Those Who Dream of Freedom (Scaramouche x fem!reader)

Chapter 15 ☆ A girls' night out

☆ y/n

"He did what?!" Zoe asks me as soon as I tell her what Scaramouche asked me when I went to see him today.

Today after training I went to Zoe's house and asked her to spend the night at my house. She immediately agreed, although it took a little fight with her parents to get her to come over. Eventually they relented and I know they only did it because I was the one who suggested it. I told her I needed to talk to her and that it would take a while, so now we're both at my house, in our pyjamas, on the bed with the light bulb off, with only the streetlights to provide some light in the room. After I told her what Scaramouche told me, Zoe reacted exactly as I expected her to. She's always so excited about things like that. It was pretty clear she was going to get excited.

"y/n!!! It's wonderful! You can finally attend the festival the way you want to!"

"Shh! I have neighbours and they think my name is Cassandra."

"Oops," she says and puts her hand to her mouth. "I got too excited."

"Sort of."

"And?" she asks quietly this time. "How was it?"

I frown. How was what? What does she mean?

"Why are you looking at me like that? I mean when he told you he liked you, obviously!"

I'm left speechless. I mean, I could understand why he'd like me if he really did, but he made it pretty clear that's not why he invited me.

"Do you think...?"

She nods and I refrain from laughing.

"Trust me. It's nothing like that."

"Yes, but he told me himself that he could invite any girl around here and that he was sure they would accept immediately, so it's clear he didn't want to invite you. Since he's changed his mind now it can only mean one thing—"

"Zoe, believe me," I say, interrupting her. "I don't think I've ever seen a more uninterested person. That's impossible."

"I don't think it's so impossible..."

I roll my eyes.

"And why, pray tell, do you think that?"

"Because you're really nice and because you've spent a lot of time together. I'm pretty sure his opinion of you has changed since you first met."

"And you think just a little time together would make him start to like me. Don't be ridiculous! Not to mention he's already told me that's not why he asked me to go with him."

"But I'm not being ridiculous! Look, let me tell you how it is, okay?"

"Okay, I'm all ears. Surprise me."

And she launches into a detailed explanation of how it's impossible for a girl and a boy to be just friends. Once they start spending more time together they'll get to know and care about each other, no matter how well they get along at first. I find the first part hard to believe, there are so many girls in the world who have a boy as their best friend and feel nothing for him. The second part, however, I find more plausible. It's normal to start caring about someone when you get to know them better. I just went through that myself a few years ago.

What's not considered normal is to start caring too much. At some point, if something happens, you're going to be left with deep wounds in your heart, as I was after that incident. I still regret being a coward and running away, even though I did it only because he told me to.

Zoe also says that it's normal for someone like Scaramouche to say that's not the reason he invited me. She says she sees him as a person who wouldn't in his right mind admit that. She herself told him last time that he's not honest with himself or others around him. Zoe's good at judging people, but as far as he's concerned, I'm not so sure she's got it right, at least not on this one.