ECARLATE - S. URIS [1]

xiv.

Ｆ Ｏ Ｕ Ｒ Ｔ Ｅ Ｅ Ｎ

SO MUCH CAN HAPPEN IN ONLY THREE DAYS. Unfortunately, nothing about the losers club... But for Scarlet, in those three days, her life somewhat changed once again.

Charlotte, Anna, and Lindsey started talking to the brunette girl again. Ryan, the boy who spread that awful rumor about Scarlet, had asked her to out to the Gala.

She was casually walking down the busy streets of downtown Derry with her hands shoved into the pockets of her light oversized jean jacket and music playing in her ears. Scarlet earned waves and hello's from people that her parents knew or classmates that she had classes with. No doubt that that day was suppose to be all about her and being calm until she stopped by to go inside the arcade and saw Stanley with Richie, playing a video game that Scarlet didn't even get the chance to look at since she instantly dashed out of the arcade which caught Stanley's attention and saw the girl hastily run out.

He did feel his heartbeat again when he saw the girl's hair follow behind her as she ran out and how she wore those dirty Adidas shoes on the last day of school, the day where they had an actual conversation in such a long time. The curly haired boy thought less of it when Richie beat his ass in the arcade game.

Scarlet heard her heartbeat in her ears as she fastened up her pace uphill on the street. She wasn't even looking until she clumsily bumped into someone's chest and caused her and the random person to topple on the ground. "I'm so sorry..." Scarlet said and got up to her feet, holding out her hand for the person to reach. It wasn't just a random person, it was Ryan. The boy who she greatly disliked, but she pushed those feelings away since she did bump into him harshly.

Ryan looked up at Scarlet and took her hand, pulling himself up. He dusted himself off before looking back at Scarlet, forgetting how breathtakingly beautiful she was. "I-It's fine... I'm glad I bumped into you." He smiled with his pearly white teeth, trying to charm her once again but Scarlet wasn't buying it... She couldn't help but think of Stanley when Ryan smiled.

"Oh..." Scarlet said, "How's your summer?" She asked and avoided awkward silence like a pro.

"Good. It's been fun, but a little boring since we all don't have you around anymore." He replied with a shrug.

Scarlet knitted her eyebrows together. "Who's we?"

"The popular kids. Our group. Remember how we all used to hang out during hot summer nights? Doing god knows what at two am in the morning?" Scarlet smiled, thinking how it felt nice to remember how fun it was to hang out with them. It was, even more, fun since they all didn't care if you were either a girl or a boy, if you're popular, you're hanging out with them.

But the friendship she had with the popular kids had nothing on what she had with the losers club. It felt more real with losers, real laughter, and real smiles. The magnet that pulled them all together was faster than what she would ever have with the popular kids.

"I do... Those days were fun." She softly chuckled. "What have you guys been up to?" She asked.

"The usual shit. I'm actually going to the store to get some binoculars 'cause we're going to the Quarry right when I get back." He said, nodding his head. The Quarry. Binoculars. They all reminded her of the losers, especially Stanley.

"Binoculars? For what?" She asked.

"The Quarry has the best skyline view! It's amazing." He exclaimed joyfully with a big smile on his face.
"You have got to see it." He suggested.

"Oh no... I-I don't think anyone would want me there because of what Charlotte said about me." Scarlet said nervously, biting off the dead skin inside her mouth as it's always been a nervous habit.

Ryan scoffed. "We don't even care anymore. We actually thought about stopping by at your house one day, but we saw that you weren't home and one of us saw you hanging out with the losers club." He said, saying the last two words in disgust, offending Scarlet.

"They're my friends." She said harshly and squinted her eyes at Ryan. "Look, if you guys have some plan —"

"— Plan? What plan?"

"I don't know! To somehow lure me into becoming friends again so I could be the punching bag of the group, then I'm not interested." She said and started to walk away until Ryan gently grabbed her arm, pulling her back.

"Do you really think we'd have a plan if we all walked fifteen minutes to your house just to redeem friendship again?" Ryan asked, looking at her straight in the eyes. "And how could we possibly make you the punching bag of the group? You're the baddest girl in Derry, we wouldn't even have the capacity to try and overshadow you."

Scarlet couldn't help but feel warm inside, a smile crept upon her lips. "Wow, thanks for boosting my ego up." She said sarcastically, smirking at him.

He chortled, "So, how 'bout it?"

Scarlet stood there for a few seconds and thought about it. She could use some friends after the losers club fallout, and she needed something get Stanley off of her mind. "Fine."

___________

Not going to lie, Scarlet didn't even realize how much she missed everyone until she entered the Quarry with Ryan by her side. Everyone yelled out her name in surprise and came up to give her a hug.

"Scarlet Dunn is finally back from the dead." Lisa Young called out, having a huge smirk on her face. Lisa was one of the popular girls who were known best for her smarts and good body, she was a curvy Latina with curly brown hair, light skin, and piercing grey eyes.

Scarlet walked up to her and gave Lisa a tight squeeze, "We all know you missed me the most." Scarlet winked.

As she came to the big crowd she greeted and hugged the people she used to associate with to just try and reconnect again. The last people that she talked to were Charlotte, Anna, Lindsey. The trio had guilt written all over their faces as Scarlet walked up to them.

"I'm sorry..." Charlotte said sheepishly, the first person to break the ice between them. "I was being stupid and you didn't deserve that."

"I really didn't," Scarlet said, acting as if she was still angry at them as a joke. But a smile broke out on her face, "Just like you said, water under the bridge."

Charlotte, Anna, and Lindsey sighed in relief, making Scarlet chuckle a little. Scarlet pulled them into a hug, "I hope you guys didn't do anything fun without me." She joked.

"Unfortunately we did," Anna chuckled, "But it always felt like something was missing..."

And for the rest of the day, she reconnected with people who she used to be friends with, still having the losers club in her mind. She couldn't help but think about her time with them during the Quarry, how she jumped off the cliff, and how she danced under the beaming sun with Stanley's hands intertwined with her.

No matter how many friends Scarlet regained, they truly do have nothing on Eddie, Bill, Richie, Ben, Beverly, Mike, and especially Stanley.

_________
unedited