Dark Red | Tara Carpenter

01

05/30/2014
6th Grade

At a certain age, children can be really cruel. Especially with those who were too different from them.

Tara had paid the price more than others, the Carpenter name was known in Woodsboro. Her father left four years ago now, her mother had fallen into alcoholism, her sister hardly spoke to her anymore.

Tara therefore hated being at home, it was sad and empty. And when it wasn't empty, it was when her mother was getting drunk or Sam was doing drugs or when the two women were arguing.

The youngest Carpenter's escape was school, but school didn't always have a good side.

With her asthma, Tara was often teased in sports class, to the point that she was afraid of it days in advance. But above all, even if she put in the effort and participated, no one wanted her on their team.

She would feel as rejected as bad one of those moments when Sam would deliberately ignored her presence, it was a feeling as if her stomach dropped and which seemed to choke her to the point of tears.

So that afternoon when the sports teacher had announced a soccer game. The students had formed teams that did not include her as usual and the coach decided to intervene immediately.

The man cleared his throat gravely and put his hand on Tara's shoulder making her jump slightly. "Kids, it's not nice to leave Tara on the sidelines. So I'll choose which team she goes into, she will be on the blue team."

The children in blue jerseys all began to complain, rolling their eyes and groaning, making it difficult to her to swallow her saliva.

She lowered her eyes to avoid the disappointed looks of seeing her approaching them.

She was about to grab a jersey when suddenly a voice was heard more than the others. "Sir, don't you find it shocking that one of our classmates with asthma has to run in this heat ?"

"She seems fine to me." The man took off his cap and wiped the sweat from his forehead before putting it back on his head. "Don't worry Mindy, Tara is a brave girl she will get through this."

Tara blinked as she looked at the girl, who had her arms crossed in an imposing, confident manner.

"If she dies that on you." She finally says as she walks away, her red jersey in hand.

"If you don't feel well, let me know and I'll take you off the field immediately, okay ?" He said softly to Tara before patting her on the back pushing her forward despite his attention to just give her a little courage.

Tara ends up having an asthma attack in the middle of the field anyway.

She had taken her spare inhaler out of her pocket but its use did not prevent her from having difficulty breathing and soon she found herself in front of the door of the infirmary accompanied by two girls from the opposing team.

The nurse wasn't surprised to see Tara arrive, her cheeks and nose red from the effort, her breathing short and her hair messy.

She was coming back sometimes like that just by going up the stairs.

It was the short brunette who was surprised to find someone else in the infirmary, a girl with a cast all over her forearm.

It was Sofia Benson. She and Tara didn't have class together, she knew the girl because she had already had seen her behind the counter of the bakery of her parents.

"Well, your breathing seems to have become regular again." The nurse said with a smile. "I'll call your mother right away, just stay here."

She stood up and turned to Sofia who was waiting wisely, swinging her feet.

"I'm also going to call yours too Sofia, it might take a little time so don't do anything stupid, I'm counting on you." She told her in a serious tone, pointing at her.

"I won't do anything stupid, I promise." She smiled widely, fluttering her eyelashes innocently.

She nodded her head for a long time before turning to Tara. "Keep an eye on her."

"Wha-" Sofia gasped dramatically with her mouth wide open. "But I promised-!"

"Just rest Sofia." Nurse Mayer walked away quickly making a final sign with her two fingers indicating that she had eyes for both girls anyway.

The door closed.

"You don't talk much." observed Sofia, tilting her head to the side. "Are you like very shy ?"

Tara shrugged her shoulders. "No, not really."

"Do you want to sign my cast ?" She asked, raising her arm slightly so that Tara could take a closer look.

She especially observed the expression on Sofia's face to be sure she wasn't making fun of her.

She looked so sincere and genuine that Tara bit the inside of her cheek before she could answer.

"Do you want me to sign your cast ?" She finally asked hesitantly, insecurity evident in her voice.

"Yes." She slid to the side a little and pulled a black marker out of her pocket with sparkling eyes "A lot."

Tara sat down next to her with a shy smile on her face, and gently took the marker from her hands. "What do you want me to write ?"

"I don't know." Sofia made a confused expression before rubbing her shoulder against hers in a gentle gesture. "Something nice probably."

"Okay." She took Sofia's forearm gently and put it gently on her softly so as not to hurt her more than she already hurt me.

She tried to write properly, making the letters spaced and rounded. Then when she was done, she added a little heart on the dot of Sofia's i.

"Thank you." She looked at her arm admiringly, then turned to Tara, eventually noticing that she was already looking at her. "It's pretty."

Tara, completely absorbed by Sofia's eyes who looked straight into hers, simply nodded with a sheepish smile.

"I know you already know my name." Sofia mumbled as she ran her finger over her cast. "But I would like to introduce myself properly to you. Can I ?"

The Carpenter girl hummed postively and Sofia's face lit up.

"Alright." She cleared her throat and held out her free hand. "My name is Sofia Anastatia Benson. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Tara Carpenter." The brunette responded by passing her hand through Sofia's and shaking it. "It's nice to meet you too."

It was from that day on that the two girls became very good friends.