Revamped!

Beware of Sharp Thornes: Part Three

After the Party

"I'm not your maid service," Scarlet tells him. She leans back on the couch, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples to try and ease her hangover headache.

"My mom gave Jeanette the day off because we have to clean it ourselves," Thorne responds, handing her a trash bag.

Scarlet pouts a lip at Thorne to mock him. "Boo-hoo at your petty first world issues. And don't even start with the inclusive pronoun. I'm not helping. Your party means your mess."

As they continue arguing, Cinder groans as their words bounce against her pounding skull. She leans into Winter, grabbing fistfuls of her cousin's thick curls and pressing them against her ears. To her surprise, they work as effective earplugs better than she thought. If Cinder closes her eyes, Winter's curls could also pass off as a pillow.

"Shh, I'm trying to sleep."

Thorne and Scarlet stop arguing as Cinder sits up again. That random voice wasn't any of theirs. It sounded like Kai. The four of them look around and don't spot Kai anywhere although his voice sounded like it was right beside them. Then, the four of them kneel on Thorne's couch and peer behind them. On the floor behind the couch is Kai. He lies on the ground, looking sound asleep and cuddling a pillow.

They laugh to themselves at how cute that looks. Thorne even takes another picture for his story, captioning it: mood after last night part two.

"Babe, you're not asleep," Cinder tells him although he looks incredibly cute like that. She makes a note to screenshot Thorne's story when she gets the chance.

"I've been awake this whole time," Kai responds in the pillow which muffles his voice, still looking as if he was asleep. "My eyes are just closed. Sleep isn't a luxury at this point. It's a requirement."

Kai readjusts his position as if he was going back to sleep (or just look like he was asleep). Still, he keeps his arms wrapped tightly around the pillow. However, he opens his eyes when he hears footsteps walking down the stairs. They look up at the spiral staircase and see Wolf walking down sluggishly, yawning with each step he takes. At least that answers the question on his location.

"Where did you come from?" Winter asks him.

"Luna, originally, but as Of now, that upstairs hallway," Wolf responds, leaning against the frame of the couch they're (minus Kai) sitting on. "I woke up on some small cushioned hallway bench with my legs hanging off the side. I think I was in that position the whole night because my tailbone is killing me."

Scarlet pouts her lip the same way she did to Thorne earlier. "Poor baby…"

Wolf rolls his eyes as he steps over and kisses the top of her head.

Scarlet winces a little. "That makes my headache worse."

"Same for me," he mumbles in response.

"At least we're all on the same page titled hungover."

"Why were you upstairs?" Cinder asks him.

Wolf shrugs. "All I know is that my back hurts and I woke up with some creepy head bust staring into my soul. Now that I think about it, I think it appeared in my dream."

"You get used to that," Thorne says. "Why are you just standing there? Take a seat or lie down on the floor with Kai."

Wolf blinks. "I'm upright sitting."

Cinder leans forwards and readjusts her ponytail. "You'd better have a solution to all this."

"Thorne's rich, babe," Kai says, finally standing up from the ground, still with the pillow in his arms. "But he doesn't have a time machine."

"In his defence, some people screw up because they don't expect to get caught," Wolf states.

"Thanks, bro," Thorne says, passing him a trash bag to help with the cleaning mission.

Wolf stares at him. "I'm too hungover to hit you."

-o-

Before the Party

The girls sit in Scarlet's bedroom: Scarlet, Winter, and Cinder are sitting on her bed while Cress sits on the beanbag chair off to the side. They're still wearing their school uniforms since they came here straight after, claiming to be resting before starting their studies although an hour passed and they've been well-rested this whole time.

"Oh, aces, I forgot to show you something!" Scarlet exclaims.

The other three girls look up from their phone and watch as Scarlet sits up. She lifts her uniform shirt, stopping just underneath her bra to show her girls her tattoo of a tomato cluster. Cinder and Winter gasp in amazement as they peer closer, touching it delicately. Cress stands from the beanbag chair and peers over the edge of the bed to get a look as well. They came to the conclusion that if Scarlet were to get a tattoo, this would be hers. It deeply resembled the tomatoes they say as they drove up here.

"That's so beautiful!" Cress exclaims.

"When did you get it?" Cinder asks.

"Before I disappeared to France," Scarlet responds.

"Now you and Wolf are tatted beauties!" Winter cheers.

Scarlet hums in interest as she lowers her shirt again. Cress sits on Scarlet's bed to hear what her friend has to dish since nobody makes that sound without any follow-up.

"Don't get me started on Wolf's tattoos because I don't think I'll be able to stop," Scarlet starts, grinning so much her mouth looks like it can't contain itself. "His tattoos are so sexy which led up to us hooking up and the whole conundrum after that. Anyways, his tattoos are sexy, especially that howling wolf on his lower back. Aces, girls, it's better than it sounds."

Scarlet licks her lips as if she's eating a snack. She looks off to the distance as if she's imagining seeing Wolf and all his tattoos. Then, she returns to reality and sees her friends staring at her. Scarlet clears her throat, not feeling embarrassed at all about thinking about her hot boyfriend. Who could blame her?

"Anyways … Thorne's party is soon," Scarlet states to change the topic. (She wasn't kidding when she said that she wouldn't be able to control herself if she started talking about Wolf's tattoos. If she didn't mention Thorne's party, she would've remained in her trance).

Cress leans back a little. "I feel so awkward at parties. Like, I never go to them and here I am now planning to show up. I'll in way in over my head at the party. I'm already so nervous but I can't show it. I'm only going because you drunk idiots wouldn't survive without me."

Scarlet scoffs. "It's different now because you have friends to party with and a boyfriend who's the host. Also, you're from Luna, isn't that all parties?"

"Not from my part of town."

"Upper class and tourist zones are prime partying areas," Cinder informs Scarlet. "In other words, we partied all the time in Artemisia."

Winter nods. "Under the glitz and glamorous surface of the simplest girls are the hidden depths of Lunar trauma. Drink and dance your demons away."

Cinder clears her throat. "She means that sometimes the panic is worth the fun."

Scarlet looks at Cress to build on that. "As long as you're stepping out of your comfort zone, nothing's a waste of time. Fear isn't a conclusion but a decision. Besides, you'll be with us."

"And, Cress, you're the host's girlfriend so you'll have an even better time," Winter says happily. "The longer you're with someone, the more you start to talk and act like them so maybe you'll adopt his party charisma. I have heard around school that Thorne is quite the party character."

Scarlet nods. "I've been to the same parties of Thorne. He's a … character."

"Oh, stars…" Cress groans, leaning forwards and running her fingers through her short hair before looking up at her friends again. She probably looks miserable over such a petty issue like this. "I'll die tonight."

"Some liquid courage will help you," Scarlet mutters.

"Spades … I don't want to drink. I don't like drinking and I have to get all your drunk aces home. It'll already be a crazy night while sober. With that in mind, what are you going to wear?"

"You gotta dress like it's your last day on Earth."

-o-

Before the Party

Thorne walks out of school and makes his way through the parking lot. On his way to his car, he looks over and sees Wolf heading over to his vehicle. As a detour, he zigzags through the remaining parked cars and approaches Wolf with a stupid grin on his face. Wolf already looks the most unamused (especially since he thought he could leave school right away. Now, this conversation with Thorne would be at least another five minutes on this dreaded property).

"Guess what I'm going to get?" Thorne exclaims excitedly.

"On my nerves?" Wolf questions rhetorically.

"No. I'm here to talk official party business."

Wolf nods, appreciating that this conversation would be something of interest (and, at this point, his duty).

"What kind of booze do you want?" Wolf asks him.

Thorne shrugs casually. "Nothing too fancy or expensive because I have nobody to impress with my wealth. But make it affordable so you could get enough to last a lot of people for a long time."

Wolf unlocks his car. "Beer and vodka juice it is."

Thorne agrees. "Thanks, bro."

Wolf shakes his head. "We're not bros."

"We're totally bros," he whispers.

"I'll continue helping you out until the day I actually want to help you and even after that. That doesn't mean we're bros."

Thorne starts fake crying tears of joy which makes Wolf roll his eyes. He didn't think this conversation would take this extra turn but he should've known better because he's talking to Thorne. Wolf could only think about how he wishes he had a beer or vodka juice (or both at this point) to make his mind numb to this conversation or, preferably, to forget it.

"We're totally bros," Thorne confirms to which Wolf doesn't respond.