Cinder did not appear at school the next day.
Or the next.
But soon her friends caught wind of what was happening. It was all over the news the next morning: the headline Chickenpox Outbreak Spreads to Nearby Commonwealth City, followed by a short article about a girl named Peony Linh. Cress had gasped when Scarlet grimly showed her the clipping she had torn out of the newspaper.
"Poor Cinder," Cress said softly. She couldn't even imagine what it would be like to know that your sibling was alone in the hospital and might never return.
"I know," Scarlet replied. Her mouth was set in a hard line. "The world can be really unfair sometimes. Come on, Cress, we should find Cinder and cheer her up."
"If she's even back. Her family is probably having a hard time."
"Good excuse to get out of doing the play."
The two girls stared at each other for a minute, Scarlet's eyes gleaming mischievously, Cress fidgeting with her hair. And then suddenly, inexplicably, they were laughing harder than they had ever laughed before.
Kai was horrified when he saw the article. Inside their mansion, it was the normal morning routine. His parents and their maid were going about their normal business, getting ready for the day as if his father had not just given them earth-shattering news. But Kai felt like the floor had dropped out beneath him.
"I know, it's a horrible thing," his father said, misreading the look on his face. "But we've survived worse outbreaks. And it's only one person so far, and apparently she caught it in the next town over."
"Don't worry, honey, it probably won't spread over here at all," his mother told him.
"No... I'm not worried about that," Kai said slowly. "It's just... that girl - Peony - she's barely fourteen. I feel terrible for her and her family."
His father gave him a funny look. "Do you know them?"
How to answer that question? He knew Cinder and yet he didn't know her. He wanted to be closer to her but he didn't get closer to her. So many answers nestled inside a simple question.
His mother saved him from answering. "I remember her, I think," she said. "I remember the day the two girls came and got their schedules when they moved her. Peony and Selene, was it?"
Kai scrunched up his face. "Who's Selene?"
"Peony's sister," his mother answered. Kai's father made an impatient grunting sound in the back of his throat that implied he thought their conversation was pointless and they should end it. Kai was surprised, even though he didn't know exactly why. He hadn't realized that Cinder was a nickname.
Of course you didn't know, he told himself. You barely know her.
Later that day, Scarlet had arrived at the science classroom early. It was the first period after lunch, and normally Scarlet walked with Cress and Cinder to all their classes, but today Cress had Robotics Club so she was alone. She slipped unnoticed into the room and began unpacking her overstuffed backpack at the two-person worktable she normally shared with Cinder.
"Hi, Scarlet," Mr. Darnel greeted her, smiling amicably as he entered the classroom from his back office where, according to Cress, he carried out all sorts of crazy experiments. Mr. Darnel had always given her a mad scientist vibe, from his wild gray hair that was constantly tousled because of his hat and his sharp blue eyes that gleamed whenever he discovered something. But it was nearly impossible to be afraid of him, as most of the seniors were at least a foot taller.
The bell rang and Scarlet could hear the pounding footsteps of students rushing to class. She ignored the other students who flooded into the classroom, not one to attract attention, but also not the kind of person to be insignificant. For most of her life, Scarlet was just a background character. And she liked it that way. It was better when the other kids ignored her than when they ridiculed and tormented her and called her grandmother crazy. It was just better.
She expected no one to even notice that Cinder wasn't sitting beside her to be her lab partner. And she was partially right. Everyone sat down at their usual spots without a second glance. But when the bell signaling the start of class rang, someone else ran into the room at the very last minute. Wolf, nearly late per usual, was about to take a seat in the back next to one of his buddies when his eyes flickered across the room...right to Scarlet.
Fidgeting under his penetrating stare, Scarlet tried to imagine the thoughts rushing through his head. She could see him wondering why she was alone...then considering going over to sit with her...then thinking about what all his friends would think and the rumors that would fly through the school...She flinched and turned away, consenting to a dreary lab period without her smart friend to rely on.
Scarlet nearly gasped when she heard Wolf's large black backpack thunk down on the table beside her. She looked up at him in confusion, but he avoided her gaze. Around them, she could hear the whispers and barely muffled giggles passed behind the hands of her fellow classmates.
"What are you doing?" she hissed at him. Wolf was calmly unpacking his supplies, immune to the gossip already spreading like the plague. She supposed that he was teased and gossiped about a lot already, owing to his unusual size and notorious reputation. But Scarlet...she hadn't had to deal with this since second grade. Some things never change, I guess, she thought bitterly.
"You looked lonely." His response was so simple, so concise, that she got a sense of what the thoughts in his head were like. Logical and formulaic, like artificial intelligence. He had seen Scarlet. She looked lonely. So he decided to sit with her.
"I looked lonely? You're the one who broods and slouches around school all day," she retorted, trying to make it sound like him sitting with her was no big deal.
Wolf frowned. "I have friends."
"You have a gang."
"Same thing."
"Not really."
"Why not?"
She had to think for a moment in order to answer that question. It wasn't like Scarlet had had a lot of friends in her lifetime, so why was she now such an expert on friendship? "Friends help each other. They support each other. They laugh with each other." She was realizing how stupid she sounded. How did she know that Wolf didn't have close relationships with his other gang members?
And more importantly, why was she even talking to him? Scarlet seemed to have two images of Wolf in her mind. One was the way he was now, big and harmless and sometimes clueless about the world around him. But the other...she shivered at the memories of him in the dark alleyway, beating up Cinder. She remembered holding her shotgun to his throat and being absolutely sure that she would fire it if she needed to. She tried to block out that side of him. But it was there, in the same way Scarlet had a vicious side and her grandmother had a crazy side.
Luckily, Wolf didn't look offended. He seemed thoughtful, tipping his head and getting a faraway look in his deep green eyes. "I think I get what you mean. In the gang, it's a constant battle for dominance. There's no such thing as support, only destruction. Everyone wants to be on top. You're not afraid to tear others down if it means that you'll be on top." His voice caught.
"It's okay," Scarlet immediately comforted him. "They're still people you can spend time with. But your real friends, your close friends, those are the ones that have to build you up. And it's okay if you haven't found them yet."
He didn't seem to hear her, still stuck on something she had said earlier. "So does that mean..."
"What?"
Wolf took a deep breath and looked straight into her eyes. "Does that mean you and I are friends?"
"Well, what do we have here?" came a scathing voice from nearby. Scarlet realized that all the whispers and giggly conversations had died out, replaced by silence as a single girl stood up. Levana. Scarlet looked desperately toward Mr. Darnel's office door, but he was apparently preoccupied and not in any position to rescue her now. "Crazy Red and the Big Bad Wolf. What an interesting pair..."
Scarlet rolled her eyes. "First of all, that nickname's gotten old. You came up with that in, what, elementary school?"
Levana narrowed her eyes, all beauty disappearing from her face with that expression of malevolence. "The fact that I can still use it now shows that you're just as crazy as ever."
"She's not crazy," Wolf said softly. His normally deep, husky voice was oddly rough and strained, almost fragile as it pervaded the uncanny silence.
Levana turned to Wolf. "Yeah, in comparison to you, I would say that Scarlet is completely normal, druggie."
"And in comparison to you, I would say that the Wicked Witch of the West is kind and sweet," Scarlet snarled. The watching class laughed.
"Oh, Scarlet," Levana sighed, her waves of silky auburn hair as perfect as they had been in kindergarten. Scarlet had a suspicion that Levana's brain had stayed the same through the years, while only her body had matured. "I bet you don't know half of what your friend here has done. My father is the commissioner of the police, remember."
"Trust me, I know," Scarlet said through gritted teeth. "Where was your father when their gang beat my friend up?"
"Interesting, interesting," Levana muttered, eyes sliding out of focus as she thought. "So you do know about what happens out on the streets...your own friend was attacked...and yet you're associating with the gang leader anyway." She smiled like a cat about to pounce on a mouse. "I take it that your friends don't know who you really spend time with, Scarlet."
It felt like Levana had fired a bullet into her chest. That was true, Scarlet's friends didn't know that she actually sort of thought of Wolf like a friend. They probably imagined him like everyone else in the school, a scary street fighter with a messed up life. Cinder had taken an instant dislike to him ever since her first day in Commonwealth City when the Wolf Pack had attacked her, and Cress was scared of anyone who was more than twice her weight and height. She couldn't imagine what they would think if she told them that she had started defending Wolf in a fight - defended him against Levana, of all people! Her grandmother, too, would be wholeheartedly disappointed in her for getting in trouble for the sake of him.
"Whatever, Levana," Scarlet growled. "I'm done with this."
And she scooped up her backpack and stormed out of the classroom.
She hadn't walked twenty paces when she heard the flat thump of Wolf's enormous feet - they were more like paws, actually - hurrying down the hall toward her. "Scarlet!" he called. She chanced a look over her shoulder, and, seeing that he had almost caught up with her, doubled her pace.
"Wait!" He refused to be deterred. Giving up, Scarlet stopped abruptly in her path and turned around. Wolf stopped dead at the sight of her narrowed eyes and clenched fists, temper as fiery as her hair.
"What do you want now?" she snapped. She knew she was being unfair to him, but she was just so exasperated with this situation.
"I..." he blinked, trying to figure out why she was mad. "I wanted to see whether you were okay."
"Oh yes, I'm completely okay. I only just embarrassed myself in front of the whole class, tried and failed to defend you against Levana for absolutely no reason, and now there's going to be rumors that we're dating," she responded icily. "Also, everyone hates you, including my friends, and there's just no reason to be friends."
"Who says there has to be a reason?" his voice was so small she barely heard it.
"Leave me alone."