Chapter 9

Rieux, France
3 years earlier

"Are you girls going out again?" Michelle Benoit was bringing plates to the kitchen sink to wash. This night, she felt generous enough to cook roast and potatoes for the girls. All 4 of whom were gathered around the table, licking their utensils trying to get the extra juices that may have been left.

"Yes, Grand-mére. I promise you we are are up to only good things," Arielle said matter-of-factly, with a finger pointed upwards.

Michelle was not stupid enough to believe that. "Look," she faced all four of them, "If I get one call from the police, stars help me…"

"When have you ever been called by the police?" Theresa asked, trying to look innocent although she was dressed for a fight in her spiked choker and leather fingerless gloves.

"We are just going to have a little fun Grand-mére," said Scarlet taking out the spoon she was sucking out of her mouth "don't pretend you weren't a teenage girl once."

'The mouth of this girl!' thought Michelle shaking her head. She eyed her little Scarlet, no longer little and everyday reminding Michelle of herself. The thought scared her. Michelle Benoit sighed, "Just be careful, okay?"

"Got it!" an excited Marine threw her long hair over her shoulder. She crossed her fingers behind her back.

The girls thanked the grandmother and each gave her a hug and kisses on the cheek. "Love you," Scarlet said just before closing the screen door. Michelle smiled wearily, still worried about her baby. "Love you too," she said, but Scarlet had already turned and skipped off with her friends.

Another night to paint the city red.

Célestin ("Seh-less-tawn") Leroux had always been very, very handsome. Tall, broad shoulder, naturally built, with a strong jaw made him always stand out from the group. The combination of thick black hair and blue eyes kept many swooning. Any person with eyes would give him his/her attention, but any person with half a brain would be repelled by his prehistoric notions of gender roles, vanity, and chauvinism.

Unfortunately for Scarlet, she might've been missing half her brain when she first met him.

The girl gang pulled up to the parking lot of a popular meeting spot for the 'cool', young people in the town. A large abandoned warehouse, previously for fighter jets, turned to a makeshift art gallery for graffiti artists and creatives. They noticed a group of 5 boys and 3 girls around the hover situated next to theirs. There was house music playing loudly from the trunk. The group watched the 4 girls come out of the olive green hover with much curiosity.

Marine and Arielle began initiating conversation right away, as they always did.

Scarlet noticed Célestin immediately. He was leaning against the concrete wall between two girls who were laughing and holding drinks while he spoke. He briefly looked up to make eye-contact with Scarlet.

Scarlet was not a talkative, social-butterfly like Arielle or Marine. She was picky who'd she'd make conversation with. Some nights they were out, Scarlet would keep to herself- leaned against the wall simply observing her surroundings and the other girls. This night, she wanted his, and only his attention. It didn't take too much effort, 'luckily' for her, he had an affinity for redheads.

After twenty minutes of shooting each other looks, he finally pushed himself away from the wall to talk to her, leaving the two girls he was talking to glaring at Scarlet with envy. She felt her ego perk a bit.

"So do you know how to shoot that thing or is that just an accessory?" He asked eyeing her behind.

"I've got the best aim south of France." She smirked "But it does look good on me, doesn't it?". Theresa and Arielle watched Scarlet in the corner of their eyes with much amusement, Scarlet's first time flirting and she was doing pretty good they had to admit.

He bit his lower lip and laughed, first looking downward then making eye contact with her with his bright blue eyes. "I guess you don't know my reputation then."

"I'm afraid your 'reputation' is as known to me as your name," She folded her arms over her chest, leaning against the hover.

"Célestin," He placed a hand on the hover and stood closely in front of her, "and I've got the best aim South of France…Mademoiselle..? " He lifted his shirt, revealing not only his lower abdomen muscles, but a handgun as well.

"Scarlet," she took a peek at the gun, then made eye contact again, this time with a mischievous grin. "Would you like to prove it then? There are some empty fields not so far from here. We'll see about that 'reputation' of yours."

"Scarlet? Matches the hair," He grinned, this time placing his other hand on the hover, putting her body between his flexed arms. "If I win, do I get a date with you?"

"A date? This is just for the title of the best reputation," She scoffed, feeling unprepared to go on a complete stranger alone. She started to feel like she had taken it too far.

"Oh so you're just a tease," he laughed, taking his hand back.

This time, Scarlet was offended. A tease? She felt disgusted with herself, but that didn't stop her from taking it further. "Look. There's not going to be a date because you are going to lose." She contested.

"Riiiight," He laughed, slowly scanning her up and down.

At this point, everyone had heard their conversation. The boys in his group snickered.

Little did Scarlet know, Célestin's father was a reputable weapon's engineer for the European federation and Célestin had already known how to use almost every type of gun available to the public before he turned 12.

Arielle was already halfway in the hover, "Well what're we doing just standing around here for? Let's go!"

It only took 10 minutes to get to the middle of an empty field. The ground was uneven with patches of weeds and grass and holes. Old rusted abandoned oil pumps were still tethered to the ground.

The other girls were talking trash and motivating Scarlet. "Who does he think he is?" said Theresa rolling her eyes. It was only Marine who suggested Scarlet should try to lose because "He is nuclear hot!"-Marine's exact words.

The rules were simple: boys and girls from each group had to throw an object as far and as high as they could and each competitor had to shoot it. The only light they'd have was that emitting from the two hover cars, which was really nothing in this darkness.

Scarlet did well, but she didn't have many opportunities to fire her gun and almost none at night. Célestin, on the other hand, killed the competition hitting every object with precision. Each object not completely obliterated had a hole always perfect in the center.

"See you tomorrow little fox! Wear something nice for me!" He winked while he and his group dashed away in the hover, leaving the girls to care for Scarlet and her embarrassment in the form of fury.

The next day, Scarlet picked him up at the place they had met. She tried to scare him with the speed at which she flew, but her skills as a pilot only impressed him. The date went quickly as Scarlet intended. She challenged him to a drinking game, but previously tipped the bartender to only serve her water. He spent the night on the floor of the tavern while she spent it comfortably in her own bed, feeling like the victor.

To much of everyone's surprise, her rejection only fueled him to pursue her. She ignored his comms almost every other day. She ignored him when they'd cross paths. She only agreed to one date almost one year later. The next night he'd leave the town for good because his father's company was moving to Germany. At the end of the night, she made the mistake of reciprocating a kiss.

The next day, he made sure to circulate the story he made up to every young person in Rieux of how he and her spent a romantic night together in her hover at a popular spot where couples would go to be alone. She hoped she would never, ever have to see him again.