Look at that. I managed to post on time, early even.
Scarlet POV
Scarlet was mad. Mad at her father, mad at herself, mad at even Grandmere. Mad at everyone.
Why hadn't she told them no? Well she had, but why hadn't she pushed the matter? She didn't want to be here. She didn't want to live with her father, didn't want to change schools, didn't want to leave France.
Why had Grandmere forced her to come here? When Scarlet had said no, she had said yes. Grandmere knew how much she hated her father. But still, she had forced her to move out of Rieux, out of France, out of Europe, and come here.
And as far as she knew, she wasn't even welcome in her father's home. It didn't even seem like he had invited her. She was merely tolerated. It was entirely possible that Grandmere had pressured Luc into this as much as she had Scarlet. But Why? So that Scarlet could get to know her father? Grandmere herself never talked to him, until recently while arranging for Scarlet to live with him.
She wished she could vent to someone. Emilie, the closest thing she had to a friend back home, was too busy with her job at Gille's and school to actually have a proper phone call. She couldn't vent to her Grandmere because she was the cause of most of the issues.
And who did that leave? Nobody, except for her father. But it's not like he would want to listen and Scarlet didn't want to talk. So he didn't count. Scarlet was alone.
Instead she shoved the anger down, waiting for a time where it would be productive to let out. Or, for a time when she was not surrounded by people. Whichever came first.
Her new school was not the ideal place. She kept it under control, but barely. All the pent up anger wanted to make its appearance because of the littlest things. Someone, bumping into her in the hall. Someone who seemed to share Scarlet's temper. Someone who asked too many basic questions in her first class. The people who thought they were being nice and trying to introduce themselves to the new girl. It all grated on her nerves.
At lunch she had sat alone glad that nobody had tried to sit with her. The table nearest to her was thankfully quiet, though it seemed somber which was odd for a school cafeteria. Her interest quickly evaporated as let her anger and annoyances take over her thoughts.
She stormed through the halls determined not to be late to her next class even though it was a useless class, Physical Education.
In the hall she saw a petite girl with an absurd amount of blond hair walking in the same direction. She didn't seem very happy. But that wasn't Scarlet's issue was it?
The class was useless as she had previously stated. They played basketball and were ending with a scrimmage. The girl she had seen in the hall was very timid. She didn't play much, at one point even stopping moving. Just stood there with her hair covering her face. A guy stood next to her until she started moving again.
It was almost the end of class when it happened. Scarlet watched in dismay, when probably the biggest kid in the class, tripped the girl. It was clearly purposeful. This made Scarlet spitting mad. She had begun to feel a kinship with the girl who was obviously struggling that day.
She decided that this was a productive use of her anger.
The coach blew his whistle, but Scarlet paid it no attention.
"Hey!" She yelled, and when his face turned towards her, she threw the basketball that she had ended up with at his face. It was probably a rash decision, but it was already done. It never actually made contact with his face either. He barely blocked it.
"What was that?" She yelled, in the mood to let anger out.
"None of your business." He had such an original reply.
"Doesn't matter. You don't get to just trip someone. Go apologize." She knew he wouldn't, but she demanded it anyway.
"She has yet another protector? Seriously?"
He was probably a half head taller than her. But she stared him down anyway until the Coach came and told them to break it up. Scarlet noted that he gave Anthony a particularly intense warning look.
It was probably a good thing that the coach did break it up. Scarlet was known to have anger issues.
She stalked out of the gym, taking a split second to look at the girl she had been defending. She was staring back at Scarlet with wide doe-like eyes. Scarlet didn't pause to say anything to her. She didn't expect a thankyou and didn't have anything to say to the girl.
In her next class she heard people talking about the incident. It was amazing how fast gossip and drama could spread. The people in the back of the class were trying, unsuccessfully, to whisper about the events.
They didn't say anything bad about her, who they referred to as 'The red head' or the other girl, Cress, she gathered her name was. Honestly, most of it was just about how they were glad more people than just Jacin and Thorne (whoever they were) were standing up to Anthony, who she guessed was the guy she had yelled at.
At the end of the class they were allowed a few minutes of socializing before they had to leave. She took this opportunity to introduce herself to the people who had been talking about her.
It was a group of three boys, and one of them was massive. Scars covering his visible skin, and the brightest green eyes, seemed mildly intimidating.
"You all should get better at whispering. I heard your whole conversation."
"Who said we were trying to be quiet? Everything we said was pretty much public opinion. I'm Isaac." He held his hand out and Scarlet accepted the handshake.
"Scarlet. So you're not scared that Anthony or his friends will hear you?"
The other boy cut in, "Anthony and his friends won't pick on anyone bigger than them. Worse they can do is talk about us, and nobody really believes anything they say. Elijah." He did not offer his hand.
"Why'd you do it?" the last one, the one with green eyes, finally spoke. His voice was not what she expected.
"Do what?"
"Defend Cress. It's your first day, you don't know her. For all you know, she could be a terrible person."
"I could see she was having a bad day, and no matter what she's done she didn't deserve for Anthony to physically harm her, even if it was just tripping her."
"But it was fine for you to throw a basketball at his head?" He brought up a good point, one that Scarlet hadn't thought of.
"No. I have issues with my temper, though. I was-am still angry about a lot of stuff and needed an outlet." It was an excuse, and a good one in her mind, though it probably didn't sound half as good to the rest of them. "Maybe I overreacted. He did just trip her, though she did fall-"
"It wasn't just him tripping her," he interrupted. "He broke her arm earlier this year."
That made Scarlet furious. She wanted to go find him and throw more stuff at him. "Why?"
He shrugged. "Anthony doesn't really have to have a reason to do something."
"Why isn't he expelled?" That seemed like a big enough offense that he should've been.
"He got suspended. And it wasn't like he attacked her. They were in gym…" he paused and looked at her. "You know, it probably wouldn't be the best idea to go find him and do whatever you're thinking about. Wouldn't want to get suspended on your first day."
"Maybe that's my plan." Show Grandmere she couldn't just force her to live with her father again without Scarlet fighting back.
"I wouldn't," Isaac said, "It would go on your permanent record."
"Who says I care about that?"
"You probably should, it'll be harder to get into schools."
"Maybe I'll drop out as soon as I'm old enough, move back to France and become a farmer?" That had been her life plan for a while, though it had always been to stay in France, and to work on her Grandmere's farm, with her Grandmere.
Again she wondered why she was here. Why had she been forced to come here? She hadn't done anything to make Grandmere angry with her, had she?
Before anything else could be said, she bid her adieu, saying, "Well it was nice to meet you all." She left the room without a second glance though heard the last boy say, "My names Ze'ev, by the way."
In her next class there was a guy with pale whitish-blond hair and cold blue eyes who kept shooting glances at her. She didn't really pay any attention to it, figuring he too had heard about her gym class.
It was ridiculous. Had that really caused so many waves? She didn't regret it, from what she had heard and experienced, Anthony was a jerk and a bully. She hated jerks and bullies.
It was her last class of the day and for that she was grateful. The hallways were jam packed with everyone hurrying to leave. In the midst of it, Scarlet saw Cress in the corner standing still, hair covering her face, much like she had done in the middle of the gym.
The guy earlier wasn't there, and Scarlet made the quick decision to fill his place for the moment.
"Hey, are you okay?" She didn't make any physical contact, not wanting to push any of the boundaries that the girl might have had.
"No, but I'm fine." She peered out of her hair, not evening seeming to notice that her words were contradicting.
"Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Why'd you yell at Anthony?"
Scarlet didn't have a chance to answer, when someone else did it for her. "Because Anthony is a jerk and he has it coming for him. Seriously, Cress, it's not hard to figure out." The guy from earlier had come up and put his arm around Cress's shoulders. The height difference was slightly comical.
"Basically. I also was really mad about other stuff and needed a productive outlet. When I saw him trip you, it made me mad. So I yelled at him." She shrugged her shoulders, because really it was no big deal.
"And threw a basketball at him. That was great. Thanks, by the way. I probably would have done the same thing, but I wanted to make sure Cress was okay, and by the time I had, you were already going at it."
She repeated her thoughts. "It wasn't a big deal. He seemed like a self righteous jerk, and I didn't like him. I could also tell you were having a bad day. And then Ze'ev told me about your arm later." She checked her watch, "Shoot, I have to go. It was nice meeting you guys."
She had to do some chores at home, and had to walk home so she had to get on her way. Luckily Luc's apartment wasn't far.
It was small, but Scarlet was just surprised that he managed to get any sort of living space. It only had two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a shared space for the living room and the dining room. One bedroom was for him, the second had been his 'office' though Scarlet had moved in.
Grandmere had said he was doing better, and maybe that was true. She hadn't seen him drinking, but who knew what he was doing while she was at school or while she was in her temporary room. She barely ever saw him.
Her chores were simple, and once completed she escaped back to her room before her father could return home. There she worked on her homework, which wasn't actually a lot. She was unused to free time. Back at the farm there were always more chores to do.
Maybe she should start looking for a job. Or find a new hobby. A job would probably be more practical. Fill up extra hours and earn money, because at the moment, she didn't have a lot.
She wondered where she could work, and figured she could probably ask around at school the next day. In the meantime, she laid down on the small cot, that was all her father had been able to provide for her.
She heard the front door slam, and figured her father had arrived. She closed her eyes, hoping that her solitude would last.
But of course it did. He would never come and check up on her. She caught a glimpse of him in his bedroom when she ventured out to find food. She didn't say anything, and he appeared not to notice her.
There was barely any food. Scarlet figured she would be able to get away with just a sandwich.
Back in her room, she resumed her position on the cot. Her solitude lasted until morning when she heard her father banging around the apartment.