She Gets What She Wants, and She Breaks What She Gets
I'm A Walking Travesty
Scarlett looked the same, but different. She looked older, and her hair was much longer, and her bright blue eyes didn't even seem as bright, lined with all that dark make up. She was still just a little shorter than me, but her proportions were different. Her body was better, more mature. Her fashion sense seemed to have changed too. She was wearing a long white shirt, with lace straps, and lace all up the sides, with black leggings and black heels. Her eyes widened when she saw me, and I just stood in the doorway, looking at her.
I finally worked up the courage to say something to her. "So, you're Jack's new girlfriend." I snapped. My voice was cold.
"Alex?" She whispered, swallowing hard. "What...how do you know Jack?"
"He's my best friend. He has been since high school."
"ZACK! DID YOU BRING ME A BURRITO!?" Jack screamed from the living room.
"Hi, Jack." Scarlett called.
Jack's voice immediately changed. It was softer, and nicer, and less ... terrifying. "Oh hey Scarlett. Come in."
She looked up at me, and I moved out of the way so she could go through the door. I shut it behind her, and watched her kicked off her heels and walk over to Jack.
It was clear how much Jack liked her, once you saw them together. She had his undivided attention, at all times, and he just looked at her like he was the luckiest guy in the world.
And at that moment, he was.
She sat beside him, and he kissed her quickly. I looked around the room, trying to find the invisible source that was apparently punching me in the stomach repeatedly.
"Okay, Scarlett..These are my friends. My band."
Scarlett nodded, smiling shyly at everyone.
'You don't have to be shy, Scar. I've already seen you completely bare...' Sometimes, I hated the thoughts that went through my head.
"Everyone, this is Scarlett."
"Nice to meet you." Rian stuck his hand out, and she shook it. "I'm Rian."
"Nice to meet you too."
"I'm Zack." Zack was examining her facial expression as well as mine. I was biting my lip, and probably looked like I was in as much pain as I was feeling. She nodded at him.
"And I'm Alex." I muttered.
"Nice to meet you, Alex." She caught my gaze for a moment.
"Nice to meet you too, Scarlett." I said in a sickly sweet voice. "I hope you make our Jack very happy."
I stalked off, and went down the hallway. They couldn't see me anymore. I went in to the bathroom, and when I heard their voices, discussing how odd I had been acting, I slammed the door behind me, and smashed my fist in to the wall.
I sat on the edge of the bathtub, and tried to take it in.
Jack was in love with this girl, that I had been missing, and adoring for years. He had no idea how bad it was going to get for me, and he had no idea how we had spent all that time together. He had no idea, that I had been his girl's first, and she had been mine.
Scarlett was pretending she didn't know me.
She liked Jack, too. I was just part of her past.
But I was going to have to deal with it every day she was around.
She never even called...
I bit down on my lip, hard.
Maybe, I should have told Jack about Scarlett that summer. Maybe I should have tried to keep in contact more. Maybe then, this wouldn't be happening.
"Is this the bathroom, Jack?" I heard a light, pretty voice say from outside the door. I grabbed the edge of the tub, hoping she wouldn't come in. The door knob turned, and she did.
"Alex.."
I looked up. "Oh hey, Scarlett. What are you doing?"
"I told them I was going pee." She looked me over. "So I'm going to talk to you for like two minutes."
"Maybe, I don't want to talk."
"I didn't know, Alex." She sighed. "I swear I didn't."
"I really don't care anymore." I snapped. "It was so many years ago, why would it even matter now? I hope you guys are fucking happy together."
"You're acting like an asshole. An immature little asshole."
"You're the one dating my best friend."
She looked at me for a moment, then went back to the door. "I'm going to talk to you about this, Alex. But once you accept the fact that what's done is done. Once you can talk to me without hating yourself."
She left.
I sat there for a few more minutes, then headed to the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the fridge, and headed back to the living room.
I knew I had been acting sort of stupid. It was a summer romance, from when I was fifteen. It really shouldn't even have meant anything. It shouldn't even hurt me, if I walk in the room, and Jack is kissing my girl..
'Shut it, Alex. She isn't your girl anymore. That was years ago...'
I walked in, and leaned against the couch. Jack and Scarlett were cuddling, and Rian was sitting on the opposite side of the couch, while Zack was sitting in a chair across from them.
"Hey.."
"Where were you?" Jack asked, pouting.
"I, uh, went to grab a beer."
"It doesn't take THAT long..."
"I was distracted by all the choices, and I also ate some crackers."
"What choices?"
"Well, I wanted grape soda...I was looking for your grape soda.." I lied.
"I don't like grape soda!" Jack sighed.
I picked up a pillow and chucked it at him. He covered Scarlett, and glared at me, because the pillow had almost hit her.
"Come on Jack, it's a fucking pillow.." I rolled my eyes, and grabbed a chair, opening the beer and chugging it back.
"You alright, Alex? You still look half dead." Rian commented.
Scarlett was sending me all kinds of glances. I tried to ignore it. I also tried to ignore my best friend's arm wrapped around her, the way I used to.
"Eh, I'm alright."
"These chairs aren't really that comfortable..." Zack said quietly. I nodded.
"You can sit here, if you want." Rian offered, standing up.
"Oh, no, it's alright..."
"No, I insist." He looked over at Scarlett and Jack, and winced. "Go for it. Sit."
Like he had any reason to be wincing. That wasn't his girl.
Then again, I had no clue what they had been doing when I left the room. The thought of that made me sick.
"Well, fine.." I sat down beside Scarlett and Jack. I didn't make eye contact with either of them. In fact, I just didn't glance in that direction at all.
"Yeah, well, these are my friends.." I heard Jack say to her. "I love them."
"Yeah, they're all pretty cool."
"Yeah?"
"Definitely."
I heard him kiss her.
Maybe I was concentrating too hard, but I heard it.
I stood up. "I have the sudden urge to go buy a kitten. Goodbye." I walked out of the room.
Jack apparently stopped kissing Scarlett, and yelled after me. "Can I name it?!"
I got my shoes on quickly, and left the house.
I got into my car, and the clouds made it look later in the day than it actually was. I drove away as quickly as I could.
With my hands on my steering wheel, and my eyes on the road, I started thinking.
--
"Alex?"
Scarlett rested her head in my lap, and played with her hair. We were sitting on the dock, as we usually were.
"Yeah?" I smiled down at her.
"What if I leave, and you never see me again?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, what would you do."
I thought for a minute. "Miss you. That's what I'd do."
The answer seemed to satisfy her, so she went silent.
I looked out on the water. It was a nice day, but we hadn't moved from the spot we always met at.
"Would you still love me?"
"Huh? I.. um.." I looked down at her. Her eyes were wide, and I knew I couldn't escape the question. "Well, I will always love you."
"But, I won't be there for you to love..."
"Well, love isn't always about touching and all that, Scar..." I said quietly. "Love is a feeling, and you can still feel it when some one is far away..."
She sighed. "But, you won't know what I am anymore if you don't see me. You won't know me, so you couldn't love me."
I had no clue what she was getting at, and the way she was talking terrified me.
"Well, no matter what happens, right now, I love you."
"That's now."
"I know, but someday when I look back on these moments, I will be happy, and I will always love you in this moment. I might not always love who you are, because I won't know who you are, but I'll always love who you were to me this summer."
She smiled and nodded. "Okay," was all she said.
--
I stopped the car in front of the pet store.
I told them I was going to go buy a kitten, so I sure as hell was. I remembered Scarlett telling me about her cat, named Timothy. He was all black, and the first kitten I saw in the pet store was too. She adored Timothy, and always showed me pictures. She said her little brother named him, after some sort of raccoon from a children's show he watched. Her little brother was 4 at the time.
The black kitten was sleeping quietly, whereas, the other kitten, was running around to fast for me to get a good glimpse of it. It was fluffy, and white, with big blue eyes. It pounced on the black kitten, waking it up, then took off.
Needless to say, that was the kitten I took home with me.
--
"What...the..hell..."
"Rian, I can explain-"
"Alex?!"
"Don't be mean to Ninja-cat!" I picked up my kitten. Rian got home shortly after I had, and was greeted at the door by a white ball of fluff that he had never seen before in his life. I didn't have cat food, or a litter box, or any cat things yet. I hadn't thought the whole thing over very well.
"You were serious about the whole kitten thing?!"
"Of course! I wouldn't just leave out of nowhere! That would be rude." I pet Ninja-cat's head. He purred.
"We can't keep the cat, Alex."
"Then what are we gonna do with it? We can't just abandon him..." I pouted.
"We'll find a home for that cat. A home that is not this one. Start looking."
I sighed. "Rian, you are no fun sometimes...Ninja-cat is awesome...He reminds me of me."
"Ninja-cat?"
"I couldn't think of a better name."
"I can see that."
The cat leaped from my arms and took off down the hallway.
"Jack wanted you to call him." Rian said, throwing the phone at me. I caught it. "ASAP."
"Fine... could you go pick up some cat food or something, please?"
"No. We're getting rid of the cat."
"Sure.." I dialed Jack's number.
"Hey, man!" Jack answered after a couple of rings. He sounded ecstatic.
"Hey."
"What's going down?"
"Trying to find a new home for my kitten. You?"
"New kitten...what!? You were SERIOUS!?"
"Why does everyone seem to doubt me..?"
He seemed dumb-founded. "...Well, Scarlett was looking for a kitten..."
'What happened to Timothy..?' I wondered. "Oh, really.."
"Yeah. I could bring her over tomorrow."
"I'm sure Rian would like that." I sighed. "I like my ninja-cat. I truly do."
"Sorry, man."
"It's all good.."
"What was up with you today? Do you not like Scarlett or something?"
"No, no...I was just... sick... Sorry about that whole thing..." I hated lying to him. I really did.
"It's alright, I guess. But she seemed kind of upset after you left. I think she felt like she did something wrong."
"Well, when you bring her over, I will assure her I am not angry with her."
"Thanks, man. I'll call you tomorrow, and bring her over?"
"Sure." I winced.
"Kay, peace."
He hung up.
I had it all planned out. Jack would come over, and Scarlett would look at the kitten, and I would request Jack go picks up cat food. He would, Scarlett and I would be alone, and I would talk to her... alone.
Without hating myself.
Unless she looked at me with those big blue eyes, then, I wouldn't be able to help it.
--
"I can't believe you bought a kitten, Alex. You're so stupid."
"I know, Rian, you've been bitching about it all night..." I sighed, buttoning up my shirt. "Get over it. I wanted a kitten."
"No, you just wanted an excuse to get out of that girl's glare."
"Scarlett? She was glaring?"
"Oh yeah, big time." Rian said, leaning against my bedroom door. "But you never looked over."
"Yeah, I really couldn't care less." I ran my fingers through my hair, making it look at least a little decently better.
"Have you guys met or something? There seemed to be some tension."
"Oh yeah, we've passed each other in the grocery store once or twice."
"Oh, did she steal your place in the check out line when you went to go see if they had a sale on peanut butter?"
"...How did you know?" I teased, and the doorbell rang. "Can you get the door?"
"Yup." Rian walked away, and I heard Jack and Scarlett say their greetings. Ninja-cat was running around the bathroom, jumping on things and almost knocking flat-irons over. I scooped him up and walked over to say hello.
As soon as Scarlett laid her eyes on Ninja-cat, she just melted.
"Oh, Alex, he's so adorable!" She squealed.
"I know. Too bad Rian won't let me keep him." I glared at Rian, who shrugged.
It was kind of awkward, pretending like I just met her. I hated it. I hated looking at her, and thinking "God, she's beautiful." and knowing Jack was thinking the same thing. It was just too awkward.
I handed the kitten to her, and he started purring. She pet him, and her eyes just lit up.
"Wow...I think I'm in love."
"Me too." Jack muttered, and I felt like I was about to throw up.
"I love cats!" She was still talking in a really screamy voice. I would have cringed, if it wasn't her voice I was listening to.
"I know." I blurted out.
"How do you know?" Jack raised an eyebrow.
"Ummm...all girls love cats..." I covered myself up. I hoped I was convincing.
"Alex, can I keep him?" Scarlett looked up at me, pleading.
"Of course." I faked a smile. "He needs food though."
"I'll pick some up on the way home." Jack offered.
"Oh hey, why don't you do that now, and also get a litter box, and some food or something and come back?" I said, through my teeth.
Jack shrugged. "Sure, whatever you want.."
I waited for him to finally leave. Scarlett was sitting on my couch, playing with Ninja-cat. Rian was playing his drums loudly, so he couldn't hear us. I sat down beside her.
"Alex, you are truly amazing. Thanks for letting me keep him." She kissed the top of his fuzzy head. "Thank you so much."
"What about Timothy?" I asked.
She gave me a funny look. "You remember that?"
"Of course I do." I smiled at her.
She smiled back. It was like nothing had changed, in a way. She was wearing an All Time Low shirt, that Jack had obviously given her, and gray skinny jeans. "Timothy is with my brother. I live on my own now, so..."
"Scarlett...do you really like Jack?" I asked out of nowhere. Her smile went away.
"Yeah, Alex...I really do."
"Do you want to be with forever?"
"Forever is a long time."
It went quiet.
"Please don't hurt him." I wanted to add in "like you hurt me", but I didn't.
"I would never intentionally do that." She looked at her feet. "I never intentionally hurt anyone. I want you to know that."
"Yeah, I know."
"Do you hate me?" Her eyes were wide. They looked so beautiful.
"No, Scarlett. I could never hate you."
God, how I wanted to lean over and kiss her...
"Okay...because I'm so sorry, Alex. You don't even know. I really, really am sorry..."
"I know."
She looked out the window. "God, so much has changed."
She was so right. Everything had happened so fast, I didn't know what was going on. I didn't know what I was feeling, or what I should be thinking. I didn't know anything at all. I was just confused, and hurting, and there was nothing else to it.
"Yeah, everything definitely has changed."
I finally worked up the courage to say something to her. "So, you're Jack's new girlfriend." I snapped. My voice was cold.
"Alex?" She whispered, swallowing hard. "What...how do you know Jack?"
"He's my best friend. He has been since high school."
"ZACK! DID YOU BRING ME A BURRITO!?" Jack screamed from the living room.
"Hi, Jack." Scarlett called.
Jack's voice immediately changed. It was softer, and nicer, and less ... terrifying. "Oh hey Scarlett. Come in."
She looked up at me, and I moved out of the way so she could go through the door. I shut it behind her, and watched her kicked off her heels and walk over to Jack.
It was clear how much Jack liked her, once you saw them together. She had his undivided attention, at all times, and he just looked at her like he was the luckiest guy in the world.
And at that moment, he was.
She sat beside him, and he kissed her quickly. I looked around the room, trying to find the invisible source that was apparently punching me in the stomach repeatedly.
"Okay, Scarlett..These are my friends. My band."
Scarlett nodded, smiling shyly at everyone.
'You don't have to be shy, Scar. I've already seen you completely bare...' Sometimes, I hated the thoughts that went through my head.
"Everyone, this is Scarlett."
"Nice to meet you." Rian stuck his hand out, and she shook it. "I'm Rian."
"Nice to meet you too."
"I'm Zack." Zack was examining her facial expression as well as mine. I was biting my lip, and probably looked like I was in as much pain as I was feeling. She nodded at him.
"And I'm Alex." I muttered.
"Nice to meet you, Alex." She caught my gaze for a moment.
"Nice to meet you too, Scarlett." I said in a sickly sweet voice. "I hope you make our Jack very happy."
I stalked off, and went down the hallway. They couldn't see me anymore. I went in to the bathroom, and when I heard their voices, discussing how odd I had been acting, I slammed the door behind me, and smashed my fist in to the wall.
I sat on the edge of the bathtub, and tried to take it in.
Jack was in love with this girl, that I had been missing, and adoring for years. He had no idea how bad it was going to get for me, and he had no idea how we had spent all that time together. He had no idea, that I had been his girl's first, and she had been mine.
Scarlett was pretending she didn't know me.
She liked Jack, too. I was just part of her past.
But I was going to have to deal with it every day she was around.
She never even called...
I bit down on my lip, hard.
Maybe, I should have told Jack about Scarlett that summer. Maybe I should have tried to keep in contact more. Maybe then, this wouldn't be happening.
"Is this the bathroom, Jack?" I heard a light, pretty voice say from outside the door. I grabbed the edge of the tub, hoping she wouldn't come in. The door knob turned, and she did.
"Alex.."
I looked up. "Oh hey, Scarlett. What are you doing?"
"I told them I was going pee." She looked me over. "So I'm going to talk to you for like two minutes."
"Maybe, I don't want to talk."
"I didn't know, Alex." She sighed. "I swear I didn't."
"I really don't care anymore." I snapped. "It was so many years ago, why would it even matter now? I hope you guys are fucking happy together."
"You're acting like an asshole. An immature little asshole."
"You're the one dating my best friend."
She looked at me for a moment, then went back to the door. "I'm going to talk to you about this, Alex. But once you accept the fact that what's done is done. Once you can talk to me without hating yourself."
She left.
I sat there for a few more minutes, then headed to the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the fridge, and headed back to the living room.
I knew I had been acting sort of stupid. It was a summer romance, from when I was fifteen. It really shouldn't even have meant anything. It shouldn't even hurt me, if I walk in the room, and Jack is kissing my girl..
'Shut it, Alex. She isn't your girl anymore. That was years ago...'
I walked in, and leaned against the couch. Jack and Scarlett were cuddling, and Rian was sitting on the opposite side of the couch, while Zack was sitting in a chair across from them.
"Hey.."
"Where were you?" Jack asked, pouting.
"I, uh, went to grab a beer."
"It doesn't take THAT long..."
"I was distracted by all the choices, and I also ate some crackers."
"What choices?"
"Well, I wanted grape soda...I was looking for your grape soda.." I lied.
"I don't like grape soda!" Jack sighed.
I picked up a pillow and chucked it at him. He covered Scarlett, and glared at me, because the pillow had almost hit her.
"Come on Jack, it's a fucking pillow.." I rolled my eyes, and grabbed a chair, opening the beer and chugging it back.
"You alright, Alex? You still look half dead." Rian commented.
Scarlett was sending me all kinds of glances. I tried to ignore it. I also tried to ignore my best friend's arm wrapped around her, the way I used to.
"Eh, I'm alright."
"These chairs aren't really that comfortable..." Zack said quietly. I nodded.
"You can sit here, if you want." Rian offered, standing up.
"Oh, no, it's alright..."
"No, I insist." He looked over at Scarlett and Jack, and winced. "Go for it. Sit."
Like he had any reason to be wincing. That wasn't his girl.
Then again, I had no clue what they had been doing when I left the room. The thought of that made me sick.
"Well, fine.." I sat down beside Scarlett and Jack. I didn't make eye contact with either of them. In fact, I just didn't glance in that direction at all.
"Yeah, well, these are my friends.." I heard Jack say to her. "I love them."
"Yeah, they're all pretty cool."
"Yeah?"
"Definitely."
I heard him kiss her.
Maybe I was concentrating too hard, but I heard it.
I stood up. "I have the sudden urge to go buy a kitten. Goodbye." I walked out of the room.
Jack apparently stopped kissing Scarlett, and yelled after me. "Can I name it?!"
I got my shoes on quickly, and left the house.
I got into my car, and the clouds made it look later in the day than it actually was. I drove away as quickly as I could.
With my hands on my steering wheel, and my eyes on the road, I started thinking.
--
"Alex?"
Scarlett rested her head in my lap, and played with her hair. We were sitting on the dock, as we usually were.
"Yeah?" I smiled down at her.
"What if I leave, and you never see me again?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, what would you do."
I thought for a minute. "Miss you. That's what I'd do."
The answer seemed to satisfy her, so she went silent.
I looked out on the water. It was a nice day, but we hadn't moved from the spot we always met at.
"Would you still love me?"
"Huh? I.. um.." I looked down at her. Her eyes were wide, and I knew I couldn't escape the question. "Well, I will always love you."
"But, I won't be there for you to love..."
"Well, love isn't always about touching and all that, Scar..." I said quietly. "Love is a feeling, and you can still feel it when some one is far away..."
She sighed. "But, you won't know what I am anymore if you don't see me. You won't know me, so you couldn't love me."
I had no clue what she was getting at, and the way she was talking terrified me.
"Well, no matter what happens, right now, I love you."
"That's now."
"I know, but someday when I look back on these moments, I will be happy, and I will always love you in this moment. I might not always love who you are, because I won't know who you are, but I'll always love who you were to me this summer."
She smiled and nodded. "Okay," was all she said.
--
I stopped the car in front of the pet store.
I told them I was going to go buy a kitten, so I sure as hell was. I remembered Scarlett telling me about her cat, named Timothy. He was all black, and the first kitten I saw in the pet store was too. She adored Timothy, and always showed me pictures. She said her little brother named him, after some sort of raccoon from a children's show he watched. Her little brother was 4 at the time.
The black kitten was sleeping quietly, whereas, the other kitten, was running around to fast for me to get a good glimpse of it. It was fluffy, and white, with big blue eyes. It pounced on the black kitten, waking it up, then took off.
Needless to say, that was the kitten I took home with me.
--
"What...the..hell..."
"Rian, I can explain-"
"Alex?!"
"Don't be mean to Ninja-cat!" I picked up my kitten. Rian got home shortly after I had, and was greeted at the door by a white ball of fluff that he had never seen before in his life. I didn't have cat food, or a litter box, or any cat things yet. I hadn't thought the whole thing over very well.
"You were serious about the whole kitten thing?!"
"Of course! I wouldn't just leave out of nowhere! That would be rude." I pet Ninja-cat's head. He purred.
"We can't keep the cat, Alex."
"Then what are we gonna do with it? We can't just abandon him..." I pouted.
"We'll find a home for that cat. A home that is not this one. Start looking."
I sighed. "Rian, you are no fun sometimes...Ninja-cat is awesome...He reminds me of me."
"Ninja-cat?"
"I couldn't think of a better name."
"I can see that."
The cat leaped from my arms and took off down the hallway.
"Jack wanted you to call him." Rian said, throwing the phone at me. I caught it. "ASAP."
"Fine... could you go pick up some cat food or something, please?"
"No. We're getting rid of the cat."
"Sure.." I dialed Jack's number.
"Hey, man!" Jack answered after a couple of rings. He sounded ecstatic.
"Hey."
"What's going down?"
"Trying to find a new home for my kitten. You?"
"New kitten...what!? You were SERIOUS!?"
"Why does everyone seem to doubt me..?"
He seemed dumb-founded. "...Well, Scarlett was looking for a kitten..."
'What happened to Timothy..?' I wondered. "Oh, really.."
"Yeah. I could bring her over tomorrow."
"I'm sure Rian would like that." I sighed. "I like my ninja-cat. I truly do."
"Sorry, man."
"It's all good.."
"What was up with you today? Do you not like Scarlett or something?"
"No, no...I was just... sick... Sorry about that whole thing..." I hated lying to him. I really did.
"It's alright, I guess. But she seemed kind of upset after you left. I think she felt like she did something wrong."
"Well, when you bring her over, I will assure her I am not angry with her."
"Thanks, man. I'll call you tomorrow, and bring her over?"
"Sure." I winced.
"Kay, peace."
He hung up.
I had it all planned out. Jack would come over, and Scarlett would look at the kitten, and I would request Jack go picks up cat food. He would, Scarlett and I would be alone, and I would talk to her... alone.
Without hating myself.
Unless she looked at me with those big blue eyes, then, I wouldn't be able to help it.
--
"I can't believe you bought a kitten, Alex. You're so stupid."
"I know, Rian, you've been bitching about it all night..." I sighed, buttoning up my shirt. "Get over it. I wanted a kitten."
"No, you just wanted an excuse to get out of that girl's glare."
"Scarlett? She was glaring?"
"Oh yeah, big time." Rian said, leaning against my bedroom door. "But you never looked over."
"Yeah, I really couldn't care less." I ran my fingers through my hair, making it look at least a little decently better.
"Have you guys met or something? There seemed to be some tension."
"Oh yeah, we've passed each other in the grocery store once or twice."
"Oh, did she steal your place in the check out line when you went to go see if they had a sale on peanut butter?"
"...How did you know?" I teased, and the doorbell rang. "Can you get the door?"
"Yup." Rian walked away, and I heard Jack and Scarlett say their greetings. Ninja-cat was running around the bathroom, jumping on things and almost knocking flat-irons over. I scooped him up and walked over to say hello.
As soon as Scarlett laid her eyes on Ninja-cat, she just melted.
"Oh, Alex, he's so adorable!" She squealed.
"I know. Too bad Rian won't let me keep him." I glared at Rian, who shrugged.
It was kind of awkward, pretending like I just met her. I hated it. I hated looking at her, and thinking "God, she's beautiful." and knowing Jack was thinking the same thing. It was just too awkward.
I handed the kitten to her, and he started purring. She pet him, and her eyes just lit up.
"Wow...I think I'm in love."
"Me too." Jack muttered, and I felt like I was about to throw up.
"I love cats!" She was still talking in a really screamy voice. I would have cringed, if it wasn't her voice I was listening to.
"I know." I blurted out.
"How do you know?" Jack raised an eyebrow.
"Ummm...all girls love cats..." I covered myself up. I hoped I was convincing.
"Alex, can I keep him?" Scarlett looked up at me, pleading.
"Of course." I faked a smile. "He needs food though."
"I'll pick some up on the way home." Jack offered.
"Oh hey, why don't you do that now, and also get a litter box, and some food or something and come back?" I said, through my teeth.
Jack shrugged. "Sure, whatever you want.."
I waited for him to finally leave. Scarlett was sitting on my couch, playing with Ninja-cat. Rian was playing his drums loudly, so he couldn't hear us. I sat down beside her.
"Alex, you are truly amazing. Thanks for letting me keep him." She kissed the top of his fuzzy head. "Thank you so much."
"What about Timothy?" I asked.
She gave me a funny look. "You remember that?"
"Of course I do." I smiled at her.
She smiled back. It was like nothing had changed, in a way. She was wearing an All Time Low shirt, that Jack had obviously given her, and gray skinny jeans. "Timothy is with my brother. I live on my own now, so..."
"Scarlett...do you really like Jack?" I asked out of nowhere. Her smile went away.
"Yeah, Alex...I really do."
"Do you want to be with forever?"
"Forever is a long time."
It went quiet.
"Please don't hurt him." I wanted to add in "like you hurt me", but I didn't.
"I would never intentionally do that." She looked at her feet. "I never intentionally hurt anyone. I want you to know that."
"Yeah, I know."
"Do you hate me?" Her eyes were wide. They looked so beautiful.
"No, Scarlett. I could never hate you."
God, how I wanted to lean over and kiss her...
"Okay...because I'm so sorry, Alex. You don't even know. I really, really am sorry..."
"I know."
She looked out the window. "God, so much has changed."
She was so right. Everything had happened so fast, I didn't know what was going on. I didn't know what I was feeling, or what I should be thinking. I didn't know anything at all. I was just confused, and hurting, and there was nothing else to it.
"Yeah, everything definitely has changed."