I grinned. “I’m glad you like them,” I told her.
Scarlet had met my parents several months ago, and they instantly got along. It was safe to say that the relationship she had with my parents was what I’d hoped to have with hers. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, and I understood why Scarlet’s parents looked at me the way they did. They didn’t think I was good enough for their daughter. I couldn’t say I disagreed with them.
“How could I not?” Scarlet replied. “They’re everything I wish I had.”
“What?”
As we sat on the swing, rocking back and forth, I looked at Scarlet while she stared off into space. The silence stretched between us for a bit before her gaze met mine, and she explained, “There’s a big difference between my family and yours.”
“I know,” I mumbled, knowing that we didn’t have anywhere close to what Scarlet’s family had. It never used to bother me, but sometimes I wondered if I’d ever feel worthy of her.
“I wish I were part of your family,” Scarlet started again, catching me completely off guard. “My parents have all the money in the world and give off the guise of caring about people. I guess, in a way, they do since they are doctors and are caring for people. But that’s their job. Your parents aren’t like mine. They actually care about people. They’re kind. And not once in the last year have they ever made me feel uncomfortable. I wish my parents loved and supported me and my choices the way that yours support you.”
Squeezing her shoulder and encouraging her to curl into my body, I promised, “You’ll always be a part of my family, sweetheart. Always.”
Scarlet stayed curled up with me on the swing for a long time like that, with her cheek pressed to my chest and her legs curled up underneath her.
After a while, she asked, “Did you have a good birthday?”
I pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “The best.”
She tipped her head back, looked up at me, and said, “Me too.”
I grinned at her. She grinned back. Then we kissed each other for a long time before I drove her home.
One year later
“Do you regret it?”
“Regret what?” I asked.
Scarlet lifted her cheek from my chest so she could look me in the eye. “The fact that we decided to skip going to our proms,” she clarified.
Suddenly worried that it bothered her, my body tensed. “Do you?” I questioned her.
Her lips twitched. “Not at all,” she insisted. “I think we had way more fun on our own last night anyway.”
We did. Scarlet and I had had a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I couldn’t think too much about that because I was too concerned that she felt regret about something.
“If that’s the case, why are you asking me that?” I wondered.
She dropped her cheek to my chest again and replied, “I don’t know. I guess… well, I know what it is like for me in school. I am definitely considered one of the weirdos. I just wonder if maybe I am so introverted that I miss out on things I’ll regret later.”
“Scarlet, the reason I love you so much is because you’re not like every other girl out there,” I started. “You’re not a weirdo. You’re like me in that way. If I did what every other guy in school did, I’d have been a football player or a wrestler. I’m not because it isn’t me. I’d rather work on a car any day of the week than even think about playing a ball game. You prefer to read. And when we aren’t doing those things, I think we’d both much rather be alone with each other instead of at a dance with a crowd of people who don’t really like us much anyway.”
“You’re so smart,” she sighed. “That’s why I love you. Well, that and I love how good you are at working with your hands. It’s so sexy.”
I couldn’t stop myself from laughing.
“Behave yourself,” I ordered. “We’re in public.”
Scarlet lifted her head again and looked around the park. We’d come out earlier today to have a picnic lunch. And for the last hour or so, we’d been lying on this blanket with one another. But Scarlet was one tempting woman. If she didn’t keep herself under control, I’d have difficulty keeping myself in check.
“Nobody is even looking at us,” she replied.
“I don’t care,” I told her. “You’re only for my eyes to see. I’m not chancing anyone seeing you like that but me.”
Scarlet grunted.
I chuckled.
Yep. There was no way I’d ever regret choosing to spend time alone with her over going to a dance to be around people I didn’t even like.
This girl was the best thing that ever happened to me.
Eleven Months Later
Dread had filled me.
I couldn’t believe things had gotten to this point.
And the thought that I was about to do what I was going to do had me feeling sick. I didn’t know how everything could be so right and yet still so wrong all at the same time.
Scarlet was my entire world. Everything I did, I did it with her in the back of my mind. What I felt for her was so strong, I knew it would be like that for the rest of my life.
I hated to think about what this was going to do to her.
But it had to be done.
I pulled into the visitor’s parking lot at the college she was attending an hour outside of Rising Sun. It was early Saturday morning. Scarlet had called me last night, completely frantic and upset.
Over the last three years, I’d only seen her upset a handful of times. And the worst part about it was that those times all had to do with how her parents had treated me.
She’s been curious about things, cautious even. But never has she been really, genuinely upset about anything other than the situation with her parents and the way they’ve treated me. Beyond that, not once did I ever hear her like she was last night.
And it wasn’t until I promised to come out first thing this morning that she started to settle down. I had been tempted to come out last night, but she didn’t want me to do that because she wasn’t quite ready yet. She knew that if I came out, she wouldn’t get anything prepared.
How horrible was it that I was here now and all the work she’d done was going to be a waste?
Scarlet lived in an apartment off-campus. It was within walking distance to the school, and I found it was always easiest for me to park in the visitor’s parking lot on campus instead of trying to find a spot to park in front of her apartment. Though the walk was short, I was grateful for any extra time I had to delay the inevitable and reconsider what I was about to do.
Was I stupid? Was I a fool?
Maybe. Probably.
I honestly didn’t know. But what I did know was that I had to do this despite how sick I felt about it.
I made it to Scarlet’s apartment and rang the doorbell. It wasn’t more than ten or fifteen seconds later when she opened the door. She looked as beautiful as ever, no signs of last night’s turmoil present on her face.
She took half a second to look at me before throwing her arms around my shoulders and burying her face in my neck. Keeping a firm hold on her as I stepped inside and shut the door, I closed my eyes and inhaled.