Stop

I need a break; all this crap happening with Peyton has got me beat. So I decided, screw Peyton, I’m hanging out and having fun with my friends tonight. If he has a problem with that he can suck it. I haven’t been able to have some fun in weeks.

Stupid Peyton always coming over to “visit.” When really he just sits around on my couch, eats me out of house and home, and teases me like crazy. Sometimes I just want to shove that boys’ face in a blender…but the jail time is too much of a hassle so I don’t.

“No, you cheated!” Jeremy exclaimed, glaring childishly at me.

I chuckle, the large Game Over flashed in front of Jeremy’s screen, saying that I had won again.

“You haven’t played in ages, why aren’t you rusty?” Jeremy whined, slipping a few more quarters in the slots for another round.

“Because I’m just that good,” I answered, a smile that I forgot I could make appearing on my face.

Nathan was watching the two of us play when he said, “You’ve been pretty distant lately Scout.”

“Have I?” I asked, already knowing that yes I have been. I knew the reason as well and it started with a P and ended with N. Of course I wasn’t going to tell them about that. I could only imagine what they’d say.

“Yeah, you’re right you have been!” Jeremy screeches, eyeing me suspiciously. “What’s been up? Is something wrong?”

“Nothing!”

“Do you have a girlfriend you aren’t telling us about?” Marissa cuts into the conversation. Her arms crossed over her chest as she glared at me, awaiting my answer.

My face flushedif only they knew before I shouted, “No! Girls have cooties.”

“True dat,” Jeremy chuckled.

Marissa growled before turning away and pouting, “Fine then, be secretive we see how it is.”

I apologize before concentrating on the game Jeremy and I were playing. For the next couple of hours my friends and I hung out at the arcade. Nathan and I had an eating contest, which he won, and Jeremy got beat about a billion times by me, which is why he’s currently pouting on the other side of the room and the rest of us were laughing.

“Come on, lets go cheer him up,” Nathan says, moving over to Jeremy with Claire and Marissa in tow.

I would have been too, but someone grabbed me from behind. I squeaked when I was spun around to see a very pissed off Peyton glaring down at me.

“Heh…h-hey Peyton,” I whimpered, throwing on a grin that I’m sure even an infant could tell was fake.

“What are you doing?” Peyton asked, his face blank, but I knew he was angry.

“Hanging out with my friends. The friends that you have had me neglecting lately,” I growled right back, a part of me was no longer scared of Peyton but an even bigger part still was.

Peyton looked up, his eyes looking over towards my friends, who were all currently staring at the two of us. All of them looked worried if I were them I would be too.

“Lets go,” Peyton said, his hand gripping my wrist and dragging me along behind him.

“H-Hey! Let me go!” I ordered, but Peyton has trouble with obeying.

The pressure on my wrist only got worse as we moved on. I tried to rip it away, but he only tightened his hold.

“Stop!” I finally screamed, Peyton finally coming to a stop. His grip disappeared on my wrist and I managed to rip it away. I held it against my chest delicately, my fingers running softly over the bruised skin.

I looked up at Peyton to see that the fuming boy was glaring angrily at the ground before him. His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides while his jaw moved, signaling that his teeth were grinding together.

The silence between us was tense and awkward. Neither of us were sure what to say or if we should say anything, but we had to say something right? We can’t fix whatever this problem is if we don’t.

“I can hang out with my friends when I want to,” I finally mumbled, using my hair to hide my eyes. “You’ve had all my attention lately so stop being so selfish.”

A hand came up to my chin where it forced me to look up into Peyton’s eyes. His glare was now on me while he asked, “What’d you just say?”

My head was screaming not to talk back. It was telling me just to run away with my tail between my legs, but how will that solve anything? If I do that then Peyton will just control everything I do and I’ll just be a bitch on a leash, which is definitely something I am not.

“I said stop being so selfish.” Maybe my voice didn’t come out as frightening as Peyton’s, but I think it got my point across good enough.

“You’re mine Scout. I can do whatever the hell I want with what’s mine.”

“Fuck you! I’m not yours, I’m not a damn piece of property and you can’t do whatever you want with me, because I’m not some toy that you can fuck with.”

I slapped his hand away before taking off in a sprint. I ignored his shouts and focused on one thing; getting home.