That next week at school, Scarlett was sitting in the cafeteria eating lunch with her friends Jessica and Victoria. Scarlett glanced across the room to see Alexa and Kayla immersed in a conversation. Instantly she felt her heart hurt because in that moment she remembered what it was like to be that close to Alexa and always be gossiping about something. As much as she hated to admit it, she missed her best friend. Jessica and Victoria were best friends already, so Scarlett always felt like the third wheel.

Jessica said something to Scarlett, but the teen was too busy reminiscing to hear.

"Hello? Earth to Scarlett," Jessica said and snapped her fingers in front of Scarlett's face.

"Sorry, did you say something?" Scarlett asked as she looked to Jessica.

"I said, were going to go to the library to work on some homework. Do you want to come?" Jessica repeated.

Scarlett peered down at her half eaten sandwich and shook her head saying,

"No it's okay. I still have to finish my lunch. I'll meet up with you in history after."

Jessica gave Scarlett a smile and then her and Victoria got up and headed out.

From across the room, a boy, Matthew, was watching Scarlett and her friends. When he saw the other two leave, he took that as his chance to talk to Scarlett.

Matthew was quite tall and he had curly brown hair and green almost hazel eyes. He walked over to Scarlett with his lunch and asked,

"Do you mind if I join you?"

Scarlett looked up from her phone and shook her head as she gave him a warm smile.

"I'm Matt," the boy said as he took a seat.

"Scarlett," she told him.

"I think you're in my history class. Do you have it next period with Mrs. Jones?" he asked.

Scarlett nodded and said,

"Yeah, I thought you looked familiar."

He chuckled a little and said,

"Do you think you could help me with the homework?"

"The homework that's due in fifteen minutes?" she asked him for clarification.

"Yeah I got most of it done," he told her.

Once the school day was over, Scarlett went to meet Jameson out by his car. He drove her from school to work on the days she was scheduled to go in. Jameson was a senior and he and Scarlett became pretty good friends.

Right as Scarlett reached Jameson's car, Matthew walked up behind her and said,

"Hey I was wondering if I could get your number? Maybe we could work on homework together sometime?"

Scarlett smiled and said,

"Sure."

She put her number in his phone and handed it back to him right as Jameson approached the car. Jameson was more of a big brother figure to Scarlett. Their relationship was similar to that of siblings.

"I'll text you," Matt said as he got his phone back. She smiled at him and then got in the car.

"Who's your new boyfriend?" Jameson asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.

"He's not my boyfriend," Scarlett told him and looked out the window.

"Okay," Jameson replied in a disbelieving tone.

"He's not. We just did homework together at lunch," Scarlett told him and glared at him.

"Sure," Jameson said in the same tone as before.

"Besides, I don't want a boyfriend. I don't think I could handle that commitment right now anyways."

Jameson was aware of Scarlett's addictions and knew she meant that.

"I know, I'm just teasing you, Scar," Jameson told her. She just rolled her eyes at him.

Alice was also at work that day, but her bus drops her off there. Her and Scarlet have talked a few times, but not much. Scarlett talks to Poppy the most out of all her half siblings since she's sees the girl once a week for piano.

As the weeks went on, Scarlett and Matthew have been spending more time together and quickly became best friends. They would spend hours talking on the phone or he'd pick her up in his car and they'd drive around listening to music. They'd do homework together every night, whether they were physically together or not. Matthew opened up to Scarlett about his parents and older siblings and how he felt like his parents liked them more and how that affected him. Scarlett then felt like she could trust him and told him about her past and her history with drugs. He was very accepting and understanding of Scarlett's past. In all honesty, Scarlett missed having a best friend and someone to talk to about everything and that's all she saw Matt as. However, Matthew was starting to have feelings for Scarlett.

Two weeks before Christmas there was a knock on Meredith's door. It was pretty late. Scarlett was up watching tv so she answered the door to find Matthew standing there with a sad look on his face.

"Hey are you okay? Come in," she said and backed away from the door way.

"Anthony came home from college because we're going to my grandparents this weekend and I'd rather not be at the house while he's there" he told her.

"You're welcome to hang here. I'm just watching The Office," she told him.

They walked back over to the couch and sat down.

"Do you want to talk?" Scarlett asked him.

"I'm just annoyed. Anthony comes home for two days and it's like I don't exist," Matthew told him.

"Have you tried talking to your parents?" Scarlett asked.

"No, they would just brush it off," Matt told her.

"I'm sorry. That sucks," Scarlett told him and offered him a hug.

They stayed up the rest of the night chit chatting until Amelia walked downstairs.

"Hey, what are you doing up?" Amelia asked and then she saw Matt.

"Oh hi, Matthew," she said and smiled.

"Matt has been having a rough night at home so I told him he could come over," Scarlett explained.

"I was actually just about to leave," Matt said and got up.

Scarlett got up too and walked Matt to the door.

"Thank you for listening, unlike my parents," Matt said and hugged Scarlett.

"Anytime," she told him and smiled.

He then waved to Amelia and headed toward his car.

After Scarlett closed the door, Amelia asked,

"So you guys are just friends, right?"

Scarlett gave her mother a look and said,

"Matthew? He's not even close to my type."

Then she walked passed her and went to her room.

The next day at lunch Matt was oddly quiet and Scarlett noticed. Scarlett was on her phone while Matt was doing some school work and he didn't talk at all or barely look at her.

"What's with you today?" Scarlett asked her best friend.

Matt just gave her a weird look.

Scarlett didn't know what it meant so she said,

"Did something happen with your brother?"

Matt shook his head.

As soon as the bell rang, Matt said to Scarlett,

"Meet me by my car after school? I want to talk to you about something."

Scarlett raised an eyebrow and just nodded in return.

Once the day was over, Scarlett met Matt by his car.

"Do you need a ride home?" Matt asked.

"No, Jameson is driving me to the bakery, why?" she asked him.

Matt put his hands in his pockets and took a deep breath.

"Listen, I've been wanting to tell you this for a while... I like you Scarlett. Like I really like you," Matt told her and slowly looked up to meet her eyes.

"Matt-" she tried to say.

Then Jameson walked over and put his arm around Scarlett.

"Ready to go?" Jameson asked her.

Scarlett was just staring at Matt still, speechless.

"Yeah, I'll text you later," Matt said with a smile and walked around to the other side of his car.

"Did I interrupt something?" Jameson asked Scarlett.

"No, it's fine," she said and followed him back to his car.

That night, Scarlett texted Matt and asked him if he wanted to go on a drive. Within an hour he was waiting in his car, outside her house. The two went and got some ice cream, making small talk. Then on the ride back, Scarlett decided to bring up their earlier conversation.

"So about before..." she started to say.

Matt just kept looking straight ahead.

"I think it would be best if we just stayed friends," Scarlett told him softly. Matt looked over at her and said,

"Ohh, umm yeah that's fine. I just wanted you to know how I felt."

Scarlett nodded and then said,

"Matt you're my best friend and I don't want to mess that up."

"I understand," he told her and forced a smile. There was some awkward silence and then Matt asked,

"Is there something going on between you and Jameson?"

Scarlett was caught off guard. Matt knew she and Jameson were just friends.

"Of course not, he's like my brother," she told him in a bit of a defensive tone.

Matt didn't respond as he pulled into her driveway.

"Are we good?" she asked him.

He nodded and smiled.

"Have fun at your grandparents this weekend. Text me when you get home," she told him as she got out of the car.

"Bye," Matt said and watched her walk inside.

Matt didn't text Scarlett that whole weekend. Even when she asked him how he was and how his grandparents were.

On Monday, Scarlett ran into Matt in the hall.

"Hey why didn't you text me back?" she asked him.

"Oh sorry, I haven't been on my phone much," he lied.

"Matthew," Scarlett said in an tone she only used when she was annoyed with him.

"I think I just need some space right now. It's not you, I'm just stressed about school and have a lot on my plate," he told her in a sincere tone so she believed him.

"Are you okay?" she wanted to know.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," he said and then walked away.

Scarlett sat alone at lunch that day. When she looked up to see where Matt was, her heart sank when she saw him sitting next to Alexa and Kayla. They were all smiling and laughing and Matt caught Scarlett's eye but then looked away.

Once the last bell rang, Scarlett made a bee line to Matt's car. When she saw him walking over she started walking toward him.

"What the hell was that at lunch today?" She questioned him.

"What are you talking about?" Matt asked back, playing dumb.

"You ditched me for Alexa and Kayla!" Scarlett snapped.

"They invited me to sit with them," he said in defense.

"Don't you remember how they treated me like shit? How could you do this to me?" she said to him.

"How could I do this to you? You lied to me," Matt stated.

"What are you talking about?" Scarlett asked. She was confused.

"You said there was nothing going on between you and Jameson," Matt started to say.

"And?" Scarlett asked.

"Kayla said she saw the two of you on a date at the bakery," Matt explained.

"We work there together," Scarlett told him.

"And you're going to take her word over mine?" She asked.

Matt sighed and said,

"I know why you don't like me back. I'm not your type. I'm not old enough for you," he told her in a rude tone.

"I swear nothing is going on with me and Jameson," Scarlett promised him.

"I wasn't talking about Jameson. Alexa told me about Noah."

In that moment, Scarlett felt her soul leave her body and her knees nearly gave out. How could Alexa be telling people about what happened with Noah.