You'd Better Hide the Bullets

I closed the door behind me as I entered my house, my moms voice called out and invited me into the kitchen. "Scarlett, come here please." She said loudly.

I groaned and threw my bag down on the floor, walking towards the kitchen. My mom was standing at the coffee maker and pointed for me to sit down. "Yes mother?" I asked with the most sarcastic tone I could muster.

"Why did I get a phone call from your principle telling me that you were fighting today?" She asked, turning from the coffee machine and gave me a questioning look.

"I wasn't fighting, I punched a girl. She didn't get a hit in." I said proudly. My mom just shook her head in a disapproving way.

"I'm disappointed in your Scarlett." She sighed, picking up her cup of coffee and walking over to the kitchen table across from me. "Running off to New York and now this on your first day back at school? Was moving to San Diego the correct thing to do because you're not acting any better than before, it's different but not better." She sighed. I rolled my eyes at her statement.

"Look she was pretty rude to me, I only did what I had to do as a last resort." I shrugged, folding my arms across my chest and sitting back in the seat.

"What did she do that merited a broken nose Scarlett?" My mom raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I was playing soccer as instructed by the education system. This girl and her friend approach me and ask if I'm dating Vic, I said yes because it's true and then she laughs and questions why Vic would date me. She called me tragic and pointed out the fact that I was fat. So I excused myself and tried to walk around her but she kept blocking me from leaving, I tried to get out of the situation but she wouldn't let me. I'm sorry, I had to get away from her and hooking her in the face seemed like my only option." I sighed. "Honestly, I did the girl a favour, it could have been a lot worse." I shrugged. Man have I changed, I'm not usually a violent person but something in me is definitely changing.

"I'm not going to tell your father about this because it'll just anger him more." She said taking a sip of her coffee. "But I want you to clean up your act, no more fighting or running off when you have responsibilities. I also want you to try and get a job, start saving up for when you go to college. You don't wanna be relying on us all the time." My mom stood up and left me to ponder what she said.

Get a job? Stop acting out? Behave? Things are gonna have to change around here and I need to try and ignore the temptation to be more like my boyfriend, his influence is surely the reason why I've been doing these things, right?

-

I lay on my bed, waiting for sleep to come but it was only 8pm on a Friday night. All my friends were currently drunk and having the time of their lives but me? I was stuck in this damn house.

Vic begged me to convince my mom to let me come but I couldn't. Not after the talk she had with me yesterday. So here I am, bored out of my mind and trying to go to sleep early on a Friday night so that I didn't have think about the fact I wasn't at the party with my friends.

I tossed and turned in my bed, trying to fight the boredom when suddenly I heard a knock on my window. My heart began beating rapidly as I sat up in my bed. I looked over and seen Vic staring into my window. Okay that's kinda creepy. I got out of bed and walked over to my window and opened it. "Vic what are you doing here?" I whispered, a little bit confused.

"I'm here to break you out of prison." He had a drunken, goofy grin on his face. I couldn't help but smile at it.

"Vic I can't, I'll get in so much trouble if I leave." I said softly, he was clinging onto my window ledge. Man he was so drunk.

"Come one, don't be a loser." He winked at me sloppily. It wasn't as appealing as I imagined he thought it'd be.

"I think I'll pass." I giggled.

"For me." He begged, using those beautiful big brown puppy dog eyes.

"Ugh fine." I groaned. "Just close your eyes for a second." I mumbled and walked over to my closet and got a pair of jeans and a button up checkered shirt out. I pulled my shorts off and then pulled the jeans up over my legs and buttoned them up. I pulled the t-shirt over my head and then pulled the shirt over my arms and button it. My vans were next to my bed and I slipped them on. "One question." I asked as I walked over to the window. "How are we supposed to get down?" I questioned him. He looked at me drunkenly and grinned.

"I didn't think you'd actually come so I have no idea." He laughed.

Well this is where I'm going to die. Vic helped me out of the window and steadied me on the roof. I searched for a safe way down and noticed the vine running down the side of the house. "We can climb down the vine." I pointed and began walking over towards it, Vic in tow.

I climbed down the vine and Vic followed me, slipping on the last step and falling to the ground with a thud. I helped him up and he grabbed my hand and then began running. I couldn't help but laugh at his reaction, he was laughing and pulling me along. "Come on Scarlett." He giggled as we ran. My stomach done summersaults as we ran.

Within ten minutes we reached Pete's house and ran inside. "I'm here now!" I shouted as I entered the living room. It wasn't really a party if I'm honest, a small gathering let's say. Pete tackled me to ground and hugged me.

"Did Vic break you out then?" He asked me. I nodded and laughed because he was heavy and wouldn't get off me.

"Pete get off me." I groaned, pushing him. Vic pulled me to my feet in one swift movement.

"I'll save you Mary-Jane." He said drunkenly and then threw me over his shoulder.

"Vic put me down, you're not Spider-Man." I commanded but he was too drunk to listen to me. Great.

So I slapped his ass as hard as I possible could, which was the worst idea I've ever had because it made him drop me over his shoulder. "Scarlett, oh my God are you okay." Vic dropped to the ground next to me as I lay there, dazed and confused.

"Am I destined to spend this party on the floor?" I laughed, sitting up. Vic just smiled at me with the most adorable yet goofy grin ever.

Patrick walked over to us and handed me a drink, it was vodka and orange juice, my favourite. "You've got a lot of catching up to make." Patrick grinned at me.

"Shots?" I asked.

"Shots." Patrick replied. We are like the alcoholic version of the Fault in Our Stars.

I downed the drink Patrick gave me and then handed the cup to Vic, then stood up and wandered into the kitchen. Patrick lined up 10 shot glasses and filled them with tequila. Oh no I'm definitely going to die. "This is going to be the death of me." I groaned as I walked over to the shots.

"Like I said, you've got catching up to do." He smirked at me and picked up the first shot glass. I followed suit and after the count of three we began drinking the shots, one after the other. I felt the alcohol burning the back of my throat and it was quite nice. "Another m'lady?" Patrick asked with an English accent.

"Why of course darling." I replied with a similarly bad accent. We both began laughing and he poured out another ten shot, and we done the same.

-

I lay on the grass, staring at the night sky as it spun in circles. The alcohol that I consumed tonight making the night sky come alive. "I love you so fucking much." Vic whispered to me, pulling me closer to him. I tore my eyes away from the sky and looked at him, smiling like a fool.

"I love you too, Vic." I mumbled, looking straight into his eyes. They were so beautiful, everything about him is beautiful actually. The way his hair curls at the ends, his tanned skin, his arms. Oh God don't get me started on those. He was just perfect. I wonder what he sees in me because I'm pretty boring. I mean yeah I have colourful hair and piercings but other than that I'm quite average. He could do so much better.

"You look so cute when you're thinking." He nuzzled into my neck, his breath tickling the side of my neck. It was warm and smelt of beer and whisky, a beautifully toxic combination.

I just smiled into the night sky, watching the world turn. "Jaime is here." Patrick came out into the garden and announced.

Me and Vic both sat up and tried to rise to our feet but stumbled over each other a little. "We are so drunk." Vic giggled and tried to reach out to steady us. We finally were steady and walked into the house. I could hear Jaime's voice talking and it made me smile, especially since Jaime and Vic are both okay now.

We walked into the living room and I felt Vic go tense when he saw the girl by Jaime's side. "Oh hey guys, Scarlett this is Emily." Jaime grinned.

"Hey, nice to meet you." I smiled at Emily. She just nodded and looked at Vic.

An awkward silence fell in the room and I didn't know why. Mike came over to me. "Can I speak to you for a second?" He asked. I nodded and followed him into the kitchen.

"What's up Mike?" I asked, trying to act as sober as possible.

"Remember the first day we hung out at detention and I told you about Vic's ex-girlfriend who broke up with him and it basically ruined his life? That's her." Mike nodded towards the living room.

My eyes widened and I suddenly felt so small, so insignificant. She was absolutely beautiful. "Should I let him know that I know who she is?" I asked. Mike shook his head no.

"Vic will tell you in his own time, it's just odd that Jaime would date her." Mike shrugged. I didn't want to go back in there. He was heartbroken over this girl and it really doesn't feel good to be in the presence of someone who your boyfriend once used to love.

We walked back into the living room and Vic was awkwardly standing next to Patrick, I noticed Emily smiling over at Vic and he just stared back at her with no emotion. I quickly walked up to Vic and kissed him quickly. "Ew, get a room." Patrick said then made a fake barfing sound.

"I think it's time I went home." I mumbled to Vic. He nodded and we said goodbye to everyone then left.

The cold air hit me and I felt myself shiver. Vic took his hoody off and put it around me, like a true gentleman. He grabbed my hand and began walking slowly. "Did you have a good night?" He asked, making small talk. It's like we both completely sobered up in the past 10 minutes.

"It was good, I'm glad you came and got me." I said softly, swinging our hands a little as we walked. "So Jaime's girlfriend seems nice." I said casually, just to see his reaction.

"Yeah, I'm glad he's found someone." Vic said quietly. So he isn't going to let up that he used to date her.

"Well I'm glad too, she's probably gonna be hanging around with us now so I'll probably need to get to know her." I continued trying to sound nonchalant.

"Yeah, I'm sure you'll get on great." He said sounding distant. Silence fell between us until we got back to my house.

He stood in front of me and smiled down at me. "I won't see you until Monday, so have a nice weekend." I said awkwardly, unsure of how to feel due to the lack of things he said about Emily.

"Yeah, I'll see you then." He smiled but I could tell this one was fake. He leaned in and kissed me quickly and then walked off to his house. I just turned and walked over to the vine to climb back up. I did it without falling and dying, when I got to my window I climbed in but my foot got stuck. With as much force as I could I pulled my leg free and collapsed on the floor with a loud thud, knocking over my desk chair. Oh shit.

My bedroom door opened and my mom stood there, a worried look on her face until she seen me on the floor, fully clothed and the bedroom window open. I'm in so much shit now.

Notes

Scarlett's in troubleee