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He sucks in his bottom lip, eyes peering at the tree behind me. “Forget it.” Dropping his hands, he shuffles back a few steps. “Just drop your holier-than-thou attitude and follow the rules, Scar. And speaking of rules, go clean up the fucking glass before I make you walk in it.”
“Oh. Now I’m Scar again?”
While rubbing the back of his neck, unwilling to make eye contact with me, he slaps the tree with a guttural growl then heads back to the party.
Once he’s gone, I slide down the trunk of the tree and drop my ass to the ground. Neo brought up my grandparents and mentioned them being the reason I’m so rebellious with the rules. In some ways, I think he’s right. Two people who were so in love were torn apart, so it could bring together two others, all so they could give me life.
Maybe my problem isn’t this place or The Society, after all. Maybe the weight of guilt inside me just forces me to pretend it's everyone else and not me.
I have a choice to make: to eat my pride and comply, so I can come out stronger than ever, or refuse and slowly break.
ChapterTwelve
SCARLETT
I chose strength.Which is exactly why I’m soaking in this hot pond, or pool, whatever the hell it is, drinking my third and fourth drink of the night. Or day. But I think it’s night.
The sun is setting behind the mountains and the solar lights outside the spring have come on.
A few people have left, leaving only me, Riley, the three jerks, Melody, and Hannah. I’m not even sure why Melody is still here, considering no matter how much attention she gives to Neo, he doesn’t give any back to her. She looks desperate, if you ask me.But no one did ask me, so I’ll just finish my drink and keep my mouth shut.
Ever since I’ve cleaned up the glass—both mine and Neo’s—it’s been a chill night. The guys haven’t given me any more shit. Crew is still flirting with Hannah, and I’ve determined he’s doing it to try to get a rise out of me, which he will not. Not publicly, anyway.
I don’t care. I really don’t. I don’t even know Hannah, so who am I to tell her that Crew will fuck her three ways from Sunday then throw her away like she’s Monday morning’s cold coffee?
Coffee sounds fantastic, though. I wonder if they have any on campus. “Hey,” I say to Jagger, who somehow wound up right next to me, “do they have coffee at this place?” I slap a hand over my mouth, sputtering, “I’m sorry. Am I allowed to talk to you, almighty Lawless member?”
“I’ll allow it tonight. And yes, there is coffee back at the dorms and in the dining hall. Why? You want coffee?” He laughs, noticing my double-fisted drinks.
“Oooh,” Riley chimes in. “Coffee sounds so good. Let’s drink some and stay up all night.”
I laugh at her enthusiasm. “We have school tomorrow, babe.”
“Oh, shit. That’s right.” She sulks, sinking back down in the water. I might be drunk, but Riley is worse off.
“Maybe,” I say, answering Jagger’s question. “Maybe later, I might want some.”
Jagger raises an eyebrow. “Then coffee you shall get.”
“Why are you being nice to me? Aren’t you supposed to be mean to me, too? Aren’t those the,” I air quote, “‘rules?’”
“Being mean to you isn’t a rule. Your obedience is. As far as I’m concerned, you’re obeying everyone just fine.”
Hannah laughs hysterically when Crew pulls her onto his lap.
My forehead crinkles as I glare at them.
Crew.Complete and utter asshole. An asshole that I want to strangle with my bare hands while shaking some sense into him. Or at least, shaking him back to a time when he was a decent human being.
“Does that bother you?” Jagger asks, catching my stare across the pool.
“Them?” I chuckle. “Not. At. All.” I tip back one of my drinks, the fruity one, and finish it off. Instead of throwing it, because it’s glass and I don’t want to break another one and have to clean up the mess, I push my body up and lean over some rocks outside the water to settle it between them.
A hand slaps, hard, on my ass, and I jump. “What the hell?” I spin around and notice Riley settling back into her spot in the water.
I turn off my defense mode and laugh it off. “Oh. It was you.”
Riley throws her hands up. “Wasn’t me?”
