Three Red Lines (28)

I woke up the next morning and got ready for school as usual.
After my morning routine, I made my way down the stairs. About halfway down, I heard a voice. Another girls voice.
It was the laugh that made me realise who it was. I saw Shelly sitting next to Clark as I walked to the table.
"Good morning Scarlette." Ella was taking plates away from the table. "Did you sleep well?"
"What is she doing here?"
"Scarlette, that's rude to say to a guest." Ella got frustrated all of a sudden. "We never say anything about Travis."
I rolled my eyes and went to get the door. Clark and Shelly followed behind me.
"Hey." Travis smiled, but then his face changed when he looked behind me. "Why is she here?"
"I have no idea-"
"OMG! Hi Travis!" She came from behind us and came in between me and Travis. She stayed closer to him though. "You have lacrosse practice after school right?"
"Right."
"Since you and Clark have practice, I'll drive Scarlette home!" She smiled and looked at me. What a fake smile.
"Uh sure, sounds awesome." I smiled back and got in the car. The second Travis shut his door, he started to talk.
"What does she have against you that makes her so mad?" I thought about telling him, but I kept it to myself.
"I don't know."
School was pretty much the same as always. But in second period, Shelly kept staring at me. It got quite awkward.
I saw Travis at the end of the day while walking to the parking lot.
"Hey, have fun at practice."
"Have fun driving with Shelly." He kissed me and kept walking.
I looked back at him as he walked.
I waited outside looking around for Shelly. But I couldn't find her. I heard music gradually getting louder until this silver convertible pulled in front of me.
"Get in the car loser." Shelly looked annoyed. "Don't just stand there. Move!"
She started to move before I even fully sat down. I readjusted myself and buckled myself in.
"So why exactly did you want to drive me home?"
"Because I need to talk to you." She wasn't going anywhere near my house, so she was clearly talking to me for a long time.
"Okay, what did you want to tell me?"
"I want you to break up with Travis."
"Why?"
"Because. If you break up with him, I can have him."
"But you're dating my brother..." I looked at her confused.
"You don't see my point. If you dump Travis, then he'll be upset. I'll comfort him and then he'll see how he has feelings for me and forget about you."
"Are you insane? Why would I do something like that?"
"Because, I don't think you really care about him." She made a U-turn in the middle of the road. I was afraid to be in the car with her. "If you do what I ask, I promise to never bother you again."
"No."
"Fine. I'll just find another way to get Travis." She pulled onto the side of the road. "Now get out of my car."
"You expect me to walk home?" She wouldn't respond. I sighed and got out of her car and started walking.
I heard her tires screech as she drove away.
It had only been an hour and a half, and I wasn't even near my house yet. I checked my phone to see the time. Four forty-seven. Awesome.
The rest of the way to my house, took another half an hour. When I finally got to my house, I noticed Clark's car in the driveway. I hoped Shelly wasn't with him.
I opened the door and smelled the food Ella had just made. It smelled good, but I wasn't going to eat anything. I went into the kitchen with everybody else.
"Scarlette, just in time for dinner." George was sitting down in his chair and putting food on his plate.
I didn't really have a choice, so I sat down. Shelly wasn't here which made things a lot better.
"So how was school today?" Ella passed Clark a bowl and looked in my direction.
"Oh it was fine until I had to ride with Shelly."
"Come on she isn't that bad." Clark started to get annoyed. "Just try to like her."
"No. She picked me up fifteen minutes after school let out. Then she drove us to who knows where and made me walk home."
He didn't respond right away. Maybe he believed me. "You're lying, and just trying to get attention."
"Please stop arguing Scarlette." Ella gave me a stern look and turned back to Clark. "So are you going to prom with Shelly?"
"Yeah, her junior prom and my senior." The thought of Clark being at my junior prom was awful. "She's wearing pink, so I'll need a pink tie for my tux."
"Well we'll go shopping." Ella smiled and kept on asking pointless questions.
I got up from the table, and I don't think anyone noticed, and walked to my room. I plopped down on my bed and picked up my computer. Since Ella mentioned prom, I thought I should get started on looking for a dress.
After searching for a while, I realised I didn't really have any friends to shop with. All I really had was Travis, and he wouldn't want to come with me.
I grabbed my phone and searched through my contact list. There were five names in my phone. Ella, George, Clark, Travis, and my House. I clicked on Travis' name, and chose his house number.
By the third ring, there was an answer.
"Hello?"
"Hi Mrs. Foreman, it's Scarlette."
"Oh hello! Did you want to talk to Travis?"
"No actually. I wanted to ask you something." I paused before speaking again. "I was wondering if you would help me shop for a prom dress."
"I would love to! Do you want to go this weekend?"
"Yeah, that would be great."
"Okay good. I will see you then."
"Thank you and bye." I hung up and smiled a little. I closed the lid of my computer and went to take a shower. My long walk home made me feel disgusting and unclean.
When I got out, I noticed my hair was starting to fade. Since I promised Travis, I'd show him my natural hair I figured I wouldn't dye it again.
I opened my backpack and started on my homework.
A while later, I started getting a headache. I took that as a sign to eat something. But only a little, not a lot.
Down stairs in the pantry, I found a granola bar. I took one of them back up with me.
"Why do you hate Shelly so much?" Clark followed me up to my room.
"Because she's a bi-"
"Don't call her that."
"Why? It's the truth. Do you not remember the almost broken nose I had a few weeks ago? That was her fault."
"You don't have to make all this stuff up you know. She's not that mean."
"Yes she is. She doesn't even like you the same way back! She told me today in the car that she wanted me to break up with Travis so she can date him."
"Really? I can't believe you would lie again." I could see the anger in his face. "You doing homework?"
"Yeah, it's really easy."
"Just like you." I looked up at him. "I heard about you and Nathan at the party. Does Travis know you're cheating on him?"
I was too shocked to respond. "Get out." He stayed in the doorway waiting for an answer. "Just leave, please."
He finally walked away shaking his head. I laid back on my bed and thought about what Clark just said. Was he trying to make my life horrible? It was bad enough when it was just Shelly, but now they're dating so it's twice as much.
I looked for my phone and texted Travis.
'I don't know what you've heard, but I'm not cheating on you.'
'Are you talking about the party? Because I overheard Nathan's group at practice talking about it.'
'Yeah.'
'So how was your ride with Shelly?'
'She drove me no where near my house and made me walk.'
'That's mean.'
'Yeah, well I'm used to it.'
'Sorry, I gotta go.'
'Oh, well I'll see you tomorrow morning.'
'Can't wait, Love you.' I reread the text over and over. I wasn't sure if that's what it really said.
It was getting late so I went to bed. Shortly after, I fell asleep.
When I got up the next morning, I looked at my phone and read last nights texts. I had to make sure I wasn't dreaming.
I got ready for the day and packed up my things. I checked myself in the mirror before going down.
To my surprise, Travis was downstairs waiting for me. I gave him a questiong look and he just laughed.
"You're here early."
"I've got something to show you that's why." He looked excited. "It's pretty awesome."
I opened my front door, and saw what he was talking about.
"Is that yours?" I pointed to the unfamiliar black pick-up truck in my driveway.
"Yes." He smiled and lead me over to it. "I got it last night."
"It's huge Travis. I'll have to climb to get into it."
"Don't worry, I'll help you." He laughed and opened the door.
I stepped up, and climbed over into the seat. Even when I sat this high up he was still taller than I was.
Travis got into his seat so easily. I could tell he was enjoying himself a little too much.