PLAY WITH FIRE

CHAPTER 2

SCARLETT VALENTINE

5 YEARS EARLIER- MAY 24TH 2017

"I don't know, Mariah" I looked at myself in the mirror, hesitant about my outfit. What if he doesn't like it? What if he thinks I look ugly? What if this isn't what he's expecting? Turning around I instantly went in search of my phone.

"Nope. I'm not going. I'll just text him that I got sick and-" Mariah, my blonde hair, blue eyed goddess of a friend stood up from my bed, quickly snatching my phone from bed, holding behind her.

"Forget about it, Scar. You're going to that party. Holden is gonna be there" I instantly groaned, nodding my head.

"Exactly. He's the reason I don't want to go" I whined, sitting on the corner of my bed, letting my face fall into my hands.

"Why not?" Mariah asked, her hand gently touching my back as she sat down beside me.

"Because I'm gonna make a fool of myself in front of him, I just know I will. He talks to me Mari, he actually talks to me. Not just about school, not just about work, he actually talks and listens as if he's genuinely interested in what I have to say. I don't want that to change" I said into my hands. Holden was one of the few guys at school that didn't talk about or to me in a derogatory way. He's always been my escape person when the guys at school make comments about my personality or my body.

"Scar, that'd probably change more if  you didn't go tonight. He asked you to the party. He's expecting you there. If you don't turn up he's going to think you stood him up" I doubt he'd notice if I did or didn't show up. He'd have the whole school there to distract him. Girls on him, guys hanging out with him. I was nothing compared to them.

"It's not a date Mari, you can't stand someone up if they're not your date" I informed Mariah, earning an exaggerated eye roll.

"How do you know he doesn't think of it like a date?" Because why would he pick me?

"Because he's Holden fucking Kincaide. He's got the whole school worshiping the ground he walks on. He can have any pick of the litter he wants, and I'm telling you this right now, I wouldn't be his first choice" Standing back up I made my way towards the mirror, staring blankly at my body in the dress I was wearing. It was shorter and tighter than anything I'd ever worn out before. Usually I stick to pants and a nice top, but today Mari convinced me on wearing an orange mini dress, and I wasn't even out of the confines of her room and yet I was feeling like I stood out like a sore thumb. The nerdy girl trying to doll up for the popular boy. It didn't matter how nice I looked, I'd still get picked on. Mariah stood up with a sigh, moving to stand behind me. She grabbed my hair, pulling it over my shoulders, allowing it to fall down my back.

"You neglect to see how genuinely beautiful and mesmerizing you are, Scarlett. You might not see it, but maybe Holden does" She offered me a warm smile, hugging me from behind before making her way back to lay down on her bed.

Mariah was the one that gave me the confidence to walk through the front door of Jonah's (the guy hosting the party) house. If I thought the music was loud on the outside, I was horribly mistaken when I walked through the front door. Teenagers took up every corner of the house, the cliché red solo cups in each one's hands as they either made out, talked, flirted, danced, or played games. My heart raced in my chest at the scene before me.

This wasn't my place.

I'd never fit in here.

Why'd I come?

And then I found the reason I came in the distance.

Holden Kincaide. The beautiful. The wonderful. The smart. The athletic. He was sat on a couch, his long legs spread out long and wide, a beer in his hands that sat in his lap. Surrounding him were his friends, Eros, Dean and Schmidt (whose real name is John but nobody calls him that). To our high school they were the king's, the leaders, the elite. And surrounding them were what we call the 'groupies'. The girls that worship them and every word they say. The girls that live and breathe for them, and the girls that won't stop trying to get their attention until one of them gets them pregnant.