ISOLATION

Day 7

I woke up at 6am, stretching out my muscles and sitting up in bed. I looked over at Lauren's bed and saw her sleeping peacefully, her brown hair splayed across the pillow as she breathed rhythmically. I grabbed some clothes from my suitcase and walked to the bathroom, changing out of my pyjamas and into my outfit for the day.

The sun had begun to rise and the light shone through the window, illuminating the dust that was floating through the room. I silently got up, not wanting to wake Lauren, and made my way outside to watch the sunrise. As I crept quietly past Lauren's bed, I noticed the unopened packet of ear plugs sitting untouched beside her bed where I had left them.

I sat on the tire swing like I had the day before, watching the sky turn from a deep blue to a beautiful hue of pink and orange. Instead of appreciating the beautiful sky, I found myself thinking of Lauren. Why was she being so kind to me, and if she had acted like this when I first moved to Stone Creek, could we have been friends?

"You really like sunrises, huh?" I heard Lauren say from behind me.

I jumped, losing my grip on the tire swing and almost falling off. Lauren rushed forwards, catching me around my waist to make sure I didn't fall. Her hands made contact with my bare skin under my singlet top, and they stayed there as I straightened myself up.

"Uh, thanks..." I said awkwardly, and she quickly snatched her hands away from my waist, turning around and hurrying back inside the cabin.

I waited until the sun had fully made its way into the sky before turning around and heading back inside, seeing Lauren sitting on my bed and going through my clothes, again!

"Can I help you?" I snapped at her, and she turned around, holding a pair of lace underwear in her hands.

"Scarlet the Harlot living up to her name," she grinned evilly, and I snatched the underwear out of her hands and stuffed them back into my bag.

"I'm not a fucking harlot, Lauren!" I growled, shoving her off my bed and sitting down, throwing my clothes back into my suitcase and zipping it up.

"Well, what you did was pretty slutty..." she said slowly, and I clenched my fists tightly.

I could feel the tears threatening to spill onto my cheeks, but I quickly forced them away. I was desperate not to let her get to me, not to react to her taunts, but with each passing day it was getting more and more difficult.

"I didn't do anything..." I whispered, knowing that if I spoke any louder my voice would crack.

"Don't lie, Scarlet. Emily saw you and Nick practically fucking at that party," she told me, and I just shook my head.

"I didn't want that..." I croaked out, and I couldn't stop the tear that fell down my cheek.

"What do you mean you didn't want it?" she asked me.

"I mean exactly what I said, Lauren. Are you stupid?" I said loudly, standing up from my bed and facing her. "He forced himself onto me, I told him I wasn't interested and he said he'd make me interested."

"I don't unde —" she began, but I cut her off.

"No, of course you wouldn't understand. You just saw another opportunity to ruin my life and you took it!" I all but screamed at her. "If Emily hadn't walked in on us, he would've raped me."

She didn't say another word, she just stood there staring at me, her jaw dropped and her eyes wide. I tried to calm myself, but it was near impossible. The memories of that night had come flooding back and I couldn't stop them, a tsunami of traumatic flashbacks entering my mind. My tears fell freely onto my cheeks and I was beyond the point of caring to wipe them away. I stood there sobbing, staring at her as she stared back at me.