(Bit of a mood board for Kristie because this chapter is all about her... for the most part!)

GUYS!!!!!! For those of you who don't know I live in Scotland and so, because most of my readers are American, when I wake up in the morning I usually have an increase in reads– it's usually not that big but it's still exciting. 

HOWEVER.
This morning I woke up and this book hit over 1,000 reads!!!! Yesterday it was at 700 and now it's 1,000!!!! I'm so fricken excited and grateful for you all and you can bet I'm gonna keep uploading as quick as you guys are reading because nothing gives me as much of a buzz than my books being liked!
So, please, please, please, pleeeeeeease keep it up because you honestly had me crying this morning!

Dedicated to @helpless-author for some amazing feedback on the book and some incredible support so far! (I always appreciate fans who comment)

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Scarlette hushes me, her hand softly stroking my hair.

After a few minutes, I manage to stop crying, allowing her to take a seat beside me where she instead holds my hands between her own. Together, we manage to steady out my breaths and calm my shaking chest.

"What's happened?" She asks and I sigh, not knowing where to begin.

"I was horrible to my best friend."

"The girl that just ran out of here? I'm sure it couldn't have been that bad, what was it about?"

I feel like I'm going to puke as I tell Scarlette what happened, relaying our entire argument.

Of course, I don't tell her about Matt and what he did but I do tell her that he's usually a little mean and that Kristie and he have a bad relationship.

"Well, that's not that bad!" she tells me after I've finished explaining, "Why did she get so upset when you made that comment?"

I groan, feeling like the worst friend in history.

"Kristie has only ever had one boyfriend in her life," I begin, knowing that it was okay to tell this story – the whole school knew it already, but I suppose that's what made it even worse. It's not like I could ever get it out of my head. For once, Kristie, who was usually the stronger one of the two of us, had been the one who couldn't stop crying and needed support.

"His name was Lewis and he was a Senior when we were Sophomores," I sigh, "he also happened to be best friends with Kristie's brother, Scott, and Tracey's too." Scarlette's face crinkles up at the name and I have to laugh, of course, she already knew who Tracey was, who didn't?

"Well, Kristie fancied him for years, like as in since we were in middle school but he only started noticing her when we came to high school and actually started to look like we actually cared about our appearance. For weeks, Kristie would tell me about how she'd caught him looking at her when he was over at their house visiting her brother and about how she thought that maybe there was a chance for them. And she was totally right there was."

"They were secretly seeing each other for weeks, months even, and honestly I had to admit I was a bit envious of them. They had such a pure and passionate relationship that never once became tainted by anyone at school and they got to really know each other without being watched by everyone. But eventually, the whole fairytale came crashing around her."

"Basically, her brother invited his friends over and Tracey got brought along too because her parents were out of town and her brother didn't want to miss out. And that was fine, at the time she wasn't actually that bad of a person. However, it turns out that she had a major crush on Lewis and so when she accidentally walked past Kristie's door while going to the bathroom and saw the two of them kissing, she was really hurt and really angry."

"I thought maybe she would have just told everyone about their relationship, made them go public and maybe cause some issues with Scott, Kristie's brother, but she didn't. She kept it quiet. Instead of doing the obvious thing, she went on a different route, and that was to get Lewis for herself."

Scarlette gapes at me as I speak, realisation starting to dawn on her face.

"It turns out that Lewis wasn't as in love with Kristie as he seemed, or maybe he was but lust got the better of him? I think Kristie blames herself because she didn't sleep with him for months, she refused to until she knew he loved her but then she finally did and that's when everything went to shit."

"I remember we walked into the school and everyone was talking and staring at her and we both had no idea why until we reached her locker and saw all the pictures taped to it. Tracey had gotten photos of her and Lewis kissing as well as ones of herself and Lewis kissing and had made this sick and twisted collage. When Kristie saw she was heartbroken and devastated but she still decided to hear the truth and so we went and found Lewis who was with her brother and his friends, they all clearly hadn't seen the pictures yet. When we approached them Kristie was already crying, the pictures crumpled up in her hands as she held them out, begging for him to explain what was going on. And he took one look at them and laughed at her. He laughed."

Even as I tell the story I feel anger rushing through my veins, my mind replaying his horrible expression as he sneered at her.

"Her brother obviously started questioning them about what had happened and as Kristie tried to explain that they'd been dating, Lewis cut her off and said that they'd kissed once and she was now obsessed with him."

I feel my heart break as I remember her look of confusion, not understanding what was happening until people started laughing.

"We thought it couldn't get any worse but then Tracey appeared out of nowhere and decided to just make Kristie's life a living hell and told her that her and Lewis had been sleeping together for weeks and did she honestly think she was special because he'd taken her virginity, when he took hers two days before."

"Oh my god, that's awful," Scarlette mumbles, chewing her lip while her fingers tug at her red strands, "What happened then?"

"Well, obviously after hearing that his best friend took his sister's virginity and then was standing acting like that, Scott went crazy and beat the living shit out of him in front of half the school. He got expelled and her parents went nuts and sent him to like a military camp for the rest of the year and Lewis changed schools. Meanwhile, Tracey took every opportunity to rub it in and literally half torture Kristie for the remainder of the year. She still does it when she sees her, makes a comment about how she wasn't good enough or something like that."

"Jesus," Scarlette sighs, leaning back, her mind processing all of the information, "So, you said probably one of the most hurtful things you could have?"

Her statement is so simple but it catches me by surprise, my guilt overwhelming me.

"Yeah, I guess I did," I whisper, trailing off and I start to wonder if Kristie is ever going to forgive me.

"I think you two will be fine.," Scarlette comments after a few minutes of silence and I look at her perplexed, "You two are best friends, I'm sure there have been times where you were the only person there for her, and I'm sure she's never forgotten that."

I think about her words and an array of memories float through my mind, going from when we first met until now, a montage of all our moments in which we depended on the other person more than ourselves.

"I suppose so," I admit quietly, "But I shouldn't have said that."

"No, you shouldn't have," Scarlette states, "But if she can't see how much you regret it and she doesn't accept your apology, then she wouldn't have been your best friend in the first place."

A warm kind of feeling moves through my body and I feel almost relieved, I had faith in Scarlettes words and I knew more than anything that Kristie was my best friend, she had to forgive me.

She had to.

"Thanks, Scarlette."

She smiles at me warmly and rubs my arm, shrugging softly.

"What are friends for?"

I was so surprised by her. She was like a walking contradiction. She looked so timid but had such a big personality, she had tattoos glittering her body and her dark leather made you hesitate in approaching her, wondering if she was friendly but then it turns out she is the friendliest person in the whole school.

I really had to stop judging people on their appearances.

I clear my throat and take a deep breath, only now remembering that she'd come in here for a reason.

"Oh, by the way, what was your question?" I ask her and she looks puzzled for a moment before she remembers what it was and a smirk slips onto her lips.

"Well," She begins slowly, "I wanted to know why you were refusing to talk to my cousin."

Her question confuses me and I can't help but chuckle at the strangeness of it.

"Your cousin?" She nods. "Scarlette, I don't know who your cousin is!"

She looks shocked for a minute and then lets out a huff of annoyance, "Is he for real? I honestly thought he would have at least mentioned me to you in all the time he tries talking to you. Stupid big old..." She trails off mumbling to herself and I have to click my fingers in order to get her attention again.

"Scarlette!" I shout with laughter and she rolls her eyes and pouts, clearly annoyed that whoever her cousin was hadn't introduced himself in such a way. "Who is your cousin?"

"Only the biggest and most annoying man in the history of our family and the one totally obsessed with you," she introduces and I frown, still not knowing who she means, "Trent!" She shouts in exasperation and I'm dumbfounded.

Trent was Scarlette's cousin?

"No way," I gasp and she nods with a sigh.

"It's true, I know it's hard to believe when I'm so fun and friendly considering he's a total hermit crab with a bad attitude, but it's true."

Her description of Trent puzzles me a little, he'd never been rude or closed off with me... I think it was the other way around. He'd only ever tried to talk to me.

"He's not obsessed with me," I correct and she looks at me in disbelief, "He isn't!"

"Right," she scoffs, "And I just suppose he's asking me questions about every girl in this school." Her eyebrow tilts up while she waits for my response and immediately she knows she's won.

"Trent asks about me?"

The question comes from my lips lightly and is accompanied by a smile much to my surprise. Why did the thought of him bothering Scarlette about me make me so happy? Did I want him to pursue me?

"Well then, if he makes you smile like that why on earth are you ignoring him?" she pesters, impatiently waiting for me to answer.

"I'm not ignoring him," I lie, playing with my fingers.

"Really? So, the reason for him walking around like someones killed his favourite pet has nothing to do with you refusing to talk to him?"

Did Trent care that much?

A blush coats over my face.

"Well..." I groan, causing Scarlette to lean forward in anticipation, "I have a boyfriend."

She lets out a low growl as she moves back, disappointed with my confession, "And?"

"And," I begin to explain but that's as far as I get because I realise that I have no valid answer for why I was ignoring Trent. If I said it was because of Matt then she'd probably ask why I didn't just talk to him in classes and if I said it was because of something else then...

Well, then I don't know what.

"And you're scared you'll fall for him and won't love your boyfriend anymore."

I look at Scarlette in shock, wondering if she could see into my soul and she squeals in excitement, jumping from her seat and clapping her hands.

Was I that easy to read? Did my face give away how I was feeling that much?

"Oh, I knew you liked Trent! I knew it! I knew it!" She dances in a circle, her tiny applause echoing around us as she jumps, "This is amazing!"

Have I just grown two heads?

"Scarlette," I call, half a demand, "How is this amazing? I have a boyfriend."

My words are blunt and precise, as I try to make her understand.

She waves her hand as if brushing my comment away, "Pfft, boyfriend schmoyfriend, he's not that great."

A laugh breaks through my lips as I stare at her, trying to believe what I'm hearing, "Scarlette! I love him you can't say that!" I argue.

I try to make my face look angry but I can't stop giggling at her cheeky expression.

"I can... and I just did," She says, tapping the tip of my nose lightly, "And if you were so annoyed about it you wouldn't be smiling so much."

I have to give her that.

The bell rings above us, signalling the end of lunch and she quickly gives me a hug.

"Don't worry about Kristie, just apologise to her and I'm sure everything will be okay," she says reassuringly before turning and walking towards the door.

"And don't worry," she whispers as we leave the room, "I won't tell Matt that you like Trent. Toodles!"

Before I can respond she disappears down the hall and is consumed by the sea of people making their way to class, her giggles following her red head as it moves further away from me.

She really was something else.

Soooo, what did you guys think? Are you hating Elle right now? How about Kristie? I mean I'd ask what everyone thinks of Scarlette but the answer is usually a unanomous vote of liking her haha.

Please vote and comment! It let's me know you're loving it.