Marked

Chapter Twenty-Two: Scarlett

I asked the woman at the front desk for some popular tourist destinations around this time of the year. She gave me an unhelpful list. So I then asked for a list of some of the most popular casinos. That gave me the idea to hold our second protest at Red Rock Casino. I brought up the idea to Chase and he agreed that a casino would be a great place to hold a protest. One problem he just had to remind me: casinos make me dizzy and sick. How could I attend my own protest if I go and get sick a minute in? As Chase and I saw at the first protest, they last a while.

"So, the question is, how can we get you to come and not get sick?" Chase sat down on the couch in our room.

I sighed. "It is quite a challenge..." I shrugged. "I have no idea how to get around this one,"

Chase and I couldn't come up with a good solution so I would just have to suck it up and deal with the flashing lights. I couldn't skip a protest. Even if that meant getting sick.

I had gone over the calendar a million times, going over the date, finding a good day to have a protest. Then I decided on Wednesday the seventh. That night there was supposed to be a half moon. Having it the seventh gave Chase and I five days to plan the whole thing.

Chase agreed on the date and I sent out an e-mail with the time (8:05), the place (Red Rock Casino), and the day (Wednesday the seventh). I got e-mails immediately after I sent it out. Mostly everyone agreed, save for the people who didn't support Unscripted.

. . .

I called Stella Monday.

"Hey Scarlett," She sounded tired.

"Hi Stella. Are you okay?" I closed the bathroom door, locking it, then sat on the toilet lid.

"Yeah, I just... Things have changed a lot without you in San Bernardino." She sounded tired and worn out.

"How has it changed?"

"There's a lot of violence and people hate you. They hate me because I'm friends with you. And Travis..."—a sigh—"ever since I got back from the protest in Palm Springs, he's been acting like... I don't know, like I'm... like I am Unscripted. But I'm happy with Trav, I just support you. He hasn't even kissed me since I got back. And that was almost two weeks ago."

"Oh Stella, I'm so sorry." I felt back for calling her now. I just wanted to tell her about Chase and me... "Are you up for me talking about Chase? Or will that just make you sadder?"

I could imagine her "I'm not okay, but I'll still smile for you" smile. "Go for it."

"Okay. So we got to Vegas on the twenty-eighth, right? Well, I got the stomach flu or something because for two days, I was stuck in the hotel room barfing my brains out. So, Wednesday night, I feel so much better and Chase and I go swimming. We were the last people in the pool so eventually, Chase is like, "Let's go back to the hotel room," and my heart speeds up—but with excitement—and I'm like, "Okay," so I'm about to burst out in joy, waiting for the elevator.

"Chase has a smile on half his face and he doesn't look at me, he just smiled ahead of him. So, I unlock the hotel room door and Chase grabs me at my waist and carries me to the bedroom area and throws me on the bed. So then we start making out, right?!" I couldn't hold back the excitement in my voice any longer. "And then—"

"Okay—!" Stella cut me off. "I get the point. You can spare the details. But the important question is, did you regret it?"

I shook my head. "No way. I enjoyed it."

Chase knocked on the bathroom door. "Just to let you know Scar, I can hear everything you say through the door."

I blushed. "Got to go Stella, I hope everything works out with you and Travis." I hung up the phone and walked out of the bathroom.