“I’m sorry,” he said. “I really didn’t mean for it to go down like that.”
“Why did you leave?” she snapped back. “You like Vivian. It’s obvious. Why did you even ask me to come?”
“I don’t like her,” he answered.
“Then you shouldn’t have let her kiss you,” she snapped back. “Especially in front of me.” For once, Scarlet was standing up for herself, saying what she felt and believed, and it felt good.
She no longer felt afraid to voice her feelings. Even to Blake.
It was Blake’s turn to look down. She could see the regret in his face.
“You’re right. I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry.”
“Whatever,” she said, looking away. “We’re just different people. We’re into different things. I’m sorry, but I don’t cut school. I don’t get high. It’s just not me. I think you’re better off with her.”
“But it’s not me either,” he pleaded back, his face softening. “It’s really not,” he continued.
“I…I guess…I was just…trying to impress you.”
“Impress me?” she asked, dumbfounded.
“Show you how cool I was. Cutting school, smoking, all that. I’m sorry. It was stupid.” She looked at him, and could see his sincerity. It made her wonder. Was he really being sincere?
She felt that he was. He had been trying to impress her.
She thought about that, and for the first time it dawned on her: that meant he liked her. He really liked her. Her. Scarlet. Not Vivian.
“Can we start over?” he asked. “Just you and me?”
She stared at him, debating. A fall breeze blew up a bunch of leaves by their feet, and he reached out for her hand.
“I know a great spot. Down by the river. Just the two of us. Without my friends. And without Vivian. You’re the one I want to be with. Please. Can I try again?” He was smiling.
Slowly, she broke into a smile, too. She couldn’t help it. This time, it felt right.
She reached out and took his hand, and it fit perfectly in hers.
They headed off down the trail, sloping towards the river. He clasped her fingers between his, and she found herself clasping his back.
Despite herself, she found herself hopeful once again.
*
Scarlet and Blake walked through the forest trail, thick with leaves, down the gentle slope, heading through the trails towards the river. As they went, the wind picked up, blowing scores of leaves off the trees. They showered down all around them and as they hit the late afternoon sun, all the different colors lit up brilliantly. It was magical.
Blake held her hand the entire time, and Scarlet felt as if she were walking into a fantasy, a fairy tale. She felt her heart warm with each step, felt herself filling with newfound feelings for Blake, with hope for their relationship. She was feeling good about them again, just as she had that night they went to the movie. Vivian was slowly becoming a distant memory.
Scarlet smiled to herself, as she thought of what her reaction must be right now, sitting around the lake with her friends and Blake’s friends, probably waiting for Blake to come back. It probably really peeved her to see him run off after Scarlet.
Finally, Scarlet thought. A small victory.
Deep down, though, Scarlet knew that Vivian, being as vindictive and spiteful as she was, would not let this go so easily. She felt sure she would make it her life’s mission to slander Scarlet, to turn the school against her. She’d probably wage a malicious gossip campaign, and do who knows what to get back at her. After all, Scarlet had embarrassed her in front of her friends.
Scarlet forced herself to snap out of it. Now wasn’t the time to think of Vivian, or of any stress that might come later. Now was the time to live in the moment, to enjoy her time with Blake.
Finally, she had what she wanted.
“I know a great spot,” Blake said, reading her mind just as she started to wonder where at the riverbank they were going. It broke the long silence between them. “I think you’ll really like it.” Scarlet sensed that she would. The further they walked, the more she felt it was just the two of them, the last ones left in the world, leaving everything, all their worries, behind. School, teachers, homework, friends, parents…it all faded with every step they took.
The trees opened up, and Scarlet stood there and paused, amazed by the view. They were at the top of a small hill, covered in knee-high grass and wildflowers, sparkling in the late afternoon sun. In the distance, just beyond it, was the Hudson River. In all her years here, Scarlet had never seen it look so beautiful as it did from this spot, as she looked down on it, with a sweeping view of the trees on both sides of it, of the mountains on the horizon. Scattered clouds filled the sky, and a slow tugboat made its way down the middle of the immense river. She felt as if she’d stepped into a postcard.
Blake tugged on her hand, and they continued down a small, worn path through the flowers, under the open sky, heading closer to the shore. They reached a set of train tracks, about twenty feet away from the river. She stopped, looking both ways, then down at the rails.
“It’s okay,” Blake said. “Trust me.”
He took her hand and led her onto the tracks. They looked quickly in both directions, saw no train anywhere in sight, then sprinted across them, running down the other slope. Scarlet could feel her heart racing and they laughed as they went. In another twenty yards they found themselves at the water’s edge.
There was a small, rocky shore, the waves of the Hudson splashing against it, filled with driftwood, glass bottles, and small piles of burnt logs, remnants of a bonfire. Scarlet walked to the water’s edge, reached down, and felt the waves with her palm. The water was ice cold, as she expected it to be at the end of October. Still, it was refreshing to the touch.
Blake wandered away from her, and for a moment, she wondered where he was going. He stopped at the water’s edge and squatted down, combing the sand with his hand fingers as if looking for something. He was looking beneath the water, every time the tide receded, until finally he found whatever it was he was searching for.
He stood and smiled at her, revealing his perfect teeth, his eyes gleaming in the light. It was a smile that completed her world. He was beaming, and Scarlet could see how genuinely happy and relaxed he was. Happy to be with her, she realized. The thought of it made her feel good.