lovelorn [h.s.]

s e v e n t e e n

S C A R L E T T

"Scarlett, get down here!"

I let out a huff, throwing my phone down beside me. I pull myself up from my bed and drag myself out of my room and down the stairs, trying to make it obvious with my footsteps that I'm annoyed. It's not like I was doing anything important, I just don't like to be disrupted from doing nothing.

When I finally slope into the kitchen, I find that my mum and Evan are both stood by the counter, looking surprisingly happy despite how they just so loudly ordered me downstairs. I was expecting them to tell me off for something that I probably didn't even do, but that doesn't seem to be the case though. I pull myself up onto one of the kitchen stools, raising my eyebrows as I wait for them to speak.

"Well?" I eventually ask them, already fed up with my 5 seconds of waiting. "What's up?"

They both shoot each other a glance before my mum speaks up. "You know I've been given the whole weekend off from work, which never happens."

"Yeah, you told me that," I reply, my gaze flitting between them both. "So what's your plan for the weekend? Takeaway and old movies galore, right? Sounds like a blast."

"Actually, no."

I pretend to be shocked. "No takeaways? Are you on a diet again?"

Evan rolls his eyes at my jokes, but I just smirk in amusement. "No, Scarlett," he sighs, his hand wrapping around my mum's waist. "I'm taking your mum away for the weekend."

I arch an eyebrow. "Oh. Where?"

"There's this amazing place in the middle of the forest which has these luxury treehouses you can stay in," my mum gushes, smiling over at Evan. "There's a spa and a huge pool, and you get a breakfast hamper delivered every morning......."

She continues to go on about it but I tune out, feeling my lip curl upwards a little. I'm not exactly thrilled by this news. You'd think that after months of my mum not having a whole weekend off, when she finally did she'd actually want to spend time with her daughter who she never sees. But no, of course not. How stupid of me to think so.

After a little more consideration, my annoyance begins to diffuse a little when I realise what this means. If they're going away for the weekend, that means I have the house to myself......for the whole weekend. I feel myself smiling a little, thinking maybe this isn't such a bad plan after all.

However, my happy buzz is soon cut short when Evan catches my expression. "And no, Scarlett, that doesn't mean what you think it does," he tells me in a warning tone. "You're not staying here."

I scoff. "I'm sure as hell not going with you two. Sounds like a place old couples go to die."

He shoots me a disapproving look but doesn't comment. "No, I meant you're not staying here in this house."

I look at him like he's crazy. "But this is where I live. Where else am I supposed to go?"

"I've already asked Anne, and she said you can stay over at hers for the weekend," my mum tells me and I immediately feel my heart sink.

Oh fuck my life.

"That's really not necessary," I tell them both. "In case you forgot, I'm eighteen, not eight. I'm fully capable of staying home alone for 2 days."

"Yes, but I don't think you're capable of not throwing a huge house party, like the last time," she reminds me with a scolding look, the memories of that party coming back in a flood.