Passionate Exchange

Chapter Sixty-Three

It's now Friday, three days after my unexpected encounter with Brody. Everything went back to how it was after that. I didn't speak to Penny and she didn't speak to me. I didn't speak to Archer and he didn't speak to me. I didn't speak to Brody and he didn't speak to me. But he did smile at me a couple of times. That's an improvement at least.

I can't help but be disheartened when Penny walks past me in the corridors without saying a word, but I know that her forgiving me if she ever does, is a process and I shouldn't expect her to come running to me with her arms open wide anytime soon.

Archer hasn't been at the house much. I think he's been staying at Tyler's mostly. Honestly, I'm glad. I don't know if I could handle seeing him all the time as well as Penny. It would just be a constant reminder of the mistakes I've made. But that doesn't mean that I don't miss him. I miss him more than words can describe. I try my hardest to forget but it always hits the hardest when I'm alone. I find myself getting lost in thoughts of him. As you can imagine, that only ever ends one way.

I open my locker, stuffing the books I used for my previous class in it. It's lunch now and I have no idea what I'm going to do seeing as I have no one to spend it with. I don't know if sitting alone in the cafeteria for another day is the right move. I might have to go to the library.

Heels clicking on the floor brings me out of my thoughts. The hairs on my arms stand on end. I close my eyes, praying it isn't who I think it is but when I feel tapping on my right arm, my shoulders slump.

I wearily pull my head out of my locker and turn around. Of course, it's Scarlett only she's alone. Normally she has her minions surrounding her but not today. She has a purse sitting elegantly in her hands. I groan. How does she manage to make holding a purse look so elegant?

"Can I help you?" I ask already tired of this conversation. It's been a long day and having Archer and Penny avoid me wherever I go is taking its toll on me. I'm exhausted.

"Help me? What could I possibly need your help with?" She runs her gaze along my body with disdain.

I roll my eyes and change the question. "Why are you at my locker?"

Scarlett looks at her manicured red nails as if I'm boring her then back to me. How could I be boring her when she came to me first? "I came for the thank you that you owe me." She reveals.

"You mean because you didn't stick to your promise to make my life a living hell after I humiliated you in the cafeteria?" I did that myself. "Yeah, I'm really grateful for that. It's not like I have bigger things to worry about."

I know she knows exactly what I mean. Every student and their parents have heard about what happened to me during the charity game. I have plummeted to a new low where not only does everyone know my name but now everyone knows that I was another one of Archer's toys.

However, she only giggles at my words. I can't help but furrow my eyebrows. "Do you still think that?"

I find myself growing irritated by her tendency to say everything other than the point she's trying to get across. I'd rather she spit it out and get it over with than waste my time beating around the bush.

"What do you mean?" I question to speed up the process.

"You think I let you get away with what you did to me?" Her piercing green eyes are on mine and I gulp. "You expect too much from me." She says with venom dripping from every word.

Then, it dawns on me what she's trying to tell me. Now that I think about it, it makes sense that it would be her. I grit my teeth, biting back what I actually want to say. "How did you get that photograph?" I bark.

"Does it really matter how I got it?" She's right. It doesn't matter how. All that matters is that she was the one who sent it. I should have known. "All that matters is you got what you deserved."

She steps closer to me as her words sink in. I did deserve that. I'd been lying to my friends for months and whenever the opportunity came to tell them I'd convince myself that I couldn't. I was just too afraid to lose them if I did. But I ended up losing them anyway and only delaying the inevitable.

Even if it was Scarlett who told everyone it doesn't change anything. I deserved it and that's the only thing that matters. If she didn't it would only have come out another way. My gaze hits the floor, suddenly filled with an overwhelming sense of guilt.

"You really thought I'd let you get away with what you did to me?" She spits. Her hand grips my jaw tightly as she yanks my face towards her, so our eyes meet. Her nails dig into my skin, but I let them. "You're naive, Madison. You deserve everything that's coming to you."

She lets go but stays within proximity. She's not the only reason I lost everything; I am too. I have no energy to fight her. That would be giving her what she wanted. She's already won, can't she just leave me to wallow alone?

"Oh, how cute. Penelope's coming to watch you suffer." I notice the adrenaline in her eyes. My life is a game to her. She wants to hurt me mentally until I can't take any more. She's one of those people that prays on the weak for their own benefit.

I glance over to see Penny walking towards us. She looks angry. Is she angry at me? Her hands are balled into fists at her sides, I wouldn't be surprised if smoke started coming out of her ears. I've never seen her like this before.

"Scarlett," her eyes narrow, "haven't you done enough already?"

Penny stands next to me with her arms folded across her chest. My gaze moves from her to Scarlett and then back to her. My head's swimming from everything that's happened in the last five minutes. Scarlett sent the message and now Penny's here to save me? At least that's what I hope she's doing anyway.

"Excuse me?"

Penny rolls her eyes. "Leave her alone."

Scarlett seems taken aback that she's standing up to her for the first time but not as taken aback as I am. I can't help the pride that swells in my chest. She's finally grown confident enough to do something.

"You think that you have any say in this?" Scarlett shakes her head in amusement.

"I know a lot of things about you that you've been hiding from people, things that would ruin your perfect reputation." She doesn't believe her, so she continues. "Archer's my brother. Don't you think he'd tell me these things? So, I suggest you run along before I do what you did to Madison and broadcast all your little secrets to the entire school." She grins.

Scarlett falters slightly but doesn't take long to recover. She pushes her hair over her shoulder and tightens her grip on her purse. "You don't know a thing."

Penny doesn't back down. "You really think so?" She challenges with so much confidence that even Scarlett can't compete. It's clear that she no longer thinks Penny's threat was a petty lie to get her to leave. She's telling the truth.

Scarlett, in true Scarlett fashion, grabs her phone out of her purse and presses it to her ear. She throws us an eye roll before wafting her hand towards us as if we're simply a bird that she can shoo away.

"I don't have time for you losers anyway." She turns around and saunters away.

I'm still dazed by everything that just happened so when Penny's face appears in front of mine with concern etched on it asking me "are you okay?" I can't string together a proper sentence.

She raises her eyebrows. I clear my throat, pressing my fist against my chest. "What just happened?" I ask in disbelief.