Scarlett White

by Chloe Smith

  "Tristan, I don't know how many times I have to tell you, but you just can't come with me."

  "Scarlett, I don't just want to be with you; I need to be with you," Tristan insisted, trying to convince Scarlett that it was a good idea for him to miss more school than he was already intending.

  "You know that that sounds very cheesy," Scarlett replied nonchalantly without looking up from her book. She was sitting Indian-style on the leather chair next to Tristan's hospital bed. He was due to be dismissed this afternoon, and Scarlett made sure that she was there with him.

  "What if I told you that...maybe, my mom said I could."

  Scarlett momentarily forgot about the book in her hands, and it fell to the floor with an audible clunk.

  "You got your mom to allow you to come up to Ohio?" Scarlett asked in disbelief.

  "Temporarily."

  "How did you do it?" Scarlett still couldn't believe him.

  "By RSVPing, of course."

  "What?" Scarlett cocked her eyebrow.

  "To your mother's wedding. I got the invitation this morning." Tristan smiled as he pulled a thick, ivory card from the bedside table next to him and showed Scarlett the invite. Scarlett read it quietly to herself.

  ~~~~~~~You have been cordially invited to~~~~~~~

  ~~~~~~join the ceremony of the union of~~~~~~

  ~~~~~Mr. Timothy Dale Harman~~~~~

  ~~~~and~~~~

  ~~~Ms. Rosa Scarlett White~~~

  ~~in matrimony~~

  ~on November, 23rd~

  "So…you're coming with me? No joke?" Scarlett asked.

  "No joke," Tristan reassured her.

  She squealed and hugged him so tightly, he was about to choke, but he didn't make any noise of discomfort. He loved the smell of her hair, the feeling of her body next to his, the sound of her laughter, and everything else about her.

  "My Aunt Sandy said I could come and stay with them for a while," Tristan said.

  Scarlett carefully bent down and picked up the book that had slipped from her hands.

  "Doesn't your mother want you to stay home since you just woke up?" Scarlett asked turning back to her book now.

  "You came back down here as soon as you woke up," Tristan pointed out.

  "That's different."

  "How?"

  "I came back to jog my memory. And it worked. You should stay home and rest." Though what Scarlett said was true, she didn't really mean it. She was happy to have him come back with her, but felt selfish that she was taking him away from his home and family.

  "I want to be with you." Tristan was whispering now.

  "Oh, Tristan, I want to be with you, too. It's just..."

  "What? It's just what?"

  "Your family. Your friends. Your school. They all need you as well. I can't be a selfish pig and hog you all to myself," Scarlett confessed.

  "You're not hogging me." Tristan was still whispering. "I'm hogging you." And with that said, Tristan grabbed Scarlett's wrist and pulled her gently onto the bed next to him. Scarlett's book dropped for a second time, but neither one cared.

  "Tristan! You have to be careful."

  "I'll be whatever the hell I want to be." Tristan cupped Scarlett's cheek. "I love you and I want to be with you always," he said, caressing Scarlett's cheek with his thumb gently. "I don't ever want to be separated again." Tristan's other hand came up to tangle itself in Scarlett's curls. "I'll find a way to stay up there with you permanently. Just give me some time." And Tristan pressed his lips lightly to Scarlett's. It started out gently. But after a minute or so, his lips crushed against Scarlett's ardently. Scarlett's body was pressed up against Tristan's, and they were moving in synchronization with each other. And Scarlett soon fell victim to his undeniable passion.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  It was Scarlett's third time waiting in the airport in less than one month. Scarlett had rarely ever ridden in anything other than a car and now she was becoming a usual passenger with Delta Airlines.

  But this trip was different. Scarlett wasn't leaving Tristan behind nor was she racing to see him again. He was sitting right next to her, holding her hand tightly in his, watching as their plane rolled up next to the airport.

  The female voice that announced their plane arrival sounded through the speakers, which were mounted all over the airport. Scarlett and Tristan turned to Ginny, Kate, Meghan, Libby, Katherine, Laura, Jenna, Kyle, Sal, Tom, Riley, the rest of the football team, Julie, Bryan, and Mary to say goodbye one last time.

  Ginny and Meghan were in tears. Kate's eyes were watering. Libby and Katherine were both biting their lips, holding back the inevitable tears. Though Scarlett didn't remember spending much time with either Libby or Katherine, they had insisted on coming with the farewell party to the airport.

  Scarlett gently wriggled her fingers out of Tristan's hold and went to hug all the girls. Tristan went to go say goodbye to the football team and his family.

  When they were done with their farewells, Tristan and Scarlett boarded their plane, anxiety bubbling in their chests.

  Monday morning dawned, and Scarlett was wishing it was still Saturday. Tristan had gone to Christian's house to visit his extended family for a bit and then had met up with Scarlett at Timothy's apartment. Scarlett had been worried about Christian all weekend, and she had no idea why. Was it because of what he had done for her? Was it because of what had happened in the car after they had seen 'Paranormal Activity'? Was it because of how he had treated her when she had woken up with amnesia? Scarlett shook her head and headed to homeroom where she was met with numerous, "Are you okay?", "How's your head?", "What was it like?", "I hope you feel better now.", and "Do you know who did it?".

  Finally when she had shaken the other students off with the help of Chloe and Zoey, she took her seat at the back of the classroom.

  "So, how is your head?" Zoey asked.

  "Not you, too," Scarlett groaned. "I'm fine, really." I'm more than fine. My Tristan is here with me.

  Scarlett couldn't wait to get out of school and get back to where she could see Tristan again. But she didn't even have to wait to get back to her new home. As soon as the final bell rang, signaling the end of school, Scarlett walked with the rest of the school through the hallways to her locker to collect her books. She was exhausted. She had so much pressure on her to catch up with the rest of her classmates that it made her mind and body tired. She wasn't even paying attention to the gasps around her when she was grabbing her books for the homework she had tonight.

  Finally her mind registered all of the reactions around her, and she looked up with mild curiosity about what the commotion was all about. She glanced at the end of the hallway, and her heart literally stopped for two beats.

  "Tristan," she gasped.

  As soon as their eyes locked, he broke out into a smile. Scarlett didn't even realize when she dropped all of the books she was holding and started running down the hallways. She didn't even realize that everyone in the hallway had separated and was backed against the lockers as she ran down the hallway into Tristan's waiting arms. She jumped into his arms and wrapped her legs around his hips. Her arms clung to his shoulders, and their lips locked as their eyes closed. Scarlett didn't even comprehend the entire school was watching.

  "Excuse me!" one of the teachers yelled at the two.

  Scarlett ignored her. She continued the passionate kiss in front of everyone for another few moments before she finally lowered herself from Tristan's body and finally faced the angry teacher.

  "You broke two rules, Miss White."

  Scarlett cocked her eyebrow, too happy to care about whatever this stupid teacher had to say.

  She rolled her eyes and asked, "And which two rules did I break, Mrs. Derby?"

  Mrs. Derby, not used to this behavior from her best student, was shocked into silence.

  "Running in the halls and public display of affection."

  "Well, actually, if you read the student handbook, the rule specifically says 'n
o running in the halls during school hours,' and seeing as the final bell has already rung, that was rule was not broken. And for the public display of affection bit, well, frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn. And before you go on a tangent saying that I swore in school; you would be mistaken because I was quoting a movie, and I distinctly remember hearing that the spring play was on 'Gone with the Wind,' so I feel secure saying that particular word," Scarlett said all of this with a sweet, genuine smile on her lips.

  Mrs. Derby was stunned. She had never been talked back to before and was completely surprised that Scarlett White would do such a thing.

  "Now, if you don't mind, I'll be on my way." Scarlett giggled, grabbing Tristan's hand, who was equally stunned with Scarlett, and promptly left the premises, without her school books, which she had dropped when she had seen Tristan.

  Scarlett led Tristan over to her new car. Tristan let out a low whistle. "I guess this beats your old car," he said with a chuckle.

  "You can say that again," Scarlett replied as she got into the driver's seat.

  "How did you get here?" Scarlett asked.

  "I walked."

  "But Christian lives, like, five miles away from here," Scarlett said shocked.

  "So?"

  "You walked five miles?"

  "For you," Tristan replied.

  Scarlett felt blush rising to her face. There was an absentminded smile on her lips. "Always charming."

  "I try."

  "Where do you want to go?"

  "Anywhere you want to," Tristan said.

  "I'm craving a double chocolaty chip Frappuccino," Scarlett replied, pulling out of the school parking as every classmate stared and gawked at the boy in her passenger seat.

  Scarlett could hear their whispering and talking as she drove by with the roof of her car down. 'Who is that?', 'He looks just like Christian Cox!', 'Chris doesn't have a brother, does he?', 'Damn, Scarlett's sexy'. Tristan heard that last whisper and growled in his seat.

  "Oh, you'll get used to that," Scarlett replied. "People don't know how to whisper at this school."

  "That's not what I'm not used to," Tristan said.

  "Oh, I suppose that's because I was a loser at school before," Scarlett said lightly.

  "You weren't a loser."

  "Tristan, who are you kidding? You didn't even realize I existed before we were assigned to be lab partners."

  "That's not true."

  Scarlett gave him a dubious look. "You never talked to me, you never even glanced in my direction, you didn't even know my name until this year."

  "I knew you're name," Tristan argued. "You were the smartest girl in our class."

  "Were?" Scarlett cocked an eyebrow.

  "I mean, you still would be, except that you don't exactly attend Watson High anymore."

  "Oh, that's right. C'mon, let's get something with loads of calories in it," Scarlett replied as she hopped out of the car and locked it as she walked into the Starbucks.

  "You locked your car, but you still have the roof down," Tristan noted.

  "Yeah, I find that it comforts me if I know that it's locked anyways." Scarlett laughed.

  "Sure, yeah, I understand, because locking the car, but leaving the top down makes complete sense."

  "Exactly. Now you're catching my drift."

  They walked into the shop together, and Tristan looked at the menu behind the counter as Scarlett ordered her double chocolaty drink.

  "And what's your name?" the boy behind the counter asked.

  "Scarlett."

  Tristan glanced for the first time at the boy. He was handsome and good-looking, but that wasn't what bothered Tristan. The boy—Dale was his name, according to his nametag—was practically drooling over Scarlett; he was undressing her with his eyes, and Scarlett was completely oblivious. Actually, Tristan noticed, she wasn't oblivious. She smiled at the boy. She actually smiled at him. The Scarlett that Tristan knew would never have done that.

  "Where did you get that?" Dale asked, indicating Scarlett's split lip from what had happened when she had gotten amnesia.

  "Oh, this bully at my school…well, I'm not exactly sure what happened. I got temporary amnesia; it's all very fuzzy," Scarlett replied with the smile still on her lips.

  "Amnesia?" Dale whistled as he eyes widened. "That must have been a real shocker. How long did the amnesia last?"

  "Only a couple of weeks. I remember mostly everything now," Scarlett said, that damned smile never faltering. Tristan was starting to get very aggravated and crossed his arms.

  "That's scary. I couldn't think of not being able to remember anything. How did you recall everything?"

  "I went back to my hometown in Florida," Scarlett said. "I only moved to Ohio a few months ago."

  "You used to live in Florida? What was that like? I bet you had a bunch of fun in Miami on vacations, huh?"

  "Oh, I was a total nerd back then. I stayed home and studied every night. I didn't have a life back there."

  Tristan was hurt. How could she say such a thing? She had him, didn't she? He had told her that he loved her. And he had meant it. He did love her. He loved her so much. And he obviously meant nothing to her because she apparently didn't have a life back in Jacksonville.

  "So, does that mean you're not a nerd now?" Dale raised his eyebrows.

  "Oh, I'm definitely a total geek. I study my ass off, but I like to party now. Actually, I think one of my friends is having a party this weekend."

  "Is that an invitation?"

  "If you're free, you're welcome to come. You're going to need an invitation to get into her house. Here, just use this." Scarlett pulled a small piece of paper and a pen from her purse. She wrote down Chloe's address and signed her name. "That signature will get you in with the guards."

  "The guards?" Dale asked.

  "Yeah, Chloe goes all out when she throws a party. Well, hopefully I'll see you there," Scarlett said as her name was called because her drink was ready.

  Tristan let out a sigh of relief. He was so happy that she was done talking to that idiot boy. How could she have been so…so…seductive? She had held a full conversation with him. What had happened to that shy, quiet Scarlett from Jacksonville? She had gone full…Queen Bee. Tristan ordered his drink grudgingly, giving Dale the evil eye.

  Scarlett and Tristan sat down at a table with their drinks. Tristan was quieter than usual, and Scarlett picked up on it right away.

  "What's wrong?" she asked concerned.

  "Nothing."

  "Tristan, don't talk to me like I'm one of your idiot football teammates," Scarlett said.

  "That boy back there, at the register, he was hitting on you."

  "Yeah."

  "You knew?" Tristan looked up.

  "Of course, I knew. Why do you keep acting like I'm stupid?" Scarlett replied.

  "Well, you were acting as if you liked it."

  "Liked being talked to as if I'm stupid?" Scarlett asked.

  "No, it looked as if you liked being hit on," Tristan said.

  "Oh, well, I've just gotten used to it, I guess. I mean, a bunch of kids at school hit on me all the time. And I hate being rude to them, so I usually talk with them and then invite them to whatever party is coming up next. It usually works. They come to the party, I say 'hey' to them, and then they go off and dance with some slut, completely forgetting all about me," Scarlett explained.

  "Oh," Tristan said, seeing the brilliance of her plan. "Well, I guess that's okay."

  "Thought I was cheating on you, did you?"

  "It might have flashed through my mind once or twice." Or sixty times.

  "Trust me, I'm very faithful and loyal, besides all the months I've been at Humphrey Day, and I have yet to find someone who equals your amazing and sparkling personality," Scarlett said with a smile on her lips as she placed her hand over his on the table. Well, maybe except for Christian. But Scarlett would never let Tristan know about the chemistry between her and his cousin.

  There was s
omething else that bothered Tristan. It was what she had said about not having a life back in Florida, but he didn't want to ruin her cheerful happiness right now.

  "So, am I invited to this Chloe's party?" Tristan asked.

  "Nah. I thought you would have a better time with your aunt, knitting or something," Scarlett said sardonically.

  "Oh, yes, that does sound very entertaining," Tristan replied with a smile on his face.