Red Roses ~Marcus Lopez Arguello

19~Strangers

December 9th, Scarlett's dorm room

A month since Chico's death. A month since Scarlett completely lost herself over a particular boy. Rory had come back into her life, and since her birthday, she had pushed everyone and everything away in order to prepare for the events to come. She was going to kill her father.

Nothing too extreme, right? In a month, so many people walked into and out of her life, for better and for worse, but Scarlett had accepted it. There were just some things she couldn't control. She had too much on her mind anyway. Planning, planning, planning. The entire group of the Vegas trip had all silently agreed to not discuss whatever happened, especially considering Chico's death. Thankfully, no one had reported him missing after. But that didn't stop Lin's schoolwide interrogations. It had gotten so out of hand, he enlisted the help of his younger sister to help supervise the entire student population. Madam Gao was ruthless. And willing to do whatever to get to the bottom of what happened.

Maria had already been interviewed regarding Chico, and she didn't budge. Neither did Saya. Scarlett decided to just finish school off in Kings for the remainder of the semester, so as to not raise suspicions on her sudden departure.

Scarlett hadn't spoken to anyone since her birthday, but everyone was too scared to point out her behavior. Scarlett had hardly left her dorm room as well. Anything business-related, kids knocked on her door, and the transaction remained quick and efficient. They gave her money, she gave them edibles or other drugs.

She scattered paperwork on her bed, a pen lodged behind her ear as she finished up some paperwork for the section of the Mafia she ran by herself. It wasn't the usual stack as Rory had been helping her through the more boring, technical aspect of the business. He wanted to relieve some stress after he learned about everything that's happened to her recently. A knock on her dorm, caused the girl to get up out of her bed and grab an empty bag to seal money in later.

Blowing up a bubble with her gum, she opens the door. Her dead eyes stare its usual daggers at the pair at her door. Billy and Marcus. She pops the bubblegum, as she waits for one of the boys to start talking.

"Scarlett, hey." Billy smiles, and Scarlett only nods at him, blowing another bubble. She crosses her arms, leaning against her door frame.

Marcus looked at the girl up and down. She wore a pair of black biker shorts, and an oversized gray crewneck that fell off one shoulder, showcasing a black bra strap. Her hair was much longer than he remembered, her curls now falling to her upper back. Her smile had been replaced with a look of disinterest, and he hadn't heard her voice in so long, he began to forget it. And how he yearned to remember the honey that used to fill his ears so long ago.

The pop of Scarlett's pink bubblegum, brought the boy out of his daze, and he zones back into her and Billy's exchange. She turns towards a set of drawers on the wall beside her door, and she opens up the third drawer, pulling a bag of pre-rolled joints, handing them over to Billy.

Billy begins pulling out cash and Scarlett looks over at Marcus. He waits anxiously for the words that are going to leave Scarletts mouth. Scarlett asks plainly. "You?"

Marcus' face drops slightly, "What?"

Scarlett just looks at the boy, bored. "I have weed. Joints, blunts, flowers. I also got tabs, powder, percs." She opens up the multitude of drawers, checking inventory. While looking through the doors she pops another bubble. "I have a set of brownies baking right now, but still have another hour till they can sell if you want to wait."

Marcus just stutters out shaking his head. "No no, I don't need anything." She looks back at him, before closing the drawer she was just looking in.

Billy grabs all of his cash and hands it to the girl. "Nah, he's with me today, Scar." She just nods and takes the cash. Scarlett counts the money, before handing him back almost all of it, besides a 20. "Billy, this is too much."