Rat Race

Scarlett lay on the wet grass, puffing on her cigarette and staring up at the clouds above her. Her mind was blank, for once. There were no thoughts of her sisters, of her mom, of how much trouble she was in at school… there was just nothing. It was kind of peaceful.

Of course that had to be ruined.

“Hey,” a shadow fell over her, and her view of the clouds was gone. It was the New Yorker.

“Hi,” she replied reluctantly. He sat down beside her, once again too close for comfort. She stubbed out her cigarette on the ground and turned to look at him. His hair was once again into a ponytail at the nape of his neck and up this close, she could see the long dark lashes that fringed his mysterious eyes. He was… interesting. She decided to humor him for a bit.

“What do you want?” She asked.

“You want the truth?” He stared at her and smirked.

“I asked, didn’t I?”

“There you go again with those questions,” he said, propping his arms on his bended knees. He tipped his head back and looked at the sky.

Scarlett sighed, ran her hand through her hair, and looked away.

“Do you make a habit of skipping class?” The guy asked.

Scarlett had another question poised on her lips, but quickly swallowed it.

“Yes,” she said simply.

“Why?”

“Why are you?” She snapped her head around to ask him. And then stifled a squeak. His face was so close that their noses brushed. She was about to back away, but then he raised hand up and tucked a dark tendril that had fallen in her face behind her ear.

“You’re beautiful, you know that?” He muttered, his hand still on her face.

Scarlett snorted a laugh, something she never did. “Whatever,” she jerked her face away. Sitting on a big hill in front of the school, she could see everything. The ground sloped down to give way to trees and beyond that, the highway. She could hear and see the cars racing past, and it just made her long for something that was out of her reach.

The guy stood. Scarlett expected to feel relieved, but instead she was surprised to feel a drop in her belly at the thought of him walking away from her.

He reached a hand down to her, and Scarlett glanced up at him, shocked.

“C’mon,” he wiggled his fingers and jerked his head towards the student parking lot, “I wanna show you somethin’.”

Like some sort of out of body experience, Scarlett watched herself grip his hand and let him pull her up and lead her away.