Scarlet could not be more than happy that the classes for the day has come to an end and she would be going home to rest. She was even more excited that she had the weekend to herself. She wanted to get out of school pretty fast before the students would block the hallway and make it hard to move past them. She packed her things in her bag and darted her eyes to where Melanie sat and she saw her talking with Adam. She decided if she should wait a little or go meet up with them but there was this anxiousness in her that wants her to just start heading out and she knows Melanie would hold her down with talks if they were to head out together.
Giving them one last look, she grabbed her bag and stood from her seat and she started to make her way outside the classroom. She would text Melanie once she gets home, she thought and released a deep sigh. As she walked down the hallway amidst the few students, feeling all by herself, she tugged on the hand of her bag and moved her eyes just in time to see Johan standing not too far and whose eyes was staring directly at her.
She stopped walking when she saw him walking up to her. Was this it? She thought. Was this why she was anxious? Because somehow, she knew someone was waiting for her and that the person was Johan?
"Scarlet," he called her name when he got to her.
"Hey," she answered. They haven't like, spoken for days so it felt a little bit awkward.
"Can I uhm…talk to you?"
The skin on Scarlet's forehead pressed together a bit as she answered, "Yes, sure," and she could see Johan's eyes wandering for a second where he seems to be looking out before he parted his lips to speak.
"Adam is—"
"Scarlet," Adam's voice called her from behind, cutting Johan off and she spun to the back.
"Adam?" she called when he got to her and she asked, "Where is Melanie?"
"I left her in class," he said. "I saw you leaving so I wanted to catch up with you fast to tell you that—"
"I wasn't done talking to her," Johan's voice interrupted them both and they turned to look at him. There was irritation in his voice and he clearly does not look pleased that Adam was ruining his chance to talk to her.
"Johan," Adam called with a short smile and said, "Sorry man, I didn't even see you."
It was more of an insult than just an observation and Scarlet could already feel the air go tense as they both stared at each other.
"Uhm…" Scarlet came in the middle and said to Johan, "What were you going to talk to me about?"
Johan looked at her, offended, and he asked, "Can I talk to you alone?"
Scarlet was in a fix now. It would be rude to leave Adam standing while she go hear what Johan has to say when Adam was also in a hurry and it seems he also has something to say to her. Deciding which one it would be, she parted her lips and said, "Adam, why don't you go first?"
Adam smiled and began, "I was hoping to convince you tha—"
"Scarlet," Johan interrupted again.
Scarlet lowered her eyes and let out a sigh. If they keep going like this, she could go crazy.
"Can you at least let me finish?" Adam said to him.
"Was I interrupting something?" Johan deadpan.
Adam scoffed and moved forward. "What is your problem?" he asked.
Johan also took two steps towards him and said, "I don't have one."
Now, few students who were passing by stopped to watch them and Scarlet felt embarrassed. She quickly went to them and pushed them both aside before standing in their middle.
"Guys, seriously stop," she said. "People are watching us," she said in a low voice and pushed her fingers through her hair.
Adam gave Johan a hard glare before looking at Scarlet where he said, "I look forward to seeing you tonight," and after saying that, he adjusted his bag and walked away.
Scarlet watched his back as he left till she could see him no more and she let out another sigh before moving her eyes to look at Johan. She hated that he had to cause a scene and now people would start to gossip about it. She knows what the headline would be anyway: Two handsome blokes fighting over a nerdy girl. She hates the fact that her name would get dragged into a mess she didn't create and it was all Johan's fault.
"Are you done talking to me? Let me know now so I can leave," she said in frustration when he just stood there staring at her.
"I can't believe you actually took sides with him," Johan said, expressing disappointment. "I came to you first and you—"
"And I what?" Scarlet cut him off and scoffed, not believing she has to deal with the situation right now. "Adam was in a hurry to leave. He even had to catch up with me so he can tell me what he wanted to. I know you came to me first but we can talk on the way or at home. We live barely two minutes apart and Adam…I don't even know where he lives. Hours maybe…" she sighed again. "Why are you doing this to me, Johan? Is it that you hate seeing another guy with me or you just hate Adam?" she asked.
"Adam is not who you think he is," Johan said. "I am only trying to keep you from getting hurt."
There, he just said it, Scarlet thought and said to him, "Just admit that you hate Adam and you hate the fact that I am friends with him. How can you say you are keeping me from getting hurt? Adam hasn't done anything to hurt me and I don't think he will because he is not that kind of person. The truth is that you are guilty of something you know which I don't and you think it is going to hurt me if I find out. Is that not the reason you have been trying to make me think Adam is a bad person?" she asked. "Look, I don't know what you have with Adam but don't get me involved. Ever since that day, you have been acting out that I don't even know who you are anymore. Just stop getting me into whatever it is, please. I am sincerely begging you."
She adjusted her bag on her shoulder properly which had slipped down and she walked past him, down the rest of the hallway and outside in the open air. Everything is just confusing and frustrating at the same time and yet, it was hard to think straight, not in this crowded space, not in this burning…
"Argh!" Scarlet winced and shut her eyes closed immediately it made contact with the sun. the sun was unusually blinding and painful to look at and she found it hard to open her eyes even though she had shielded it by raising her hand above her head to block the sun. She squinted her eyes open a little and to make it worse, the sun suddenly decided to reflect on the objects around where most of them are either glass or cars and bikes with silvery plating and it hit her skin.
Scarlet suddenly felt itchy all over and she doesn't understand why. If she starts to scratch herself now and the people see her, they would think she is mad, but she could already feel her hands moving to touch her skin where the itching was getting worse. Why now of all times? She thought and knew she needed to get out of this place, out of the crowd of people who are now starting to notice her.
She let out soft moans as she struggled to get herself away and she felt her body hit someone heavy, but she didn't stop or turn to see who it was and she could hear angry yells erupt from behind her, but she kept on going anyway and didn't let that bother her. Her skin is all itchy and she could hardly see what is in front of her, until she could no longer take it anymore and she could feel the tears that threatened to burst out from her eyes.
This would be her worst humiliation and she knows it because her hands moved to reach for her skin, ready to start scratching like a mad person, but suddenly out of nowhere, a hand reached for hers as it was about to touch her skin and she felt something being draped around her body, covering it from the sun. It happened all too suddenly and Scarlet felt the itch starting to reduce gradually without doing anything, just like that.
She felt the burning in her eyes also reduce and she sensed that someone was blocking the sun's view from getting to her. She slowly opened her eyes and they were looking at a black leather jacket which hung down her body and she looked down to see a pair of black shoes. She slowly raised her eyes up, from the black trouser to the brown shirt and then to the face and eyes…ocean blue eyes that stared intensely into hers and…
Scarlet knew she had lost her breath for a split second and her heart raced almost immediately. Standing in front of her is the boy with dark curly hair, the boy Melanie is obsessed with, the boy she was curious about, the boy whose name is at one corner on a page of her diary; Damien Grey. He is standing right in front of her. Scarlet couldn't believe it. It was all too unreal for her. He looked like he was from another world and she had to blink again to be sure she was not seeing things.
He is real, she said in her mind. He is here.