Scarlett
Before we sat down at the dinner table, James introduced himself to my dad. It's only been ten minutes and so far my dad really enjoys James's company (what a shocker...literally). My dad is overprotective and doesn't like when I hangout with boys but for some reason I feel like he will make James an exception. My dad doesn't even like Ian as much as he likes James, which is sad because Ian is over all the time.
There was mischief and amusement in James's eyes as I glared at him. Sadly, he sat next to me at the dinner table.
He knew I was hating this.
I glanced at the clock, checking to see how many more minutes left of my misery.
The clock read: 6:24pm
I tightened my fist. Dammit.
"So," my mom started as she set down our plates. "How did you and Scarlett meet?"
I looked to my right at James and noticed how well-mannered he was. He had his napkin in his lap and he didn't start eating until everyone got their food and sat down. He even took of his beanie to show respect.
"We have second period English together," James stated.
My mom and dad finally sat down at the table across from James and I.
"So that's how you guys started talking?" my mom asked, confused.
"Well, I made the first move to talk to her because secretly..." James leaned toward my parents, covering his mouth with his hand so I couldn't see.
"...I have a tiny crush on her," he whispered to them, then leaned back in his chair.
Even though he whispered, I could still hear and I glared at him.
"Aw! A boy has a crush on our babygirl!" my mom exclaimed, grasping onto my dads hand.
I put my hands over my face and groaned. "Mom!!"
This was so humiliating.
James looked down at his food. On everyone's plates, there was mashed potatoes and slices of steak.
James picked up his fork, stabbed it into the steak and took a bite.
His eyes bulged out of their sockets. "This is the most amazing steak I have ever tasted! You need to become a professional chef, Mr. Jenson!"
"What?" My dad looked suprised. "No, you're being too nice," my dad said with flattery. He really likes compliments when it comes to his cooking.
"I'm being serious!" James exclaimed, taking another bite of the steak.
"Thank you, son! My own daughter never compliments my food." My dad glared at me.
"Come on, dad. You know I love everything you make," I reassured him as I devoured the steak.
He nodded as if he didn't care. Then he went back to talking to James. "What sports do you play?"
"I'm on varsity football and soccer," James told him triumphantly.
My dad seemed impressed. "Wow, what an athlete!"
James laughed. "Yeah."
"Do you have good grades?" My mother joined in on the conversation. I sat there listening.
"I have A's and B's, ma'am."
"What colleges are you looking at?"
"Standford and Cornell."
"Do you know what you want to be when you grow up?" Now it was my dad that spoke.
"Uhh..." James was hesitant. "Probably a football player or something involved with computer animation."
I sighed. He really has his whole life planned out, huh. And me, I'm struggling just to get through the week.
My mother and father were beyond impressed by James.
My mom looked at me. "James, did Scarlett ever tell you she got accepted by a top agency in Dubai to model for them?"
James stopped eating. Stunned, he looked at me. "Did...did you really?"
I glared at my mom. "Mom! I didn't want to tell anyone! Not even my close friends know!"
It's true, I did get accepted about a couple weeks ago. But if I sign the contract, that means I would have to fly to Dubai during the school year and I can't afford to miss school.
"What agency?" James seemed intrigued.
"Neva Management," I mumbled under my breath.
His fork dropped onto his plate, causing a huge noise to erupt.
"No way." Even he couldn't believe it.
"Believe it." I didn't want to speak about this any longer.
He looked back at my parents. "I'm not suprised, Scarlett is beyond stunning."
My heart stopped beating for a second.
"Isn't she?" mother agreed, excitement in her tone.
I tried keeping my cool. "Just...do not tell anyone, okay?"
His left leg nudged me under the table. I looked up to see him smirking at me.
"Your secret is safe with me." He winked.
I couldn't open my mouth to say something because James was watching me. I slowly lifted my eyes to him and almost broke.
He was looking at me as if I were special to him; the feeling of being special so foreign to me, it hurt to be looked at like that.
My eyes darted to my half empty plate, avoiding his gaze.
"Man, am I full. Thank you so much for the food, Mr. and Mrs. Jenson. It was fantastic!" James rubbed his belly and stretched back in his seat. "Do you want me to do the dishes?"
"Nonsense! You're the guest," my mom told him. "Has Scarlett ever shown you around our house?"
"Uh no, not yet."
My mother looked at me. "Scarlett, why don't you show your friend the house. Maybe he can stay a while and you guys can hangout?
I was fuming with anger. Son of a bitch! He was only supposed to stay for dinner!!!
"Fine." I grabbed James's arm and pulled him up from his chair.
"Thanks for the food, mom and dad," I thanked them as I pulled James up the stairs.
"Thanks again!" James said once more.
"You're welcome! Stay as long as you like!" my dad shouted from the dining room as I shut my door to my bedroom.
"Nice bedroom," James said as he observed the room. He looked at the pictures of my family and I and my friends and I that were hung on the walls and placed on top of the cabinets.
My bed is placed up against my wall next to my window that overlooks the street. On my headboard, I have a bunch of fairy lights that change colors when turned on. The walls in my room are lavender and my flooring is a dark brown wood. I have a T.V placed on the wall opposite of my bed. There's a lavender bean bag that I usually sit in when I'm studying or I will sit at my desk. And finally, I have my closet which is in the far left hand of my room.
James sat on the edge of my bed. "You even have a T.V? That's sick!"
I scratched the back of my neck. "Yeah..."
James was kicking his feet like a child. "Can I ask you a question?"
I sat down at my desk chair. "Go ahead."
"I don't mean this offensively or anything."
I rolled my eyes. "I never get offended."
"Ok. Just making sure."
I ushered him to speak. "Well, go on."
"Are you adopted?"
I looked down at the floor and sighed. "Yeah, I am. I guess it's easy to figure it out when both your parents are white and you're mixed."
"You're half black, half white, correct?" he asked.
I nodded.
"That's very interesting. I love your parents, by the way. They're so nice."
"Yeah, they really are."
"Can I ask what happened to your biological parents?"
I looked up at him. "No." My tone was cold, harsh.
"Will you ever tell me?" he asked.
"Jesus Christ," I groaned. "Why do you want to know so damn bad?!"
"I don't think you get it, do you?" He stood up and walked towards me.
"Get what?"
Kneeling inbetween my legs, he held onto my thighs for support.
His touch left me unsteady; at points I couldn't tell if I was breathing or not. I even felt a pulse coming from...down there.
He looked up at me. I was mesmerized by his eyes, the deepest parts of the forest.
"W-What are you do-'' I stammered but he cut me off.
"There's just something about you that's made me like you ever since the day I met you. You drive me crazy, and if liking someone this much is insanity, then let me go mad. God I just..." James was getting frustrated. Letting go of my thigh, he raked his hand in his hair.
But I didn't want him to let go. It felt so...good.
I was stunned by his words. "You just what?"
"I...I just want you."
I blinked. James was ruining me. He was stripping away my power, my sanity.
I stood up and slammed my palms against my desk. "No! Just...no."
My braids fell infront of my face as I turned my back to James.
"No what, Scarlett?" James stood up as well, standing right behind me.
"I can't believe this. Everything you say and do...it's too much."
He stepped closer, almost closing the space between us. "Do I make you nervous?"
The breaths I took quickened. "No."
All of a sudden, his hand gently pulled all my hair to one side, exposing my neck. The other hand latched onto my waist, pulling me against his chest.
His lips brushed against my exposed neck as he whispered to me. "I know you're scared, but it's not of me. You're scared of the realness. You're fearful for the first time in your life of something you won't be able to walk away from. And that scares the hell out of you."
I didn't want to listen to the words he spoke. But he speaks to me in ways no one before him has. That's why it is impossible for me to not listen.
I wanted to escape from his hold but my legs wouldn't move. It almost felt as if a venomous snake shot its venom inside my skin to paralyze me.
James was the snake.
My head fell back as his lips attached to my neck, running kisses up and down the crook.
"Let me into your complicated world," he pleaded, his hands running up and down the sides of me. "I want to know all your troubles, your hopes, your dreams. Everything."
I felt dizzy as his words overwhelmed me with so much intensity and power, I really felt like I was drowning.
His tongue flicked against my pulse, sending bolts of electricity up my spine.
"Oh, god," I moaned, letting my head rest against his chest as he continued to pleasure me.
"Taste...so...good," he mumbled inbetween kisses.
I could feel myself letting go, giving into him. My world was going hazy as his pleasures tore me apart. I needed to stop it before it got serious.
"Stop!" I pushed myself away from him with as much power as I could conjure.
He fell back a little, confused as to what was going on. My eyebrows lifted when I saw his confused state. Why was he confused?
"I'm sorry. Was I going too far?" James turned shy, embarrassed.
"Yes!" I protested, angry at myself for letting him even go as far as kiss my neck.
"Jesus fucking Christ," he mumbled as he ruffled his hair. "You're so intoxicating."
"See! You need to stop that!"
"Stop what?"
"Saying all those things! You don't understand that it screws with my brain!" I was boiling, my face turning red from anger.
He smirked. "What's the matter? Afraid of temptation?"
How does this boy know everything?!!
"No! I just can't trust anything you say or do! This is one whole bet, isn't it? Because as far as I know, you have never paid attention to me before this school year started. Never!"
A flash of pain struck his eyes. "You think this is a bet?"
"As far as I know, I'm one of the only girls in our grade that you haven't gotten with. And everyone claims that you try to get with every damn girl!"
"Scarlett-''
"You know you took my first kiss? I wanted to have my first kiss with someone I actually liked, and not with someone like you!"
He blinked. "I didn't know."
Rolling my eyes, I scoffed. "Of course you didn't. All you care about is getting with every girl to prove you're the alpha."
"There was never a bet, Scarlett. I can't believe you would even think of me in that hideous way." He sounded betrayed.
"I don't know what else to think about you. I don't know who to trust anymore."
"Who made you like this?" he asked.
My eyebrow lifted. "W-What?"
"Who in the hell made you so cold, so parinoid?"
I thought about my biological parents.
"No one," I lied.
"Maybe I should be the one that shouldn't trust you, because you just lied to me."
I opened my mouth to retort but I couldn't.
"I know you want to believe me, but there's something that's holding you back. I've never been the type to understand people but when it comes to you, I can read you like a book," he claimed.
James stepped closer. "But maybe that's what you want. You want someone that understands you. But when it's given to you on a silver platter, you don't know what to do to it."
I looked up at him with as much strength as I could. "I will not apologize for being so cold. I will always protect myself from..." I stopped.
"From what?"
From being hurt again. From breaking.
But I never said anything.
James cupped the side of my face with his hand. Tilting his head, he analyzed me. "You have such a beautiful heart. It's tragic that you have to guard it all the time."
James walked past me and opened my bedroom door. But before he left he said one last thing.
"No matter how much you push me away, I'm always going to find my way back in. You are no longer alone, I promise you that."
But a promise like that is always broken.