— Alyssa's POV —
It's been three weeks since I got outed at school, my parents never found out thankfully and the news died down quicker than I thought, thanks to Scarlotte who broke it to her team that she's leaving cheer - two weeks before the homecoming game - and that's all people talked about.
We barely passed with our project, it taking two attempts to even look semi okay, but we took the B like a pat on the back and moved on. It wouldn't effect our grade too massively anyways.
The homecoming game was a huge success, Scarlotte sat with me and the others outcasts under the bleachers during the game. We ended up winning for the first time in four years, and the after party was huge. I wasn't interested in it in the slightest, so Scarlotte left us for that, and me and the gang ended up splitting off eventually, all of us going home.
That was the first and only time Scarlotte has hung out with me at school, and not that I didn't enjoy it - I did - it was just very odd. Rory and Ollie was specifically confused as to why she was with us for the game, and honestly so was I.
My only guess is that now she's not cheer captain, the girls don't respect her anymore and she just doesn't hang out with them anymore.
And although, I'd like to spend more time with Scarlotte, I am so thankful we haven't had any more assignments. Without the excuse to hangout though, we haven't seen each other as much as I'd like to. I don't have the courage to just go up and ask her if she wants to come over to mine, so silence has all that's been between us lately.
It's still quite strange between us, I'm not sure if we're friends or not, and maybe I read into it too much, but the night we shared together, opening up about dark shit, I thought it meant something.
I force myself out of the delusional thought path I'm going down, looking around at the people in the library. Life at home has been slightly chaotic, dad's been spending more time golfing than being with my mom, so lately it's just arguments. I thought living in a big house would benefit me, so I wouldn't hear their constant bickering, but all fails when it comes to their screaming matches.
So, I've been doing some last minute homework in the library after school, it's so quiet here and it's like my brain can finally focus and everything around me finally shuts off.
No one else matters in this moment, all I care about is the music playing through my AirPods, and the notes I'm writing out for our last final exam of the year.
"Oh, thank god." Scarlotte races over to my table, sitting in front of me, and I pause my music, putting my headphones back in their case. Where did she come from? "It's my moms birthday, Jeremy has taken her away for the next few nights for a bender, and my brother's with his girlfriend, so I'm home alone."
I don't know where this is going, but I give her a puzzled look, sure enough to give her the sign for her carry on.
"I wouldn't ask if I wasn't desperate, but I don't want anyone seeing where I live." She says, "It's kind of a rough neighbourhood and I don't feel safe staying there overnight on my own, and I was wondering if you wanted another movie marathon?"
I wouldn't judge her for where she lives or how she lives in fact, but the fact she doesn't feel safe there worries me. "You do realise you can just stay with me, right? If it's not safe-"
"I can't, I have two cats, they can't be left all night." She says, and I hum. "If you don't want to, that's fine, I could tell my brother to come home and just bring his girlfriend over, I just didn't want to interrupt them. He's not had a break from mom for months."
"Yeah, no, no, of course, I'll come over. It sounds fun, but you have to promise I get to pick one movie at least." I tell her.
"Deal."
"So, I'm guessing you want me to drive?" I assume straight up and she gives me a cheeky smile. "Why don't you just learn? It's not that hard."
"Hey! I can drive, I never said I couldn't, I just can't afford to get a car yet." Now I feel bad for even mentioning it, oh, god. "Plus, I don't need a car when I've got you."
She's got me?
***
When Scarlotte said she didn't feel safe in her neighbourhood, I didn't quite know what to expect, but when she gave me directions to the south side of town, I knew exactly what I was going to face.
Drugs, gangs, metal fenced in yards, and kids playing on the street - which may sound wholesome, but I'm talking about the kids that chase you down on bikes to scare you.
I tried to keep a clear narrative though, all I've ever known about the south side is what I've heard from other people and usually they're just horror stories.
And it wasn't as bad as I thought it first would be, it's definitely not at all what I'm used to, it's the exact opposite from the place I live, but it's not terrible or horrifying.
Scarlotte is quiet for most of the ride as we get to this side of town, looking over at me - staring - trying to examine my face and read what I'm thinking. I realise this is probably the first time she's ever had anyone over at her house from school, so not only is a big step, it could also be overwhelming for her.
She's picture perfect at school. Her hair is flat ironed every morning, makeup perfected in every way, and her clothes look like they're fresh out of the store. But outside of school, I'm slowly learning that's a total different story. She is not at all the person people think she is.
Not that where you live and what you come from changes anything - it doesn't - but this is the last thing I expected. I always assumed she lived near me with some money in her pocket.
I guess I was all wrong.
"Just be careful as you walk in, the cats like to run at the door when they hear it." She warns me, and I giggle with anticipation. I love animals, my parents hate pets and never let me have even a hamster growing up. My dream was to have a cat or a dog.
One the gate and the door in unlocked, we rush into the house like scared children as fast as we can, laughs filling the room as we do.
As warned, both cats coming running shortly after the door closes behind us. One looks like a tiger and the other is all black. They're so cute.
"Black one in Sparkle, she's my baby, I got her for my birthday when I was ten." She picks the black kitty up, laying a kiss on its head. "And this little one is Jasper. He's my brothers cat, and he's kind of a dick. He's the classic example of J name. He doesn't like to be touched, he just likes food and my brother."
"I think I like Jasper, he sounds fun." I tell her, and she smiles at me. I take a look around the living room as that's the room you first walk into. It seems pretty normal, there's a lot of dark furniture and decorative choices which I'm not used to - my mom loves white - but it's not at all bad, it's quite homey.
"Wanna come to my room?" She asks, and I nod in an instant, quite eager to what she calls her own space.
I don't think a house can tell you what a person is like, but a bedroom definitely can. Mine does anyway. Every wall paints my hobbies and interests.
If I could tell myself even just a couple weeks ago that I would be sitting in Scarlotte Ridges room, I would've laughed in my face. It's crazy how much can change in such a short amount of time.
Her room is much smaller than mine, but it's big enough for a double bed to be centred in the room, two bedside tables next to each side, and a walking closet attached on the left.
The first thing I notice is on her bedside table she has a stuffed animal with a pride flag pin in it and that has me wondering so many thoughts. She could just be an ally, but maybe a small part of me wants her to be more than that.
Her walls are white and plain, but are covered in black and white tapestry of the woods. She has one poster and it's of a movie I don't recognise. I mentally remind myself to suggest it later when we pick a movie.
Candles and crystals lay on the window ledge scattered around at random, and I notice a picture frame of her and what I could only guess was her sister.
Scarlotte's the baby of the family then, her sister looks older than her in those photos, maybe only by two or three years, but the heigh difference tells all.
Her room is quite simple, but it's perfect and peaceful. It's like a break from the chaos that she has to face everyday outside. I love it.
"So, what do you think? I haven't scared you away yet, have I?" She gets sat down on her, crossing her legs and patting the bed for me to side down beside her.
"I like it, it's very... you. Not in a bad way, your room is so peaceful, I love it. I feel like mine is so chaotic." I tell her, and she smiles, looking around the room.
"It fits you though, you are chaotic in your own little way." She says, pulling out her Ipad and I raise my brows. "Birthday gift from my Grandpa. I don't have a tv in here so this will have to do, that okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, that's fine." I rush out.
"I missed you, you know?" She puts in her password on the big screen as she says so, and all sorts of emotions burst through me.
"You missed me?" I ask as if it's such a shock because to me it is. I'm a nobody.
"Hm." She hums with a nod, "I didn't really know how to ask you if you wanted to hang out again, and well, thanks to my fucked up life, here we are, I found an excuse."
"You do realise you can just ask me?" I'm a hypocrite, I couldn't do it either.
"I know, but honestly, you kind of intimidate me and I just kinda thought maybe just a small part of you thought it was just about the projects."
"Sorry, hold on, hold on. I intimidate you?!" Shocker of the fucking century.
"I don't think you realise how intimidating you actually are, you got fucked over so much in high school and you just raised above it all, it seemed like it didn't even bother you at all. It's kinda scary how much confidence you actually have, I never could've done it, I'm barely keeping my head above water now."
"Oh, babe. You really have no idea what goes on in my mind." I tell her as a matter of fact, and her eyes latch onto mine, eye contact never faltering. The tension in the room rises in an instant and my heart patters out of my chest.
"I think I have some idea." Her face comes closer to mine, and like impulse my eyes flicker down to her lips and then up at her eyes.
I'm in dangerous territory. Very gay dangerous territory.
"I don't think you-" And my words are cut off in an instant by her lips on mine.
Everything melts away as background noise as I kiss her back like impulse, my hand cups her jaw, pulling her closer to me and soon enough she's on top of me, taking full control of the kiss.
It's not long until her tongue begs for entrance and I accept her, our tongues dancing with one another as our moans fill the room.
It's desperate and hot, and it's needed on both parts, both of us as willing as the other. I feel her hands all over me, groping me over my clothes and every part of me wants to let her have me in this moment.
She's got a fierce grip on my thigh as she starts to grind against me, and all I wish in this moment is that we didn't have our clothes on.
Not once do we come up for air, no words are uttered as we makeout out like horny teenagers, and every hair on my body is standing up as my hormones rage through my body.
I need her.
"Scar." I let out a whine and I feel her signature smirk against my own lips.
Her hands lowers between us, and I can't contain the whimper that leaves me as she cups my pussy in her hands, her thumb circling my clit through my jean shorts.
"I'm a- fuck, I'm-" I break away from her and she looks at me with those eyes, this time they're dilated in heat and I feel like I'm about to faint from just the sight. "I'm a virgin."
"You are?" She gets up off the top of me, and I sit up, meeting her, taking her hands in mine. "Sorry, I don't know why-"
"Please, do not fucking say sorry right now." I brush my fingers through my hair with a laugh. I must look like a hot mess right now. "I just, I want you to know. I don't know what I'm doing is all I'm saying."
"That's okay." She says, "We've all got to start somewhere, right? But not right now, babe, I think maybe, we should stop? Just for right now."
"You're just gonna give me blue balls and act like nothing just happened?" I ask out of audacity, throwing myself down on the bed and she giggles, laying down on my chest. She really is going to leave me like this.
"It's cute, stay sitting all pretty and messy." She says and I can only scoff in reply. "I'm not going to take your virginity because you're horny, angel, you need to wait."
"This totally isn't fair." I say and she looks up and her eyes practically twinkle. "I knew you were fruity."
"You had no idea." She tells me as if it's a fact and she's correct. I had no idea. I didn't suspect this happening at all.
I just made out with Scarlotte Ridge.
A/N
HEHEHEHEHEHE
As Mr.Styles would say this is what we call edging and honestly it's quite fun. We love a little unfinished business in this house.
I love them so much, oh my god, I'm so happy with how this book is going.
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