Chapter 16 – Barren Wench #2
I pulled my wrist out of his grip. “Don’t pretend you care when you don’t.
Your silence all week has made that abundantly clear.
And I get it. Of course you’re better friends with Jacob than me.
” My stupid tears started to fall. I never even considered the fact that I’d lose anyone in this breakup.
But surely Uncle Matt and Aunt Brooklyn hated me.
And all of Jacob’s siblings. And Mr. Tanner and Mr. Nigel.
And now Axel too. “So go take care of him. Not that he needs it. His heart isn’t the one that’s broken. ”
“Scarlett!” he called after me, but I kept walking.
Screw him.
***
I had my popcorn and a fuzzy blanket, and I was wearing my flannel pajamas.
At first I didn’t like them. But they’d become my favorite thing to wear around the house.
They were comfy, warm, and it wasn’t like anyone was going to see me in them.
I was single. And I had a feeling I was going to stay single for a long time.
Maybe I’d just die in these flannel pajamas. Alone.
I turned on the first scary movie I found and nestled in for a long terrifying night.
My mom and dad were laughing as they walked into the living room. But my mom’s laughter caught in her throat when she saw me sitting on the couch. “Sweetie, it’s time to go. You need to get dressed.”
My mom was wearing a hoop skirt and a corset which pushed her breasts up in a way that would have gotten me in trouble.
And my dad was wearing a vest and wool, knee-length jacket.
The theme for the party this year was famous literature.
And I had no idea what book they were portraying. Something Victorian I presumed.
“I like your costumes,” I said. “But I’m not coming.” I turned back to the TV. “I told you that.”
“But you said that a couple days ago. I was hoping you’d change your mind.”
“I haven’t.”
“Scarlett, you come every year. I don’t want you to regret not coming. Come on, it’s going to be fine. The three of us can hang out the whole time.”
I knew that wasn’t true. They’d start dancing. Leaving me alone. Probably to get yelled at by Uncle Matt or something. I paused the movie, because this seemed like it was about to be a whole thing. “The only thing I’m going to regret tonight is if I don’t finish this entire bowl of popcorn.”
My mom sighed and looked up at my dad.
“You’re sure you don’t want to come, pumpkin?” he asked.
“I’m sure.”
“You know what?” my dad said. “I’m not sure I want to go this year either.” He started to loosen his tie. “Let’s stay in and watch a movie with Scarlett.”
My mom sighed. “The two of you together is too much. James, you already let her stay home all week...”
“I went to school today,” I said.
My dad gave me a sad smile.
“I’m sorry, but enough is enough,” my mom said. “Scarlett, you can’t just hide out in the house forever because some boy...”
“It’s not just some boy. It’s Jacob.”
“I know. But it’s your first boyfriend. First boyfriends aren’t supposed to last forever. That’s why they’re called first for a reason.”
She’d already had this whole conversation with me. “Just because your first boyfriend sucked, doesn’t mean mine had to not work out too. I’m not you.”
“But first relationships are all about making mistakes...”
My dad cleared his throat. “Technically I was your first boyfriend, Penny.”
I stared back and forth between my mom and my dad. “Wait. Mom. You told me about your first kiss. Was that not your first boyfriend?”
My mom shrugged. “We never put a label on it.”
“So it was casual?”
“I...”
“You’re such a slut!”
My mom sighed like I was exhausting her.
“Scarlett,” my dad said firmly. “What is with you and that word? And would both of you stop it? Scarlett is going to sit on that couch for as long as she needs. Forever if she wants to.”
“You’re encouraging destructive behavior because you don’t want her to date anyone,” my mom said.
“Not true.”
“It is true. Sweetie, if I didn’t get out after my first casual whatever breakup, I never would have met your father. And all your friends are going to be at the party. Please just go get dressed. This could be the night that changes everything.”
“You write too many fairytales, Mom.”
She sighed.
“Ready to go?” Liam asked and walked into the room. He was dressed like a very hairy monster.
“What are you supposed to be?” I asked.
“The wolf from Little Red Riding Hood. What are you supposed to be? Wait, don’t tell me. A cat lady? No. A hermit.”
I laughed.
“Wait. A barren wench?”
I picked up a pillow and threw it at him.
He laughed and caught it in one hand. “Seriously, why aren’t you dressed?”
Liam had actually been really sweet since the breakup. He’d seen the whole thing. And he hadn’t even told my dad what Jacob had said.
“Apparently Scarlett isn’t coming,” my mom said.
“A barren wench would stay home alone,” Liam said.
I rolled my eyes.
Liam looked at my dad. “Actually, I’m not sure I really want to go tonight either. Is it okay if I stay home with the barren wench?”
I laughed.
“You boys, stop it,” my mom said. “We’re all going to the party. And you’re both going to stop coddling Scarlett. She needs to get back out there.”
I didn’t need to get back out there. I was still in love with Jacob. That didn’t just go away overnight.
My mom was usually very nice. But she was being kind of a hard ass about this breakup and I had no idea why.
She’d been nice the first day. And then she just kind of flipped a switch and kept nagging my dad to force me to go back to school.
I didn’t like causing them tension. But I really preferred my dad’s attitude here. And Liam’s.
“Scarlett,” my mom said firmly.
“I’m not going. But you should all go. I’ll be fine.”
“You’re okay here alone?” Liam asked.
I nodded. “Yeah, you go ahead.” It was sweet of Liam and my dad to offer to stay. But I didn’t want to ruin their nights. The Caldwell Halloween party was a tradition. It was usually one of my favorite nights of the year.
My dad kissed my forehead. “Call me if you need anything, pumpkin.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
The three of them left.
I pulled my blanket up to my chin and hit play on my movie. It only took me half an hour to realize that this was a terrible, no good idea. Two people had already been murdered and I already felt like someone was watching me. I guess either Porter or Briggs was.
But still. It felt a lot more like someone with a chainsaw was watching me.
There was a knock on the door and I swear I almost shit myself.
I wrapped my blanket around my shoulders like a cape and crept toward the door. My heart was pounding against my ribcage. But if it was someone with a chainsaw, surely Briggs or Porter wouldn’t have even allowed them to reach the door. Right?
But then again, they didn’t know about my trapdoor. And that was a major security breach.
I peered through the peephole and breathed a sigh of relief. It was a delivery guy holding several takeout bags.
He must have come to the wrong address.
I opened up the door. “Hey, sorry, wrong place. I didn’t order anything.”
“Are you Scarlett?”
“Yes?”
He glanced at something scrawled on the side of one of the brown paper bags. “It says it’s for Scarlett. And there’s a note. I hope this is enough soup to let you know that I care. Here you go.” He handed me the two big takeout bags.
And I noticed the familiar logo on the side. It was the soup place I always sent Axel soup from. Had he really sent me soup?
The delivery guy walked away and I closed the door. I peered into the bags. There were at least a dozen soup containers. It felt like each bag weighed ten pounds. It wasn’t just soup for this week. It was enough soup to make up for every day I’d ever missed of school.
I pressed my lips together. Axel did care.
I walked into the kitchen and laughed as I started unpacking all the containers.
No one could eat this much soup all at once.
I put all of it but one container in the fridge.
I poured it into a bowl and microwaved it until it was super hot, just the way I liked it.
And then I grabbed a spoon, blew on a spoonful of the broth, and ate it. Delicious.
Axel had sent only chicken noodle. My favorite. And what I thought was his, before Gigi announced that he preferred minestrone.
I took another bite. It was actually just what I needed tonight.
And getting soup from a friend made my heart feel a little better.
It was probably more healing than a scary movie that was just a Band-Aid to mask my pain for a bit.
I needed to thank Axel. I knew he was at the Halloween party, but I’d just send a text.
I carried the bowl of steaming hot soup to my room.
I’d gotten a lot less addicted to my phone after my kiss thief had been revealed. And the whole needing glasses to unlock it. But I was already wearing my glasses tonight.
I walked into my room and over to my desk. I took another bite of soup and grabbed my phone.
“Hey,” a deep voice said from behind me.
I jumped and spilled my hot soup all down the front of my pajamas. Ah! It’s fucking hot! I yelped and spun around.
A masked man was sitting on my bed with a chainsaw.
I wanted to scream from the pain of the scalding soup on my skin and to call for help, but I’d just swallowed a noodle wrong and my throat failed me. So instead, I tried to run out of my bedroom.
But the masked man caught me and put his hand over my mouth.
“Sh,” he whispered into my ear from behind. “If you scream, I’ll make this worse.”