WEEKS INTO THE PREPARATION of the play had taken a toll on her. She strolled into Winter Bay just as the tardy bell rang. She stopped with a slump, knowing that Ms. Stanford was going to give her that usual disapproving stare when she walked into her classroom.
A few students were in a similar situation. A guy ran down the halls with a donut hanging from his teeth and a thermos in hand. The rest took their time getting to their class, never in a hurry about their first period. She belonged in that last group.
She sneaked inside the classroom, interrupting Ms. Stanford at the front as she spoke about their agenda for the morning.
"Ms. Turner, late as always," she commented. A distinct murmur traveled amongst her classmates.
"I hate breaking traditions," Scarlet responded, taking her usual seat at the back. Some of her classmates snickered as Ms. Stanford shook her head and went on discussing The Iliad.
She shifted in her seat, doodling on her notebook. Her thoughts focused only on her mother and how she had thrown up when she woke up. Scarlet offered to stay home from school, but she fought her for even thinking that. Apparently Scarlet's education was more important than her health, but she knew she couldn't change her mind, so she got dressed and drove to school, taking the long way to keep her mind off everything.
Going the long way never helped, but she liked to believe that one day it would.
"Ms. Turner?" Scarlet looked up to find the entire class and her teacher staring at her. "Nice of you to pay attention. Would you like to answer what was Agamemnon's offer to Achilles?"
Scarlet clenched her jaw, looking down at the mess of flower doodles covering half of her page.
"Ms. Turner?"
"I don't know," she answered.
"Did you even read it?" Ms. Stanford crossed her arms over her chest.
Scarlet wanted to stare pointedly at her teacher. Did she look like the type of person that wanted to read a book from over a thousand years ago? The answer was no. Besides, her weekend didn't allow her to focus much on reading time when she had to take care of her mother going through the side effects of chemotherapy. The Iliad wasn't important to her.
"I didn't finish it," Scarlet confessed.
Ms. Stanford scoffed. "You need to learn to prioritize your time, Ms. Turner." She changed her attention to someone else. "Prudence, why don't you answer the question?"
Prudence knew the answer, so Scarlet wrote it down in her notes for future reference.
Ms. Stanford continued with the lesson, but Scarlet couldn't tune in to the class. A few of the smarter kids carried the discussion, bringing out interesting points that Stanford seemed to love. Scarlet was more fascinated by the outside world on the other side of the window.
The green patches of land that surrounded Winter Bay took most of her attention. During nice days, which was often, people liked to go outside and eat their lunch like they were having a picnic. The school also provided outside seating areas to make it accessible for the student body. Though the cafeteria was a common place to spend lunch period, it was more popular to sit outside.
Sometimes she would go out there on her own. She would lie down by one of the trees, closing her eyes to listen to the day. She'd hear the bees buzzing about, the wind blowing through grass blades, and the ruffling of tree leaves. For a moment, her life was serene.
Ever since she started high school, Scarlet had one dream. Just a single dream. It wasn't about future aspirations or goals. It wasn't even about having grandiosity for herself.
YOU ARE READING
Forever Crimson
Teen Fiction"The vultures are disguised as humans." Scarlet Turner has her last semester of high school planned out: graduate as best as she can and take care of her sick mother. But when she's told she won't graduate because of the pile of tardies she's collec...
