We eat our breakfast with minimal chatter. The sound of our forks and knives scraping against glass plates fill in the empty spaces.
With a kiss on their heads, I say goodbye and wish them a good day, but as soon as I reach the door, I remember there’s something I have to tell them.
“I forgot. I’m staying after school today for tutoring.”
Simultaneously, my parents look at me strangely, confusion written all across their features.
“Tutoring? Why?” my father asks, concerns from before lost while his eyebrow arches high into his ebony hair, sipping on his steaming cup of coffee. My mother looks at me the same, since I’ve never needed tutoring a day in my life.
“They placed me in advanced history, and I am nowhere near the level they are, and their last midterm exam is coming up on Friday, so the teacher offered to help me catch up.”
I was told my entire life that parents have this sixth sense. It allows them to see the things they shouldn’t, to know what shouldn’t be known.
They look at me like that now, with skepticism and suspicion. My mom, not so much, but my father? Well, he doesn’t trust anything. He blames it on the job, but I think he was just born with doubts about the world.
“I want you to call me after school and answer every one of my texts until you get home. Understand?” he says, turning on his stool to pin me down with his aquamarine eyes.
“Yes.”
“Say it, Scarlett.”
“I understand, Daddy. Don’t worry so much. It’ll give you wrinkles.”
With a wave goodbye, I quietly close the front door and amble over to the car.
The drive to school feels shorter today, but that could be because I know how to get there now. Or perhaps it’s due to the anticipation of this afternoon’s study session.
I have to relax before I get to school. But, more than that, I have to get these stupid schoolgirl emotions under control. I feel like a fucking idiot for the cartwheels churning my stomach.
Why is this man affecting me so much? I don’t understand. I haven’t spent a day with him, yet my thoughts already orbit around his name.
These overwhelming emotions plague my mind as I pull into the parking lot and find a space.
Students’ eyes aren’t on me as much as they were yesterday, but it’s still impossible to ignore the weight of their scathing stares. The girls glare at me with a critical eye. It doesn’t matter that the guys aren’t looking my way. They smell competition, regardless.
I wish someone would have taught them that they can’t compete where they don’t compare. It would save everyone some time if they just stayed in their lane.
“Ignore them. Catty bitches will always find something to hate on.”
I turn my head to the left and find a gorgeous Hispanic girl in step with me. She looks somewhat familiar, but I can’t place her exotic features.
Her lips are painted a bloody red while her hazel eyes sparkle with mischief. She walks with an air of confidence that no other girl seems to contain. And she should, since she’s fucking hot in her loose-fitting jeans and cream sweetheart neckline corset top. There’s a gap between her teeth that only adds to her charm.
For a moment, I wish I was into girls because I sort of want to kiss her, see if she tastes as spicy as she appears.
“Oh, I’m definitely not worried about them.” I laugh. It’s my first genuine one since I left my friends and life back home behind. It feels good.
“Marie,” she says, introducing herself once we pass the bustling crowd. “We have English and Art together. You’re Scarlett, right?”
Yes! That’s where I’ve seen her.
“I knew you looked familiar. Yeah, hi. It’s nice to meet you,” I say, sincerely meaning it because I am in desperate need of a girlfriend.
We walk together to our first class. I give her the basic rundown of why I moved here toward the end of the school year, and she listens thoughtfully.
“That’s so cool that your dad’s a cop. Mine is a fireman, so I kind of know what it’s like not to have him around sometimes.”
I’ve never had a friend understand what it feels like to be unsure if your father would come home or not. Of course, I never wished it upon them to find out, but meeting someone with a similar experience makes my circle a little wider.
