The Ralph Lauren suit he was wearing proved the money he obtained. He also looked like a stranger. Scarlett had never seen him before in her entire life. Or, at least, not that she could recall.

  Scarlett shook her head with a frown.

  "Well, here, let's show her the yearbook from last year," Zoey suggested. "Maybe she'll recognize someone."

  Scarlett flipped through the pages slowly, making sure to look at every individual with a scrutinizing eye. Finally she flipped the page to one hundred and seventy-two, and there was one boy on the page who caught her eyes. She stared at the photo for a long, long time with her eyes squinted in concentration. She had seen him somewhere. But where? She stared into the boy who had shoulder-length dark hair and menacing black eyes that seemed to be bottomless pits of darkness.

  "Hey, Chloe, I think she is remembering some things," Zoey said as she watched Scarlett's facial expression change.

  "Austin?" Scarlett asked, reading the name below the picture.

  "Yes, Austin Barking. He's a bully," Chloe said as she came to sit beside Scarlett.

  "I think Christian mentioned that name before. He said that Austin was bothering me when we first met. Christian had helped me out that day. He had saved me from this Austin," Scarlett said, still staring at the picture. "But he didn't describe him before. I know him from somewhere. I've seen him."

  "That's good," Millie said. "That's really good. Maybe you're beginning to remember things."

  "In a hallway? A quiet hallway. Sort of dark, maybe?"

  "Yes, you were in the corridor by the gymnasium. You had been there for hours, so it was probably dark because no one usually goes there until the afternoon," Zoey said.

  "There are three figures. Tall and menacing. They remind me of the mob…a gang of some sort?"

  "Yes, Austin is the ringleader, and his two buddies are his minions. And they think of themselves as a gang," Chloe said with a smile. "Keep going."

  "That's it. That's all I can see. Thinking of them…it makes my head hurt." Scarlett brought her unbroken arm up to her head and tried to gently massage it.

  "That's okay. You should rest."

  "Wait…no, it doesn't hurt because I'm thinking too much; it hurts because I'm remembering. They hit me. Slapped me? It hurt my head. I had done something to upset them. I had called them a name? No, I had run into them. I had run into him. Austin. And that was what Christian had told me. He had saved me from Austin on my first day of school because I had run into him; that was what Christian said to me. Maybe I ran into him again? I was going somewhere. A bell?"

  "Yes, the morning bell, signaling homeroom," Millie helped. "Was that where you were going? To homeroom?"

  "I…I'm not sure. Maybe. I think so. It's really fuzzy, like a dream I can't remember."

  "That's okay. You're doing really good," Zoey said.

  "Well. I'm doing really well," Scarlett said without thinking.

  Chloe's eyebrows shot up. "At least she remembers proper grammar. That has to be a plus."

  Just then, the door opened to reveal a soaked blonde.

  "Hey, Chris," Zoey said nonchalantly, used to his presence.

  "Hi, Christian," Millie said quietly, averting her eyes.

  Chloe simply smiled a knowing smile on her lips.

  "Hey," Chr
istian said. "It's pouring outside."

  Scarlett smiled, looking at his wet form up and down, "I grasped that."

  "How are you feeling?" Christian asked, his eyes clouded with self-blame as he looked at the bruises and scars all over her face and arms.

  "Better. I can almost remember something."

  "Really?" Christian's eyes lit up with enthusiasm. "What?"

  "I remember a boy named Austin. I remember the two guys from his…gang? I remember pain. And—" Scarlett gasped.

  "What?" Chloe, Zoey, and Millie asked in unison.

  "You were there," Scarlett said, looking at Christian. "We had been talking. For some reason, I remember feeling nervous and relieved. What had we been talking about?"

  "Uh…we…" Christian glanced at the three girls sitting around Scarlett.

  Zoey smiled deviously. "We already know, Christian. You kissed her."

  Christian cleared his throat. "We had been talking about how the kiss didn't matter because you have a boyfriend. And I think you were relieved to get that infidelity off your chest."

  "Oh. We kissed?"

  "Yeah. It was a mistake though. We were lonely and hormonal. You missed Tristan and wanted someone to confide in. Our emotions got mixed up, that's all."

  "Okay," Scarlett replied, making a confused expression on her face as her heart started pumping hard and fast for some reason that she couldn't put her finger on.

  Chloe looked from Christian to Scarlett and knew exactly why Scarlett was making that face, but she refused to speak her mind because she knew about Tristan, who was still in a coma. And it was then that she realized Ginny had been right. Scarlett really did need to visit Florida again. She needed to see her boyfriend. Who knew? Maybe it would strike a memory.

  "I'm going to use your cell phone again, Scarlett," Chloe said, grabbing the phone and walking out of the room.

  As soon as the door shut behind her, she searched through Scarlett's contacts and found the name she needed: Melody Harman. Chloe's heart pounded in her ears as she pressed the name. Melody was her idol. She looked up to Melody more than she looked up to her own mother. She couldn't put into words how much she thought of Melody. And she was about to talk to her.

  "Hey, girl. How are you feeling?" Melody said as soon as she picked up the phone.

  "Um…actually it's Chloe. Chloe Levine. I'm Scarlett's friend—"

  "Oh, yeah, I know you. Your parents are on the school's board, right?"

  "Yeah. I need to ask of you a favor."

  "What kind of favor?" Melody asked.

  "For Scarlett."

  "Oh, then, yeah, definitely, anything."

  "I think it would be a good idea for her to go back to Florida. It might jog her memory, especially if she sees her old friends and classmates and her boyfriend."

  There was silence on the other end, and then finally, Melody said, "Isn't her boyfriend in a coma?"

  "Yes, but maybe just seeing his face would help her remember things. I mean, she's remembering a few things right now, actually. I think she's remembers some things that happened right before she was beat up."

  Again there was a pause, "Well, if she's remember things right now, then why don't we let it play out and see if her full memory comes back before we change her surroundings?"

  "I think if she goes back to the place where she grew up, her memory will come back quicker."

  "I see your point. But why are you telling me this? What exactly is the favor you're asking me?"

  "Well, your father always listens to you, so if you could persuade him to let her go, that would be very beneficial."

  Right then there was the longest pause of the entire conversation. "I'll think about it."

  "Okay. Thank you so much for this, Melody," Chloe said.

  "Sure."

  Chloe hung up the phone. Now she needed to tell Scarlett the plan. And she knew that Christian wasn't going to like the idea of Scarlett traveling miles away with her memory still gone, but it wasn't his call.

  Scarlett sat in a chair at the airport as she waited for her plane number to be called over the intercom.

  "Flight 181 passengers please report to Door 12A and prepare for departure," a female voice sounded through the speakers.

  Scarlett started grabbing her bags to get ready to get in line and give the woman her ticket.

  "What are you doing?" Rosa asked.

  "My plane is getting ready to board."

  Rosa looked at her daughter confused, "Did you hear Flight number 216 called?"

  "No, Flight 181."

  "That's not your flight, sweetheart." Rosa thought for a moment and then remembered something. "That was our flight number when we left Florida to come here to Ohio for the first time."

  "But I don't even remember that."

  "Maybe it's your subconscious telling you something about your past. Keep thinking; try to remember something else," Rosa encouraged.

  Scarlett closed her eyes and concentrated, "I feel sad, as if I'm leaving a lot behind. No…I'm leaving someone behind. A boy. A blonde boy. And I remember a kiss. A passionate one. And…and…that's it. That's all I can remember."

  "That's good. The boy's name is Tristan," Rosa helped.

  "My boyfriend?"

  "Yes, do you remember him as well?" Rosa asked.

  "No, but I've been told a lot about him."

  "Well, hopefully your trip will help your memory."

  Just then a man's voice rang through the intercom, "Flight 216 passengers please enter through Door S11."

  Scarlett got up with her bags and turned to her mother. She didn't know what to do. Had she been close to her mother? Had they fought a lot? But Scarlett didn't have to do anything; instead her mother hugged her tightly to her chest.

  "Have a good time. And don't forget to call me and tell me if you remember anything, okay?" Rosa said.

  "Definitely," Scarlett replied.

  Scarlett and her mother separated, and Scarlett got in line to get on the plane. The plane ride was long and uncomfortable. She was in the middle of the row. On one side was a fat man who had the tendency to fall asleep on her shoulder, and on her other side was a young mother and a crying baby, trying to climb out of her lap. By the time that the place landed in Virginia, Scarlett had the worst headache that she had ever had in her entire life.

  Scarlett again found a seat by the door she would have to enter for her new plane ride and sat as she waited for her flight number to be called.

  "Flight 181 passengers please report to Door 12A and prepare for departure," a female voice sounded through the speakers.

  Scarlett almost got up again before she caught herself. She looked down at her ticket. This plane was number 235, and her door was B22. Why was she always hearing this female voice? Maybe her mother was correct. Maybe she was remembering a little bit from her past, just like that dark night with the three shadows. And Austin's face.

  Scarlett closed her eyes and tried again to concentrate on remembering something from her past, anything from her past. Flashes, as if she was watching an old movie film, sped through her mind. She saw the man from the picture that had been her father. She saw him dropping her off at middle school. She could see herself as a child in designer clothes as friends surrounded her in eighth grade all laughing with her. She saw a boy who had to be her half-brother, Charles. She saw herself in high school, a loner until a black-haired girl in braids and a brunette whose hair stopped at her shoulders came up to her. Later a pale blonde entered their small group. She saw a glimpse of them at the movies together. She saw flashes of a brunette, a cheerleader, who reminded her of despair, the feeling of being bullied by her entered Scarlett's system. She remembered that her former alcoholic and drug addicted mother had never cared for her until they had moved to Ohio. She remembered almost everything…except the blonde who she had seen one glimpse of as they kissed before Rosa and she left for Ohio two months ago. That was it. That one picture ingrained into her brain, but nothing else. She rememb
ered nothing about him.

  Scarlett's supposed best friend from Jacksonville met her at the airport. And now she could remember her. She could remember Ginny, Kate, and Meghan. She could remember Alice, Kirsten, and Libby. She could remember Chloe, Zoey, and Millie. She could remember Rosa, Timothy, Melody, and Charles. And she could remember Robert, Felix, and Austin. Austin Barking. He was the one who had beaten her up. He was the one who had slapped and punched her into unconsciousness. He was the one who had given her the temporary amnesia.

  Scarlett caught sight of Ginny, who stood up slowly when Scarlett entered the waiting area. As soon as she saw Ginny, memories flooded Scarlett's mind of the past years they had spent together. But she could tell by Ginny's face that she was hesitant to say anything to Scarlett because of Scarlett's previous condition. Scarlett dropped her carry-on luggage and ran to give Ginny a hug. Ginny was still hesitant.