If Red Means No, Invert The Color

Chapter 4

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Everest arrived at Monica's house at 7:30pm and waited outside in his car. He wasn't looking forward to this date she had planned. He enjoyed eating dinner at nice places, but he hated always paying for someone who hardly eats. She's like a bird when it comes to her food. She's so busy worrying about her figure she won't eat a full meal. It's frustrating. He sat, leaning against the hood of his car, waiting impatiently. He had sent her several texts saying he was there and had gotten no reply. Monica was like this. It took her ages to get ready. Her looks were her most important priority. She always caked on her makeup and spent extra time on her hair. She always had to look perfect. Well, her idea of perfect.

He soon heard a door open, looking up to reveal Monica, walking down the driveway. Her hair was tied up in a bun, each strand of hair carefully tucked away. Her ear's heald small diamond earrings in each lobe, a necklace hung loosely around her neck matching the earrings. She wore light makeup, her eyeliner in perfect wings, her mascara making her eyelashes long and black, slight blush on her cheeks, and her eyebrows were done. A soft pink was painted on her lips plump lips. Her dress was simple, it was a navy blue, spaghetti strapped dress that hung just above her knees, revealing her long, slender legs and white flatts. Her knees looked knobby, her bones clearly visible through her skin. She was wearing a push up. Everest could tell. Monica was practically flat chested. And tonight, she was not.

"Hey babe!" Monica greets, kissing Everest's cheek. He could feel the gloss sticking to his stubble.

"Hey. You ready to go?" Everest asks, gesturing towards his car.

Monica nods and walks over to the passenger side and lets herself in.

The car drive was quiet on Everest's part. He spoke no words, only listening to Monica's ranting about some new girl on the cheerleading squad.

"She can't even do a high-kick properly! Plus, every time we practice she gawks at you from afar. Stupid freshman. She's going to get punched if I catch her looking at you again. " Monica rambles, her voice loud and punctual, her head fuming with anger.

Everest let out a small huff.

Monica did not like that at all. "What? Do you want other girls looking at you? Do you not appreciate MY attention? Fine, I guess I'll just go and stare at Devon, he's pretty hot. He's a linebacker isn't he? Yeah, I'll do that"

Everest sighed audibly. "Seriously? No, I do not want other girls staring at me. Yes I appreciate your attention. No, I do not want you staring at Devon. And you're wrong, he's our wide receiver. Why do you have to do this every damn time we go out!?"

"Because, I don't like you giving others attention, especially not girls! Like, for example, today you spent the whole day with that circus freak on crutches! Did you sit by me at lunch? No. Did you walk me to class? No. Did I get a ride home? No. That freak did! Why was that? Like seriously, when did you and him become buddy buddy? Huh?"

She was screaming at him, Everest could feel himself losing control of his anger, his eyes were flashing red, and the road ahead of him soon became an obstacle course. "Oh my god! What, I can't help someone out that isn't you? You have no right to call him names, acting like he's beneath you. He's not. You're acting like you're the lowest of the low. Every time I dont text back in 10 seconds or don't walk you to class it's WW3! Well, sorry princess, the entire world doesn't revolve around you!"

A gasp came from the passenger side, but Everest ignored her. He pulled into 'El Monte', an Italian restaurant that was supposedly rated "4 stars" on yelp. It was Monica's idea. Every where they went, Monica picked. Every time. He hated all these fancy restaurants and fancy dates. He hated for paying for stuff he shouldn't have to, and that wasn't worth it. He pulled into the first parking spot he saw, slamming his foot on the break and putting the car in park. He yanked his keys from the ignition and stormed away in anger. He got to the gold-plated doors of the restaurant, sighing and taking a deep breath. Soon Monica joined him, linking her arm with his, pretending everything was normal. Like they always did

They were soon escorted to their table, the restaurant in itself was nice. It wasn't too fancy, much to Everest's luck. They quickly ordered and Everest pulled out his phone, scrolling through Instagram and paying Monica, no mind. He was just scrolling, nothing really interesting to him was in sight, then a certain photo caught his eye. It was Kieran. He was doing a sort of pouty face at the camera, the caption read, "Stuck lying in bed for eternity, someone rescue me." Everest sat there, staring at the photo and inspecting every aspect. The photo in itself was far from "good quality" but the subject in the photo was the definition of perfect. 'He's so cute' Everest was shocked as this thought flew threw his mind, but he tried to ignore it. But he couldn't. Kieran's lip was curled into a frown, his eyes beating like a puppies. Those eyes.

He was snapped out of his daze by their waitress setting down their plates. For Everest; Cheese Ravioli. For Monica, a garden salad. He ate at his food hungrily, but monica merely picked at it, occasionally popping a tomato chuck in her mouth.This continued until Everest had finished his plate, her picking at the salad. This made Everest want to snap.

"Seriously? That salad cost 15 dollars, and you have hardly touched it. 15 dollars! I seriously can't afford to keep doing this! My father gives me a $100 dollar allowance every two weeks and your "dinner plans" nearly every night is wiping me out. I need that money for gas and the gym." Everest complained, looking her dead in the eye.

Monica's face held no expression. Her lips were pursed and her left eyebrow raised. "Do you want me to blow up like a balloon?"

Everest snapped. "You're fucking anorexic Monica! You make these dinner plans, hardly eat, work out continuously, and you look like a corpse! I can't watch you do this to yourself anymore!" Everest exclaimed, standing up and leaving a $50 on the table.

Everest stormed out of the restaurant, ignoring the hostess and their goodbye wishes. He was fuming. Everest could hear people whispering behind him as he left, but he didn't care. He just knew he needed to get out of there. He could feel his blood boiling beneath his skin and his breathing became more like heaving. He soon found himself at his car, kicking his bumper. He sighed, sinking to the floor and letting his head fall back onto the back of his car. He felt tired. He was so sick of fighting 24/7. He couldn't handle it. Seeing someone literally starve themselves to death made him angry. He didn't understand it. But it didn't bring him sadness, or worry. He knew he should feel that way, but he just simply did not.

~

He dropped Monica off at her house, they exchanged their goodbyes, but not a kiss this time. He watched as she walked away and pulled out his phone, the picture Kieran had posted still lit up his screen. He sighed, deciding to send him a message. He simply couldn't resist. And he did not know why. But something about Kieran captivated him. He wanted to know the boy behind the tattoos. He needed to know.

~~~

Kieran sat on his bed, laptop on his lap and textbooks sprawled all about his comforter. He had three more homework assignments to do, then he'd be free to sleep. It had been a long tiring day, and he was desperate to sleep. He reached into his nightstand and grabbed his pack of stoges and a lighter, puting the deadly stick to his mouth and lighting it. He sighed. He hadn't smoked in a few hours. And he needed it.

He was deep in concentration, reading the short story carefully so he could answer the questions about it. His concentration was soon diminished by a "Ping!" sound coming from his phone. He looked up from his text book and set it down, picking up his phone. It was a notification from instagram. He had a direct message. He clicked on the notification and nearly died when he saw who it was from. 'EverestD'. He tapped the message icon and began to read.

"Hey. Need some company?"

Kieran felt confused, yet again. Where was this boy getting at? Why was he giving him so much attention? They've gone to school together since kindergarten and up until now, Everest had never muttered a word to him. So, why now? He read over the message at least ten times before deciding to respond.

He began typing. "Hey, it's fine, just stuck at home doing a mountain of homework." He hit send.

He received a reply within seconds. "You requested for help, I'll be there in 10"

Then Everest went offline.