devotion

downward spiral

Cassie has told Scarlett she was more than welcome to stay at her house as long as she wanted. Scarlett told her the bare minimum she had to in order to update Cassie on her situation at the moment. That night Cassie, Lexie and Scarlett raided their moms wine cabinet and Scarlett ended up drinking a bottle and a half of red wine. It was clear their mom wouldn't be able to decipher what she had drank on her own versus the girls. On the second day Cassie stayed home from school and they finished off most of the left over vodka in Cassie's hiding place. That night Cassie FaceTimed McKay which made Scarlett excuse herself to take a shower where she actually just turned on the water and cried for 30 minutes straight. Cassie was a little too drunk and a little too in love to realize that Scarlett's face looked like she had been crying. The next day Scarlett, Maddy and Cassie smoked the rest of the weed Scarlett had on her. It was enough for the three of them to end up raiding Maddy's pantry to the point of emptiness and drinking all the water bottles she had left. The fourth day Scarlett had yet to go to school. She woke up around 2pm and when she realized she had to stop drinking other peoples alcohol she started down Cassie's street to the corner store. She sat on the curb for a while thinking over her plan and when she saw a man who was probably middle aged with grey hair approach the store she put her plan into action.  "Excuse me sir?" Scarlett said towards the man. He looked her way his eyebrows raised. "I know this sounds funny but my mom sent me to get um," she looked down at her phone as if she was looking at a text message, "higher end vodka for her dinner party tonight and she gave me the money and everything but the new worker inside won't let me buy it even though the owner knows my mom and she's just gonna be so mad at me if I don't do what she asks." The man stood there for a minute taking her in. Maybe he was looking at her attitude, maybe it was her outfit, maybe it was the way she was twirling her hair but he just nodded and took the cash from her. "A handle of Tito's okay?" He rasped. Scarlett smiled at him and nodded her head. As he went inside Scarlett tried to hide from the clerk so the guy didn't think she was lying. At the time Scarlett didn't know this but the man was Cal Jacobs. She knew about him based on how Jules called the whole family "scary" but she had never met him so she had no idea this was the man Jules was so afraid of. The man walked to the side of the building handing her the bag. "Keep the change." He said handing her back her money. Scarlett just smiled at him telling him thank you and that her mother would really appreciate it and watched him walk to his car and drive away. Scarlett mentally fist bumped herself for her amazing plan and headed down the street back to Cassie's.
As the girls had dinner Scarlett poured the vodka, she had put into multiple water bottles, into her cup of sprite under the table. The dinner was pretty enjoyable considering Scarlett was tipsy the whole time and Cassie and Lexi's mom was telling the story of how she got pregnant for the first time. While Lexie was showering and Cassie was FaceTiming McKay again, Scarlett was silently drinking herself into oblivion and she hadn't remembered falling asleep that night.
On the fifth day it was time to go to school. She knew her mom wouldn't care but she felt bad freeloading in Cassie's house and just sitting in her room all day. Cassie and Lexi said they didn't mind and their mother thought Scarlett was "good company" but she still felt like she needed to try to go to school. Scarlett had snuck into her house in the middle of the night after she had left Maddy's the other day. She had packed 2 duffle bags full of clothes but once she got back to Cassie's she didn't unpack. She decided after a week she would try to find another place to stay for a couple days then just keep floating. She reached into her duffle bag to pulled out her too short plaid mini skirt and white crop top. She borrowed some of Cassie's slip on vans and push up bra with her permission because she specifically said "the girls need to be shown off if your heartbroken. Believe me it helps". She decided to take her advice and put on the bra. When she looked in the mirror she saw what Cassie was talking about. She looked hot and she knew it. Before she left though she reached down into her duffle bags and pulled out her "water" bottle to stuff into her purse. When she arrived at school she could tell she was getting more male attention but she wasn't sure if she liked it. Maddy told her that she needed to have a "hoe moment" to get back on track emotionally and maybe she was right. She had been avoiding Jules and Rue and she knew first period would be hard. When she arrived to first period she sat down next to Jules who was smiling at her. "Damn Scarlett you look good. I haven't seen you in forever." She exclaimed. Scarlett gave her the best smile she could and reached into her bag to take a big swig of her water bottle. First period seemed to drag on almost as slow as second ,third and fourth. On top of drinking half a water bottle Scarlett was barley eating. She wasn't doing it on purpose it was just that she wasn't hungry, food was the last thing on her mind and she only ate when it was dinner time at Cassie's which was normally salad since they didn't eat vegetarian like she did. Scarlett wasn't complaining though, they had allowed her to eat and sleep at their house for free. She sat down at a picnic table outside. Eating the bag of carrots the lunch lady had given her and washing it down with the vodka she had. Just as she was sipping the last drop in the bottle she looked across the parking lot. She could see two guys talking before they shook hands and one started his walk across the lot. When she zeroed in trying to see who it was she breathed in sharply. She recognized the sweater. She didn't want him to see her. She knew that Fez probably wouldn't try to talk to her but the thought of him being so close made her sick. Just as she was throwing away her carrots and empty water bottle she could've sworn they met eyes. It was hard to tell from a distance but she felt a pang in her chest. As Scarlett was standing there starring at Fez as he faced back towards her she felt a hand grip under her arm. "Ms.Abrams come with me please." She looked to see it was her principle and as he spoke she tried to look for Fez again but he was gone.
She sat down in the office feeling the cold chair against her burning skin. She wasn't sure if it was the vodka or seeing Fez but her stomach was turning and she couldn't stop sweating. Her principle was sitting across his desk just starring at her. "Why am I here?" She asked trying not to slur her words. "Well it has come to my attention that one of your teachers believes, based on the smell of your breath, that you have been consuming alcohol on campus today." He told her.  Fuck. She thought to herself. The wheels started turning in her head but before she could respond he started dialing on his desk phone. She waited while he held the phone up to his ear, tapping his pen on the desk. "Hi Mrs.Abrams if you could give me a call back when you get a cha-". Scarlett had leaned over his desk to press down on the hang up button on the phone. "She won't answer no matter how many times you call." Scarlett said sitting back down. "Ms Abrams you cannot just-". "Look I understand your position you've obviously heard about my break up and you are doubting my mental stability" she said making up the lies as she went trying not to leave any time for him to interrupt. "Just because your a man does not give you the right to think you are stronger than me. Yes I'm heartbroken but just because I'm not being attentive to a male staff member somehow means I must be drunk? Now I don't think that's right and that goes against everything I believe." The principles eyes widened and she acted as though she dropped her pencil on the ground. When he reached down to pick it up she popped a piece of gum in her mouth, gave it two big chews then spit it back into her hand. "Sir do you want to smell my breath?" She asked innocently. "Oh that won't be necessary." But as he said that Scarlett leaned over and breathed on his face. "Mouth wash must smell like alcohol to Mr. Campbell. I'm so glad we had this talk" Scarlett said walking out as confidently as she could trying her best not to stumble.