The Return

Chapter Six

Scarlett

Friday April 14th 2018.

The first week of senior year, they had a party, and went all out. And by they; she meant Lincoln Lane's iconic throuple. Farida, Lucas, and Malcolm, the minds behind the backyard get together.

They didn't do everything together because they met in middle school. No, they did it because they had a reputation. Not only were they the most idolized friends the school had, they also managed to build a social media platform of over eighty-million followers. They were famous for playing careless and borderline dangerous pranks.

Last week, they made a video switching out Cynthia Kovach's Vegan crab and avocado tostadas with an actual crab. She was deathly allergic to crab and nearly went into anaphylaxis shock.

It was worth the risk. Because the video of Cynthia jerking and falling limp on her tray in the middle of the cafeteria had over two-million views. And she didn't die, so... win, win...Right?

Well, they were out of content ideas and settled for the next best thing. A gathering filled with half-drunk, half-naked teenagers and a pool.

A match made in heaven.

There were bodies in every corner of Scarlett's house. Malcolm begged her to let him host it at her place, because of course, what kind of girlfriend would she be if she turned down the captain of the baseball team?

There were girls on her cheer-squad begging to be in her shoes.

They wouldn't last a day.

She didn't want to think about what her parents would do if they ever found out...

They wouldn't.

She would clean it up before they got back.

"Isn't this awesome?" Malcolm pulled himself out of the pool. He was dripping, his hair glistening in the afternoon sun. Scarlett ogled his chiseled chest and the dark trail that vanished beneath his swim shorts.

She bit down on her bottom lip.

Unravelling Malcolm Kent and the why Scarlett ticked every cliché box by dating him wasn't going to be easy.

There were many sides to Malcolm. Captain of the baseball team and Lincoln Lane's best pitcher. Straight A nerd voted most likely to enroll at an Ivie. And the party king. How he managed to juggle it all gave Scarlett an inkling that he peaked in high school.

They weren't that different. Which was why on paper, they were perfect.

Perfection doesn't exist.

She smiled at him. She was doing this, all of it for him. The parties even if they weren't her scene. The drugs even if they weren't her style and the sex... there was a reason her performances in sophomore year theater class earned her a standing ovation.

Strong arms looped around her waist. "Come on, join me, you know how it looks if you're standing on the sidelines like this," He whispered in her ear, his warm breath fanning her neck. He reeked of cheap weed and beer.

To everyone else, she was the luckiest girl in Lincoln Lane. She had the dreamiest boy wrapped around her fingers.

There was more to it.

After all, one plus one wasn't that simple of an equation.

"We've talked about this, I'm not a very good swimmer," She pushed off his chest. He didn't budge.

She nestled into his scent. He always smelled like pine and fresh body wash.

He had a mental image of what he thought their ideal relationship should look like if he was going to secure prom king in the bag. All she had to do was fake a smile here and there and once they were wearing the crown, if she was sick of him, they would part ways, fill everyone in via iMessage that with the both of them going to different colleges it was only natural to end it after senior year.

"You don't have to swim, I've got you. Don't you trust me?"

She did. Because even if he had a construed perspective of life, he'd never intentionally put her in harm's way.

"Fine. Five minutes then I'm going to fake a cramp and get out."

"Fine." He carried her bridal style in a single swing of his arm and barreled towards the deep end.

Her shriek was ear piercing and when she bobbed up for air, he had this childish smile on his thin pink lips. Yet another reminder that he was still a kid on the inside beneath the hardship and responsibilities life had thrown at him.

She told herself she was with him because she saw beneath the shades of Malcolm Kent. She saw the boy who spent years nurturing his disabled mother, and closing the book on his absentee father. He didn't talk much about his family. It was a sore topic and she had never met his mother. All she knew was the woman was wheelchair-bound and needed someone to help her with everything. And his father was this big-shot lawyer who put his work before them.

In her eyes, Malcolm was the kid who used his twisted sense of humor as a coping mechanism. She saw fire in his eyes whenever he had something he was after.

He still had her pressed to his chest as he planted what she told herself was a reassuring peck on her cheek.

It's because they're watching...

"You guys are too cute!" Farida said swimming over.

They're always watching...

Malcolm milked it placing a chaste kiss on Scarlett's head. "I'm glad you could make it, Rida."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." She turned to Scarlett.

"And I can't believe your parents let you host this; you are the best. My parents would have my head."

Scarlett wanted to scream, to kick everyone out of her home and curl up into a little ball with her Kindle and bubble tea. She didn't want random strangers canoodling in her bed or drunk teenagers grinding in her living room.

"Oh, you know them, work, work, work,"

Only they weren't working.

They were in couples counseling. Doing whatever they could to save their marriage. They were trying. Putting the pieces back together before it fell apart. Because that was what perfect couples did. They fixed things before they turned into bigger things.

"Lucas wants us to meet later this evening, he's been tossing around an idea for prom night."

Malcolm's arms around her tightened. "I thought we agreed we weren't doing that?" He growled.

Farida lifted her arms. "Don't shoot the messenger. Wanna talk him out of it, we're meeting at your place at seven."

It was a social-media friendship. Good for getting the people talking.

It wasn't something Scarlett could envy.

"Who's ready to party!" The DJ blared from where he set up on the patio table.

Malcolm's arms loosened around her waist. They cupped around his mouth as he screamed along with the crowd.

A new song blared through the speakers. Excited and eager shrieks filled the air.

Pushing. Shoving. Splashing. And more screaming.

No one seemed to notice the first time she went under.

Fear ambushed Scarlett as she struggled to stay afloat. Kicking and thrashing, he couldn't hear her over the music. Over his throaty laughter.

She swallowed, tugged deeper and deeper with each violent thrust of her arms.

She bobbed up for air reaching for his swim shorts.

More pushing. Her throat burned.

It lasted forever... At least, it felt like forever.

In a coughing fit, she was tugged out of the pool and placed on the hard ground. The music stopped.

Not only was she the girl that almost died in her own pool, she was the buzz-kill that stopped what was supposed to be the most talked-about party of senior year.

She was that girl.

It was the first time she looked at Malcolm with genuine anger.

It was only the beginning.