The Unwanted Bride Of Atticus Fawn

~SCARLETT~

“What were you doing with Alaric and his wife today?” I ask Clara.

She’d just gotten home from the academy. I hated not knowing what was happening in her life because I was too busy falling for Carter. I wanted to fix that.

“I volunteered to be their guide for the day.” She answers me.

“But they know every inch of that place, at least Alaric does.” I point out. “What were they even doing there?”

She looks a little nervous as she says, “It turns out that Alaric will be one of my professors. He’s starting next month. His wife is also going to be working there. He got the job for her as well.”

“Really?” I ask in disbelief. “What is his wife like? She’s absolutely beautiful.”

Clara looks offended by my words for some reason. I’m not sure why.

“She is very beautiful.” She agrees. “But I sensed some tension between the two of them. Alaric was sweet to her the entire time, but she was a little harsh with him.”

“Harsh with him?” I ask, surprised. I always thought they had a good marriage. So far, everyone I thought were in a perfect relationship was a lie.

She nods, “she criticized everything he did. She didn’t even thank him for getting her that job. She acted like he didn’t do anything for her even though we all know she wouldn’t have gotten it if he hadn’t arranged it.”

“That’s crazy,” I whisper. “I never knew their marriage was like that. I thought Nicole was a sweet girl.”

Clara shrugged her shoulders, “Maybe she was having a bad day, and that’s why she was behaving like that. I can’t judge her after meeting her only once.”

She turns to look at me, “I forgot to mention something. I was in the parking lot at the same time Carter was leaving the academy. I don’t know if you noticed anything strange today, but he seemed upset about something. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that upset before.”

I stiffen at her words. Did that have anything to do with what I said to him earlier? I didn’t believe it. Why would my words affect him? He didn’t let anything bother him.

“I don’t know anything about it.” I lie. “Maybe he had a bad day at practice.”

“That’s impossible,” Clara tells me. “Carter never performs badly at practice. I’ve watched him a few times, and he always shone brighter than all the other players.”

Her words surprise me. Earlier, he confessed to me that he failed at practice because he couldn’t get me out of his mind.

Did he lie to me, or was he telling the truth?

“I wanted to thank you, Scarlett,” Clara says suddenly.

“Thank me?” I ask.

She nods, “Thank you for doing this for me. Thank you for being my sister.”

I force a smile on my face as I pull her in for a hug. The guilt was growing stronger by the day.

“I think I’m going to spend the rest of the night in my room.” I tell her. I couldn’t keep looking her in the eyes after betraying her.

She nods, “I’ll stay up a little.”

I give her a hug before walking away.

“You’ve been attending a lot more parties and games recently.” My mother tells me when I walk past her.

I pause, “I have.”

“Is there something that I need to know about you?” She asks me.

I shook my head. “Nothing at all.”

She nods, “I’m proud of you. I know Clara’s been through a lot recently because of that horrible boy. I’m glad that you are there to protect her.”

Was it everyone’s job to make me feel worse tonight?

I nod and walk away before she can say anything else to me. I was afraid someone would be able to see straight through me.

I spend the rest of the night turning and twisting in my bed.

I couldn’t sleep. I was restless. Why did I tell Carter I didn’t want anything to do with him?

The truth was that I still wanted him by my side. I inwardly g***n as I bury my face in my pillow.

I’ve never experienced feelings like these before. I had no idea what to do with them. How did others have any kind of control when they liked someone?

I hear something, and when I look up from my pillow, I’m shocked to see Carter standing in front of me.

I blink once, then twice.

Was I dreaming?

There’s no way that he’s actually in front of me right now.

“I know I’m the last person you want to see right now, Scarlett,” Carter says. “But can you please spare a few seconds to speak with me?”

Was this real?

Carter was in my room? Again?