Scarlett Fever Read Free

you were embarrassed because the view count was going up really fast? Well, it was at 356 two days ago, and now it’s at 512.”
    Scarlett felt her stomach lurch. She had made one of the most basic of life errors, and she saw it immediately: Never give anyone evidence of your crazy.
    “I watched it…a few times,” Scarlett said, looking down. “You don’t know it was me.”
    “It’s a pizza commercial. You were the one who said you were afraid he’d notice because you were the only person in the world who would watch it besides him.”
    “Some people really like pizza ,” Scarlett countered. “And I’m wrong a lot. Can we be done now? There’s a bee on your drink.”
    “Can I make a suggestion?” Chloe was chiming in. Scarlett loved Chloe dearly, but she was a notoriously flirty and flaky dater. She had gone through a total of four “relationships” over the summer. As far as she was concerned, the average life cycle of a couple was a week. If they were very serious. Taking relationship advice from her was like taking flying lessons from a kamikaze pilot—someone who thought the only way to land was nose-first into the ground.
    “Why don’t you call him?” she asked. “Why don’t you go and see him? Sometimes you just need to make out one last time to get it out of your system. I’ve done that.”
    “Do. Not. Do. That.”
    That was Dakota, of course.
    “I’m always here,” Josh added.
    Scarlett’s problem—the ruling issue of her life right now, her secret inner turmoil—had become a conversational Frisbee. Something to toss around on a bright summer’s day when there was nothing better going on.
    “I’m making a new start,” Scarlett said again.
    And then, of course, the phone began to ring. She had set it on the blanket beside her. Dakota got to it first and snatched it away.
    “Who is it?” Scarlett said anxiously, her voice betraying her.
    “It says ‘AAA,’” Dakota replied. “AAA? American Automobile Association?”
    Sadly, many people made this mistake. They had been getting a lot of calls from stranded drivers recently.
    “Give it,” Scarlett said, holding her hand out.
    The phone rang again.
    “Who is AAA?” Dakota asked, holding the phone back a bit.
    “Just give it to me for a second…”
    The phone rang again.
    “That is not an answer.”
    “It’s my boss,” Scarlett said with a sigh.
    “Oh no. No, no, no.” Dakota stuck the phone under her leg. “Not her, either.”
    “You don’t understand,” Scarlett said. “You don’t know what she’s like. Just let me call her and she’ll calm down. It’s only been three days since she moved out of the hotel. She has separation anxiety.”
    “That doesn’t mean she can call you every ten minutes to do something stupid while she’s out getting her butt waxed.”
    “Thanks for that mental image,” Scarlett said. “That’s something she might do, if her butt was hairy. Which it probably isn’t…Great. Now I’m imagining it. Remind me to repay you.”
    “ De rien. God, go away for one summer and I’m replaced with an entire cast of freaks. I am never leaving again.”
    The phone started ringing again. Each ring pierced Scarlett. Mrs. Amberson didn’t have a special ringtone, but Scarlett could just tell when she was calling. The calls had a keening, urgent quality.
    “Please,” Scarlett said. “She won’t stop until I talk to her.”
    Ring.
    “You can have your phone back if you tell her that you are staying here today with us. And we will all take turns patting your head and helping you heal your broken heart. That is what is going to happen.”
    Ring.
    “Fine!” Scarlett said, her anxiety peaking.
    The phone stopped ringing as soon as it was back in Scarlett’s hand. She stared at it for a moment, wondering if she could just let it go, ignore the call.
    “Don’t,” Dakota said. “Don’t call her back.”
    “You don’t understand,” Scarlett said again. “She won’t stop.”
    The phone