One of us is lonely

Chapter 4

✖ ✖ ✖

ARES BLYTHE WAS EVERYTHING RED HATED. He was the living and breathing embodiment of a Southsider. Perfectly tanned skin and perfect white teeth. A body that looked effortlessly toned and the most idiotically perfect just-out-of-bed hair you'd ever seen. He was the type of guy she and Finn used to make fun of and the type of guy that would look down on her if he knew from what side of the beach she came from. Everything about him screamed that he drove a Porsche and only wore designer clothes. Hell, his swim trunks probably cost more than all of Red's clothes combined. And right now, he was the type of guy that lifted Mira of her feet and engulfed her in a friendly embrace, kissing her on the cheek. He was the guy that fist-bumped Finn as Gabriel introduced them to each other. 

"... and this is Red." Gabriel finished, pointing to her. "She and Finn live in the Adkins Mansion." Ares smiled at her and Red bit down her lip, a tad bit frustrated. 

"Ares? That's your name?" She questioned. 

"Yes ma'am." 

"That's pretty weird." Mira snorted with laughter, along with Gabriel while Finn shot her a death glare. 

"I'm sorry." He said to Ares. "My sister can be a bit of a bitch." 

"That's quite alright." Ares smiled politely at Finn, before focussing his attention back on Red. "You aren't really one to talk, are you Red?" A series of oh's were heard around the circle and Mira stopped her laughter, looking with big eyes at the most Northern girl and Southern guy she knew. They were like freaking fire and ice, challenging each other. Everyone who knew Red knew better than to comment on her name. It was a sensitive subject. You see, when Reed Maxwell was born, she had a head full of thick red hair. Not the same auburn color she had now. No, it was fire engine red. Her father gave her that nickname and told her that if she embraced who she was, no kid would ever pick on her. Of course, kids are assholes and she was constantly being picked on, her hair color being only one of the reasons. Every time she came home in tears her father would pick her up and tell her that the color red stood for fire, for passion, for danger and power and that all of that was all of her. Eventually, as she grew older her hair grew darker, turning into a mixture of red and brown, but when her father passed away when she was twelve, that nickname was all she had left of him, so it stuck. 

"It's Reed." She replied through gritted teeth. 

"What?"

"My name is Reed. My friends call me Red." She said it in a way that made it perfectly clear to him not to call her Red. 

"Gotcha." He clicked his tongue and moved away from the tense conversation with the girl he didn't know. He sat down in between Gabriel and Jake, taking off his shirt to sit on and Red rolled her eyes at his movement. It was not perse Ares that annoyed her, it was what he stood for and how he did nothing to hide the fact that he was a rich kid from the South. At least Mira, Gabriel, and Jake didn't act like they owned the freaking world but you could sense Ares' ego from ten miles away. 

"So, tell us, bro," Gabriel excitingly started and then he turned to Finn and Jake. "This dude lived in Paris for three years."  

"Hey, I took a french class last year!" Jake proudly announced. 

"Vraiment? Vous parlez français?"  As Jake answered in a language that vaguely resembled french, Red rolled her eyes for like the billionth time that day. The others laughed and listened with interest as he told about his exotic trip to Europe. Even Finn. Her own damn brother who, two years ago, would've beaten the crap out of Ares simply for being such a damn snob laughed as if he'd been a Southsider his whole life. Red couldn't help but imagine what the situation would've been like if they'd still been on the other side of the beach. If she'd seen a group of people like them, laughing and chilling without giving a single fuck, she'd be pissed. And she'd feel the urge to take what they didn't need. The thought gave her an idea that made her whole body tingle with excitement.