Scarlet wasn’t sure if she could actually physically take the torture anymore. Elodie was such a good person. She was turning into a liar and a cheat and a bad person. Her best friend deserved so, so much more from her.
“Sure.” She nearly winced as she said it, but Elodie was already turning around down the hall and heading to the kitchen, and she didn’t notice.
Scarlet forced herself to walk to the door. Neera still hadn’t appeared, and she wondered where she was. Maybe she was worried that if she got too near, Scarlet would start making demands right there on the spot and everything would go to unplanned shit versus her sort of planned shit.
“Here you go.” Elodie came back with a container of food as Scarlet was slipping her boots on. She waited, a container in hand, as Scarlet took her coat out of the front closet with the big mirror. She slipped into it, holding her breath so that she had to let it all out at once in a noisy, hard rush.
Thankfully, Elodie didn’t notice that either. She just handed over the container with a smile.
“Goodnight,” Scarlet forced herself to say. She was so close. Just a few more steps and she’d be out the door.
She might be able to make an escape, but then the real purgatory would start. She’d spend all night wondering if Neera was talking to Elodie. Wondering what she’d say or what she had said, or if she’d said it at all. She’d start wishing that she’d done it herself, told Elodie like she wanted to.
It was because she cared so much for her best friend that she wanted to let Neera do what she thought was best, even if she didn’t agree with the way she was going about it.
If I cared about my best friend, I wouldn’t betray her.
“See you Tuesday.” Elodie stepped over and held the door open for Scarlet. “I’m so excited for that movie. I’ve wanted to see it forever.”
“I’m excited too. Good luck with your order tomorrow.” The words rang hollow in her ears as Scarlet stepped outside, into the night that was so cold, it stole her breath.
Elodie waved and shut the door behind her. Scarlet tucked in her head and walked down the sidewalk, shivering hard as she did, but not really from the cold. The burn in her belly could have kept her warm through even the most frigid night. Big snowflakes were descending down from the blanket of black above. How it could be so cold and still snow was beyond her. She swore that there was a scientific thing against that, but apparently the rules didn’t apply in January. It snowed if it wanted to or not.
Every step was a torment to her. Half of her screamed to turn back around and confess everything to Elodie, beg her to forgive her, and maybe even to one day understand. The other half kept telling her to put one foot in front of the other. Probably her base survival instinct kicking in.
She made it to her house without turning around or falling on her bottom, even though the sidewalk was indeed turning into a sheet of ice. She had her keys out of her pocket in an instant. Juggling the container in her hand, she had one slipped into the lock when a soft voice said her name.
“Scarlet.”
“Ahh!” Scarlet whipped around, ready to use the container of leftover chicken and mashed potatoes as a weapon if she had to.
She was that on edge that she didn’t even recognize Neera’s voice, but there she was, standing just a few feet behind her, on her steps, her arms crossed over a black peacoat.
“Oh, my God, Neera.” She lowered the container. “What are you doing out here?”
“I snuck out the back door. I only have a few minutes.”
“Are you serious?”
“You only live a few houses down. Mom’s having a shower. She says that the bakery makes her smell like bread.”
“That’s probably logical. Bread smells good, though.”
“I guess it doesn’t when you smell it all day. Anyway, though, I wanted to make sure you were okay. I’m going to tell her. I promise.”
“Tonight,” Scarlet insisted. “I can’t keep doing what we’re doing. I almost had a heart attack back there.”
“I’m sorry. That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Scarlet sighed and watched her breath dissipate above her head. “Maybe none of this was or is supposed to happen at all.”
Neera climbed the steps and stalked across the porch. “I’m not buying that. I know that you want this, and I know that you’re no coward. Everything I said still stands. It’s okay to be scared. I am too, but I’m not backing down. I want you too much for that. Just have faith in me and in my mom, if in nothing else.”
It was too cold to stand out there arguing and they didn’t have time. Scarlet had already raised every objection she could think of and still, Neera stood certain and unafraid in the face of them all. She had the strength of a giant and the courage of a hero, and Scarlet had no idea where that had come from. Neera had left a child and come back a woman who was willing to move mountains and fight battles and come out a conqueror, and all for her. It made Scarlet feel dizzy.
The amount of emotions and thoughts pinging around her skull and rushing through her made her feel dizzy too.
“It’s cold,” she whispered, even though she didn’t feel it.