Remedy

Bad Influence

A couple weeks have gone by since their first family dinner. Max texted Scarlett about piano lessons and she agreed to meet with Poppy on Saturdays.

"Where are you going?" Maggie asked Amelia, who was putting her shoes on by the door.
"Scarlett is giving Poppy piano lessons today for the first time," Amelia said as she looked up. Then she got up and walked over to the stairs and yelled,
"We're leaving in five, Scar!"
Within minutes, Scarlett was running down the stairs to meet her mom in the car.

Soon enough they pulled into the driveway of a decently sized modern house. Scarlett and Amelia made their way to the door and the latter of the two knocked three times. Max opened the door with a smile and backed away as he said,
"Come on in."

The inside of the house was just as nice as the outside. It was a pretty neat and clean house. A little girl came walking down the stairs and over to Max. She had dark hazel eyes and long raven hair that fell below her shoulders.
"This is Poppy," Max said and looked down at the girl.
"Hi," Poppy said with a little grin she was trying to hide.
Scarlett smiled and with a wave said,
"Hi."
"Are you ready?" Poppy asked.
Scarlett nodded and said back,
"Are you?"
Poppy smiled from ear to ear and then said,
"This way!"
She started walking towards another room and Scarlett followed behind her.

"Would you like something to drink?" Max asked Amelia.
"No I'm good, thank you though," she said a little awkwardly. She looked around at the pictures on the wall and noticed the similarities between Alice and Scarlett. She wondered if Scarlett looked like how Alice looked at the younger ages.
"So how long has Scarlett been living with you?" Max asked as he walked next to Amelia and admired the pictures with her.
"About a month," Amelia told him and continued to stare at the wall.
"What's she like?" Max asked and turned to her.
"She's exactly how I was at 15," Amelia said seriously and looked at him.
"Should I be worried?" Max asked. He was well aware of Amelia's wild child years.
"She's been clean for a month, so I'm hoping it sticks. She had a bit of a rough start, but we've made a lot of progress," Amelia told him.
"And how are you?" Max asked her.

The two continued to chit chat as Scarlett and Poppy played the piano. When their one hour was up, Scarlett and Poppy walked into the kitchen to find Amelia and Max talking.
"Done?" Max asked.
"Yup," Poppy said with a little giggle.
"How did she do?" Max asked Scarlett.
"She did great! She's really good at noticing patterns," Scarlett told him.
"That's my girl," Max said proudly as he put his arm around Poppy.
Suddenly, the front door opened and the sound of a teenage girl and her mother fighting filled the room.

"In here," Max called.
The two entered the room and Alice instantly went silent when she realized who was there.
"This is Amelia and Scarlett," Max said.
"Nice to meet you," Max's wife said as she held out her hand for Amelia to shake and then the same to Scarlett.
"I'm Sarah," she said to them with a warm smile.
"This is Alice," she added.

Scarlett and Alice stared each other down. The resemblance was uncanny.
"I'm Scarlett," the older of the two said and held out her hand.
"Alice," the girl said and shook her sister's hands.

"We should get going," Amelia said to break the silence.
"Thank you for coming," Max said and started to make his way to the door.
"No problem," Scarlett told him.
He tried to hand her a twenty but she shook her head and said,
"Don't worry about it," with a smile.
"Are you sure?" Max asked.
"You're family," Scarlett told him.

In the car, Amelia turned to Scarlett and said,
"That was nice of you to do it for free."
Scarlett looked Amelia dead in the eye and said,
"I'd probably just use the money for drugs... so I figured, better not."
Amelia sighed and nodded.
"Maggie, Meredith and I have been talking..." Amelia started to say.
"And?" Scarlett asked as she leaned in.
"And we think that you and Zola should move into the playroom, Derek's old study," Amelia told her.
"And then Ellis and Bailey stay in the attic?" Scarlett asked as she sat back.
"Exactly, and this would give you and Zola more space," Amelia explained.
"And you won't have to share a room with me anymore," Scarlett pointed out.
"Well I don't mind that," Amelia tried to tell her, but Scarlett raised an eyebrow at her and said,
"You don't mind sharing a room with your 15 year old? What about Linc?"
Amelia stopped and thought for a second. She smiled and turned to her kid as she said,
"Don't worry about Linc."
"Are you ever going to introduce us?" Scarlett pushed. She was just trying to annoy her mother and get her flustered.
"We're not even dating," Amelia told her.
"Right, its complicated," Scarlett mocked her with an eye roll at the end.
Amelia sighed and then changed the subject with,
"So, maybe we could get a piano in the house for you to play?"
"No, you don't need to do that. I honestly haven't played in a while, it's fine," Scarlett said to her.
"Okay, what about a guitar?" Amelia tried. She wanted Scarlett to have a hobby outside of school that wasn't drugs or drug related.
"How did you know I played the guitar?" Scarlett asked as she eyed her.
"Maggie told me," Amelia said back.
"Ohh, and no. You don't need to get me anything. Im okay with what I've got," Scarlett assured her.
"Well, do you want to try doing field hockey or softball again?" Amelia asked.
"Whats going on?" Scarlett asked with a raised eyebrow.
"What do you mean?" Amelia asked innocently.
"Why do you want me to play field hockey or softball or get a piano or a guitar?" the girl rightfully questioned.
"I just want you to have a hobby," Amelia told her.
"You mean a distraction? So I don't do cocaine or heroin?" Scarlett asked with an accusing look.
"Listen, I just want you to have other activities to do besides school work," Amelia said in defense.
"Could I get a job?" Scarlett asked.
Amelia instantly shook her head and said,
"You didn't want Max to pay you because you said you'd use it for drugs-"
"What if I give you all the money I make and you put it in the bank and I can't touch it or something?" Scarlett tried.
Amelia thought for a second and then asked,
"What kind of job?"
"A drug dealer," Scarlett said sarcastically before saying,
"I don't know, a normal person job that a regular teen has."
Amelia looked unsure.
"You're going to need to learn to trust me again. And you need to give me a chance," Scarlett said.
Amelia sighed.
"I'm fine with you getting a job," she told her, even though she wasn't too sure she could trust her yet.

The next week at school, Scarlett saw a familiar face. While she was walking with her friends Jessica and Victoria, she saw her best friend from LA who she grew up with, Alexa. Alexa was walking with Kayla, another girl from the school who Scarlett kind of knew.
"Alexa?" Scarlett asked with a smile.
"Scar," Alexa said with a surprised look.
"I didn't know you were in Seattle. How long have you been here?" Scarlett asked. Alexa shifted uncomfortably and then replied with,
"We actually moved here at the end of August."
Scarlett was confused. The last time she spoke to Alexa was over the summer in July. Alexa called her to tell her she would be moving to Seattle the last week of September. They we're still pretty close despite Scarlett moving four months prior.
"Why didn't you text me?" Scarlett asked, a little hurt over the matter.
"My dad told me you were kind of going through a lot and not to bother you," Alexa said in return.
Scarlett furrowed her brows and decided to just change the subject and said,
"Ohh, well, do you want to do something after school?" with a smile.
Alexa bit her lip and then said,
"I can't, I told my dad I'd help him with something today. Maybe another time?"
Scarlett nodded and said,
"Okay, yeah."
Alexa and Kayla then walked away.
"I'm confused. How do you know her?" Victoria asked.
"We grew up together in LA and we've been best friends ever since. But her parents don't like me," Scarlett told them.
"Why's that?" Jess asked.
Scarlett took a moment and then sighed as she said,
"They thought I was a bad influence."

As Alexa and Kayla walked away, Kayla asked, "Wait, so how do you know her?"
"She went to my old school. We were best friends," Alexa explained.
"What happened?" Kayla wanted to know.
"Nothing really," Alexa said with a shrug. "My parents didn't like her though. They said she was a bad influence on me," Alexa added.
"What did she do?" Kayla asked.
"Well her mom died when we were younger. Then when we were like 13 or 14 she started doing drugs," Alexa said.
"Drugs? What's kind?" Kayla wanted to know.
"Pills. Then pills turned into cocaine which turned into heroin. It got bad. She's even overdosed before," Alexa said quietly.
"You can't tell anyone this," she told the other teen who nodded and said,
"Don't worry I won't."
"So did anything else happen with her that was like bad?" Kayla asked her.
Instantly Alexa said,
"Yeah there was-" then she cut herself off.
"You can tell me. I won't tell anyone else," Kayla assured her.
Alexa stopped for a second and then decided to tell Kayla one of Scarlett's secrets.