Scarlet came back later that week and was surprised to hear that everyone was worried she went missing. She got a scolding from Asa and Logan both about her rash behavior, why didn't she call, and stuff like that.

Brandon met up with Asa at her inn, where she worked other than taking care of Scarlet .

"Brandon, it's been a long time. How is Tara and the baby?" Asa asked as she set two tea cups on a coffee stool and poured in some tea.

"Tara's fine, baby's due March."

"That's great! So, why did you visit?" Asa asked while sipping some tea.

"It's about Scarlet . She's changed a bit Asa and I am sure you noticed." Brandon also took a sip from his tea.

"Ah, yes I did." Asa knew where this was going. "Ever since that boy came to this place, she's changed a bit." She continued.

"Boy?"

"Yes. I have observed him for a while now and he is the only one other than me Scarlet listens to. I don't know why though." Asa explained. Brandon folded his arms and closed his eyes, deep in thought. After a while of silence, he finally spoke up.

"I have to meet this boy. What is his name?"

"Logan. I have taken the initiative and set him as guardian over Scarlet while in school. He is also indirectly her therapist in a way." Asa stated and Brandon nodded. After his visit to Asa's, he went to BVA to meet with Logan.

L O G A N

"Logan, your attention is needed at the principal's office." Mr Heng announced as he came inside the class. I wonder why though, I did not get into trouble – did I?

I made my way to the office and knocked then entered. I was met with Mr Mayorkun and a man I didn't recognize. He had strawberry blond hair and teal green eyes, kinda like Scarlet only with lighter features and no eyeliner.

"You called, Mr Mayorkun?" I asked while bowing to show respect.

"Logan, this is Mr Brandon, Scarlett's cousin." He introduced the man to me. I gulped in my subconscious, why would Scarlett's cousin call for me? The man in question had a slight frown on his face and darted his gaze from me to Mr Mayorkun and back. What is wrong?!

"You are Scarlett's part-time guardian?" He asked in an emotionless and monotonous voice like his cousin. Sheesh! Blood sure is thick.

"Yes sir." I answered quite confidently.

"Hmn, why did you take the job?" He asked.

"The pay's good." I blurted. Shit! I was supposed to make up a good speech or stuff and I just blurted about the pay, real smooth Logan. The two men looked from me to each other and suddenly burst into laughter.

'I'm lost.'

I'm also lost, inner me.

"I see why Scarlet behaves around you Logan." Brandon suddenly announced.

'He does?!'

"You reason like Sara does." He says referring to Scarlet's late sister.

I reason like Sara?! It is not like she possessed me or something. By the way, how come Mr Mayorkun doesn't look confused out of his mind?! Is it only me that is lost here?! How did they know each other?!

"If you really want to know, I will tell you."

'You said that loud.'

Need not tell me twice.

"I was her fiancé before she died." Holy peanut sandwiches! Mr Mayorkun and Scarlet were almost related... Ew. I can't have my brother in law be my principal or he'll monitor every of my movements and report every damn thing to my parents, then he'll boss me around. Scarlet seems to be doing the bossing though. The girl's got talent in making people shut up and listen.

"Whoa, did not see that coming." I said honestly. Long story short, my salary got increased and I became a Fredrickson's favourite.

B R A N D O N

Sara, you sent this boy to Scarlet , didn't you? I hope he would be the sun that brightens up her dark world.

I couldn't help but smile throughout today.

***

T H I R D    P E R S O N

It was a free day in school because of the competition and all contestants were pumped up as well as the speculators for the game. There were no judges since the winners were chosen by votes to avoid favoritism and partiality... I don't think it helps though, people would just vote for their favourite person.

"Hey guys!"

"Sup people!"

"How yo doin'?"

"Hope you're pumpin'?"

"I'm MC Kent."

"And I'm MC Bomi and we are reporting to you live at the BVA talent show competition!" The two MCs did their stuff but most people didn't pay them attention, especially Scarlet . Hell, she did not want to do this but she was here already and besides, she had to announce something to clear up some misunderstanding.

She could not believe that another person was spying on their talk on the rooftop that day (refer to chapter 19) and so the news spread that she was gay and that she was dating Ayo – two wrong news in one. Her absence only made it worse, and Ayo didn't even deny it because it meant that he wouldn't have fan girls again. Well somebody gained benefits from this mess.

"Okay okay listen up!" MC Kent spoke up, interrupting most activities and murmurs.

"We all know that the winner is decided by voting so, here is how to vote. Log into the school's portal at www.beastvilleacademy.sch, after the performances and click on annual talent hunt at the lower left." MC Bomi picked up.

"Then you click vote for the contestant you wish to vote for, simple." MC Kent continued.

"Please note that the school WiFi would not be secured by a password for ten minutes so that you can vote." -Bomi

"Now, that's said and done, so let the hunt begin!" -Kent

"First off, we have a cute junior here. She was so afraid during the auditions and now she's made it to the final rounds!" -Bomi

"Give it up for..." -Kent

"Pervanah!" -both.

Pervanah was an Arabian girl at sophomore year who sang and danced to a sweet Arabic song. The next performance was a boy named Pulse who rapped to Eminem's Rap god although he was a tad slower than the original. After Pulse, it was a guy who danced and as he did, he painted a picture with his feet by stepping on paint.

It was Bryan's turn and he danced a Vermilion choreography to perfection, earning him a standing ovation. Then it was the Lightening duo. The name was silly (at least to Logan it was) but the girls loved it anyway.

The hall was a screaming mess as all girls cheered at the top of their voices for the two hotshots, which kinda made Shelia jealous that she didn't have her boyfriend all to herself.

"Hi." Logan spoke into the mic as Ayo tuned his cyan electric guitar. "We are here to sing a song titled Wow, I'm not crazy. We hope you enjoy." Logan strapped his electric blue guitar and they both started strumming while the beats played at the background.

(Italics : Ayo)

(Bold: Logan)

(Italics and bold: Both)

Frankly I'm scared of clowns
And get-togethers get me down
But when you talk it's like wow, I'm not crazy.

Don't kill me
Cause I'm just a messenger
I already
Went and took my temperature
And I'm not sick
I took all my vitamins
Yeah I'm not sick
I'm just kinda different

Oh different, so different. They tell us to be different but no one told me I could go too far.

Frankly I'm scared of clowns
And get-togethers get me down
But when you talk it's like wow, I'm not crazy.

Frankly I feel insane
But you say you feel insane
And suddenly it's like, hey! I'm not crazy.
Cause when you talk it's like wow, I'm not crazy.

People awed at their voices that the hall was silent for some minutes to soak in the message of the song and their dopesome voices, then there was a roar of screams and cheers.

"Thank you." They both said to mic and exited the stage to meet with dozens of fan girls backstage. How they got there was beyond human reasoning but they did anyway. It was finally Scarlet's turn to perform and she did a breakdance to Marshmello's Rooftop. Every body was silent still as they watched the seemingly spineless and boneless girl move and getting lost in the rhythm of the song.

"Wow, he could match up to Vermilion." A girl said beside Logan and he mentally agreed that the red rebel could match up to the god of dance's skills. After the talent showdown was a short break where the students voted for the most talented beast of the year. Scarlet's hand impatiently tapped on her thigh, waiting for the voting session to be over so that she would announce that she is not gay or a boy or dating Ayo.

The feline lover in question, however, wasn't so happy because his fan girls would never and I mean NEVER relent from bothering him.

"Scarlet please, at least tell them we are dating so that they would leave me alone!" He begged and believe me people when I say he is on his knees. Scarlet did her trademark

"..."

And a blood glare which was supposed to silence Ayo but the feline lover grew a sudden resistance to it and continued following her as she paced, still on his knees. Logan face palmed and Shelia, who appeared miraculously backstage, giggled at the sight. Finally, the voting session was over and the announcer who was principal Mayorkun went onstage.

"Well, that has been one heck of a competition and clearly you all performed very well. Let's give a round of applause for the contestants, they all did well."

*round of applause*

"Now, without further ado, let's get to the do..?"

Most people face palmed at the man's miserable attempt to rhyme and Scarlet was already antsy while Ayo just gave up on begging the cold hearted scarlet witch. (A/N: I couldn't help myself)

"Ahem." The principal cleared his throat as if to get rid of the embarrassment and continued his speech. "Right now, I would announce the winners from the second runner up to the most talented beast (the school's mascot) of the year. On to the second runner up...please, ladies and gentlemen put your claws and talons together for..." He paused and flashed a gorgeous smile which made the girls swoon and boys jealous.

Scarlet gagged... The man is a...MAN people, he could father an eleven year old!

"Give it up for the one and only biggest, trust me I know, Vermilion fan...Bryan Trevorson!"

Bryan jumped up yelling 'HELL YEAH!' and did some back flips in jubilation while the students cheered for him. Mr Mayorkun soon began to get impatient and tired of Bryan's yipee-ness. One could see his right eye twitching in annoyance as the dancer flipped and jumped until he had enough and decided to end the fun. "Okay, okay tiger, GET OFF MY STAGE!"

Bryan left after murmuring something about Mayorkun being a killjoy.

"Good! Now for the first runner up, the title belongs to the one and only, make that two and only ladies men, the Lightening beasts!"

"YEAH BABY!" Ayo pranced around like Bryan did while Logan, being the gentleman he is, just stayed on his spot and smiled as Shelia blew a kiss to him from the audience... How she got there once again, he didn't dig. After some chanting and cheering, it was time to reveal the winner of the talent hunt.

"And now, the most talented beast who has a fat chance of debuting, well..." Mayorkun pushed his right cheek out and raised an amused brow which only caused some girls to faint at his hotness. "This result honestly surprised me seeing that you guys are the judges. So, the winner of the Beast Ville Academy talent hunt is...we shall take a quick break and applaud all those who participated once again."

Everybody groaned, seriously?! Can't he feel the tension?!

"Okay, so the winner is..." The other contestants and the audience held their breaths for the announcement. "The winner would give us a performance and maybe a speech..."

Everybody started shouting for him to quit stalling.

"Okay, okay sheesh! The winner is none other than the red devil of BVA...Oops, did I say that out loud? Well, the winner is none other than Scarlet Fredrickson!!!"

Scarlett's expression never changed from the annoyed expression she wore until Logan nudged her to soften her look a bit. She went to the stage and collected the trophy all the while keeping that emotionlessness on her face. She was itching to announce what she wants to.

"Does the winner has anything to say to us?" Mr Mayorkun asked and she collected, if you would count snatching as collecting, the mic from him to speak.

"First I want to thank you for voting for me, I thought I would come last place or something. Second, the person that dropped my name at the auditions for a joke," Her eyes narrowed to slits and Jordan could swear they were red. There was a simultaneous gulp from the audience who felt for the unwise person. Either s/he was brave or seriously stupid to mess with the red devil.

"I will certainly keep my promise to make. You. Pay."

The hall was dead silent save for the obnoxious tapping sound of a girl typing away on her cell phone. All eyes turned towards the girl and gave her a death glare. The girl sheepishly chuckled and tucked her a phone away for Scarlet to continue her threats...I mean speech.

"As for the position and the prize, I forfeit it." Everybody marvelled at her antics to drop a chance of being popular. "I am popular already." Then again she is the insanely rich rebel that destroys everything on her path. "And besides, I want to give it to someone who hasn't had a chance at popularity."

"Hn, showoff." The guy beside Logan scoffed.

"Finally, I seriously don't know who the heck decided to write that I am dating Ayo, but if everybody doesn't stop talking about how 'cute our relationship is' by the end of this week, I would make sure that the press club goes extinct, hear that?"

"Is it a bad thing to say that I hate him?" Another guy beside Logan spoke.

"You're just jealous he attracts more girls than you do." A girl countered.

"We are just platonic." Scarlet's hoarse voice resounded and silence followed until there was a bold person that decided to speak up.

"So you're not denying that you guys are gay?" Scarlet blinked twice as she considered Ayo for a moment.

"No, I am not."

Ayo heaved a sigh of relief and thanked her mentally, now the fan girls would lay off. Scarlet got off stage and went to the school park to fetch her bike and cut school, cause that's what rebels do.

******
Hey everybody, thank you for reading this chapter. Please vote and comment if you liked it and follow me too.

Bye

-★Star