Scarlett Garcia had a pretty uneventful few years at boarding school staying in the House of Anubis until a new girl shows up and happens to be the Chosen One. They discover the secrets of the house and secrets about Scarlett herself.
[Season 2-3 +...
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Trigger Warning - Mentions of Sexual Assault, Victim Blaming, Gaslighting ** before and after each mention This is a short chapter because I don't want to put a lot of plot into it. For anyone skipping and wanting to know what happens, she comes face to face with someone who assaulted her and is back at the school. There is a cute scene between Eddie and Scarlett at the end - after the **
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The last thing Scarlett wanted was to be woken up in the middle of the night and lined up in the kitchen. But that's what was happening as they waited for Eddie to get back. Once he was, Victor started his monologue on the rule-breaking in the house. This meant the entire house was on lockdown. They couldn't leave apart from school. They were being escorted to class as well.
"Victor-"
"Be quiet, Miss Garcia," he yelled.
"No," she retorted. "That's taking away all our freedom. What if I need the toilet am I going to be escorted there? Where do we draw the line, huh?"
"Miss Garcia-" he yelled.
**
"No. I will not show you respect because you yell at me. You let a fucking sexual assaulter back into this school and I'm having my freedoms stripped? Austin Thorne can waltz back into this school like nothing happened but someone goes to a disco and we can't walk to school unattended? God forbid we break curfew, right?" Scarlett cried. "I am so done with this place, this-"
She stopped, holding back her tears. She walked out, not wanting to feel the pitying eyes on her. She just wanted to sleep. Everything was too much.
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It was the end of their first day being escorted everywhere. Scarlett had barely said a word to anyone, the constant anxiety of seeing him again looming over her. She knew he was back. She knew she would see him. It was just when. And it was just her luck the day that nothing else could possibly go wrong was the day it happened.
They were rounding everyone up for the end of the day walk back to the house, Scarlett standing alone, wanting to just do her work and sleep, when she spotted the familiar head of hair. God, she wished she didn't freeze up, that instead she could just walk away, but it was like that day all over again. And just like that day, he moved towards her, ready to taunt her.
"Hey, Lottie," he greeted, moving towards her.
She stared at him, like a deer in headlights. She swallowed, wiping her hands on her skirt, "Austin."
"Long time no see. Now don't worry about last year. Let bygones be bygones. Even if you did lie-"
"What?"
"Please, Lottie, we both know what really happened."
His hand reached out to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. She physically recoiled under his touch and gaze.
"I forgive you," he said.
"Well, I don't forgive you, asshole."
"Lottie, baby, we both know you wanted it. So, why are you acting like this?" He muttered, hand lingering on her cheek.
"Get off me," Scarlett exclaimed, pushing him away. She had tears in her eyes and she despised it. He wanted a reaction and he got one. And yet again she was proven right. The school really did not give a shit about her.
"What's going on here?" Miss Denby asked, eyes now falling on Scarlett.
"That's Austin Thorne, the student you're all meant to keep away from Scarlett," Patricia explained, glaring at the boy and teacher.
"I was just saying hi to Lottie."
**
The situation was de-escalated. Well, they sent him away. Scarlett stood, head down, hair hiding her face as she cried, wanting no one to see how much it still hurt. No one said anything, not sure how to comfort the girl.
Eddie, moved forwards, remembering what she told him before. Her mum would hold her hand when she was so overwhelmed nothing felt real. He moved to stand next to her.
"Hey, Scarlett, it's Eddie, I'm going to hold your hand, okay? Your safe, it's just me," he whispered, slowly and gently placing his hand in hers. His thumb grazed along her knuckles.
She glanced up, hair sticking to her face, tears staining it, cheeks red and eyes bloodshot. He reached out, gently wiping away her tears.
"Is this okay?"
She nodded.
"He's an asshole. We believe you, okay? We know what he did and we won't let him near you again," he reassured.
"Please don't promise something like that. Sweetie did and look what happened."
"Well, I'm not my dad. You're my best friend, Scar, even if we're not together anymore," he comforted.
"Really?"
"Really."
She smiled weakly, "Do you wanna watch all five Scream movies then?"
"Sure."
A silence fell between them as they waited for the rest of Anubis house to gather.
"Do you ever feel so completely exhausted? Like everything is just too much and it's piling up and you feel like you're going to drown under it all?" She asked quietly, wide eyes staring up at him.
"All the time."
"Okay, good." She nodded, looking down before back at him. "What do you do?"
"I ask for help."
"Eddie."
"Yes, Scarlett."
"I need some help."
"I'm here."
Word Count: [863]
Double update to make up for being away for like 4 months!! Let me know what you think about Scarlett, Eddie, the whole thing, anything. :)
