Something was wrong.

Scarlett tapped the phone icon on Chord's contact, hearing the dial tone in her ear. However, like the other times, it rang twice before going to voicemail. Looking around, she didn't see him anywhere and that gut feeling she had for several minutes now was turning into full-blown worry.

Chord didn't ignore her calls or texts. If he wasn't able to answer her calls, he would text a reply. But as she looked at her messages with him, the past four texts she had sent were still unread.

"He wouldn't leave without saying goodbye," she muttered in an undertone, brows furrowing. "So, where —"

"There you are, Scarlett." She turned to see Shondra and Miss Charlotte, carrying a sleeping Diego and Cinder respectively. "Did Chord's phone die? He hasn't been answering my texts. It's getting close to these two's bedtime."

"What are you doing here?" she asked her adoptive mom.

"I was getting take out and decided to come pick you and Diego up." She chuckled, but upon seeing Scarlett's face it fell. "What happened?"

"I-I don't know."

She heard obnoxious laughter up ahead that sounded really familiar and as she looked behind Shondra, she saw Xander, one of his dangling douchebags, and some bitch walk through the crowd looking satisfied. Why the hell is that fucker here? This isn't good.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Fear was in her voice and painted across her face.

"Where is Chord? Wasn't he with you?"

Quickly explaining the situation, Shondra mouthed a curse as she shifted Cinder in her arms.

"Chord doesn't ignore his texts. Something's definitely wrong."

"Let's go find Deputy Dixon," Miss Charlotte suggested, keeping calm in the situation. "I just saw him a minute ago. We'll take another look around the grounds as we go."

Shondra nodded and went back in the direction they came. Miss Charlotte said, "Make a quick check in the parking lot. He may have run into a friend there. If you see him, call me."

"Yes, ma'am." She hurried off after Shondra while Scarlett made her way to the parking lot. As optimistic as Miss Charlotte was, Scarlett knew that Chord didn't have any friends at school. Xander had made sure of that. And if he had run into Xander, it would not spell well for him.

Most of the crowd was already gone but there were still several cars in the parking lot as families were making their way off of the grounds. Turning on her phone's light, she scanned the parking lot spot by spot, looking for any indication of Chord.

As she searched, she called his phone once more. Hoping that he would answer, though doubting he would, she froze on the spot when she heard a phone ringing near the building of bathrooms for the fair grounds.

Drawing closer, the ringing stopped. Quickly calling again, the echoing in the air grew louder  until she came upon a heap leaned against the brick wall. When she lifted her phone's light, illuminating on a body, Scarlett froze in horror.

"Chord!" Her cry bounced off the walls as she slid to her knees. His body was heavy and turned away from her, so it took a lot of effort to roll him over. She hissed as her left arm tensed and pain shot up her arm, she gasped in relief when he rolled into his back. That's gonna hurt later.

However, it's only then she noticed the arm closest to her was at an unnatural angle and his face was swollen as if someone had laid into him without restraint. Lip busted, a cut at his forehead and chin, still wet with blood, she put her ear to his mouth. When she heard his slow by shaky breathing, she sighed in relief.

Fumbling with her phone, she quickly called her adoptive mother and told her where they were. As she heard Chord groan, she turned back to him.

"Wait, wait, Chord, be careful. Your arm's messed up." She helped him sit up against the brick wall, cradling his right arm. "It's gonna be okay. I called Miss Charlotte and she is gonna come with your aunt. You're. . . Oh fuck," Her eyes stung as they filled with tears, but she wiped them away. She can't cry right now. "Just stay still, okay? You're gonna be okay. . . Where all does it hurt?"

". . .Everywhere," he managed to whisper before he closed his yes again, the pain too much to do anything but suffer. "Fuck. . ."

Hearing the pain on his voice broke something in Scarlett and she was unable to stop from crying silently as she heard approaching steps. The quickly approaching sound of sirens muted everything to her as Scarlett watched medics load him into the back of the ambulance. Shondra and Cinder had hurried off to follow the ambulance, leaving her still kneeling on the ground.

"Come on, sweetie, we need to get going."

"But he. . ." she sniffled, her breathing coming in short unstable gasps. "Someone. . ."

"I know, but we need to get Diego home. Derrian can stay with the kids and you and I will take the car to the hospital."

Getting to her feet unsteadily, she started to follow Miss Charlotte when she felt something underfoot. Lifting her foot, she saw the photo strips of them ripped into several pieces and crushed into the dirt. As if someone had wanted to bury them.

______

Scarlett jolted awake when she heard the hospital room door open and an officer and Shondra came out. Quickly rubbing the sand out of her eyes she heard the tail end of a conversation.

"If he decides to talk about what happened, make sure to let me know. Whoever did this, this wasn't a simple scuffle. He is well within his rights to file charges."

"I don't understand why he isn't saying anything but I thank you for trying, officer. If anything changes I'll let you know."

Shondra practically collapsed in the seat beside Scarlett, leaning forward with her head in her hands. "What the hell is that boy thinking?"

"Is everything okay?"

Sitting up, Shondra sighed. "Chord is refusing to tell me who did this to him. Even when the officer tried to persuade him, he adamantly refused."

Is he a fucking idiot? Scarlett tried to come up with the reason why Chord wouldn't tell his aunt about Xander attacking him especially since he seemed especially close to her. Was a pride? Shame? Or did Xander threaten him when they jumped him?

"But why. . . .?"

"I don't know, dear. Where's your mother at?"

"Oh, she went to get some coffee I think? Is it okay if I go talk to him?" Maybe he'll be more forthcoming if I talk to him?

Shondra looked at Scarlett, uncertainty, exhaustion, and worry clouded her eyes. Obviously seeing her nephew like this was taking a toll on her and Scarlett hating seeing her like that. "Do you know who do this to him?"

Yes. The words were literally on the tip of her tongue, but Scarlett couldn't bring herself to say it. Not because she didn't want to rat out Xander or that his aunt didn't deserve to know, but she wanted to talk to him first. Because she could not wrap her head around why he wouldn't admit who assaulted him.

"No, I don't." The lie tasted like bile and Scarlett wanted to punch herself in the mouth for lying to Shondra when she's obviously distraught over what happened. "I mean, Chord pretty much stays to himself at school whenever he's not with me so I'm not sure. . ."

"But he said. . " Shondra sighed. "I just don't understand why he won't say anything. His arm is broken. The doctor said that whoever did this twisted his arm behind his back until it snapped. Not to mention the concussion. They want him to stay for a day to make sure he doesn't get worse. What bastard would do that to him? Chord wouldn't harm a fly. Not to mention my sister is watching Cinder right now."

Miss Charlotte came back at that moment with a couple cups of coffee, quickly sitting on the other side of Shondra as she started crying. Scarlett turned to the door to Chord's room and went inside.

The TV was on low volume and the room was in slight shadow as Chord laid on his back, right arm in a cast, facing the window.

Whoever did this, twisted his arm behind his back until it snapped. White hot rage threaten to overwhelm her, but Scarlett forced the emotions down. She needed to talk to Chord.

Closing the door, she took a few steps to sit in the seat left for his aunt. She sat there for several seconds and in that time he didn't turn his head towards her, but she could see he was awake in the reflection of the window. His face was swollen and bruised with a couple of sutures to his forehead and chin, his eyes were cold and distant.

"Why—"

"Don't." Scarlett flinched as he interjected with a cold voice. "I really can't handle another lecture right now." She saw his jaw tremble and his eyes turn misty as he struggled not to let the tears fill in his eyes.

Scarlett reached out her hand to his. He flinched his hand away at first, but then forced himself to relax enough to let her take it. Running her thumb across the back of his hand, the pain in her chest was as pressurized as a submerged submarine.

What the hell was Xander's deal? What possessed him to go to this far? This is all my fault. I thought just ignoring him and avoiding him would be enough for him to take the hint. Instead, Chord is in the hospital because of my idiocy.

"Alright, I won't lecture. But I'm here if you want to talk." She brought his hand to her, kissing it softly. "But Shondra is really worried about you. You—"

"What good would telling her do? If I tell her or the officer that who did it, it is just going to get swept under the rug. Just like all the other times."

"But that doesn't mean you shouldn't tell. I know that—"

"What do you know?" he hissed softly, finally turning towards her.

Seeing the anger in his eyes hurt. It hurt to see him in pain. But it hurt most of all to see that raw, hurt, anger looking at her to those eyes that always shined.

"Do you really think that I haven't tried going to someone at the school about the bullying? You've only been here for a couple of months, but his harassment has been going on since sixth grade. No one takes it seriously. And even if someone did, his dad is the fucking police chief. You can't be that stupid and think simply telling my aunt will magically make everything go away? People like him never face the consequences of their actions."

Scarlett felt a stab to heart at his words. He was right in a way. She hadn't been there very long and she knew that the bullying had been bad. However, she wasn't aware that it had gone that far back. She didn't know the extent of it. Even though she herself had gone through harassment and her own fair share of bullshit, that didn't mean that her pain equated to understanding what his was.

"I'm sorry." She nodded. "I never thought that he'd go this damn far."

"It's fine. It's not like you can do anything about it." For the first time, Chord ended the physical contact, hiding his hand under the covers, and her heart lurched. "You can go now. Turn the other light off as you go."

"Are you sure? I don't mind—"

"Yes, I'm sure. You've already done enough. So just. . . Leave me alone before you make things worse for me. He wouldn't  have have done this if you hadn't come along."

Hearing his disconnected words, Scarlett gripped the cover. As new tears filled her eyes, Scarlett waited for him to apologize and say he didn't mean what he said. That it was only the pain making him say that but as the seconds went by and the ticking of the clock resonated through the room, the finality of his words sunk in.

"Alright, I-I'll go." Unable to hide the tremble in her voice, the chair screeched as she hurried out of the room; turning the other light off as she went.

Hurrying past the two women who must have heard some of that conversation, Scarlett ran down the hall. "Scarlett, come back!" She ignored Miss Charlotte's call as well as the charge nurse shouting at her to stop running in the hallway.

Scarlett ran and ran and ran, all the way out of the hospital and into the parking lot. Her legs gave out from under her and she fell on a patch of grass in the parking lot, gripping the blades in her hands.

Growing up, Aaliyah knew about pain. Aaliyah knew about abandonment and she knew what loneliness felt like. The only time Aaliyah wasn't alone was when she was with that little boy down the street. But then he went away and her world engulfed in flames.

When she got put into the system, her name had got changed in order to protect her from her mother in the event she got out. As she bounced from house to house, went from name to name, she had lost a sense of who she was.

It wasn't until Miss Charlotte and Derrian took her in a few months ago and the option to change her name yet again came up, that they asked her what she wanted to be called. 'It was up to her who she wanted to be. What person she wanted to become'.

It had been the first time any adopted parent had ever asked that.

The only name that came to mind was Scarlett. The same name that she used when she used to play with that little boy. To her, Scarlett didn't simply mean red or something she read in a book. It stood for courage, passion, and joy; things that never existed in her life. It stood for things she wanted to be.

To her, the name Scarlett represented something more. It represented those small, happy times when that little girl found an escape in that little boy with big round eyes as they climbed invisible mountains and sailed imaginary seas.

She thought of that little boy off and on over the years. Then that little boy appeared before her, older, bigger and sadder. She recognized him immediately, but she could tell that he didn't recognize her. That was okay. She can remember for the both of them.

Over the years, she had closed herself off so that she wouldn't be helpless and afraid. However, she had been unable to be anything but that happy little girl around him.

But Chord felt more distant now then he was before she had found him again.

_____

A/N: now, if you have excuse me, I'm going to go home to the fetal position because this chapter may be very sad. Forgive me Scarlett, but this is needed for the plot.

Scarlett: I will never forget this betrayal, author.