"I examined her and there was nothing unusual about her that day. I just concluded that it might be due to stress and she may be needing some rest. Also, about the broken basin you mentioned, they found out that it was already weak and she must have applied pressure by leaning on it which got it broken. Apart from all that, I don't think there is anything wrong with your daughter. She seems to be doing just fine."
Scarlet listened as the doctor spoke to her mother and she pressed her palms together while seated on the bench. Her mother had come all the way to her school to find out what really happened on that day and to confirm from the doctor if she was really okay. She made her look abnormal in front of the doctor, Scarlet thought and she felt anger building up within her.
"Oh, thank you so much for telling me," her mother thanked the doctor. "If there is any other thing, I'll let you know."
"Sure Mrs. Winters," the doctor said and moved her eyes to look at Scarlet where she gave her a smile before returning back to her desk.
Seeing that they were done, Scarlet saw her mother walking back to her, but the feeling of anger already consumed her and she quickly stood up before dashing out of the door. Walking back down the hallway, Scarlet could hear her mother calling her from behind but she ignored her and continued to walk.
"Scarlet. Scarlet!" her mother continued to call her. "Stop walking this instant!" she ordered sternly, not understanding why she was behaving that way.
Scarlet stopped walking and she turned back to look at her mother who wore a frown on her face. Thankfully, no student was walking in the hallway as everyone was in the classroom, except her.
"What do you think you are doing? Why did you ignore me when I was calling you?" she asked her, clearly not pleased with her behavior.
"Why are you here, mom?" Scarlet asked straight.
"What do you mean by that?" her mother asked her. "I am here because I am worried about you."
"Since when did you care? Do you think you can just walk into my school without even informing me first?" Scarlet raised her voice and she ran her fingers through her hair. "I told you I was fine and then you walk into my school today to meet the doctor. Do you not trust your own daughter's words? If what you need is to believe that something really is wrong with me then you could have asked for a handwritten note from her stating that I, Scarlet, am really sick."
"Scarlet!" her mother called with slightly wide eyes and her frown deepening.
Scarlet felt her eyes began to tear up and with a mix of anger welling up in her. Her mother must have thought she was crazy. Everyone she knew were now acting different towards her. Her whole life was changing and the people she once knew are now becoming distant.
"I wanted to know if there was nothing more than what you told me," her mother said. "I am your mother, I should at least do my best to make sure you are okay."
"Stop acting like you care!" Scarlet flared up, her face reddening. "You think you are doing your best but all you are doing is to humiliate me," she said with blurred vision and she quickly blinked. "Why can't I have a normal life? Why can't you just believe I am fine? Why is everyone doing this to me today?!" she yelled, her voice resounding in the quiet hallway and she turned before storming away angrily, leaving her mother standing there with a shocked expression.
The rest of the day did not go well for Scarlet. Everything became upsetting to her, mostly because Melanie never talked to her and because she was starting to gain recognition by few of the students in the school who stopped, stared at her and either murmured something or giggle. Scarlet felt she was being mocked and she could not even look at their faces. It infuriated her more than anything.
When Scarlet got home that day, she headed directly to her room and shut the door before sitting at the top of her bed and leaning her back against the pillow which was pushed back to the wood against the wall.
After staying like that for few minutes, she did not know when tears started pouring down her eyes. Everything about her day has been hurtful. She felt betrayed by Melanie also. They have been best friends over the years and yet, it was shattered in one day all because she misunderstood the image of her standing and talking with Damien on Friday's performance.
The second day was even worse for Scarlet. As she walked alone down the hallway, the stares kept following her and they won't leave her alone. Scarlet could feel all the hairs on her skin rising and she quickened her steps before escaping to the restroom where she locked herself in one of the toilets.
Even as she sat there quietly and was starting to feel relieved a bit, she heard one of the doors open and the water running and after a little while, the person turned off the water and stepped outside. As Scarlet's hand reached for the lock, ready to step outside, she heard the door to the restroom open again and she heard footsteps and giggles.
There seem to be two of them and Scarlet heard them gossiping about her randomly;
"I heard that the girl's name is Scarlet."
"Oh, you mean that attention whore?" the other one asked and they both burst out laughing.
"You know she dated this handsome guy last year. I also heard they were neighbors and now they already broke up. She was trying to get back at him by dating his friend which I don't think turned out well. I think he also ditched her or something and now, she is trying to steal her best friend's boyfriend."
"Wow! She must really think she can have anyone she wants. Maybe that is why her boyfriend broke up with her."
"I know right," the other one said. "She is not even that pretty. She looks so bland."
Scarlet could not continue listening to their gossips about her and so, she kicked the door open and stepped out of hiding to now look at the two girls who was startled at the sudden sound but even more startled as they now face her.
Scarlet could see them trembling and she felt a kind of inner satisfaction. These people whom she was hiding from can't even face her and talk to her directly and yet, they do so at her back so confidently. It made her scoff at them.
"Assuming I were to be your mother…would you be laughing like this if she told you people were gossiping about her the way you are doing?" Scarlet asked with a straight face as she walked towards one of them with confidence.
The girl's eyes held fear in them, not expecting her to be in the restroom and she moved back a bit before trying to defend herself by saying, "You are not my mother and I bet she is not a man-seeker like you are."
This had the corner of Scarlet's lips pull up into a smirk and she said to her, "Do you know what your mother was like while she was still at school? Why don't you ask her when you get home? I bet she was the queen of men-seeker than I am, seeing that you assume yourself to be better than I am."
The girl could not speak and Scarlet moved her eyes away from her to look at her friend who quickly moved backwards and Scarlet arched her brows at her before walking out of the restroom.
As soon as Scarlet was out, she heaved out a sigh and her eyes moved to look around. She blinked her eyes and was surprised at her own self on how she managed to confront those girls and walk out so confidently. It was while she was hiding and listening to them gossip about her harshly that she suddenly had a feeling that she could knock down the door and make the girls suffer for what they were saying about her. Actually, she had quite a lot of evil things on her mind to do to them like hitting their heads against the wall or pushing their faces inside the water closet. That would be so humiliating. She just felt she could do so many things than let them bitch about her but somehow, she got it under control and decided to go easy on them.
It was strange to her, but Scarlet was beginning to love the feeling. And for the first time, she walked to class with her head held high, not having any care about who was watching or speaking ill about her. She figured that they can only speak behind her and not in front of her and she must not give in to the attention they so desire.