⌜ chapter fourteen ⌟

"Yeah, Shawn, I get it. Cory's great, and he should be class president. Now get that camera out of my face." Letty tells him as she keeps walking through the hallway.

"Thanks, Scarlett!" He calls after her as she keeps walking.

A couple days later, after school lets out for the day, the teenage girl walks over to Mr. Turner's classroom. He's packing up his stuff at his desk when she enters the room, and he looks up.

"Hi, Scarlett." He greets, and she stops in front of his desk.

She hesitates for a second before speaking. "Can I ask for your advice on something?" She finally manages.

"Of course."

"Even though it's not school related, and you'll probably think that I'm stupid?"

"I doubt I'll think that. What's going on?" He asks, and she takes a deep breath.

"Well... Do you remember that boy that you told me wanted to go to the Turnaround dance with me?" She asks, and he nods.

"Yeah."

"Well, that night, we got back to the Hunters' trailer after the dance, and...he was gonna kiss me, but Shawn..." She shakes her head.

"He interrupted?"

"Yeah, but that's not the problem. That was, like, our fifth failed attempt."

"Five?" He asks, sounding surprised.

"Yeah. First, I was at his house and we were all in the backyard; he and I ended up away from the others, hiding, and I think he was gonna kiss me, but then his brother found us and started shooting us with his water gun. Then, Christmas, a year ago, Eric's sister ran into the room and started singing twisted carols — don't ask. And on the following Valentine's Day, things got complicated, which actually ties into why I'm here. Then a few weeks ago, Eric's brother — again — walked in on us, and then there was Shawn." She sighs. "And every year at Christmas, he uses this plastic mistletoe, and I kiss his cheek. And now I'm rambling because this is really awkward for me, and I don't know how to..."

"What happened last Valentine's Day?"

"There's this guy who sends me presents on Christmas, and letters every now and then throughout the year. I haven't seen him since I was a little kid, but I like hearing from him because we used to be really close. And Eric's..."

"Jealous?" He asks, and she shrugs.

"I don't know, I guess." She shakes her head and looks down. "He wants me to tell him why this guy is so important to me, but I can't. I don't do well with... I can't talk about my feelings, because I don't know what..." Letty takes a deep breath, trying to collect her thoughts. Even this conversation is a struggle for her. "I don't have a lot; I've never had much, really. And I've never really had anyone that I can talk to about emotional stuff. My father drank his feelings. I mean, he basically lived at the bottom of his liquor bottles. I mean, I've been friends with Miller and Jason since we were all super little, but we don't talk about our feelings or anything."

"You've never had anyone to show you, or teach you, how to express your feelings." He says, and she shakes her head.

"It's not just that I don't do well with expressing my emotions. I..." She takes a second to keep herself from losing her composure and crying. "What this guy means to me isn't something that I've ever spoken about, and the idea of telling anyone about... But the point is, is that I don't feel for him what Eric thinks I do, and I don't know how to get him to see that. And I need him to see that because... Because it's not just that I like Eric, it's that besides the little punk that's in your class... Eric is all that I really have that keeps me grounded, and I can't lose my best friend, because I know what life is waiting for me if I don't have him, and I don't want that life." She wipes tears from her cheeks. "That life scares me — terrifies me, really."

"Scarlett, you're not gonna like this advice, but this is what you have to do to keep him in your life." Turner starts, and she looks at him. "You have to talk to him. And I know that it's hard, but it's not going to get easier until you do." He tells her, and she nods.

"Yeah." Letty sighs.

After her shift at work later, Miller walks over to pick her up, and the pair go back to the trailer park together. Jason gets their attention, seeming rather worried, and that worries them.

"Is something wrong?" The brunette asks.

"Scar, your trailer's back, and we know that you two shouldn't be near your dad. Some of the others have been trying to get him to talk to them, but he won't come out." He tells her. "He was yelling earlier, sounded angry — he said that things will be better this way."

"What way?" She questions, and he shakes his head.

"I don't know."

"Scar—" Miller grinds his teeth when the younger girl takes off running.

A loud bang sounds inside the Blacks trailer, causing her feet to skid in the dirt as the entire park seems to still. She's heard a gunshot before, so she knows exactly what that bang was.

"Scar, no! You can't go in there." Jason says as he wraps his arms around her when she tries to take off again. He pulls her back against him, not wanting her to see what's inside her old home — he knows that sound all too well too.

"Get off of me!" Letty yells as she fights against his hold, and Miller darts past them to get to their trailer. "No! No, no, no."

"Kid, no." One of their old neighbors gets in Miller's way. "You don't wanna see that, son. Trust me."

"Don't—" Miller tries to shove past him, but he pushes back.

"The only thing you can do...is be there for her." He tells him, turning him around so he can see his two best friends on the ground. "He's dead, kid. And you don't need to see it."

"Scar..." Jason takes a deep breath, holding her as they both look past Miller at the kicked in front door of her trailer.

"He wasn't always bad, he wasn't always bad." Letty's sobbing as she leans into him. "He was my dad... Daddy!"

"I know, Scar..." He smooths out her hair as she continues crying. "I know."

"Hey there, babe." Miller sits at their side, facing them as he reaches over and brushes Letty's hair away from her face. He takes a deep breath when she finally looks at him. "He's gone, Scar."

"No!" She sobs, and Jason tightens his arms around her. "He- He can't be... He wasn't always bad. He wasn't..."

After talking to the cops who arrived in the trailer park after the gunshot, Jason and Miller walk their distraught friend back to the Hunters trailer. She goes inside, and Shawn looks over at her as she closes the door behind her. He can't see her tearstained face.

"Hey, guess who won class president today. I'll give you a hint, not Cory." He say and then starts laughing.

"I'm sorry, bud. I know you wanted him to win." She says, her voice low.

"Honey, the police called and told us what happened." Mrs. Hunter says, and the brunette looks over at her.

"The police?" Shawn asks as he stands up. "What's going on?"

"My dad..." The teenager turns to him then. "He, uh... He shot himself earlier today... He- He's dead." She says as more tears form in her eyes before running down her cheeks.

"Scarlett..." The younger boy quickly walks over and hugs her. She wraps her arms around him, and he holds her close to him as she cries just like before.