Scarlet reached the front of her house and she got down from Johan's bicycle and then she looked at him. Just as she was about to thank him, she heard the door open and she turned her head to see her mother coming towards her with a concerned look on her face.
"Scarlet," she called and when she got to her, she held her face and asked, "What happened?"
"How did you know?" Scarlet asked with furrowed brows.
"Melanie called me and she told me Johan was bringing you home, so I waited," her mother said.
"Right," Johan said. "She called you because I told her not to."
"Hey," her mother snapped at him with a deep frown as she looked at him. "You can't hide what happened to my daughter from me, okay? I am her mother."
"I—" Johan blinked, "I just didn't want you fretting about it. I'm sorry," he apologized.
Scarlet could tell her mother didn't look pleased with what he did and so she came in, "Thank you Johan. I will see you in school tomorrow." And with that, she looked at her mother and said, "Let's go inside."
As they made their way inside the house, Scarlet could hear Johan's bicycle wheel off and she glanced at the back before entering inside.
"How can he not want me to know about it? It's like taking decision into his hands when he shouldn't," her mother said as soon as they got inside.
"Mom, it's nothing, really," Scarlet tried to wave it off but the reaction her mother gave her is not what she was expecting.
"How can you say it is nothing?" she asked her. "Melanie clearly told me that you passed out in the restroom with broken glasses on the floor. For a second, she even thought you were dead," the tone in her voice rose this time.
Scarlet huffed and said, "But here I am, still alive. Mel was just exaggerating. You know how she is. She even went ahead to tell Johan that it was as a result of our breakup and stuffs like that."
When her mother kept silent and just looked at her, Scarlet spread her palms out and asked, "What? Don't tell me you also believe that."
"Whatever," her mother said, "I don't want to come into that matter so I'll just let it slide."
"Seriously," Scarlet groaned and started to make her way up the stairs. "I was doing alright all through last week and you know it," she said firmly.
"Make sure you use those medicines given to you and I will be here to monitor you tomorrow."
Scarlet stopped and turned her body to look at her mother. "I am not staying at home," she said.
"The nurse said you need some rest. And I wasn't asking you a question," her mother gave her the reply with a serious look.
Scarlet raised her eyes to look up and she blinked before turning her body back and resumed walking, heading to her room.
That night, Scarlet stayed up in bed and the duvet was pulled up to her thighs. She was clearly annoyed at what Melanie did and she was slightly mad at her mother. Why can she not understand that she is seventeen and she can decide for herself now? Her mother still likes to treat her like a child and it is quite upsetting at times, especially in situations like this.
Lifting the duvet off her body, she got down from the bed and went to sit in front of her desk. She took her diary and pen and unlocked it before opening to a new page. Clicking the lid of the pen, she brought her hand down the page and stayed like that, thinking of what she should write in it. The diary holds her memories because sometimes, she feels she might be forgetting some things. But there are things which she would like to hold dearly onto and so she pens them down. But now, she does not want to write about how frustrating her first day of resumption went.
"I saw a beautiful boy today," she started to write when she remembered the dark curly haired boy. "He is the one Melanie was always all over about every day in school, but back then, I failed to notice him…probably because I was with Johan. I really do like Johan but I have never been so curious about a boy I just saw in a day, not even met. He has a dark curly hair that reaches just close to his shoulders and he seems to be alone. He plays the cello and I watched him play today. I have never seen someone play so well that it draws all my attention and brings peace to my soul not until today. And then, he looked into my eyes and I felt some kind of emotions I cannot explain. The more I think about him, the more I keep getting curious about who he is. To me, he is like a mystery, and I will uncover it. Maybe this will also keep me away from thinking about Johan."
She ended her writing and at the foot of the page, she wrote 'Grey'. It was the name she heard the director call him. She stared longer at the name and then she closed the diary, locking it and putting it back in its place.
*
Scarlet went to school the third day and she head straight to class. The class started early and Melanie who saw her sitting at the back where the seat was occupied with someone else waved at her with a smile. Scarlet just simply set the corner of her lips a bit wide and she looked down on her book again.
When the class came to an end, and she was packing her things inside her bag, Melanie came over and wrapped her arms around her with her body pushing her forward a bit.
"Scarlet," she called with a smile.
"Mel," Scarlet responded back and finish zipping up her bag before standing up.
"Are you good? You look dull," she pointed out as she brought her hands to her side. "You were not in school yesterday. Is everything okay?" she asked.
Scarlet turned her body to face her and she said, "All thanks to you, I got to stay at home, doing absolutely nothing and being under my mom's watch all day. Why would you call her when Johan clearly asked you not to?"
"Because I don't trust him," Melanie answered. "And besides, I see no reason why you should keep something like that from your mother."
"And I see no reason why you had to tell her about the shattered glass so she thinks I was trying to commit suicide because of Johan. Isn't that what you also said to him?"
"Well if he is hurt I said that to him, that is because he deserves it," Melanie said. "You can't just breakup with someone and move to another person in a short period of time especially when the person you broke up with is seeing everything."
Scarlet heaved down a sigh and said, "Melanie, I don't know what you think is right you are doing, but whatever it is, please stop. The more I try not to think about Johan, the more you bring him up. We all have our lives to live and I am not against the fact that he is with another girl. This is the reality, we are over. We broke up and we are good. Now you calling my mom and telling her stuffs isn't cool, especially when he told you not to."
Melanie looks perplexed now and she said, "I was just looking out for you."
"I know," Scarlet said, "I am only trying to say that you should not bring up Johan again. Now, we are just neighbors and friends, okay?" she explained. "Now give me the notes I missed."
Melanie brought her bag forward and she dipped her hand inside, bringing out two notes and handing it over to her. "Where are you going?" she asked her.
"Library," Scarlet answered. "I need to keep my notes updated. Are you coming?"
"Ugh no," Melanie turned down immediately. "It's going to be boring. They hardly let us talk and you know I am a loud person."
Scarlet smiled. "Okay then. I will see you in the next class," she said and turned to start walking.