She hurried into the dining room, and as she did, Ruth jumped up and accompanied her.
The table was beautifully set, fresh flowers in the middle, and filled with food. A large roasted chicken sat in the center, and there were sides of mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn, green beans…. It looked like Thanksgiving. And it smelled delicious.
As Caleb entered behind her, suddenly her mom burst through the double doors, carrying a small bowl of gravy. She looked up and saw Scarlet and looked startled. Then she smiled back.
“Perfect timing,” she said.
She set down the gravy and came over and stood before Scarlet, reaching up and brushing the hair out of her face, just like she used to do when Scarlet was a little girl.
“How are you feeling?” she asked earnestly. “I was so worried about you all day.” Scarlet just wanted this whole thing to go away. She really didn’t want to dwell on it.
“I’m fine mom, really. Please don’t worry about me.”
Caitlin stared into her eyes, and Scarlet could see she was not convinced.
“Let’s eat,” Scarlet said, impatient, twisting out of her grip.
The three of them took their seats at the table, Caleb at the head, and Scarlet and Caitlin facing each other on either side of him, Ruth sitting by Scarlet’s side. The first thing Scarlet did was reach out, grab a hunk of meat, and, when no one was looking, reach down and give it to Ruth. She knew her dad would get mad, so she did it stealthily.
But Ruth gave it away, smacking her lips loudly on the huge hunk of meat. Caleb looked down, then up at Scarlet.
“Scarlet,” he said ominously, realizing.
“It was just a small piece—” she began.
“I just fed her,” her dad said. “She’s going to get fat.”
“Sorry.”
He let it go. He reached out and began serving portions onto her plate, then onto Caitlin’s, then onto his own. Once her plate was filled, Scarlet reached up to take her first bite, when suddenly, her mom cleared her throat.
“I think that before we eat, we should all say grace together.” Scarlet looked at her dad, who looked back at her, equally astonished. They had never said grace once in their entire time together as a family.
What had gotten into her mom? Scarlet wondered.
Her dad slowly put down his fork, and Scarlet reluctantly put down hers. Her mom lowered her head, and Caleb did, too. Scarlet refused, annoyed. It was enough already. Clearly, this was about her being sick. Why couldn’t her mom just move on?
“Dear Lord. Thank you for blessing us with this beautiful meal. Thank you for blessing us with such a beautiful family. And thank you for keeping us all safe and protected. Please continue to watch over us and keep us all healthy. Amen.”
“Amen,” Caleb replied.
Scarlet, still mad, feeling in the spotlight, didn’t respond. After a long day of being in the spotlight at school, this was really the last thing she needed know. Instead, she sighed, reached up, and took her first bite. The food, at least, was delicious.
The three of them sat there in awkward silence, eating. At this point, Scarlet just wanted to get through dinner and get to her room and shut the door, shut out the world. She just wanted to go on Facebook and unwind. She was still reeling from her day.
As she ate, she couldn’t stop thinking about the dance on Friday, and couldn’t stop wondering if Blake had asked Vivian. Or, if not, if he would summon the courage to ask her tomorrow her, Scarlet, tomorrow. What would she do if he didn’t ask her? Would she go alone? Not go at all?
Should she take the initiative and ask Blake? No, she couldn’t do that.
Throwing a major wrinkle in everything was the fact that, for some weird reason, she also couldn’t stop thinking about the new kid she saw today. Sage. She kept thinking of that funny feeling she had when she saw him, when their eyes locked—like an electric jolt. It was unlike anything she had experienced before. She didn’t understand it, and it freaked her out. Why was she even thinking about him? A part of her ached to see him again—and another part hoped that she would never see him again.
Scarlet was beginning to feel too worked up, overwhelmed by all the emotions swirling around within her. She was feeling anxious. She just wanted tomorrow to come already, wanted to get answers, resolution, to know what was going to happen.
“Scarlet?” came her mom’s voice.
Scarlet looked up, jolted out of her thoughts.
“What’s on your mind?”
Scarlet paused, wondering what, if anything to tell her.
“Nothing,” she finally said. She really didn’t want to talk about the dance, or Blake, or the new kid. Or anything. She just wanted the day to be over.
“How was school today?” her dad asked.
“Fine, I guess.”
“Was it okay that you were late?”
She shrugged. “I only missed one class. It wasn’t a big deal. I got the homework assignment. A few people asked what happened, but then they let it go. Anyway, no one really cared that much—
they were too busy obsessing over Tina.”
“Tina?” her dad asked.
“A girl in my grade. Apparently, she, like, went crazy last night or something.” Her dad looked at her mom in surprise, and she nodded back.
“I read about it in the paper this morning,” she said, looking right at Scarlet. “Was she a close friend of yours?”
“I barely knew her,” Scarlet answered.
“What happened?” her dad asked.
“Apparently, she like freaked out last night,” Scarlet said. “Went crazy. She’s like in the hospital or something.”
“The papers said an animal attacked her,” her mom added.
Her dad looked at her, eyes open wide.
“An animal?”
“That’s what the paper said. But nobody really knows. It happened just a few blocks away.” As she said it, her mom looked at Scarlet, as if examining her, as if wondering something. It started to freak Scarlet out. Once again, Scarlet felt a pit in her stomach as she worried if maybe she had crossed paths with Tina that night. The timing of it was so weird. She looked back down at her food, just wanting to finish quick.
They all continued to eat in silence.
“I went to church today,” her mom suddenly announced.
Scarlet stopped in mid-chew, stunned. She noticed her dad froze, too. They both exchanged a look.