1 Chapter 1: Prologue

Scarlett

(Ten years ago)

Staten Island, NY.

"...yeah I just want to talk," Jean's voice sounded off and distant, inciting a confused frown on my face and I wondered what was up with him. We'd only just split up a few hours ago after school, with promises to call before we went to bed later that night and now he was suddenly calling, sounding all cold and weird.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I reached for my discarded black hoodie and zipped it open. One arm slipped in, the other holding my phone to my ear as I struggled to balance the phone against my cheek and dress up at the same time.

"Yeah..." he breathed a long sigh on the other end and my frown deepened, my resolve to go see him settling with no residues.

"I'm coming over right now, okay?" I was getting really worried, wondering if he suddenly got sick or something as I pulled on my shoes and crouched to tie the laces.

"Okay." He answered and I was left with the beep of a disconnected call. He hung up on me...

I felt a strange sense of absence in the wake of the silence that followed and slowly, I pried my phone from my ear, my frown deepening as I slipped my other arm into my hoodie and zipped it halfway up, then straightened.

I ran a hand through my hair to fluff the curls out. I had fallen asleep while doing homework and my curls had gotten all tangled up but there wasn't much I could do at the moment. My boyfriend was probably sick and the least of my worries was my hair.

"Mom, I'm heading out for a little while!" I yelled to my mom wherever she was in the house as I bounced down the stairs, headed for the door but I backtracked as I realized she was in the kitchen.

"Okay sweetie, will you be back in time for dinner?" I heard her call back as I walked into the kitchen, and I shrugged in response.

"Yeah, maybe..." I trailed, wondering if I would be back in time for dinner. I didn't even know what was wrong with Jean. Whether he was sick and would have to go to the hospital, or whether it was something else entirely.

"Right, say hi to Jean for me, okay?" Mom winked at me with a napkin in her hands as she bent towards the oven and I shook my head and rolled my eyes playfully.

"You don't even know that's where I'm going,"

"Trust me, sweetie, I do." Mom's voice sounded muffled with half of her head hidden in the oven. The delicious aroma of roasted chicken wings wafted into my nostrils as she pulled the pan out, filling the entire kitchen with its gloriousness and my stomach grumbled, reminding me of a presiding hunger. But I had a mission and food would have to wait.

"Yeah yeah, Madam know-it-all." I rolled my eyes with a small smile and left mom laughing as I made my way outside, letting the creaky screen door slam shut behind me as I ventured into the chilly autumn evening.

A paper was peeking out of the damaged mailbox on the lawn and I sighed, purposely walking past it without checking the contents of the mail.

I didn't want another debt notice or some overdue bills to ruin the rest of my day even though it was already slightly ruined just by the thought of it. And with another sigh, I pushed my hands into my hoodie pockets as I began the five-minute walk to Jean's house in the more "respectable" part of town.

My mind raced with different crazy assumptions, paranoia helping my over-thinking spiral sky-high to the point where my palms became slick with nervous sweat and my fast walking increased into a light jog.

Yeah, I would lie that that was the reason for the sweat rapidly gathering in my underarms even though the clouds were dark and the air, chilly with the possibility of oncoming rain.

Soon, I'd left the tacky part of town and the three-storied houses with neatly mowed lawns owned by racist old white retired military veterans encircled me on both sides now, giving me more reasons to be anxious.

I never felt welcome in these neighbourhoods and a quick glance at my holey jeans, combined with my frayed hoodie emphasized the reason for the unwelcome air.

I tried to calm my racing mind with the thought that he was probably just mad his parents went on another "emergency business trip" and cancelled a family outing at the last minute.

'Yeah, that's probably it.' I told myself as my hands fisted and un-fisted in my hoodie pockets, my feet carrying me closer to the even more intimidating streets up ahead. And just around the corner, the tall gates of the Havertons' manor-style brick house loomed, causing a wave of trepidation to wash over me as I moved closer.

It wasn't that I'd never been there before, it was just that those times, I had known for sure that Jean's parents weren't home, except for that one time there'd been a lapse in their flight schedule and they'd had to come back home to fly the next day.

You can imagine how that went...

Me, "a lowly black girl" with holes in her clothes, sitting on their fancy couch with their son's arms wrapped around me in an innocent embrace. I bet it didn't look innocent to them though. They probably thought I was a slut, or maybe the word was a filthy skunk, I couldn't decide from the mix of shocked and borderline grossed-out look on their faces. But Jean and I knew to keep our Romeo and Juliet rendezvous limited to my house after that.

Now, standing in front of the gates—of hell—alone, might I add, I suddenly felt like running back home and never stepping foot on this part of town ever again. But Jean meant more than all of that to me, my fast-spiraling anxiety included, and I loved him. So I took a deep breath, mustered up some courage and raised a finger to press the small button on the intercom at the top left of the gate.

But just as I lay a finger on the button, a loud beeping sound startled me and I jumped back just in time as the lock clicked and the small walkthrough gate on my right swung open.

My long breath of relief wisped out in a cold mist in front of me, but the relief was soon gone at the look on Jean's face as he closed the gate behind him and began walking towards me.

"Hey, is everything alright? You sounded w-" I began, but he cut me off mid-sentence, voice icy like autumn had suddenly turned into winter around us, leaving tiny icicles in the wake of the next words that passed through his lips.

"We can't be together anymore."

The wind whipped at my face, snapping my hair over in an angry whoosh as my mouth fell into a perfect zero, seemingly frozen in place by the sudden chill in the atmosphere—in my spine actually.

"What?" I seemed to find my voice after an eternity, my frozen shock slowly melting into confusion as I searched for any clue in Jean's face for a joke.

He wouldn't even look at me. Those dark eyes that made my heart freeze with every glance were downcast, the cobbled stone steps seemingly more interesting than me.

It started drizzling then, thunder rolling in the distance with promises of a heavy downpour.

"You heard me the first time, Scar. Don't make this any harder for me. I'm breaking up with you. I don't think we should be together anymore."

I thought someone had kicked me with a steel boot, hard in the gut. But in this case, it wasn't a literal blow and instead of my head, it was aimed straight at my heart and I sucked in a tiny gasp, my eyes widening as his hard gaze now flicked to mine, radiating emotions that could never be affiliated to Jean.

Not the Jean I knew. Maybe he was just in a bad mood. Maybe something was bothering him and he was lashing out in spite. The whorls of anger swirling in his eyes had turned him into someone different. Someone I didn't recognize. And my frown deepened as I shuffled on my feet, my confusion still very present.

"Jean, what are you talking about? What do you mean we can't be together anymore? Is something bothering you? Did I do something? Talk to me, please." I reached a hand towards his shoulder, my heart hammering against my chest.

I saw something flicker in his eyes for a split second, but before I could draw a conclusion, it was gone and I watched him move back, away from me. My hand that was still reaching for him dropped, and my heart along with it.

It was getting colder and I could feel my teeth beginning to chatter a little, the light drizzle turning up a notch as if on an important mission to make sure my hoodie got soaked.

"Nothing is bothering me, Scarlett. It's over. We're done!" Jean yelled in my face, eyes boring straight into mine with such coldness that made me retreat a few steps.

I couldn't speak. I didn't even know what to say. My mind was clogging up with hurt and confusion, just like my throat started to clog up with tears. Did I do something wrong? We were still fine this morning. Hell! We had never even had a real fight in the two years we'd been dating!

"Jean..." my voice was a pained whisper that sounded nothing like me and a choked sob followed. Thunder rolled up ahead and a malicious line of lightning cracked across the sky, shining across his suddenly unfamiliar gaze.

"Goodbye Scarlett."

The finality was set in his tone, and if that wasn't enough, his eyes pinned me in place with a scornful glare that would never be erased from my memories.

And then he was gone.

And the heavens let loose, drenching me until my tears and rainwater became a steady flow in perfect unison.