Scarlett White (31 page)

He whirled her back around to face him, and she came face to face with dark, brooding eyes that seemed to light up with angry flames. "Don't ever talk to me like that again, you worthless whore."

"Hey, let go. You're hurting me," Scarlett whimpered as she tried to get loose from his iron strong grip on her arm.

"Do you understand me?"

"Let her go, Austin." A new voice entered the little bicker.

"Don't tell me what to do, Christian," Austin growled.

"Do you want me to beat your face into a bloody pulp?" Christian retorted.

"What's going on here?" Their teacher entered the group.

"Nothing. The new girl just ran into me, that's all," Austin said and stalked off in the opposite direction.

The teacher looked from Austin's retreating back to Scarlett's frightened expression to Christian's angered face and drew his own conclusions. He would keep a watchful eye on the three of them in tomorrow's class. "Have a nice day," he said awkwardly to the two students who were left.

"Thanks," Scarlett replied quietly and started walking away.

Christian followed her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so. My arm hurts a little, but I'll survive. Thanks for sticking up for me." Scarlett sneaked a glance up at his face, and her heart pounded hard at the serious similarities between him and Tristan.

"Well, I'm Christian Cox. You must be Scarlett White."

"Yeah. That's me. The new girl."

"Don't worry about Austin. He's all talk and no walk. His bark is worse than his bite. Any more clichés?"

"You stole the best ones."

"What class do you have next?"

"Um…" Scarlett pulled out her schedule, "Foreign Language."

"Me too. Spanish, French, or Latin?"

"Spanish IV, AP. Mr. Rodriguez."

"Same here. I'll walk you to class."

"Thanks."

It wasn't until lunch time that Scarlett realized how lucky she was to have made friends with Chloe. Because being friends with Chloe pretty much gave you a one-way ticket to her table. Yes, you heard correctly:
her
table.

Chloe, Zoey, and Millie were the three most popular girls who went to Humphrey Day. But what Scarlett was not used to was that all three of them were extremely nice and optimistic. They were nothing like Alice or Kirsten or Libby or any of the popular girls at Watson High. These girls had standards.

And sitting with them was the entire basketball team, which included Christian Cox. Scarlett kept her head down the entire lunch and tried to ignore Christian because every time she looked into his deep brown eyes... Scarlett shook her head, holding back the tears that were threatening to escape her eyes.

The only bad thing was that everyone seemed really interested in the new girl. Meaning they shot questions at Scarlett left and right.

"How was it like in Florida?"

"Did you get to go to the beach a lot?"

"Are the guys way hotter down there?"

"Are the girls way hotter down there?"

"How was your school in Jacksonville?"

"I bet it was way more lax than this one. It's so strict here."

"So you're really Melody Harman's stepsister? That's sick."

"Okay, okay, give her a break," Chloe cut in, throwing her arm around Scarlett's shoulder in a friendly manner. "She needs time to actually eat the disgusting food this school serves us with."

"So are you going to try out for the cheerleading squad?" Zoey asked. "I bet those long legs of yours could be of great use with hurkeys and toe-touches. Maybe we could even train you to do a scorpion."

"I'm not all that coordinated. Believe me, I would drag the team down like that," Scarlett said, snapping her fingers to emphasize her point.

"Nonsense. With a bit of practice, you'd be as great as even me, if I dare say," Zoey replied with a playful smirk.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I really need to focus on my studies."

"So you're smart?" Millie asked.

Scarlett was hesitant to answer. At her old school, having the least bit of brains was considered to be the lowliest asset one could acquire. Was it the same here? What should she tell them? She was concerned for her grades, but not the best student? But why would she want to start her new life here as a lie. She should just tell them the truth.

"I have a four point eight GPA," she answered honestly.

"Damn, girl. You must study your ass off. How do you manage that with those good looks? Where are the bags under your eyes?" Chloe asked.

"I have no clue. I used to have bags under my eyes all the time, but I guess I've spent so many sleepless nights studying that I've just grown immune to them."

"Lucky bitch. I wish I could do the same," Millie replied, stabbing her lettuce with a fork.

"So do you have a boyfriend?" Zoey asked, her blue eyes watching Scarlett intensely.

"Yeah. I mean, it's new. We just got together a few weeks ago, and then I found out that I was moving here." Scarlett didn't realize until after she said this that more than a few boys at the table hung their heads low and shrugged their shoulders.

"You think a long distance relationship will work?"

"Honestly, I don't have any idea. I hope it will."

With the uncertainty clear in her voice, the boys straightened up, and the gleam was brought back in their eyes. Scarlett glanced toward the boy who was called Christian. He had been one of the boys who had slumped over when she mentioned that she had a boyfriend back in Florida.

"What's your boyfriend's name, Scar?" Chloe asked.

Scarlett was amazed at how easily she fit in with the crowd. She had only known them for four and a half hours, and they were already close enough that they could call her Scar, and she didn't mind in the least. Tristan hadn't even called her Scar yet, and her heart hung low just thinking of his name.

Scarlett gulped, "Tristan."

Millie's blue eyes snapped up and locked with Scarlett's, remembering what Scarlett had told her during World History. Millie's eyes then traveled over to Christian, who was intensely staring at his food and stabbing at his pizza with his fork. Millie finally had the grand idea of getting Christian to speak up. It wasn't like him to stay this quiet.

"Did you hear about that beach bash next weekend, Chris? You going?"

Christian's own brown eyes looked up and gazed at Millie. "I don't know. I was actually planning on going out with the some of the kids from the basketball team for a few beers in Dan's basement."

"How lame can you get?" Zoey snorted. "Will Danny's parents be home for supervision too?" she asked playfully.

"Scar, you wanna go?"

"To the beach? Are you crazy? Do you realize how freezing cold it is outside?"

Everyone laughed at her joke. But she wasn't joking. "Did I miss something?" Scarlett asked.

"We are going to the beach for a bonfire at night, not to swim in the water," Chloe explained. "Just imagine swimming in that below freezing water; it would be like trying to survive after the sinking of the Titanic," she rambled on.

"Well, then, yeah, I guess I can go. I mean, if I don't have too much homework. I'll have a lot of catching up to do."

"Oh, homework is for Sunday night, not Friday night," Zoey giggled and patted Scarlett's head. "Silly, silly girl, you." She winked at her with a light smile.

"You still going to Danny's house, Chris?" Millie asked with a mischievous smile playing upon her lips.

"Why are you so intent on me going, Millie? Planning on hitting on me or something?"

"
I
wasn't planning on it."

The comment went right over Scarlett's head.

Right after school let out, Scarlett was heading to her car when she was stopped by someone. At first, she thought it was Austin, but thankfully it was only Christian.

"Oh, hey," Scarlett said as she dug through her bag for her keys. She tried to avoid eye contact because his eyes were too similar to Tristan's.

"Look, I know this is kind of upfront, but I was wondering if you'd be interested in going to the beach bash next weekend with me. I mean, I know you're new and everything, so I thought it might be nice to go as friends," Christian said smoothly.

"Um…" Scarlett thought quickly about the pros and cons. He was right. She was new, and even though she knew Chloe, Zoey, and Millie would be more than happy to take her, she thought it was nice for Christian to ask. He seemed to be a good guy. But she would have to look into his eyes soon enough… "Yeah, that sounds great."

Christian's eyes lit up, and Scarlett cursed herself for looking at them at that exact moment.

"Great," Christian beamed.

Soon enough a week had passed, and Scarlett fit into the school comfortably. Finally the bell rang, indicating the end of the second Tuesday that Scarlett had been attending Humphrey Day, and Scarlett couldn't wait to get into her mustang and turn her cell phone on. Today was the day Tristan would call...finally. Tristan's calls had come very regularly in the beginning, but decreased over the long, lonely days. He had been caught up in Florida life, so he said. Football, grades, siblings, family matters, a new job, and much more.

Scarlett had been suspicious at first, but then took a step back from the situation and looked at the big picture. She had no reason to be mistrustful of Tristan. He wasn't going to cheat on her, especially not with Alice. He hated that girl; no, he
despised
her. And all of the excuses Tristan gave Scarlett for calling her less frequently were all valid.

And after a few days of miserable chest pains, heavy tears, and extraordinary agony, she had coped with it. She thought that as long as Tristan was happy, she would be too, and she tried to think that even if this long distance relationship didn't work out and he ended up with a different girl, said girl would be good enough for him.

Scarlett locked the car door and sat still for a minute, looking out at the dark afternoon sky. Rain clouds were overhead, and she was sure it would rain soon.

Scarlett frantically turned her cell phone on and waited impatiently for it to load.

A loud thunder made her jump and her heartbeat race. She had felt the vibrations from the car as the thunder shook it. Shaking the frightening feeling she had experienced, she turned her attention back to her phone.

Loading...84%

She tapped the screen impatiently, silently willing her slow phone to load faster.

Loading...89%

God, could it get anymore slower? Scarlett huffed in frustration. The slowness and quietness was agonizing. Quiet wasn't good, not to Scarlett. Quietness gave her mind a chance to wander back to last month. A month that she would never forget. A month filled with such happiness and joy that it made her eyes water just thinking of it...