Blake himself was the biggest disappointment. He walked with Vivian as if she were the one he’d invited, allowing her to clutch his arm as if they were boyfriend and girlfriend. Scarlet was confused.
After all, Blake had asked her to go. Was he that afraid of upsetting Vivian? Was he too weak to resist her? Or was he genuinely changing his mind, and starting to have feelings for Vivian instead?
Scarlet’s apprehension grew as the reality sank in of her cutting class, missing her last two classes of the day—and an important quiz—to be with this group. Had she made a mistake? Her entire reason for going was to be with Blake—and he hardly seemed to even care. He only looked back over his shoulder for her once or twice. With every step, Scarlet felt increasingly left out. But it was too late to turn back now: they were far from school, and had already entered a trail in the woods, which she was unfamiliar with. She followed them as they twisted and turned down the narrow path, feeling increasingly dependent on them to get back.
Finally, the trail ended and led out to the edge of a small, blue lake. Beautiful trees surrounded the water, and their foliage was strewn all around the shore, bright leaves floating in the water. The sight took Scarlet’s breath away: it was beautiful down here. She’d been here once before, and remembered it as a favorite place for kids to escape to on weekends. She had never been down here during a school day, though, and it was weird now, quiet and empty. It felt wrong to be here. She felt she should be back in class.
The group found a spot on the shore, close to the water, and they all took makeshift seats on various logs, stumps, and boulders. They sat in a loose circle. Scarlet went to sit beside Blake, but Vivian directed him to a small log, just big enough to hold the two of them, and Scarlet had to sit on the other side of him, on a rock, a few feet away. Blake looked over at her, and she could see that he felt a bit guilty. But still, he wasn’t doing anything to change it.
A cool breeze swept in off the lake, and Scarlet hugged her green, fall jacket tightly around her chest, starting to feel cold. She felt shaky, but didn’t know if it was from the weather, or from feeling so left out, so nervous to be with this crowd who she barely knew. She wondered how she got herself into this mess to begin with. She should have listened to Maria. She shouldn’t have come. A part of her just wanted to get up and leave, but she couldn’t bring herself to.
One of Blake’s friends skimmed rocks along the lake. Another reached into his jacket pocket and started rolling up small pieces of paper.
Scarlet blinked, shocked to see that he was rolling up a joint. Pot. She couldn’t believe it. It was Richard, Blake’s best friend, also on the football team, short and stocky, with bright blonde hair.
She’d always known that he was trouble, but didn’t suspect he’d be smoking pot, especially during a school day.
In moments he had a joint rolled and lit; he took a deep hit and then, to Scarlet’s dread, he passed it around. Blake’s other buddy, another football player, took it and inhaled deeply. He coughed as he did, and Vivian’s friends erupted in sharp, mocking laughter. He turned red, embarrassed, but then inhaled again, determined, and managed to hold it this time.
He passed it along, continuing around the circle, counter-clockwise.
Scarlet’s heart started to pound as she realized the joint was being passed around and would head her way. Everyone else was inhaling it. She was the last person in the circle, and knew that it would come her way—and that Blake would be the one to hand it to her.
She felt more disappointed than ever. She hated peer pressure, had never smoked pot before, and didn’t intend on starting now. Sure, a few times she had sipped some beers or wine coolers at a party. But that was about it. That was where she drew the line.
But as everyone passed it around the circle, she felt more and more pressure. If she was the only one to say no, she would be so conspicuous, would look like a goody-goody. Which she didn’t want to look like in front of Blake. She was torn.
The joint reached Vivian, who sucked on it for an extra-long time, filling her lungs. She then turned, grabbed Blake by the back of his head, leaned in, put her lips on his, and blew into his mouth.
The small group oohed and ahhed as she did.
Blake was clearly surprised, caught off guard. But again, he didn’t try to pull away. He let her do it, inhaled, then coughed it out.
Scarlet watched in shock and disgust. She had never guessed Vivian would be that aggressive—
and she had never guessed Blake would be that cruel, to allow her to kiss him like that, right in front of her. She felt more snubbed than ever.
As Blake reached over and held out the joint to her, Scarlet just sat there, staring at it, in shock.
She hardly knew what to do. Either Blake was really into Vivian, or he didn’t have the guts to show it to everyone. Including himself.
For the first time, Scarlet stopped wanting Blake. She just didn’t care anymore. For the first time, she realized she was better than all this. She didn’t need to take this kind of treatment from him.
“What’s the matter—you chicken?” mocked one of Vivian’s friends.
“Bac-bac-bac-bac-bac!” another one of Vivian’s friends said, making chicken noises.
Scarlet had enough. She rose, turned, and walked away from the group, heading back towards the forest.
“Goody-goody!” screamed one of Blake’s buddies.
“Loser!” screamed one of Vivian’s friends.
“Let her go,” Vivian yelled out. “She’s just a waste of space anyway.” Scarlet felt herself tearing up as she hurried away from the group, back towards the forest trail.
She was so mad at herself for agreeing to come.
“Scarlet!” came Blake’s voice.
He yelled out after her, and she heard the regret in his voice.
But she didn’t care anymore. It was too late.
She hurried into the forest trail, breaking into a jog as she ran farther and farther away, wiping tears. Behind her, she heard a rustling of leaves, getting closer. She already sensed who it was: Blake.
“Scarlet, please!” he yelled out.
She could hardly believe it: he had left the group, and was running after her.
Soon he caught up to her, cut her off, and she had no choice but to stop. She was now crying, and she looked down, wiping away her tears, as he stood across from her, holding her shoulder. She turned her head, looking away from him.