The Unwanted Bride Of Atticus Fawn

~SCARLETT~

It was the first day back at the Academy after our break, and I was nervous. I didn’t know how I would react when I saw Carter today. I was terrified of my own emotions. I was scared that I would run into his arms and tell him how much I missed him. I was terrified that I would slam my fist into his chest and ask him why he didn’t fight for me, not even once.

I had to find the strength to ignore these emotions swirling in my chest.

“Something is wrong,” Clara says suddenly.

“I’m sorry, what?” I ask her. I wasn’t paying attention before. Jenna joins our side at the same time and gives us both a tight hug.

“What are we talking about?” She asks, trying to catch up to our conversation.

“I was just pointing out that something was wrong with Scarlett.” My sister repeats herself.

I pause, “something wrong with me?” I ask for confirmation.

She nods with concern in her eyes, “is something wrong, Scarlett?” She asks me. “Are you upset about something? Is someone bothering you?”

I try not to cry in front of her. There were so many things bothering me, and I didn’t know how to tell her. She was the one person I wanted to tell everything to but also the last person I could ever spill the truth to.

“No.” I lie. “Nothing is wrong.”

She grabs my hand and pulls me into the washroom with Jenna behind us. She checks every bathroom stall before turning towards me again.

“This has to do with Carter, doesn’t it?” She asks me.

I can’t hide the surprise on my face from her in time.

“It is.” She whispers more to herself than to me.

Jenna nods, “I think this Carter thing is messing with her, Clara. I think she shouldn’t continue with this plan of yours. It might be best for everyone involved.”

Jenna already knew exactly what was wrong with me. She knew I was in love with him. She knew everything while Clara was still lost. She couldn’t read me as well as my best friend did. I knew Jenna was trying to get her to stop because she knew what it was doing to me. She knew that both of us would end up getting hurt in the end.

Besides, if Clara forced me to go near Carter today, it would go against everything I said to him the last time I saw him.

“I think you’re right, Jenna,” Clara says finally. My head snaps up to look at her. Both Jenna and I are shocked at her words. We never expected her to agree. She was so determined in the past to make Carter pay that it was a great shock to hear her say this.

“What do you mean?” I ask her, still not sure that I’d heard her correctly.

“All this time, I’ve only been thinking about myself, Scarlett.” She whispers. “I’m ashamed to admit it. I never thought about you and what this was doing to you. I turned you into someone you’re not. I forced you to go to parties; I forced you to dress differently. I placed you in uncomfortable situations, and I made you get closer to Carter even though you hated his guts. I’m ashamed of myself.”

“No,” I whisper as I grab her hands. “None of this is your fault. You didn’t make me uncomfortable, I promise. I was happy to do it for you. Besides, you’re more of a good person than I am, Clara.”

She frowns, “That’s so not true, Scarlett. No one else would do something like this for me. Any other girl would have used the opportunity to sleep with Carter. You’re not like those other girls. You’re different from all of us. I’m so grateful that you are my sister, and I’m so sorry I didn’t recognize how lucky I am to have you much sooner than this.”

I pull her into a hug and can’t stop the tears from falling. I’d betrayed my sister in the worst way possible, and still, I didn’t know how to tell her the truth.

“I’m never going to force you to do something you don’t want to do again.” She promises me. “I made a mistake, Scarlett. My revenge blinded me. I should have left it alone. I should have forgotten about Carter and focused on my healing. Instead, I made everything worse with my stupid plan. I hope you forgive me one day for putting you through this mess.”

“No, Clara,” I stop her. “Please don’t apologize; it will make me feel like a horrible person if you do. I beg you, please don’t apologize.”

She hugs me back tightly, “You’re not a horrible person. I’m the horrible one. From today onwards, you’ll never have to speak to Carter again. I promise. You can go back to your normal ways; you can forget about him for good.”