The Substitute For Scarlet Hair

Lost the Money

Scarlet was meant to go over to the landlady to pay off their monthly rent. It was hard to come up with the money but somehow, her mom managed to pull it off. She was warned to hold on to the money safely as not to lose it.

Not wanting to make any mistake and to avoid any clash with her mom, she set out to pay the rent immediately. Another reason was that she had plans with Alex and she didn't want to miss it for the world.

While walking through the usual path to the landlady's apartment, she saw some bullies bullying a girl. On normal circumstances, she wouldn't meddle and walk away like nothing happened but this time, she felt the need to help.

After contemplating for a while, she decided to help this girl. She made sure the money was safe in her pocket with her phone and walked towards them.

"Hey!" She yelled at them and they turned to see a terrifying glare on Scarlets face. No one dares to mess with Scarlet as they all knew that she was not the type to be trifled with.

"Is there anything we can do for you?" One of them asked seeming respectful.

"No. I was just passing by and heard a disturbing cry." She glanced at the girl who was whimpering on the floor. She shifted her gaze back to the bullies. "Why not you guys do me a favor and let this little kitty go?" She said.

At first, they didn't believe that she, the indifferent and scary Scarlet was helping an oppressed girl. It was so uncommon.

If it was on normal circumstances, they would have let it go but this particular girl had stepped on their nerves and always acted timidly. It was so annoying that they had made up their mind to teach her a lesson.

Now Scarlet was asking them to let her go, how could they?

"Sorry but we'll have to decline that request." Their leader said

On hearing this, Scarlet grinned.
"Oh!" She exclaimed "On what grounds?"

"On the ground that you're not the boss of us. Get her girls! There's four of us and one of her, she can't take on all of us." With that they charged towards her.

Scarlet sighed, she didn't know why she had to put up with this for a stranger. As the girls charged towards her, she didn't have to do anything but dodge. She was so agile that she could move so swiftly and avoid body contact with them.

Scarlet always hated having body contact with people but there was an exception when it came to Alex of course

After about five minutes of evading their attacks, Scarlet checked her watch to see that she was running out of time. If she wanted to make it on time for her 'date' with Alex, she had to hurry.

Only the thought of it mad her blush. A whole afternoon with just the two of them, how great would that be.

The bullies saw her reaction and thought that she was going crazy. They used the chance to attack but can you underestimate the power of love. She had to do nothing but flip backwards and they all collided with each other.

The continuous attack got them tired that they didn't have the strength to continue fighting. They retreated at once.

Scarlet watched them as they ran away and glanced at the girl on the floor. She didn't care one bit and decided to leave. However, the girl caught hold of her Jacket.

"Thank you!" The girl said

"Let go!" Scarlet said without looking at her.

"I'm sorry!" She immediately let go not wanting to anger her savior. "My name is Dawn by the way" she introduced herself but

Scarlet shot her a cold gaze.
"I don't care!" With that she left Dawn to stare at her.

Dawn didn't feel offended by what she said or her attitude at all. But instead, she admired her more.

"She's so cool!" She exclaimed.

Scarlet had finally arrived st the landlady's house. She looked at the house and saw how well built it was compared to the one she rented out to people.

She reached out for the doorbell and pressed it. As if on queue, the landlady came out and glared at Scarlet. She knew who Scarlet was and why she was there

It was probably to beg her to delay the payment.

"What do you want?" The landlady asked rudely. Scarlet did not mind. This lady was not worth her time.

"I came to pay off our rent. My mom sent me."
The landlady was surprised but she pretended to be calm.

"Ahem! So, where's the money?"

Scarlet stared at her for a moment without any expression in her eyes before she tucked her hand inside her pocket to retrieve the money but surprisingly, it was gone and so was her phone.

Scarlet thought back to where she would have lost it and remembered the fight. She clenched her fist. Those scoundrels!

The landlady anticipated what was going on and sighed.

"If you want a delay, then I'll give you till next week. Nothing more than that!" She slammed the door leaving Scarlet scared to the bones.

How was she going to face her mother now? What was she going to say, that she got into a fight and got robbed? There was no telling how she was going to get out of this.

Her mom would be furious. It took so much for her to come up with the money now, what was going to happen?

Not wanting to delay any further, Scarlet decided to go home and face the consequences.

After that she would find a way to come up with the money. She would have called Alex to cancel their meeting but her phone was also stolen. For the rest of the day, she would probably be crying and it would be best to not see anyone.

After the heated argument and bitter blames and curses, Scarlet went to her room and locked it.

She was at fault, that, she agreed. She was a burden, that, she agreed. She was worthless and always tried to hide. Lying to herself that her life would change all of a sudden. She thought of herself as a fool for giving her all into being happy. All this she admitted to and didn't deny any of it. How sad?!