After dinner, Scar walked Jesse to the door, after he thanked her mother for dinner. Jesse stepped out but he didn't leave.
"Thank you. For hanging out with me today. Did I change your opinion of me?" Jesse asked with a smile.
Scar laughed and said "You might have changed it a bit." Then she lost her smile and said "Sorry. For getting the wrong impression of you. I just figured that since you hung out with the popular kids that you were one of them. And trust me, in our school there is no such thing as a nice popular."
Jesse shrugged. "It's fine. I'm just glad I got you to like me while I still had a chance."
"Whoa. Who said I liked you?" Scar joked.
"Denial. So sad." Scarlett playfully punched him on the shoulder and he laughed.
"See you later Jesse." She said.
"Bye, Scarlett."
Scarlett was just about to close the door when she thought of something. "Wait-Jesse." Jesse stopped and turned around and raised his eyes brows in a questionable way. "Are you ever going to tell me about this whole Temptation thing and what it means?" Scarlett had not forgotten about what he had told her in the woods. She had thought of that the most and what it could mean. But so far she had nothing that was a good enough explanation for what he had said.
Jesse sighed and looked down at the ground, avoiding her eyes. "Maybe. I'm still deciding if I can tell you or not."
Scar understood what he felt. Sort of. She didn't know if she could tell him about her dad. So she just nodded and said "Okay. I understand."
Jesse looked up at her and smiled. "Thanks, Scar. See you in school." Scar nodded and closed the door behind him.
The next day Scar was laying down in bed and talking to Anna on her cell. Anna had called her so she could find out about Scar's day with Jesse. She said she needed to know everything that had happened. So Scar told her. Well. Not Everything. She didn't mention the game they played or about anything Jesse had said about him self. She also didn't mention how many times Jesse had brought up her father. When Scar had woken up today she started to wonder why it was that Jesse had been so interested in the subject of her father. But she didn't think about it too much. She didn't really want to.
"Wow. He must be really in to you then."
"What?" Scarlett asked incredulous
"Jesse. He must really like you if he did all that."
Scarlett laughed and said "Jesse so does not like me." She hoped.
"He so does! Did you not listen to that story? He likes you. That's why he wanted to spend so much time with you, dummy."
"Or it's for the reason he said. That he didn't want me to get the wrong impression of him."
"Oh, please. He just said that so he had a reason to spend time with you."
"Or he could have just wanted to be my friend. Did that ever cross your genius mind?"
"Do you seriously believe that? I mean, come on. He said he wanted to know everything about you. Why would a friend ask that?"
"I don't know. But it also doesn't even make any sense. Have you seen Jesse? He's not exactly average looking. So a guy like that would want to go out with someone like Shelby or Brittney. Not someone like me. Come on. Why would he like me and not them?"
"Your awesome and their not!" Anna laughed.
But Scarlett was actually considering about what Anna was saying and it kind of made sense. In a way. Why else would he have wanted to spend that much time with her and know all that about her. But she didn't want to admit that so she told Anna "Well it doesn't matter if he does or not because I'm not doing that again. It was a one time thing. And I bet you that tomorrow at school he's going to act like yesterday never even happened. He's going to sit at the popular table in between Britney and Shelby."
"Well I bet he's going to come right up to you in home room and sit with you at lunch."
"Ten bucks?"
"Your on."
Scarlett hung up on Anna and started reading her book again. It was already two o clock in the afternoon on a Sunday and Scarlett had nothing to do. She didn't feel like going out in the woods, or playing guitar. She had read her book all morning except for when she had talked to Anna, so she didn't feel like reading any longer. She needed to get out and do something. Anything, really.
It was just when she was thinking this that her phone began to vibrate on the nightstand. She looked at the caller id and saw that it was Brad. She picked it up and said hello.
"Hey, Scar. You feel like doing something today?" He asked
"Yeah, Sure. What did you have in mind?"
"I figured we could all hit the beach. You, me, Anna, and Will. And anyone else they want to bring. I figure we can have a sort of beach party."
Will was Brad's best friend besides Anna and Scar. He parents were kind of rich so they owned a beach house on a private beach so no unwanted visitors, other than the other people who own beach houses. But they were either still at work or doing something else, then going to the beach. So Scar, after checking with her mom, agreed and he told her he would pick her up in an hour.
An hour later Scar had her school bag emptied of school things and now held everything she needed for the beach. Sunglasses, beach towel, sun block, a hat, and she brought her iPod and dock so they had music. Brad had called a little while ago saying they needed it. And she also brought her wallet if she got hungry at the beach. But she had also eaten a little at home so she wouldn't need to because beach food could get really pricy. But she never knew if she might need it.
Scarlett had on her tie dye bikini under her white tank top and a pair of shorts that had guitars covering them. She had just heard the honk outside that signified Brad's arrival. She made sure she had her cell phone (if her mom called.) and everything she needed then headed out the door. She was greeted by Will, Brad and Anna when she hopped in the back seat of the car with Will.
"So who all is coming?" Scarlett asked leaning forward so she could talk to Brad.
"I don't know. I asked all of my friends and Anna and Will asked all of theirs. And they told them they could bring anybody they wanted."
"So basically you invited everyone in our grade to come?" Scar laughed. Brad chuckled and said yeah. "Okay then. This should be fun."
When they had gotten to the beach it turned out that everyone in their grade had come, even though Scar had only been kidding at the time. Everyone was all at the beach and more people were coming. They had all gone to one spot on the beach, near the volley ball court. And apparently they had waited for Brad because he was the one that came up with the idea of a party at the beach. So he yelled at everyone to "let the beach party begin" And when he said it, Scar had plugged in her dock over by the shack that sold food and blasted her music. Everyone cheered and started putting down beach towels or started dancing to the music being played or just headed straight to the water.
Scar had to hop up on the counter at the shack to plug-in the iPod and when she had, she saw that everyone had come to their beach party. Everyone. Shelby was in the middle of the gigantic crowd over by the volley ball court and she was dancing with none other than Jesse. She was laughing at something he had said apparently and he was smiling down at her. He had his hands on her hips and her hands were sliding up and down his arms seductively. Every now and then the people around Jesse would turn around and stare at him. But then they would look away quickly before they began staring too much. Not Shelby. She kept looked up at him, never breaking eye contact. For some reason Scar had a flash of anger ignite in her. So. She thought. Jesse was like everyone else. He had played her. He had tried to make her trust him and now she was being shown just how stupid she was. She couldn't believe it. No. She could. She knew this would happen. But for some stupid reason she had let it happen anyway. Gosh. He was ridiculous.
Scar jumped down from the counter and walked over to Anna and Brad who were talking not that far from Jesse but who didn't seem to notice him.
She came up to Anna. "You owe me ten dollars." Scar said above the noise.
"What do you mean?" Anna asked.
And in answer Scar pointed to Jesse and Shelby in the crowd. "Is that enough proof for you that he doesn't like me?" Scar asked Anna who was staring open-mouthed at Jesse. Scarlett didn't wait for an answer. Instead she found a spot to lay down her towel and did just that. Then she took off her shirt and shorts and started heading towards the water. She had put her wallet and cell phone behind the counter of the shack so no one could take them. And since she knew the guy that was working the counter, he didn't mind.
Scar went into the water and kept going until she could go completely under. Then she started swimming. She didn't really know how far she had gone but it couldn't have been that far. So once she was far enough out that nobody was going to mess with her, she started floating. She let the gentle waves hit her as she stared up at the sky, thinking. It was hard to believe. That Jesse would do that. Apparently he was really good at playing people because even Scarlett had begun to think he was for real. She wasn't as mad at him as she was at herself. She had known exactly what kind of guy Jesse was and yet she didn't believe it. She had let herself believe he was actually a nice guy and then he did that. And, as always, the girl got the worst hit of the things. These kind of things didn't hurt guys as much as girls. She was still mad at Jesse though. Even though she was more mad at herself that didn't let Jesse off the hook. Not by a long shot.
After about ten minutes of floating, she had thought about it enough that she began to realize that Jesse knew exactly what he was doing. He wanted her to get mad at him. Because that would mean that he had won. But she would not give him that satisfaction. She would play it cool and not seem mad. She would go as far as pretending he didn't even exist and erasing him from her memory. That way, it would get him out of her mind, and it would prevent him from winning in his sick little game that so many guys decided to play on helpless little girls. Lucky for Scarlett that she wasnt as helpless as he seemed to make her out to be.
Once Scar had this realization she started swimming back out to the shore. Apparently she had gone pretty far out because it took a while for her to get out of the water. When shegot out, she walked over to her towel and put her shorts on. She didn't put on her shirt though because she didn't want to get it wet. Then she found Anna coming towards her. When she got near enough to speak she said "I am so sorry, Scar. I really thought he liked you and that -"
"It's fine, A." Scar laughed. "I don't care. It's not like he knows anything about me and I won't let him play me again. So everything is cool. Let's go make the guys dance." Scar said grabbing Anna's hand preventing her from speaking about Jesse. Though from the way she resisted the tug on Scar's arm and the way she seemed to want to say something, it was obvious she wanted to do just that. But that was one of the advantage's of being stronger than her. She could pull her away without having to really try. Poor Anna. So weak.
When Scarlett reached the crowd of people dancing, she saw Brad and Will talking to each other in the crowd. Scar went over to them and gave Anna to Will and she took Brad's hand. They protested but with the persuasion of both Anna and Scar (Anna had apparently come to the realization that Jesse was to not be spoken in front of her for a very long time.) they eventually gave in. So, they danced. Brad and Scar, Will and Anna. The two couple's were dancing right next to each other so they could talk and laugh and dance at the same time. And Scar began to just enjoy the time she had with her friends and not even think about Jesse. She joked, she laughed and she danced with Brad for a good amount of time.
She had fully forgotten Jesse and she refused to even think about him and open up the anger she was keeping hidden from her friends. That is, until Jesse came up to Brad and asked if he could take his place. Brad had his hands on Scarlett's hips but it wasnt in an intimate way. He had meant it playfully. But by the look on Jesse's face, she knew he wouldn't mean it playfully.
"No." Scar said at the same time Brad shrugged and said "Sure" And let go of Scarlett. Jesse said thanks and stood in front of Scarlett and was reaching out to garb her hips the way Brad had. But before he could touch her she slapped his hands away from her. "I don't dance with strangers," Scarlett said with as much malice as she could put into her words. She had started walking away but Jesse didn't let her. When she turned around, he grabbed her wrist and spun her back around to face him and then he pressed his body to hers and held her waist so she couldn't move. Scarlett said "Get the heck off of me!" and started to push him away. The music was to loud for anyone to hear her. And there were so many people around them that no one noticed her. Her friends had walked away to the snack bar to get a drink before dancing again. Little did they know, Scarlett wasnt having as much fun as them now. In fact, her day had just gone completely sour because of Jesse.
Jesse leaned down to her ear and said "You don't really want to start a scene do you?" And When Scar just kept pushing him he said "I would hate for someone to get hurt because you didn't want to dance with me." His breath was hot on her ear and she stopped moving. Hurt someone? He couldn't mean that... Could he? He was playing with her. But she wouldn't put it past him to hurt someone. He was more than capable and there was every possibility that he would... Maybe he was as evil as he said he was. Scarlett had already decided that there was something off about him. And she didn't know him. Maybe he really was physco.
"There. That's better. Now, act like you want to dance with me and act like your having fun." His mouth was still near her ear and his hands still on her hips. So, she did what he asked. She was going to do what he said. For now. Just until she could find a way out.
She put her hands on his forearm and leaned into him. "Good." Jesse said leaning away from her ear just a little so he could see her face. Their faces were only a bit apart and to anyone standing around it might seem like they were kissing. Scar didn't let the fear or anger that she was feeling show on her face. She knew if she did he wouldn't like it. "See. now isn't this fun?" He asked her, putting his forehead on hers. Crazy psychotic weirdo.
"No." She whispered it and her voice cracked on that one word. Maybe she wasnt doing as good a job as she hoped at hiding her fear.
"Oh, come on. I'm having a lot of fun." He smiled his mischievous smile.
Scarlett closed her eyes and didn't reply. Jesse sighed and leaned away from her and took his hands off her hips. But only so he could take her hand. "Well. If you're not having fun here, maybe we should go somewhere else. And I know the perfect place. Follow me."
It's not like she could not follow him. His grip on her wrist was un breakable.
He led her away from everyone that had come to the party and he kept on going. There were a couple big rocks that started on the sand and went all the way down to the water. Jesse led her over them and on the other side of them. There was no body there. Not one single person was on this side of the beach. It would have been nice but considering the fact that Scarlett was scared out of her wits, it wasn't all that nice to her. It was also worse because nobody on the other side of the rocks would be able to see her. Jesse pulled her over to the rocks and put her back to it. He leaned in to her so they were just as close as before. "There. This is so much nicer than before don't you think?" He reached up and put a strand of her hair behind her ear but kept his hand on her cheek.
"I don't think I would call this nice since I'm being pressed up against a bunch of rocks by some psycho who threatens me because I wont f-ing dance with him!" She put as much of her anger into the words. She didn't really need to hide her emotions now. If he hit her, she would hit back. She might lose the fight but at least she went down fighting.
Jesse only laughed and said "Did you really think I would hurt someone just cause you wouldn't dance with me? Come on. I'm not that crazy. I just... wanted to talk to you."
Scarlett leaned her head back against the rocks and groaned. Of course. He was even more of a psycho then she thought he was. "Your crazy! If you wanted to talk to me would it have been so hard to just ask me? God. You didn't have to scare the crap out of me and make me believe you, you jerk."
Jesse didn't look that offended. "I'm sorry." With the smile on his face though, it was hard to believe that he meant it. "I just figured you would be mad at me and you wouldn't give me the time of day. I didn't mean to scare you. I just really wanted to see you."
Scarlett closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was not going to fall for his tricks again. This was all a lie. And she was not going to give him the satisfaction of him winning her over again. Even while she was telling herself not to fall for his game again, Jesse's hand was still on her cheek and he was moving his thumb across it. Scar didn't push him away though. She didn't know exactly why but some how it felt good. Okay, She thought. I've now officially gone nuts. "Look, Jesse. Even though I was mad at you- and yes I am still very mad at you even more so now than before because of what you did- if you would have asked nicely I probably would have talked to you if you wanted me to. You really did not have to go through all of this." She tried to say it as nicely as she could but she was still angry at him. And now that she wasn't scared she realized that she didn't have a shirt on and only a bikini top, so she got even more angry. And embarrassed.
"I'm sorry." Jesse said again. This time he let go of her and walked away. He went over to the water and sat down in front of it. He flopped back on the sand and looked up at the sky, the sun glinting off of his sharp features. Now, this would have been the perfect time for Scarlett to just leave. But she couldn't. She had to hear what he had to say. She told herself that whatever he said, it wouldn't matter, she would still leave. She was just curious.. thats all.
Scar sighed at her natural born curiousity and walked over to Jesse, sitting down beside him. He looked over at her and, with his smile gone and sincierity in his eyes, said "I really am sorry. It's just... I had so much fun yesterday. And when I heard that your friend was having a party, I knew you'd be here. Then Shelby came up and started dancing with me and I didn't want to be rude so I danced with her. Then I saw you. You had seen me dancing with her and you seemed really mad. And hurt. So I just needed to explain to you that I don't like her. I really don't."
While Jesse had been talking Scarlett had looked out at the water and the waves going through it. After a couple of minutes of silence, and a lot of thinking on her part, Scarlett shook her head and said "I'm sorry Jesse. I wish I could believe you. But I can't." Then she stood up and walked over to the rocks where she climbed up and over. But not before stealing one last glance at Jesse. He seemed... emotionless. Like he was just a staute, no feelings, no facial expressions... it was a little strange but Scarlett didn't let herself dwell on it. She knew the things he did and she was not going to put herself through it again. Unless he proved to her that he was telling the truth, then she wasn't going to believe anything he said.