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Chapter: Twenty

Scarlett

"So, your court date has been set for two weeks from now?" Chase says as we walk into school together, him holding my books and laptop.

"Yeah, exactly a week after Christmas." I say grimly while putting in the combo for my locker. I swing the door open and Chase dumps my books inside. I shut it closed before leaning against it as I look up at him.

"That sucks, you better not get too hammered on New Years Eve then. Does Alex know about it?" Chase asks.

"Does Alex know about what?" I hear from behind me and I jump when a hand is set on my bad shoulder. I look over to see Connor behind me and when he sees my expression he takes his hand off my shoulder. "What's going on?" He asks and I sigh.

"I was just talking to Chase about the court date." I say and Connor's eyebrows shoot up. He leans onto one leg as he stares down at me, crossing his arms.

"Court date? Why?" He asks with a seemingly innocent look on his face.

"Why do you think?" I snap and he glares down at me.

"I don't know. All I know about what happened is that it has something to do with your step-father, which by the way doesn't sound so great. So, me and everyone else have these crazy ideas running through our minds about what happened." He says implying that shit worse than what happened, happened.

Chase sighs. "You know Scarlett, things would be much easier if you just told your friends about what happened. They're all going out of their minds worrying about you. I'm not saying you have to explain the whole thing but just at least let them know what happened." He says before turning and walking away. Most of the time I love Chase's honesty but right now it so wasn't appreciated. I turn to Connor to see him sporting a cocky grin.

"Oh, shut up." I say walking away from him towards the library. Connor chuckles as he catches up to me which isn't quite difficult with the length of his strides.

"I didn't even say anything." He says smirking and I glare at him. "But seriously he's right, you should just tell us. I can get not wanting to have to repeat your story over six times so why don't you just have us all over and explain it once. We want to be there for you but we can't if you won't let us." He says.

"You think I don't want to tell you guys, you think I don't want support from my closest friends? Because I do. It's just hard for me to open up about this shit. It was hard enough to open up about it to Alex let alone Chloe and Chase." I say exasperatedly.

"No one is going to judge you, you know that right?" He says quietly. My eyes snap up to his gaze and I nod my head although the thought of them judging me for all of the decisions I've made has crossed my mind on more than one occasion.

"I know, I know." I sigh as we reach the library doors. I turn to him while leaning against the glass. "When is everyone free? Do you know?" I ask and his face lights up in a smile.

"No, I do not, but I'll text them to go to yours after school and I know that even if they have something, they'll drop it. Everyone wants to know what's going on. They all want to be there for you." He says and I nod my head still unsure of what I'm doing. "What's your address?" He asks.

"Chloe's house." I say because I still don't actually know the name of the road we live on. His eyes sharply gaze at me confused. "I'm living with the Foxes. They're fostering me and my little sister."

"Ohh." He says but I can tell he's still confused. I shake my head at him before turning around and opening the door to the library.

"I'll see you later." I call over my shoulder before being shushed by the librarian as I walk in. I smile apologetically towards her before taking a seat in the back corner, wondering how in the hell did I manage to agree to tell everyone about what happened.