Bargaining

Bargaining; Exchange one thing for another

Molly Scott had spent her life wishing, when she was 6 she wished for a pony, at 8 she wished that the whole she had knocked into the wall would go away. When she came home past curfew she wished that she could take back time, but most of all Molly wished that she had everything she didn't. Most of the things she wished for were normal teenage girl wishes, she wished for a date to the prom, she wished her face would stay smooth as silk, she wished that her skin would stay golden, she wished her report card would read straight A's, but unlike most teens Molly wish for something far greater too.

'Hey! Hello in there!" Molly looked up quickly as she tried to smile off her daze.

"What?" she asked her friend, Hannah as they sat in the cafeteria.

"I was just telling you about this party on Friday night but you seem a little preoccupied."

"Oh its nothing, so who is gonna be at this party?" She asked as her red headed friend excitedly got back to the details of the latest party.

God- What if I stay home from the party, I'll never go to another party again just let my dad come back-

"Ryan Baker, Chris Timmons, oh and Richie Daniels." Hannah said nudging her friend. "He's that hot quarter back who has a crush on you."

God- Come on I'll never date a boy…I'll become a nun, just do your magic and bring my dad back

"Yeah that'll be fun, we'll I've got to get to 5th period, I'll see you tomorrow night." Molly said absently as she got up form the table and walked towards James who was sitting by himself. She sat down next to her brother; James was looking at a piece of paper a mix of excitement, anger and sadness in his face.

"What's wrong?"

"I got a full ride to Duke." He said as Molly looked over the piece of paper.

"James, that's great!" She said as she patted her brother on the back. "Dad would be so proud." She said as she read what he was thinking.

"Yeah he always wanted this for me." He said as he smiled a little.

God- I'll study hard and get into Princeton, no Harvard—the top college in the world- just please bring my dad back—

"Hey do you wanna leave? I don't really feel like being at school right now, and I was thinking about going to the cemetery."



"Yes." Molly said quietly as the two of them stood up and looked around the cafeteria.

"You think Cate wants to come with us?" James said as they both spotted their sister sitting amongst her friends.

"Nah, she's been going to the cemetery every night for a few weeks, I think she likes to go alone." Molly said as she smiled relieved that her sister was finally coming to terms with it.

How about that God, I will never take anything from Cate again, I will be the perfect little sister, please send him back

James and Molly rode to the cemetery a comfortable silence falling over them, like dew over grass on a cool morning. As the arrived to the burial ground and parked their car underneath a large tree, both of them oddly comforted my being in the grave place.

"You its weird because dad's body is here, but I can't really ever feel him here." James said as he led his little sister over to where their father's tombstone was.

"Where do you feel him?"

"The basketball court, every time I pick up a ball, step onto a court I can feel him." James said as Molly felt her heart twinge with jealousy. They stood for a few more seconds before she pulled down the collar of her shirt. No words were spoken but James knew that Molly was letting him in on a big secret and he felt honor that she trusted him enough; he looked down at the dark bruises that circled Molly's neck.

"Molly, what is that?" He said as he moved her head a little to get a better look at the marks.

"I tired to hang myself." Molly said as James pulled his sister into his arms, trying to squeeze the pain out of her. Molly let herself fall into her brothers strong arms, after a second she took a deep breath and pulled away. "My head fell right through, I started to try again but mom called me for dinner so I stopped."

"Oh Molly. Why?" James asked he knew the answer but he didn't really know what else to say.

"I can't feel him, James you and Cate both can feel him with you, you know he's there but I can't feel him! I've tried everything..." Molly said as she was over come with sobs. "I get bad grades in school, I quit dance, all so that he will come back—nothing works and I can't feel him!" She said as she fell to the ground crying. James sank to the ground next to her holding trying to come up with the right words to soothe her.

"It'll be okay." He said as he stopped trying to come up with words and just held his sister; he knew that sometimes you just had to cry it out.

--



Almost 8 hours later, Haley Scott walked through the cemetery; her heart sank a little as she saw two of her children sitting by the tombstone that had become a popular visiting place for the Scott family. She walked up to the two kids, smiling down at her son who was staring at the ground she kneeled down and pushed hair off of Molly's face.

"We skipped school, she had a small meltdown but I took care of it." He said quietly as Haley smiled at her son overcome with pride at the man he had turned into. "She cried herself to sleep."

"Ok, congratulations on Duke, your dad is somewhere throwing a party." Haley said as James laughed a little. "I think that it's time for this." She said as she pulled a cd case out of her purse.

"Mom…" Molly sat up form her brother's shoulder as she wiped sleep out of her eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"Your teachers called and said you weren't in class and you missed dinner I just guessed you all were out here." Haley said as she stood up with her kids. She sighed as she ran a finger over the bruises on her neck.

"Here I think its time for you to have this too." She said as she pulled a second cd case out of her pocket. "Let's go home." She said as the three of them took one second to look at the tombstone and made their way out of the cemetery.

--

"Do you want me to watch it with you?" Molly asked as she and James stood in front of the family's plasma TV.

"Sure, I don't care." James said as he set the CD in the tray and pushed it in. Within seconds came the image of Nathan Scott, he sat in a hospital bed, his eyes were weak yet full of happiness.

"Hey Jim Jam, if you're watching this that means you've been accepted into Duke, congratulations you deserve this son. Your hard work has paid off and I want nothing more than to be sitting right next to you patting you on the back, but just remember I am with you, I'll be there on your first day of college and your first game and when they sign you to the NBA I'll be there, never forget that. I know that you are destined for greatness James Lucas Scott, but don't forget where you came from, so please always take care of your sisters and brothers and your mom. Congratulations again son, now go out and celebrate!" Nathan said before he hollered loudly excitedly for his son. James ejected the DVD as he smiled; he turned around to see Haley standing at the foot of the room, tears in her eyes and Cate next to her smiling brightly as well.

"Alright well I'm gonna go celebrate." James said as he hugged Haley and let out a breath. He stood next to Molly for second before leaving the room tough. "Do you want me to watch your with you?" He asked as molly shook her head.

"No I think I want to do it alone."



"Alright and don't forget you can always talk to me." He said as he hugged his sister before he left. When James left Haley pushed Cate towards the door also respecting Molly's wish to be alone. She sat down on the couch and took a second before she pressed the play button on the remote, not sure of what would be on the tape. When she pressed the button her father's face appeared on the screen, unlike James's Nathan was dressed normally and in his office.

"Hey Molly, I have no idea when you are going to watch this but I trust that your mom knows when you need it. It is really late at night, but you and I just spent the day together, I don't think that you and I have talked so much in years…and I'm really sorry for that Molly. I think that I have spent too much time doting on Cate and doing basketball stuff with James, I don't have many regrets in my life but spending time with you is one of them, I want to go back in time and spend every second of your life with you…." Nathan laughed a little as he wiped sleep out of his eye. "So if you are watching this and I'm still alive, I want you to turn the tape off and come find me, I owe you a dinner and ice cream." He said as he fiddled with the edge of his desk and Molly shifted in her seat on the couch. "And if I'm not alive, I want you to breathe, I know that you are hurting and knowing you I bet you probably are trying to do everything in your power to get me back but I need you to accept that I'm gone. But don't worry, I'm watching you every second of every day, I've got you on the big screen in heaven. So please don't spend the rest of your life trying to get me back, just live! You are a talented young lady and with your dancing your going to go far, I just know it I can feel that you were born for stardom, so keep living molly. I love you more than anything and I cant imagine if something were to ever happen to you. I love you my little girl.

And with that the screen went blank, Molly wiped the stray tears from her eyes and stood up, she walked up to her room and for the first time in four months she turned on her favorite classic music and started to dance.