SCARLET FEARED TO SIT in Jake's car.
Though it wasn't the cliché Ferrari or Lamborghini, the sleek black BMW cost more than most of what she owned. Dark leather seats filled the inside with silver accents on the dashboard. Everything looked new, but the citrus scent that radiated off of Jake surrounded her since the moment he opened the door for her.
Jake leaned back on the driver's seat, shifting as he moved them forward towards the rich side of town. Scarlet gawked at the transition of red bricks to modern architecture. Glass walls and solid neutral colors jutted up into the night sky.
"You never come around here often, don't you?" Jake asked.
Scarlet turned to him as he cast a quick glance at her. She shook her head. Her life was at the other side of Hales Bay in her humble house with her mother. She didn't complain about the life she lived. Not that she particularly liked her mother's diagnosis, but she had comfort—electricity, a place to sleep, food on her table, and the ability to go get her education. That was more than enough for her.
This side of Hales Bay... It was a sight, but so daunting too. How could one have so much money?
"You forget I'm a Rodent, Jake," Scarlet said as they stopped at a red light. Even the cars around them changed in quality. "This isn't my side of town."
He reached for her hand across the dashboard. "You're not a Rodent, Scarlet. No matter how many times people over here may say it."
She chuckled, letting him interlace their fingers together. A surge of adrenaline traveled across her veins as she forced herself to be indifferent.
"I don't know where you're taking me, but I sure as hell know I'm not gonna be able to afford it," Scarlet commented, eager to change the subject. "I am not even a speck of dust of importance next to you."
The car started moving as Jake squeezed her hand. "Who said you were paying?"
Silence engulfed them as he kept driving forward, turning onto more unfamiliar streets the farther they went. Posh businesses lined a street, almost like Main Street had been given a glamorous, high-end makeover. People in suits and expensive dresses walked the sidewalks, either holding big name brand shopping bags or walking out of chic restaurants.
"Where are we?" she whispered, gazing out of the window in awe. She had driven to the rich side of town before, mostly to stare at the mansions with her friends, but she had never explored what else that side of Hales Bay had to offer.
Not like she could afford it anyway, but just to see it.
"Welcome to Vermilion Boulevard," Jake presented. "Where all the rich snobs come to flash their wealth to one another."
Scarlet snorted. "So what does that make you if you're bringing me here?"
He scoffed, partially offended, as he pressed a hand over his chest. "Okay, fair point. But you'll thank me later because you won't have a better plate of nachos ever again in your life."
At the mention of nachos, her stomach decided to rearrange itself.
Jake drove almost all the way to the end of Vermilion Boulevard, but stopped in front of a fancy restaurant: Atlas Grove. She stared down at her washed-out jeans and distressed crop top.
Her outfit screamed: take me to the normal mall. It didn't say: I'm rich.
People were going to stare at her in disgust, just like all Preppies and rich snobs from Hales Bay did.
A part of her hoped the dress code was different for that restaurant, and she was assuming before gathering all the facts. The greek pillars and lush green vines that decorated the entrance were all for show to mesh in well with the other business, but inside everyone looked normal.
YOU ARE READING
Forever Crimson
Teen Fiction"The vultures are disguised as humans." Scarlet Turner has her last semester of high school planned out: graduate as best as she can and take care of her sick mother. But when she's told she won't graduate because of the pile of tardies she's collec...
