A Teaspoon Of Stardust

9) Ice Cream, Anyone?

Scarletts POV

I laughed at our talking at the same time. "So er, do you wanna go back up?"

"I guess so." Luke shrugged.

Before turning around, I added "Just because of all this right now, doesn't mean I forgive you. And it definitely doesn't mean we're friends."

Luke nodded shamefully and his gaze met the sand instead of me.

We walked back up the wooden steps to the boardwalk in silence. "Shoot!" I exclaimed, stopping in my tracks. "I forgot about Dylan!"

I took off in a run with Luke not far behind me. Pulling out my phone, I began dialing his number and noticed he had already called me several times before. "Hey, I know. I know, okay? Meet me at the steps I went down. Oh, you're already there? Okay. Bye." I waved Luke over and we went down the steps to where Dylan was standing. I paused.

"Where were you? Jesus, I was was so scared Scarlett. Don't ever run off like that." He was pulling at his hair and pacing back and forth. I ran up to him and hugged him hard. "I thought I lost you again." He murmured into my shirt.

"Hey," I said suddenly, pulling back a little bit and tilted my head to look at him. "You can't get rid of me that fast." He smiled and I did too. But Dylan's soon faded as he tensed up and anger flashed in his green eyes. I looked up and realized Luke was still here, standing awkwardly a few feet away. "Oh, um Dylan this is Luke." I whispered to him that everything was fine now. "Luke, this is my cousin Dylan."

I saw a flicker of recognition in his eyes. "It's, uh nice to meet you."

Luke's POV

Her cousin. All this time I'd been thinking he was her new boyfriend. I'm such an idiot.

"It's uh, nice to meet you." I tried, pretending nothing had happened.

"Where are you staying at, Luke?" Dylan said in an annoyed voice. I knew he didn't like me.

"I don't know yet." I explained nervously as we began walking, Scarlett right in front of us and Dylan next to me. "I wasn't really thinking when I came, so I'm probably just gonna leave tonight." He scoffed.

"Well, uh, you could stay with us for tonight if you want." Scarlett bit her bottom lip.

Dylan stared at her in shock and coughed obnoxiously.

"Scarlett, come here!" He whisper-yelled though gritted teeth. I nodded to her and she followed him, turning the corner around an ice cream shop. Only feeling half bad, I inched my way to the side of the building and tried to listen to their conversation.

"Because I don't trust him, that's why!" A voice I guessed was Dylan's said. "Frankly, I don't know why you are either."

"Why? You don't even know him. Okay, I hardly know him." She said, her voice full of uncertainty. "I'm not sure what happened before. I'll admit that. It was all too weird. But that doesn't mean we should let him stay at some crummy motel or drive home this late at night when we've got a guest room. I'm not crazy about this either. And if he turns out to be a creep who goes around preying on girls, then he'll leave."

"It's not because I like him, because I don't. And we are far from being friends. But I do owe him." She said quietly. Her words stung. They shouldn't have, but they did. It wasn't her fault, or maybe it was, but I'm not about to bring that up. I don't understand that if she just didn't like me, why she couldn't have said so in the first place. She didn't have to lie.

"That's just it!" Dylan yelled. "He's the one who had you lying around feeling bad about yourself. I was there to pick up the pieces of the mess he made. Is some guy you've only been around a few times gonna decide how you feel? If he tries something, and you get depressed again, I don't know if I can take it Scar."
I couldn't caused that. She was depressed? My fault? Thoughts about what her cousin just said ran through my head.

I heard her walk and thought it was towards me so I jumped but it wasn't.

"It isn't your fault. You don't owe him anything." Dylan said firmly.

"Listen, okay? This isn't some cliche love story, he's still the same creep he was months ago. The same one who, even though it seemed theoretically impossible, caused me to plummet down the social scale even farther than I already was due to our incident."

"You can't possibly be considering this..."
Scarlett was silent, probably thinking about it. "One night."

"Fine." He gave in. "But he sleeps on the floor of my room so I'm sure he won't bother you."

Great, I'm sleeping on a floor and her cousin thinks I'm a perv. I thought.

"Thank you. Now can we go back?" Scarlett said. I tip toed back to the curb and pretended to be on my phone. 5 text messages from: Rebecca

"Ice cream first?" Dylan suggested.

"Yeah, order me a chocolate. I'm gonna go talk to Luke." She turned the corner and jogged over to me.

Scarlett opened her mouth to speak but I stood up before she said anything.

"Listen, I'm just gonna go home. I don't think it's a good idea." I told her. I really wanted to stay, but I could see when I wasn't wanted.

"No, Luke. You're going to stay. But you have to sleep in Dylan's room." She insisted. I still thought it wouldn't end well, but the feeling in my gut told me to stay.

"Alright." I said. This would be the second time I stayed at her house.

Scarlett POV

The car ride there was awkward and uncomfortable for everyone. I could sense Dylan's judgement and he kept adjusting the mirror to keep an eye on Luke. Not that I could blame him.

Once we finally reached the house, I stepped out of the car and pulled out my keys. Luke followed behind us at a safe distance and stayed quiet.

After throwing my sweatshirt, stuffed animal, and purse on the couch, I went upstairs to change into pajamas. I checked my phone for the time.

12:04

I groaned, pulling on a pair of soffe shorts and one of Dylan's big, comfortable t shirts. I walked into my jack and jill bathroom and swiped the layer of makeup off my face and combed my hair into a long side braid.

I went down the steps and into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water and the phone charger off the counter. When I was close to the door I heard talking, but walked in silently anyway. "I don't care. Just keep your hands off her. And if you hurt her..." Dylan started angrily.

"No! No I would never." Luke defended himself. They turned around at the same time to see me opening the fridge.

"Night guys." I said quickly before exiting the kitchen.

Just a few more hours. Huh, that sounded familiar.

A/N

I'M SOOOOOOOOO SORRY THIS IS SHORT FORGIVE ME

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