Chapter Seven – Scarlet
The classroom was quiet now.
Too quiet.
I sat still on the edge of the desk, my legs dangling, my fingers resting on the wood. Everything that had happened just minutes ago still clung to the air. The scent, the warmth, the feeling of her mouth on mine. It was all still there, even though she wasn't.
Drizella was gone.
She had left so fast, like smoke vanishing in the air. One moment her fingers were gripping my waist, her breath on my skin, her hands undoing my shirt. And then, just like that, she was nowhere.
I wrapped my arms around myself and pulled my knees up on the desk, hugging them tightly. I felt cold now. Not just from the air, but from the silence. From the sudden emptiness. It made everything feel fake.
Was she real?
I kept asking myself that. Over and over. It didn't make sense. No one saw her but me. No one else seemed to even notice anything strange. She appeared out of nowhere, pulled me from the crowd, kissed me like she knew me, touched me like we belonged to each other. And now she was just... gone.
I remembered the way she looked at me. The way her eyes burned into mine. The way she kissed me like she needed it. Like I needed it. And maybe I did. Maybe I just needed someone to hold me. Maybe I was weak. Maybe I made her up.
No. I didn't make her up.
But what if I did?
What if this was magic?
What if someone was messing with me?
I had heard of illusion spells. Glamours. Magic that made people see what wasn't real. Maybe someone had cast one on me. Maybe someone wanted to laugh at me. To embarrass me. A new girl in a red uniform? Easy target.
But it felt too real. Her touch. Her breath. My reaction. I had given in too easily. Too quickly. And now I couldn't tell if I felt shame or something else. I didn't even know what to call it.
I had never kissed a girl before.
I never even thought I would.
But I liked it.
That was the part I couldn't run from. I could lie to myself about the magic. I could pretend it was a prank. But I couldn't pretend I hadn't liked it. I did. Every second. It made something in me burn. And now that it was over, that fire was still there.
I touched my lips. They still felt swollen. I closed my eyes and remembered the moment, then opened them again quickly, like I was scared of the memory.
Something is wrong with me.
That thought hit me hard. Maybe not because it was true, but because I believed it. Because I didn't know who I was anymore. Everything had changed so fast. The red uniform. The name I said outside the principal's office. The looks people gave me.
And now this.
I looked down at my shirt. Still partly unbuttoned. I fixed it slowly, trying to ignore how shaky my hands were. Then I saw it.
The strand of hair.
It was still gray.
Everything else was the usual deep red. But this one piece, just near my temple, had turned a soft gray-white. Like something inside me had broken open and changed me.
I pulled it forward and stared. It didn't look like dye. It didn't look fake. It looked... natural. Like it belonged to me now.
I let go of the strand and stared at the wall in front of me. My chest was tight. Not from sadness. Not from panic. Just confusion. Like my body knew something I didn't.
And then I remembered Dexter.
He had walked in.
He saw us.
I remembered his eyes. They weren't angry. Not really. They were something else. Like he was shocked. But not because I was doing something wrong. Shocked like he saw something he wasn't ready to understand.
And when our eyes met, it was like something inside me stopped. My breath. My heart. Time. Everything froze in that moment. And I felt something.
I didn't know what it was. It was like pressure. Heat. Electricity.
And it wasn't from Drizella.
It was from him.
Then he turned and left. No words. No expression. Just gone.
Why did that hurt more than her leaving?
I closed my eyes and leaned forward, hugging my knees again. I wanted to scream. Or cry. Or laugh. Or do all of it at once. Because none of it made sense.
Maybe I was broken.
Maybe the magic inside me was too.
I never wanted any of this. I just wanted to study. To be invisible. To make it through the year. But now, I was the girl everyone stared at. The girl in red. The girl who said something she didn't understand and changed everything.
And the girl who might not be as straight as she thought.
I hated that thought.
Not because I thought it was bad.
But because it made things harder.
Because now, I couldn't even trust my own feelings. My own memories. My own wants.
I dropped my feet to the floor and stood up slowly. The room felt smaller now. The air heavier. I needed to get out.
I walked to the door but stopped. Something tugged at me. I turned and looked at the desk one last time. The one where I had sat. The one where it happened.
Nothing was there.
But I still felt it. Like a shadow. Like a breath.
I whispered, "Drizella?" just in case.
But no one answered.
Just the quiet.
Just me.
I opened the door and stepped into the hallway. Everything looked normal. Too normal. I walked slowly, not knowing where I was going.
I didn't want to go back to my dorm. I didn't want to face the mirrors. Or the silence. Or the thoughts.
I just walked.
And deep inside, something moved.
A tiny flicker.
Like a whisper that hadn't found its voice yet.
And a question I didn't want to answer:
What if Drizella wasn't real?
What if I made her up