Becoming the Bad Girl

Chapter 9

"What?" I asked looking at Raiden in shock.

"The four of us are members of the local gang." He repeated. "The reason we're in this mess, it's because we were hired to rob a place. What we didn't know was it was a setup. The people who had planned on us getting caught and being killed. We looked into it and found out a new boss took over the territory and was having people killed who he thought were weak. We weren't useful to them anymore I guess. What they didn't expect was us getting out alive and unharmed. When we found out all the information we decided to play along and make them think we had been shot down and burned with the rest of the building. I assume someone tipped them off that we're still kicking and sent more men to get rid of us. We're not sure though. We're going to be heading to Vegas to get some information from a contact out there and figure out what exactly is going on."

"Vegas?" I asked.

He nodded, "We're all going to gather supplies tomorrow before we begin the journey. It'll take a few days to get there."

"Can you trust this contact?" I asked. A part of me wanted to freak out, but I took a deep breath and stayed calm when I talked to them. There was no point in getting scared because then I would truly become nothing more than an inconvenience to them. I needed to stay calm to get out of this.

He nodded, "I know we can."

"How?"

He pondered his answer for a second, "Because he's my uncle."

It all clicked in that instance. Raiden followed his father's footsteps in joining a gang. It was right in my face all along but I never put the pieces together until now. Now I was curious as to if he joined willingly or if he was forced.

"I didn't mean to drag you into all of this." He said leaning against the wall and looking out towards the road. "I should have never let you associate yourself with us." He mumbled.

"Why did you?"

He shrugged, "I'm not good with apologies. By now I'm sure you've noticed. I said things that I didn't mean when I was angry so I figured since you never sit with anyone during lunch that it would be a win-win."

"So basically I was just your charity case? So you wouldn't feel guilty for being a jerk?" I asked before biting my tongue to prevent saying anything I would regret.

He quickly looked at me, "I didn't mean-"

"Save it," I said cutting him off. "I get it. You wanted to get me off your conscious and figured since I'm a loser with no friends I would appreciate the company."

"No, I-"

"Don't worry about it," I said as tears welled in my eyes. I quickly walked back into the motel room.

"Scarlett wait!" he called after me.

It was too late I had already locked myself in the bathroom. I turned the cold water on and splashed my face. I was not going to cry. I refused. Not over Raiden.

I should have known that Raiden didn't really want me around. He used me for his own reasons and that's usually how it was for me. I shouldn't have been surprised but it still hurt knowing I never had a chance at friends. I was going to forever be a loser.

********

When morning finally rolled around I was relieved to know that we were going to be running errands and I was not going with Raiden. I had managed to ignore him all night and was thankful to Venus who shot him dirty looks whenever he turned to attempt to talk to me.

"Okay here's the plan," Raiden said as we stood between the two parked vehicles. "Finn and Draven you go get us guys clothing, medical supplies, necessities and dry foods that we can snack on for the drive. Venus and Scarlett, you grab clothing and necessities for yourselves. We have ten grand in cash. I figure two grand for each group is enough and the rest I'll use when I buy weapons off a guy nearby."

"How in the world do you have ten grand just sitting in your trunk?" I asked amazed.

"You really want to know the answer to that?" Draven questioned.

After thinking about it for a moment I decided, "No not really."

"We also have the other stuff we can sell for money if we need more." Finn added, "Don't forget about that."

"I haven't." Raiden responded, "I figured we have enough to get us to Vegas and then we can sell out there to get our money back."

I didn't bother asking what they planned on selling because if I was being honest with myself, and I was, I did not want to know. I could only guess what kind of illegal substances they had hidden in their trunk.

"If we leave now we should be done by noon. We'll all meet back here get cleaned up and changed before we head out. I want to be gone from here by three and no later." Raiden said, "Now there's a town a few miles east if you all remember. I have to go meet my contact for weapons in the opposite direction. Are we all clear on details?"

We nodded and Raiden took that as his queue to leave. He started his bike and took off as we piled into the car.

"There's this great shop in town that I saw the last time we were here. You're going to love it!" Venus gushed.

"Just remember you have a spending limit. I would buy the important stuff first." Draven said to her as he drove off.

"Ruin my fun," Venus muttered as she crossed her arms and pouted.

********

"Please tell me you aren't thinking of wearing that?" Venus said as she looked at me horrified. I looked down at the shirt I was currently holding.

"It's not bad," I admitted sheepishly.

"Honey put that thing down and let me help you pick out some clothing."

Venus and I were currently standing in the most unique store ever. Seriously this place had everything. You had clothes for preps, Goths, even skanks. It was ridiculous how much stuff this place had lying around.

We had already shopped with the guys for the things we desperately needed; like soap, toothpaste, and underwear. Then they dropped us off at this store Venus couldn't stop talking about before leaving to continue their shopping.

Of course, I had found very little because Venus would take things from me that she thought were dreadful and put them back. We constantly pulled things off we liked that we thought would look good on me. It was safe to say I was just as horrified with what she picked out for me as she was with what I chose.

"That's it," she said putting her clothes in a dressing room we had reserved. "We're going to find things we both agree on even if I have to sell my soul." She said as she dragged me through the store.

"Can you walk in heels?" she asked as she looked at some shoes we were passing by.

"I can run in heels," I admitted.

"Excellent I have no limit in that department then." She said as she started looking through some clothes.

"What about this?" I asked holding out a floral skirt.

"You can't wear a skirt on a motorcycle. You'll freeze to death! I don't know how you did it last night."

"If I decide to wear it I can just ride in the car with you guys. Even if I do wear it while riding with Raiden I can just switch when we stop for gas."

"Okay if you think you can do it then go for it. What about this then?" she asked holding out a tight leather dress.

I think my eyes popped out of my head, "I cannot even fathom wearing something like that."

She pouted, "You would look drop-dead gorgeous in it too." She muttered, "I'll get it anyway, maybe you'll change your mind." She said mostly to herself. "How about these?" she asked holding up a pair of black shorts.

"Aren't those a little too short?" I questioned.

She rolled her eyes before smiling jokingly, "They'll look perfect on you. Trust me."

This girl was going to be the death of me if I wasn't shot by determined gang members first.