First Time Around

We stood there as Scarlett glared at the auburn-haired woman. I knew her even if she didn’t look up.

“Scarlett,” Melissa started to say. “I’m here to—”

“Ruin my life like you did with Raven?” Scarlett said, coldly. It was normal for her to be cold, but she started to change this year. So it kind of startled me with her dark and cold voice. Scarlett looked at the twins that were standing at the side and said, “Reese, kick her out of the house.”

“Scarlett,” I said. “That’s too much.”

I felt a slight whimper escape my lips when she glared at me. She looked back to Reese.

“Well? Start kicking or I’ll drag her out myself.”

“I want to apologize, Scar,” Melissa said.

“Apologizing doesn’t bring back my sister, does it?” Scarlett said as she made her way out.

“She has nowhere to go,” Reese said. And Scarlett turned to glare at Melissa again.

“Then what’s the use of his Arab husband? For all I know, they’re still married. Run to him like a stupid dog you are.”

“Scarlett,” Neil said with a stern face. He didn’t back down when Scarlett glared at him too.

“He’s been beating me up,” Melissa said as she stroked her arms as she avoided Scarlett’s glares. She folded her sleeves up to show scars that made me shiver. There were burns and bruises everywhere. I can’t even imagine what her body looks like. “He was taken to prison, and I ran away from home. And I really need your help.”

I watched Scarlett as she studied her mother’s wounds. With a slight hurt look on her face, she turned to the twins, “Show her the room that is farthest from mine. And she can stay there for as long as she likes.”

She walked out of the living room and we all followed.

“So, what movie should we all watch?” Neil asked to change the subject. He ran towards Scarlett’s side and just smiled at her.

“We need chips and popcorns and beers,” Jerome said as he winked at me.

“Let’s watch something funny, Scar,” I said. I looked back and saw Melissa coming up the other stairs with Reese and Riley.

“Sure,” Scarlett said softly. “Beers and chips are in my room. Reese prepared it for me.”

“So what does your room look like?” Neil asked.

Scarlett laughed. “I always liked Jade’s description of it.” We stopped by her door and she slowly opened it, revealing a two-story black and white room.

“This is huge,” Jerome said. “And I mean it literally.”

“I used to call this a house in a mansion,” I said. I went to her room’s living room and sat down on her black and white sofa which is in front of her fifty-six inch TV.

“You can leave all your stuff here so we can start moving,” Scarlett said as she took two six-pack beers. Jerome and Neil looked at her questioningly. “I thought that we’ll have our movie marathon in our cinema room. Sorry, we’ll stay here then.”

“Wait, cinema room?” Neil asked with a slight laugh. “No, we’re not staying here when there’s a cinema room. C’mon, Jerome, pick up all those chips. I’ll carry the beers!”

“Leave the chips, there are popcorns there,” Scarlett said as she took the chips from Jerome and threw it on her sofa. Jerome shrugged and took the other pack of beers.

I laughed at the two. Then I led them to where it is, since I’ve memorized every room and corner this house has. We stopped in front of two red theater doors, the one that’s really soft like pillows.

As we entered the mini cinema room, a movie was already playing and somewhere in the middle sat Mr. Hopkins.

At the sight of Scarlett, he stood up and approached us.

“My apologies, Scarlett,” he said with his hard English accent. Every loyal employees of Thomas Turner was from England. But Riley and Reese grew up in the mansion with Scarlett so they didn’t get a chance to adapt the magical accent, but they can pull it off when they want to.

“It’s totally fine,” Scarlett said. She usually has an English accent when she’s at home. It just happens. When I asked her if she just tells her mind to talk with an accent, well, she doesn’t. “Would you mind watching a movie with us? We were about to watch Gulliver’s Travels.”

“I’d love to. Can I watch with Cindy?”

Scarlett smiled. “Most certainly.”

Mr. Hopkins ran outside to look for her wife as the four of us sat down at the middle part. Scarlett called Flint, one of the caretakers around the house, and asked to have Gulliver’s Travels be played.

When the movie started, Mr. Hopkins arrived with his wife and sat at the rightmost part. Scarlett took me by the wrist and led me towards the back.

“I told you, we need to talk,” Scarlett said when I asked her why.

She was quiet for awhile and shifted her position so she was facing me. “I found my step-brother,” she said. I knew my face lit up almost immediately and she smiled at me.

Flint came and gave us all buckets of popcorn, one for each of us. He smiled at me sweetly and excused himself. As soon as he was gone, Scarlett looked at me with a smug. “Flint has this big crush on you, you know.”

“Really?” I felt myself blush. I mean, I know I like Jerome and all, but Flint is really cute. He’s also a first year law student in University of Utah under the financial care of Scarlett. And he’s really nice and a real gentleman. “Anyway, don’t steer the conversation to another topic. What’s going on? You’ve been acting weirdly these past few days.”

“Well, Riley was bothering me with Melissa all week. He kept on texting me that Melissa was always outside my house, waiting for me. Then I guess I fixed that one by letting her stay here. The other was Brian’s my cousin and I kept it from you, sorry. It’s just that I wanted someone that would remind me of my father, and Brian looks exactly like him. And he sings like him, too. And the last was that Quinn is my step-brother. And we’ve been cool about it, since he knew ever since. And his parents also know it.”

I looked at her and waited if she’s going to continue. “Where’s the problem there?”

“Well, his family invited me over Sunday night. And I am nervous, because I have never met them before, and I haven’t met someone that has a link from my blood. I’ve lived with total strangers. I’m scared that they won’t like me at all.”

Scarlett played with her fingers. “They’d like you, Scarlett. Hell, they’d love you! You are exactly like your dad, and they wouldn’t invite you over if they knew that there’s something bad about you. And you told me that Quinn already knows right? That means they’ve been watching over you. No need to fuss about it, Scarlett.”

“What if I messed up on that day?” She was eating her popcorn rather fast now. She’s like that when she’s scared.

“You never messed up,” I said softly.

Scarlett looked at me for awhile and finally smiled. We went back beside the guys and continued to watch. And after two movies, we got tired and headed for Scar’s room.