Scarred and Loved

Text Messages

Scarlett

     “Scarlett, is that you?” My mom called me from the kitchen as soon as I walked into the house.

      “Yes mom, I’m home,” I replied. Dropping my backpack on the couch, I walked into the kitchen. My mom was making dinner. Whatever she was making, smelled delicious.

      “Hi sweetie, how was school today?” She asked, putting some potatoes in the pot. 

      “It was okay, just a lot going on, we have competitions soon, so we’re trying to be ready for them” I replied as I sat down on the dining chair. 

      “I’m sure you’ll be fine, you guys are smart and I wouldn’t be surprised if you win again this year” she assured me. A smile crept up on my face and got ready to have some good dinner. After a lot of eating and chatting, I helped my mom clean the dishes and walked up to my room to do my homework.

      I sat on my bed trying to focus on a science project that was given to me today, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Samuel. I wondered what he must be doing now. Looking out the window facing his bedroom, I realized that the lights were off.

      A few minutes later, the sound of a car pulling in the driveway caught my attention. It was Samuel’s blue Mustang. You couldn’t miss the sound since it had a loud engine. I took a peek and waited for him to turn the lights on in his room. Searching for my phone for what seemed like forever, I found it and sent him a message.

     We were not talking much, but I still had his phone number. 

      Me: “Hi Samuel, I hope you had a good afternoon, just wanted to know how your time at Jackson’s went. I miss my best friend. Why don’t we hang out one day and catch up?”

      I waited for a while, thinking that he wouldn’t even bother to answer. My phone battery was almost dead so I put it on the table and started to get ready for bed. All of a sudden it beeped.

      Samuel: “Hi Scarlett, my afternoon was good, we did a lot of studying and played video games. Sorry I haven’t spent time with you lately, I have a lot of things going on”

      Me: “I understand. With exams and football, I’m sure you’ve been busy. I was just hoping you would make time to hang out. Been missing you a lot. We used to be so close before”

      I waited for an answer but I didn’t get any, so I decided to go to sleep. An early day was waiting for me. We had to practice for the competition before classes started. 

******

Samuel

    I wanted to reply to her text, but something held me back. It wouldn’t help to tell her that the real reason why we weren’t hanging out was because my friends were jerks and wouldn’t stop bugging me about her.

    I really didn’t want her to be bullied by them. The “jocks” and the “nerds” can’t be friends according to some. But I missed her and I wanted her back in my life like we used to before.

      “It’s social suicide dude, we can’t be seen with the nerds, or with anyone that’s not from our social status” Jackson said. He was a little wild, with his brown hair, showing a surfer cut and brown eyes under long lashes, he was surely the playboy of the school. 

      Yes, I came from money, but my parents didn’t care about that, they treated everyone the same. They were best friends with Scarlett’s parents when we were kids and would throw BBQ’s every summer and always invited them. 

      I felt guilty and sad at not being able to spend time with her. After all, she was the first kid to approach me when we moved to this neighborhood, and the only kid to be my friend in school, because believe it or not, I was not a very popular kid.

      She had a lot of friends back in Elementary. Her kind heart gained her a lot of love from everyone in school and in the neighborhood. 

       I kept looking at the phone, but decided to just go to bed. Maybe one day we could go back to being best friends, but I have to admit, I was scared for her. 

      The next day, I woke up to get ready for school. My mom had made breakfast before heading to do her usual morning routines, breakfast with her book club friends and shopping afterwards.

      She left me a note. “Honey, I left breakfast in the stove for you. I will be out with my friends this morning. I’ll see you after school. Love, mom” 

    I smiled and proceeded to eat my fried eggs with hashbrowns and bacon. My father came down and made himself some coffee while we chatted for a bit before he went to work. 

      “So son, how’s school been? I know I’ve been coming late from work and haven’t had the chance to ask you about your day” he said apologetically.  

      “Everything is going very well dad, exams are coming soon, and football practice started already. I’m pumped up for a great season” I mentioned, taking a bite of a slice of bacon. 

      Dad was really proud of me, and he made sure to show me how much. I had all the money in the world, but never lacked my parent’s love. That made me grateful to have them.

      “And how is Scarlett doing? I don’t see you hanging around at her house, or her coming here much anymore,” He asked.

     “We don’t really hang around much, we’ve been busy with our own things at school and we just haven’t had the time,” I replied with a frown on my face. He couldn’t know the real reason why we don’t hang out anymore. 

      “I’m sure you'll both come around. Things happen, but there’s always a way to work it out,” dad replied. 

      He said his goodbyes and left for work. I did the same thing and headed out to my car. When I saw Scarlett taking out a motorcycle from the garage, I was tempted to go and see what she was planning on doing.

       “Good morning Samuel!” She yelled from where she was standing. I just smiled and waved, but got into my car before I drove off. It was hard not to be able to talk to her the way we used to, but I was sure she would get over it. 

******

Scarlett

      I let out a sigh when he drove off and decided to just keep checking the motorcycle. 

       “What are you doing with that old motorcycle?” my dad asked. 

      “I just wanted to check it out and I remembered when you used to work on it and drive it around when I was a kid. This old machine always fascinated me and I have wanted to ride it since forever.”

      “Well, let’s make a deal. You help me fix it, and I’ll just let you keep it. Since you already have your driver’s license, I’ll teach you to ride it” a big smile showed on my face and I hugged him happily.

      “Thank you dad! I’ve always wanted it!”

      I left to school with a big smile on my face believing that nothing would ruin my day. 

    Or so I thought.