1/7 (Scarlett)

One hot summer day in West Bourbon County, when Scarlett was 17 years old, her little sister Eva looked up at her with bewildered puppy-dog eyes as she discussed college with her parents. No one was surprised when she graduated high school with a jaw-dropping 3.2 average, but everyone was still naturally very impressed. Her mom was a quickly-aging beautician who dreamed of owning her own salon and her dad worked for the local plumbing company. They had met when they were children and dropped out of high school together after their sophomore year. To this day, Scarlett’s parents were still wildly in love. This story wasn’t at all unusual for West Bourbon County– every bit of it was sure to be found at least once on every street; every bit, that is, except for Scarlett’s role. In those days, Scarlett was something of a local heroine.

Exactly one year after the subject came up, Scarlett kissed her parents and her little sister good-bye, and boarded a bus to go to college in California with two suitcases and $187 in her pocket. She had high ambitions, and nothing was going to stop her. She chose the College she did– Bethesda University of California– for two reasons: the first reason being that she had once read an article (or rather, a list) about a place called Bethesda and how it was among the highest-priced real estate districts in the country; the second reason was because she had always wanted to live in Hollywood like the stars. Putting two-and-two together, it was clear that Bethesda University of California was the right decision for her. Any doubts she had were put to rest when she got her acceptance letter in the mail. How could they have said no, especially with her track record?

It never occurred to Scarlett that the Bethesda she had read about– Bethesda, MD– and the Bethesda where she would end up had very, very little in common.

Once she signed the final admissions documents at Bethesda University, she declared herself as an “undecided major.” This was actually very common for incoming freshmen. Scarlett figured that it wouldn’t take her long to earn her M.R.S. degree (that is, to find a husband) and she would either drop out once things were cemented with him, or she would finish with a degree in journalism or Spanish or something like that. Secretly, she hoped for the second option so that she could boast her diploma to her family back home– they’d all be so proud of her. However, the first option would still be terrific. The skies were blue for Scarlett and the world was her oyster. Nothing could go wrong.

She struggled a bit more than she expected at first, and by the end of the year, she was starting to get rather anxious because her plan wasn’t coming together as well as she’d hoped. Half way through her second year, Scarlett decided enough was enough, and she did what many of her high school friends were doing back home: Scarlett went to one of the University’s fraternity parties on a chilly yet memorable Friday night and intoxicated herself, and then allowed herself to be led up to a bedroom where she made love three times with Lucky, a boy from her Spanish class. She had told Lucky earlier that she was on the pill, however, that of course was not true. Scarlett’s plan had worked. She kept this from Lucky for quite some time.

Several months into their second semester of sophomore year in college, just as Scarlett's signs of pregnancy began to show, she and Lucky had developed a friendly rapport. The only question on Scarlett’s mind was when to tell Lucky that she was pregnant with his child. Of course, she wanted at least two months to plan her wedding.

Around the same time, Lucky seemed to have caught on to something, because he stopped coming to class, and Scarlett eventually learned that Lucky had transferred to an out-of-state school.

The baby boy was born on a Thursday in August, and Scarlett was forced to take an indefinite leave of absence. She spent the next two years waitressing, earning good tips on her green eyes and quaint accent, but still getting a bitter taste of reality as she would pick up the baby from daycare every evening, watching the months fly away. Enough was enough. Scarlett was determined not to let her initial plan fail: timing her cycle perfectly, she put on her favorite mini-skirt from college (now two sizes too small), splurged on an over-night babysitter, and found another Lucky at one of the local clubs.

Another nine months went by, another baby boy was born, and another young man left the state of California.

When the second baby was three years old, Scarlett knew she had to change her situation, so she enrolled herself in a phlebotomy certification course in order to get a better-paying job. It would have worked, except that– having always been the superstitious type and believing that the third time’s a charm– she slept with a classmate and fell pregnant for the third time.

Three years from today, Scarlett will still be waitressing in California, occasionally mentioning to her favorite regular– an attractive, well-to-do male customer named Paul– that she graduated high school with a 3.2. Her oldest– her favorite because he had her eyes– son will live with her as he is just starting the third grade, while her two youngest children will reside in Bourbon county with their grandparents (and be very well-raised).