• Chapter 7
    Going in a Different Direction
    I heard voices. Many voices. But I didn’t move. I didn’t speak. I lay there, still, with my eyes closed, and listened to the many voices.
    “I-is she going to be okay?” A worried voice stuttered. The voice cracked at the word ‘okay’, and it sounded like the person had been crying. I would’ve guessed it was Scarlet, but it wasn’t a girl voice. It was a guy voice. And it sounded so familiar….
    “Yes, she is going to be fine. But she is probably going to be asleep for a while. She lost quite a lot of blood.” A strong, manly voice informed. I didn’t know it. But by studying the sentence, I guessed he was some doctor…
    “Okay. Thank you.” The same guy voice from before said. Then I heard a door open and close, and somebody sit down in a chair beside the bed I was on.
    “Thank you, Keaton. You saved my sister.” Now that was Scarlet, and she was on the other side of me.
    “Yeah, I guess…But it wouldn’t have happened if…..” The guy’s voice trailed off, with a regretful tone in his voice. So it was Keaton……..and…….had he been crying…….. over me?
    “You have got to explain everything to her.” Scarlet insisted. A warm hand lay on my cheek, and the hand caressed it. The hand was rough, as if the person had been fighting……like Keaton had.
    “She’ll never believe me.” The voice finally responded, and the hand fell from my face. Then I heard somebody getting up and walking over to the door. “It’s better off this way.”
    The door opened and closed. And I figured it was time to open my eyes.
    “Charlotte.” Scarlet gasped as soon as she saw that I was awake. She had been staring at the door with sad eyes, but now they were relieved, and then concerned. “Are you alright?”
    “Y-yeah, fine.” I stuttered as I sat up. I glanced around. I was in my hotel room in the park. I stared at the door now. ‘It’s better off this way.’ What had he meant?
    “What happened?”
    “Well…..” My voice trailed off, and I was still thinking of his comment, but then I pushed it away (for now), and decided to tell Scarlet what had happened. “Basically, I ran into some tunnel and cried there. Then I heard voices. I followed them and stepped into the pouring rain, in a long and narrow alley. The voices were coming from a drunken gang. They abused me and one of them tried to make a move on me……but then Keaton showed up and beat up that dude. And the others ran off, scared. But then I passed out.”
    “Wow…..is that all?” Scarlet was shocked, but shook her head as if to clear it away before asking that question.
    “Well…….not exactly.” The memory of the arms, the voice, and the lips came back into mind.
    “Ohh, tell me!!” Scarlet said excitedly.
    “Well….my eyes were closed….and my senses weren’t very good and everything…..but…..”
    “But…?” Scarlet prompted.
    “But I’m pretty sure that Keaton held me in his arms, whispered something in my ear and then kissed me.”
    “OH MY FREAKIN’ GOD! LIKE, NO WAY!!!!!!” Scarlet exclaimed as she jumped out of her chair. She glanced up at the door and then back down at me. A frown crossed her face.
    And then I understood. When Keaton said, ‘its better off this way.’ he was talking about it was better off with us…..hating each other…..
    The tears filled my eyes, but I turned away before she could notice.
    “You should get some rest.” Scarlet finally said.
    “’Kay.” My voice cracked, and I squeezed my eyes shut tighter, hoping she wouldn’t notice.
    But the light went off, the door open and closed, and then I was alone.


    Chapter 8
    a**-Lee
    For the next week, I had to stay in bed. Doctor’s orders.
    It was all so boring. And it sucked to hear everybody else outside, having fun, while I was stuck in some stuffy, small hotel room.
    Scarlet came by every day with food and updates on everybody and everything. My sister really cared about me too much.
    By the start of the next week, I was allowed to go out and about again. I still didn’t really do much. Just wonder around the park. But I kept feeling like I was being watched, and it sort of creeped me out.
    On Thursday, the last day before we all went back home, I was walking under some trees on the side of one of the walkways, when somebody bumped into my shoulder. I knew it wasn’t some accident, because the person used so much force, I fell to the ground.
    “Hey, watch where you’re-
    My voice broke off as I looked up, only to see Ashlee Snowflake looking down at me with a smirk on her face.
    “What was that for?” I asked as I stood back up. She didn’t respond. She just placed her hands on my shoulders and pushed me back again. This time, though, I didn’t fall. I just staggered a bit. “What the hell is your problem?”
    “You.” She answered like any stupid prep would. She prepared to push me again, but right when she extended her arms, I grabbed them so she couldn’t do anything and kicked her in the stomach. Gasping at the pain, she staggered back, and then fell into the grass. I walked over and glared down at her.
    “You really don’t want to mess with me, b***h.” I hissed. She jumped up and attempted to throw a swing at me, but once again, I grabbed her arm, twisted it behind her back, and pushed her into one of the trees. By this point people were stopping and staring. “I said, you do not want to mess, with me!” I released her and she took a few steps back. I glared at her for a second, and then turned to walk away.
    “What’s up with that scar on your face, s**t-bag?” She called after me. I froze.
    Turning slowly, I asked, “What?”
    “I said, what’s up with that scar on your face?” My hands flew up to the right side of my face, but it was covered by my bangs. I walked back over to her.
    “How do you know about that?” I hissed so low that only she could hear.
    My eyes nervously darted over to the gathering crowd, which had a lot of the kids from the school choir now standing in the front.
    And one of them was Keaton.
    “You…..you son of a b***h!!!!!!!” I screeched at him with anger so big and powerful that I swore I saw everybody flinch.
    “Wh-what?” Keaton stuttered, taking an abrupt step back.
    “What!? WHAT!? I’LL TELL YOU WHAT!! YOU TOLD ASHLEE ABOUT MY FREAKIN’ SCAR!!!!!!!!!!!!” Keaton’s eyes widened in what looked like hurt and betrayal.
    “I would never do that!”
    “YEAH!? THEN HOW DOES SHE KNOW!?!”
    “Charlotte, you should know that even if I was mad at you, I wouldn’t tell everybody a big secret of yours.”
    “THEN HOW, DOES SHE, KNOW!?”
    “GOD DAMMIT, I DON’T KNOW!!!!!” Keaton suddenly turned so angry, and I was shocked for a second, but then I got over it.
    “HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW!? YOU HAVE TO HAVE TOLD HER!!!! NOBODY ELSE KNOWS ABOUT IT!!!”
    “WELL, SCARLET COULD’VE-
    “HA!!!!! YOU THINK SCARLET WOULD DO THAT TO ME!?”
    “WELL WHY WOULD I DO THAT TO YOU!?”
    “WELL WHY WOULD YOU JUST IGNORE ME AND THINK IT’S BETTER OFF THAT WAY!?” He stared at me when I screamed this.
    “How….?” His voice trailed off, and he kept staring.
    “UGH!” I screeched in annoyance as I pushed through the crowd and made my way to one of the restaurants in the park.
    I soon found myself sitting at a small table in the center of some random restaurant, and I stared down at the menu the waiter had given to me, not really taking any of the words in. My mind was too busy….
    “Hey, Charlotte, right?” I looked up to the sound of this new voice. Keaton’s best friend, Lance, looked down at me.
    “Uh, yeah. That’s me.” My forehead scrunched together. “How did you know?”
    He shrugged and sat in the chair opposite me, and said, “Keaton wouldn’t stop talking about you.” My eyes widened as I considered this. Then, I frowned and stared at Lance, trying to figure out if he was serious or not. Most of the time, he was just joking. He caught that and his voice suddenly turned professional. “No, seriously. He talked about you 24/7. It was like he was in love with you or something….”
    “But….if he loved me, then why did he kiss Ashlee?” Lance shook his head.
    “No, he didn’t kiss her. He never would. He thinks she’s a preppy b***h, just like you, me, and everybody else.” My eyes widened and I felt a smile coming on my face because of Lance informing me that everybody thinks Ashlee is a preppy b***h, but then I frowned.
    “He didn’t kiss her?” Lance laughed a short, sharp laugh and shook his head.
    “No. She saw you looking down at Keaton from the balcony, and got mega jealous.” He chuckled, paused for a moment, and then went on. “So she told Keaton that you told her that you wanted him to meet you between the bathroom building and the souvenir shop, so he walked with her there. Then she pulled Keaton towards her and kissed him. He put his hands on the walls to stop himself from falling onto her.”
    My eyes widened and I gasped. “God, I’m an idiot…I should’ve known that Ashlee was gonna do somethin’ like that….But, if Keaton didn’t kiss Ashlee, why did he tell her…..” My voice trailed off. Maybe Lance didn’t know. But, I guessed that he followed me here from the fight scene, and saw me yelling at Keaton about my scar. Either that, or Ashlee told him. Hell, I bet she told everybody.
    “Oh, about your scar?” His forehead scrunched up. “There is a scar there, right?” I slowly nodded.
    “Oh, ‘kay. I just wanted to make sure Keaton was telling the truth….”
    “Wait, Keaton told you……?” My voice trailed off again. Then I went into shock and anger mode. “Did you tell Ashlee about my scar!?”
    Lance’s eyes widened at the sudden accusation. “Oh, hell no! I wouldn’t do that! But one of Keaton’s and mine friends was standing nearby, and he likes Ashlee, so he thought he could get in good with her if he told her about your scar.”
    “Holy s**t…” I muttered as I slumped back in my chair.
    “Hey, want a Coke? I’m buyin’.” Lance suddenly asked, in an obvious attempt to lighten up the mood. I looked up at him. He was actually really nice. I mean, I didn’t have any affection for him, or anything. Just sort of like a big brother sort of nice. Not like a mean one, like most big brothers, but a protective and funny one…..like David had been.
    And thinking of David started to bring tears in my eyes, so I quickly looked back down and nodded my head. “Yeah, thanks.” I didn’t hear him get up, but after a moment, I heard his chair push back and then him walking away.
    Suddenly, two hands slammed down on the table. On the left hand was a sterling silver ring which said ‘SEXI’ in pink diamonds, and on the right hand it was the same ring but instead of saying ‘SEXI’, it said ‘BABE’. Those words brought back the memory of the alley, when that guy had called me those things, and I instantly thought of the pain of the hitting, pushing, yanking, the thought that I was going to get raped and killed, the relief and hope that had swelled up in my chest as Keaton stepped up, the horror and fear I felt when Keaton beat up the guy, and then the way Keaton held me securely in his arms, pressing myself against his chest, then lightly pressing his lips against my ear and whispering into them, and then his lips that gently landed onto mine….
    “Up here, smartass.” A girly voice broke through my memories, and I looked up to see Ashlee glaring down at me.
    “Ugh, what do you want, a**-lee?” I growled.
    “First of all, my name isn’t a**-lee. Second of all, just wanted to tell you how stupid you were to think Keaton didn’t love you. Oh, and how stupid you were to think he told me about that drop dead ugly scar on that already hideous face of yours.”
    “I know the story, b***h. Lance told me. You kissed Keaton, he didn’t kiss you, and one of Keaton’s and Lance’s friends overhead Keaton telling Lance about my scar, and that guy liked you, so he told you….” My voice trailed off. “Wait….you kissed Keaton to make me jealous! And so you could get him for yourself!! And you also told me about my scar because you knew Keaton and I would get in a big fight and…..oh you mother-
    “It’s too late anyway, Captain Obvious.” She snarled. “Keaton is mine now. Tonight, we are going to hang out in my room and…..oh, you know.” She gave me a wink, laughed her evil cat-like laugh and then turned on her heels (and I really do mean heels. She was wearing stilettos), and then stalked down the aisle and out the door.
    She so happened to pass by Lance while strutting down the aisle, and he took a huge step back as she passed. When he reached me he sat down and placed one of the two Cokes in front of me, and held the other in his right hand.
    “What was that all abo-
    But I was up and running before he could even finish his sentence.