Most of the year, Scarlett was not seen at school. A rumor spread that she was the mistress of a wealthy old man who lived in Irving City. The original tweet that exposed Scarlett had been retweeted more than 2,000 times! The girls at school would update the post every day to reflect so-called “new evidence” concerning the scandal.
The latest tweets read:
“Girls, S. is holding a LOUIS VUITTON LIMITED today. Do you guys believe that a college girl could afford that? I don’t. [picture]”
“NE: Damn. Scarlett’s new sneaker is my FAVORITE. I tried to reserve one, but I failed because you know what, only FIFTY PERSONS IN THIS PLANET got it! God, that man must be wealthy. #ScarlettMorrisIsABitch”
But these offensive tweets didn’t last long because people soon found out that most of the updates were just using some fake news or photoshopped pictures to court more followers and keep their attention. The truth was, of course, that Scarlett Morris was poor.
But girls at Scarlett’s school who loved to gossip endlessly would never miss a chance to create and spread false rumors. One time, a girl came across Scarlett taking a walk on campus with a man. She immediately spread the news to everyone she knew, and rampant gossiping began. A new hashtag was born, too: #ScarlettMorrisAndHerMen.
Scarlett didn’t bother with the rumors. She barely knew what people were saying about her. This wasn’t because Scarlett thought she was better than everybody else. No, it’s just that she had no time to care. She’d been a busy bee, trying to earn enough money to pay her tuition fees, as well as cover living expenses for her brother.
Scarlett didn’t have much of her own leisure time: she would either be dancing at the bar or working hard at several different part-time jobs at restaurants and clubs. Sometimes, Sophie would recommend Scarlett to different agents looking for actresses willing to play big roles in B-grade movies.
Scarlett could earn 60-80 bucks on average per day when she didn’t have classes at school. She’d been supporting her younger brother like this for years. She always told herself, “When life tried to knock me down, I will fight back and triumph over it.”
***
As soon as Scarlett hung up Sophie’s phone, she called her brother up, “Skyler, it’s me. I’ve just transferred 500 bucks to you. Can you check if you received the money? Are you still at the lab? Have you eaten lunch yet?”
Scarlett and Skyler are fraternal twins. Scarlett had been born only five minutes before Skyler. Both of them had inherited their parents’ good genes– they were a good-looking set of twins.
Yet, they were each beautiful in their own unique way. While Scarlett’s appeal is enchanting and positively ravishing, Skyler has a more endearing, cute type of look to him. Skyler looked like he could be a member of a hit boy band– like One Direction or something. Most people thought Skyler was still in high school. On the other hand, Scarlett had a more mature look to her, and people often assumed she was pursuing her master’s degree.
“Why do you keep transferring money to me, Scarlett? I didn't even use up all the money you gave me last month. Keep the money for yourself. Why don’t you go to the mall and buy some dresses, and makeup and shit? Whatever you like. I don’t need all this money.” Skyler spoke to his sister, his eyes dwelling on the experimental data on the computer screen in front of him.
“What? Skyler, don't be silly. I don’t need those things. Don’t you go saving money for my sake, okay? Invite your friends, your supervisor, and lab partners for dinner, or maybe some drinks. Don’t stay in the lab all the time. I don’t want a nerd for a brother.” Scarlett teased.
“Hey, I’m not a nerd, not at all. By the way, I just finished a project last week, and the supervisor rewarded me with some extra money, and I… I bought you a dress.”
“A dress for me? Do you think your sister is short of dresses?? I didn’t give you the money and expected you to return it to me in this way, Skyler.”
“I know, I know. But please, don’t worry about so many part-time jobs. You’ll tire yourself out. You should get a boyfriend or something and go have fun at your age. What’re you doing these days anyway?”
“Mind your own business, Skyler. Alright, I gotta go. Remember, eat regularly and sleep properly. I don’t want you to go and faint in the lab again like last time. I was so worried about you! I won’t forgive you or your supervisor if that happens again. Anyway, bye now.”
Skyler replied, “Fine, fine. I got it. Bye!” He hung up the phone.
Scarlett got on the bus and headed for the hotel– a new part-time job as a receptionist at the concierge.
There were no open seats left on the bus, so Scarlett just stood beside a seat, looking into the distance and thinking about her and Skyler’s future.
She had been supporting both of them, single-handedly, for many years. She signed up to do all kinds of jobs, from part-time gigs to competitions where she might win some money. Now, Skyler had gotten a full scholarship. His tuition fees and living expenses were covered. He even received a stipend from the lab to support himself and live on his own for once. Scarlett had worried about her brother for a long time, but it seemed like it was now time for her to just think about herself.
Mr. Howard, the chairman of the Russian department, had talked to Scarlett recently. Scarlett was a talented student– she had a gift for learning languages and always got straight As in all of her courses.
Mr. Howard, as a result, encouraged her to pursue a master’s degree in Russian. He said that he would write her a letter of recommendation, and she wouldn’t even need to take the GRE to get enrolled– that’s how much he supported and believed in her.
She knew she wanted to study further, and now she was well-prepared to do so both academically and financially. She decided she didn’t want to just let go of this opportunity.Twenty minutes later, she got off the bus and walked towards the hotel. She tried to relax her face. She took a deep breath and muttered to herself, “Oof… I’d better get going now and earn some money for myself. I must seize the day.”Scarlett saw, from a distance, that Sophie was waiting for her at the front door of the hotel. “We gotta be quick. Let’s go change our clothes first.” Sophie said and took her to a locked room.Scarlett wasn’t shy in front of Sophie– they had been friends for so long, and they had both seen each other naked anyway. They were more like sisters at this po
Back from the BanquetAs Scarlett arrived at her dorm room, she jumped right into her bed. Five hours standing in high heels numbed her legs and exhausted her body all over.“You’ve finally come back. Hey, don’t go to sleep just yet. I’ve got something to ask you.” Bell, Scarlett’s roommate and best friend at school, came to her and patted her face softly. Bell Harper had been by her side through the years.“Shoot!” Scarlett felt like she had no strength left, not even to talk.“Did Mr. Howard talk to you?”“The thing about the letter of recommendation?”Bell nodded and then lowered her voice. “He said t
“What? An online friend?” Scarlett couldn’t help herself. How silly of Bell to trust a stranger on the Internet, she thought.“Shhhh, shut up.” Bell covered Scarlett’s mouth, “It’s not like that, okay? I’ve known him for a long time, and it’s not like I just agreed to meet a total stranger. I’m not that absurd, okay? We’ve even video chatted a few times. He seems chill to me. Totally legit.”Bell dragged Scarlett out of bed. Scarlett didn’t want to get up and go out on this date with Bell’s online friend, but Bell had left her with no options. Scarlett pulled out a casual graphic T-shirt and a pair of denim shorts from a pile of clothes on the floor and put them on in a rush.She sat on the bed for a while and looked at Bell ru
Scarlett laughed out loud. Dan continued, “Can you believe it? It’s my fifth Tinder date this month alone. I wouldn't say I like it, but I still can’t stop. I feel like I gotta keep trying my luck.”Scarlett took a closer look. “Well, you never know, maybe you’ll have fun! Maybe she’ll turn out to be a good match for you. You gotta stay hopeful, right?”Dan shook his head and sighed. “I’m not as optimistic as you.”“Well, by the time you find the one, you’ll be so experienced. Things will go smoothly and fall into place.’ Scarlett laughed again.Dan gazed at her lovely face, and a sudden sadness rose from the bottom of his heart. Would he ever be able to confess his love to Scarlett? Woul
Sophie put the cigarette back unwillingly and said, “Oh, did I tell you about the casting next week? It’s for an art class, and they’re looking for a model for figure drawing. I recommended you for it, so I gave them your number.”Scarlett muttered with some sausage still in her mouth, “Can I? I am not a professional model, though.”Sophie gazed into her eyes and said, “Don’t you want to make money? Just go!”Scarlett finished her sausage and nodded. “Yeah, yeah, you’re right. As always. You’re right, I guess I’ll go and see what happens.”Sophie took out her cell phone and made several calls, “Hmm, okay. Yeah, tell me everything. What? Where are they? Alright, alright, calm down. O
“What are these for?” Scarlett stared at a whole row of luxurious sports cars in wide-eyed excitement.“Racing cars. They’ve got a racing game here every Saturday night.” Sophie turned to her and explained.“Ah. Got it!”Even as Scarlett dealt with socializing with Jeff and Sophie’s friends, she couldn’t move her eyes away from the rows of high-configuration sports cars only 10 meters away. They were all modified supercars, some even outfitted with nitrogen tanks to speed them up. This was a visual feast– she felt her mouth grow wet with desire.Scarlett narrowed her eyes. The silver car that stood parked on the far left captured her imagination. She breathed in deep and saw thick wads of dollar bills float down
Chunk touched his chin and asked curiously, “Then what do you want?”“This one.” She pointed to the reflector, and she was estimating its worth. “So, what do you think? What’s this worth, like 15k?” She grew excited at the thought of the fortune awaiting her.Chuck was surprised at her choice, “Ya know, you’re pretty bad at business. I gotta hand it to you.”“Deal? Or no deal?” Scarlett had her own set of principles.“Of course!” Chuck Sandler couldn’t wait to watch the show.The final race was just about to start. The cheering crowds were full of excitement; people screamed and shouted to no end.
Although Scarlett had made a fortune, she still kept a low profile. There was only one person she wanted to share the news with her younger brother, Skyler. So, she gave Skyler a call and asked if they could get dinner in the coming week.Scarlett arrived at Skyler’s lab 20 minutes earlier than their appointed time. She leaned against a tree and played some games on her phone to pass the time.At a top science and engineering school like the one Skyler went to, there were usually many more male students than female. So, as one would expect, Scarlett drew a lot of attention on such a campus.The school was always worried about the disastrous consequences of having such a hypermasculine institution– it further discouraged women from entering STEM fields when they saw how skewed in favor of women the demogr