"Come on, Scar. It's going to be great. You don't even have to dance."

I had heard a lot about spending the weekend at another party that some posh girl was throwing. There had been a deep discussion last week about the football match that was held yesterday mostly about the wins.

This time, the opposite team had grabbed the cup from us and it was apparently their party we were supposed to be attending. I had somehow managed to get out of the game, fake promising to go to the party later.

Now, that some team had made it to lift the trophy up high, I was stuck again, thinking of ways to get out of this maze.

"You promised." Lily whispered, as she scribbled on the wooden desk to compensate for our rustle. I looked at her bored and went back to write down the notes. "Besides, you need some change."

That was the only thing I completely agreed with her. I needed change, but I wasn't ready to change.

It had been a few days since Monica had turned a deaf ear to my pleas and sorry-s, but she hadn't let me in the café, not even once. Most of the time it was always closed and few people had come to me asking if everything in the café was alright. I had nodded my head and told something about her wedding that had made them take up such drastic measures.

I only hoped that it was the truth.

With no café, I had cocooned up in my misery hole, making sure that I used that extra time to focus on school and get even bigger grades.

Lily only pouted next to me, laying on the desk, putting her head on top of her arms and looked at me with puppy eyes. "I know you are cribbing about something and you are not telling me." She said as a matter of fact. I looked at her in horror. She had found out about my nagging. "But I'm not asking you to tell me all that... at least for now."

I heaved a sigh and looked back at the board. The teacher, McNally was looking at us and suddenly, she pointed towards Lily.

"Ms. Harper, would you please tell the class what you were discussing with Ms. Stone?" She said, folding her hands dramatically as she pushed her spectacles further from her nose.

Lily coolly turned towards the teacher who looked like she could hunt us down and made a confused expression on her face. "I was just verifying with Scarlet." She said, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Shouldn't that be two instead of three in that balanced equation?" She pointed to some equation that was scribbled on the board.

The teacher turned towards it and inspected, running her fingers in the air, checking for her mistake.

"Yes, you are right." McNally said, not bothering to turn around to see the smirk on Lily's face. "Class, I'm sorry, take down the proper equation now."

I turned towards Lily with my eyes wide open at her genius self. "How did you do that?" I asked, still not able to believe that she had dodged our teachers hard bullet. "You were talking with me all this time."

"Yeah, well." She waved her hands in the air as if it didn't matter. "I had done this nonsense a few days back since I was getting bored."

I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to the new equation that Lily had corrected.

"About the party." Lily said and thankfully, the bell rang and I stuffed all the stationeries into my bag to get to the next class.

But apparently, all of my classes for today had one of my friends in them, talking me into the party which I had refused to go. It wasn't like I had other important things to run, but I wanted to socially distance myself.

Yesterday when I had taken up my history lessons into the night just to occupy my mind, I thought I was becoming a next version of Lily who often over did her home-works just to fill her time.

All this while, I complained that I didn't have much time to think and relax, but now, having got that opportunity, I didn't know how to spend it. I had scrubbed my kitchen and toilets, mopped the floors and dusted the television sets to get my mind out of it.

Getting the cold shoulder, Dad now often remained at home, hoping to catch me when I got there to cook him dinner and lunch. With these extra developments, I didn't know where else to go and I often spent my time in the public library either studying or looking at the racer videos.

Luke had even come to me the other day asking if I was okay. It seemed that I spent more time than usual at the tracks conditioning.

"You are going to faint with this." He said as he pulled my hand up and gestured my weak limbs. "Eat proper food, Scar. Or else, I'm not letting you in here next time."

This made me go home earlier than my time to have my healthy dinner. Once the dinner was done, I usually jolted up my room and stayed there till early morning, not humming to any of my Dad's requests.

Rob knew that something was wrong, but he never questioned me since I would turn into a hot head when the topic was raised. Though we sat together and talked, I never once bought up my shitty family history to him, not wanting to burden his already stooped shoulders.

Now as the day ended, I was exhausted when everyone else decided that it was the time to party. I had hid in the washroom, hoping that Lily would leave me alone. But she knew all my tricks.

She dragged me out and put me in my car as she drove to my place. There was literally nothing I could do about it. "You are going and that's the end of the discussion." She said.

We were being followed by Nick and James in their own car and I put my head back in exhaustion. I sank in the seat, wondering how to get out of this party and settle in my room. I knew Dad had extra work today, which he had shouted loudly at the stairs yesterday night and I was glad that I had the house to myself for some time.

Lately it felt as if I was going far away from everything I knew and I missed being comfy in my own space. I just missed being the goofy me where I didn't have to think before I opened my mouth. Now, I had to be perfect and move accordingly to fit in others view. My every step seemed calculative and manipulative.

As we reached my place, I saw that the lights inside the house was turned on. I furrowed my eyes together thinking how Dad had come back this early. Was he just making fun of me or was it another one of his tricks to get me in the house when he was there?

I sat still, not wanting to leave the comfortable smell of the leather seats, as Lily let a few not-so-curse words fall from her mouth.

"You are such a grasshopper eating leaf, you know that?" She asked, throwing all her fury at me. Though she looked scary enough, her words of anger brought a small smile on my face.

"Is it a fresh leaf or a dried one?" I asked, turning my head to her.

"You are not going to listen to me." She said, killing the engine. "Wait here."

She got off the car went to the other side and opened the door. She took my hand and pulled me out. For a small girl like her, she seemed to have a lot of strength. I tumbled out as she shut the door close and locked the car. I rolled my eyes at her.

"You are so dramatic sometimes." I said.

"I'm dramatic?" She asked, placing her hands on her hips.

Just then the boys had come, but her rage didn't get down. James was the one to calm her. He put his hands inside her loop and held on to her waist, kissing her cheeks. "All okay, baby?"

I saw a small movement behind them inside my house. I ignored my sappy friends and went in, leaving them behind. As I opened the doors, I saw Dan and Dad having a deep conversation. That was when everything snapped back in its place.

Dan was like a pacifier, making peace between me and Dad. But he had to know that this was something that I wasn't going to forget and forgive that easily. If I thought about it, then it felt as if Ashley was right. Dad had killed my mother. Though he was not the one to change it's circuit, he was the mastermind behind the mental state.

"Scarlet." Dan said, his expression changing from a serious note to a peppy one. "You are home early. Your shift is done at the café?"

"What are you doing here?" I asked, crossing my hands across my chest and giving him my best poker face. Though I wanted to ask Dad what he was doing here, I didn't open my mouth at him.

"Edward wanted to talk to me." He said casually throwing a look at Dad. When I followed his direction of vision, I saw Dad sitting on his wheel chair, looking hopefully at me. "About you actually."

Looking at the two of them was giving me a migraine. The party that my friends were talking about didn't seem like a problem now. Perhaps, I could use some alcohol in my system and get my stress out.

I put my index finger in front of him to say wait and then turned towards my friends who were there at the car talking. "Hey!" I called out. "It seems like I'm coming after all. Give me ten minutes, I'll freshen up."

Lily clapped happily while Nick winked at me for changing my mind. I closed the door slightly and turned towards Dan who was looking at me as if I had grown a big horn on my head.

"So, what do you wanted to say?" I asked Dan, my skeptic voice back on.

"What's gotten into you, Scar?" He asked, taking a step closer to me. "I know what happened and all, but this is going to extremes."

I looked away. What did he want me to say to that? That it was okay to have lost my mother? That my Dad not only cheated, but also abandoned another woman whom he had knocked up? That it was okay to be fighting with Ashley in a race that I have no say in?

He took a deep breath. "It's been days since you got to know those stuffs and all these times, I thought it was okay at home." Dan said. "I though with time you would come around."

"So, you are taking Dad's side." I mused, dodging his questions. Considering him to be Dad's best bud since time immemorial, it was something I should have guessed. "That's good. At least he won't have to feel alone."

"Scarlet!" Dad said, his voice was a mixture of anger and agony, tearing up at an equal measure. "Please, just don't."

"Look, there are families with much worse scenarios." Dan continued. "This... this happened way before you were a grown up. Why are you holding a grudge against your own Dad?"

"You are telling me to suck it up?" I asked Dan, my face turned into a humorless chuckle. "Don't you think I was doing just that all this time?"

"Scarlet, you only have each other." Dan said, his voice had grown soft now. "I understand what you are going through, but you also need to consider that no matter what, he's still your Dad."

"You think I don't know that?" I asked, my voice raising high. "I stood by him even after he had gambled everything he had. I stayed when he tried to kill himself. I stayed when I was pushed into those tracks. Even after knowing all of the shit he did, I'm still here talking, ain't I?"

I was breathing fire now and if anyone dared to disturb my sanctity, they were going down. My patience was running thin and if Dan was to make any more comments on how I should be with Dad, then I was sure I would have kicked his ass.

"Scarlet Stone!" Dan shouted to silence me. He closed his eyes to control his anger and I had never seen him this angry ever before. It was as if I was seeing another face of Dan which was always hidden from me. "I'm just trying to help. I mean I even talked to Bert, but he knows no shit."

"So, you are trying to say that you went behind my back and talked to Robert?" I asked, seemingly calmed down.

"Sweetie, I understand you need time." Dad intervened. "But just don't push me away now. I'm all dependent on you and I promise I have been wanting to change things for you. For us."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't have time for this right now." I dumped my bag on the cushion and walked away, shutting the door as hard as I could.

They didn't have any right to come and console me now than before. Sure I agree that Dan didn't know about Dad's adventures, but now knowing all that, he was taking sides. Dad's side. Like he always did. That alone made me sick and miserable.

Was there something I could call as my own?

"Hey, you okay?" Nick was the first one to approach me.

"Never better." I gave me a bright smile. "I can't drive today though. I will crash at your place, Lil or at the party place."

"Sure, okay." Lily said concerned about me. "James, can we use your car to pool us there?"

---

The party was just like any other I had been to. With all the races that I had been participating in, I had attended a number of parties, especially after Dad's revelations. The same songs, the same beats and the same sweaty bodies grinding against each other.

With the stunt that I had pulled, none of my friends questioned about me, something that I was very grateful for. I had smiled and laughed at all of their jokes, nodding my head in approval for all the crazy ideas that they had planned for tonight.

As we entered the party zone, the love birds of our group said farewell to Nick and I before going out their way. Nick, being the sweetest, stood next to me with a coke for me and a beer for himself.

As I looked back, I realized how much I had changed. There was a time when I was pinning for the guy who stood next to me, blinding myself to the other. Now, I hardly cared for anyone.

Robert seemed to be the only guy in my life holding my hand.

I had seen him on my way here at a signal nearer to the party place. After the fight, I wanted to be snuggled in his arms where I felt most comfortable. A tiny ray of hope of him distributing the goods to this party came up, but it soon chalked it off.

I looked around with Nick at my tow now, as he placed his hand on the small of my back drinking his beer. The party was in good swing and most of the football team was there, playing shots and turning bottles to play truth or dare.

Never once I had seen such scenes at the party I usually went after my races. They were too classy to act like us, teenage students. They had their women up their hips or the laptops blaring latest season of some series or the drugged mafia, just what Robert called them.

I heaved a sigh. At least this was a different kind of party. But going into one had bored me because I had been to too many already. With no booze rule, according to Robert of course, I didn't get to enjoy the party as everyone said.

Now if I thought about it, it seemed silly. I had been obeying all my orders from him, while he was there sauntering off, never in my reach.

The only thing that I felt was rage. My Dad's thoughts came back swiveling and I knew I had to do something rather than sulk. To divert my senses, I looked at the cup I was holding. A coke. I wanted something more now.

"I want a beer, Nick." I said, placing the cup away from me. It was high time I had some fun for myself. But more importantly, I wanted to relax for sometime... perhaps the only time since Robert was not around to boss over me. "I'll get one."

"I'll come with you." He said, emptying his cup in one go. He smiled at me as he placed his cup next to mine. "I want a refill anyway."

I returned his smile as we both dragged ourselves to the kitchen to get what we wanted. I still didn't know whose party we were in and by the number of kids that were standing there, I could tell that they were pretty popular and threw good parties.

Nick took my hand in his as he made his way through the dancing crowd. Though I was sure I could have handled a few slick bodies myself, looking at him caring for me in his own way cooled my raging heart a little. When we entered the kitchen, he poured a cup of beer for me and held the bottle aside.

"Thank you." I said, taking the bottle from him for which he only laughed and shook his head sideways, sipping the beer from the cup, as if he couldn't believe that I did it.

I leaned on the counter as I took a sip. A big one.

Ah, that felt good. I had forgotten how bitter a beer could taste. But I soon got adjusted to it and took another one, holding it in my mouth before I swallowed. Just to hold on to the taste more.

Lorenz came to the kitchen for his refill just then. He smiled at me politely and then grinned at Nick. "Hey Nick." He said as he opened the refrigerator. I knew Nick had a major crush on him and he inaudibly squealed as Lorenz bent into the refrigerator to find what he wanted. I giggled, rolling my eyes at him as I took another chug of beer in. Lorenz pulled out a tequila bottle from there and turned to Nick. "We are playing shots, why don't you join us?"

"Um..." Nick looked at me. "I'm with Scarlet tonight."

"Bullshit." I said, pushing him towards Lorenz. "You go have fun. I want to dance to those disco lights. I saw a guy staring at me since we came here."

It was truly bullshit and if Nick knew it, he didn't show. He threw me a thank-you smile and went along with Lorenz, putting his hand behind his shoulders. I, on the other hand took another beer bottle and tried to settle somewhere where there was less population.

I walked around those sweaty bodies, trying to place a remote location. That was when I noticed the balcony window slightly ajar. There was a small off limits sign on it, but I chucked it away and went in. I had already ditched my Dad and I thought I was finding a rebel in me.

I chuckled at the thought and went ahead. It was a circular balcony. The guy who threw the party was pretty rich, I mused. The railings of the balcony was high for me even when I considered myself to be tall. There was a small platform and I stood on it to see the other side.

It was a clear sky and the skyline was beautiful. The small twinkling lights from all the houses across town could be seen and I wondered how small I was. I smiled as a cool breeze hit me as I took another sip from the bottle. It was as if I was free. This was one of the reasons why I liked to get drunk.

"Thought you would be here." Someone called out. I didn't turn even when I heard the footsteps come closer to me. "Babe, you don't like the party?"

"What's new in it?" I asked, taking another gulp.

I knew Robert would come around, especially when I knew the guy who had thrown the party was rich. Since it was from a football jock, who was close to Brian, I was sure words had passed by.

Robert stood next to me, taking my unused bottle. He took a big sip himself and closed his eyes, taking in the bitter liquid. "Tastes just as I thought it would."

I turned to look at him. "What did you think?"

"Cat's piss." He answered with a grin on his face. It had been so long since he had grinned that boyish grin of his. It was as if he was enjoying too. These things never happened in our racer parties.

"Just like your neighbor's cat?" I asked, smirking at him. The alcohol was already taking my sane senses. "You liked her, right?"

He looked at me, his gaze turning intense as the moments passed by. "I loved her, but she belongs to her owner, right?" He asked, taking another sip. This time he didn't cringe. "I never had a chance anyway."

I looked at him, trying to focus. With an almost empty bottle in hand, I thought I was tipsy hearing and hallucinating things. Was he talking about the cat? Or was he talking about his family? I was confused. Did that terribly small sip made him that dizzy?

"Enough of gulping down my drink." I said, taking his bottle away from my free hand. Robert was not the usual guys I found at the parties who drank at every chance they got. With him gulping down beer like it was his favorite tea, made me worried. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yes." He said as he smiled. "Though I love that you worry about me, this was only two sips, babe."

I nodded my head, not wanting to say anything. He was my coach and he was doing a good job at it and I didn't have anything to say about his personal life.

"What about you?" He asked, turning towards me. He put his hand on the railings and looped his hand around it. "Are you okay?"

"I'm great." I nodded my head though I was sure he had read it alright.

"Scarlet, I've know you for almost six-seven months." He said, his voice turning soft. "I think I can tell when you are lying."

I scoffed, waving my hand in the air, snubbing the idea that he was right. "What makes you think I'm lying?"

"I met Dan." He said and all my resolve crumbled as did my fake smile. I pressed my beer bottle to my mouth and engulfed it all down. "He asked me a few things that I didn't know the answers to."

"And then he filled you up." I completed his sentences. Knowing Dan for almost my eternity, I knew how he functioned. If he wanted to know something, then he would find out, of course the last option was confrontation. "Are you here because he called you to sniff me up?"

"I'll be honest, Scarlet." He said, taking my hands in his. He took my empty bottle and placed it away. "He did all that, but I came here not to follow his orders, but I wanted to make sure that you were okay."

The truth in his brown eyes were too much to take in, I looked away. For the first time, I felt like I was about to cry my eyes out. The brutal honesty in his words were something that I thought I would never find again.

"So, you know about Dad." I said. It was not a question, but a statement that I knew was true.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked, not denying my statements. "I'm not blaming you or anything, but you... we always told stuffs to each other, right?"

I wanted to scoff and push him away. But the after math of Dan's conversation just before I had left home, had made me all soft. I took a deep breath and smiled at him.

"I didn't want to burden you further." I said.

"C'mere." He said as he engulfed me in a big hug. God knew how much I needed it. It was all warm and he smelled of fresh soap and beer, but I liked it. It was as if I could rely on him if not for anyone else.

"Don't worry about me. I'm much stronger than I look." I said, but my voice was muffled in his shirt. I held him much tighter and snuggled deeper in him. I just couldn't get enough. "I missed this."

A deep chuckled escaped his mouth that made me smile along with him. As we pulled back, both of our moods seemed to be uplifted. Or perhaps it was the beer. I couldn't tell.

Just then, Robert got a call, piercing through our silent bubble. "I need to take this." He said pulling his phone out from his pant pockets. "Yes?" He started, as he pulled me closer to him, planting a chaste kiss on my forehead. "Okay, I know that... today... yes, but I'm busy... no man... now?... fine, give me ten." Then the call was cut.

"No." I whined.

I hated myself for letting me rely on him. After all we were all racers and he was an illegal one. Probably, that was why I was attracted to him. It didn't seem fair.

"I know." He said. "But I have to go, baby." He looked ahead of me and then back at me. "You are getting company after all. Brian is heading this way."

I rolled my eyes, not turning towards the hall to see if that was true. "Not one of my favorite companies."

Robert chucked at that. "I think he still has the hots for you. Don't you dare flirt with him." He said, but I couldn't miss the twinkle in his eyes.

"Is he watching us?" I asked for which Robert gave an affirmation.

I smirked before I stood on my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his. As soon as my skin made contact with his, I forgot all my reasons and doubts. Fireworks seemed to light up my soul as he licked my lips and put his tongue inside my mouth. Robert's hold on me tightened when I ran my hands over his curly hair. Just as things were getting interesting, Robert broke apart.

"Now his hots would have cooled down." I breathed.

"You are so wicked." Robert said, still not able to believe that I did that in front of Brian.

Usually, I was so cautious about our moves to put it out in public, but tonight, I was all daring and mostly, I didn't care. Who was there to care about what I felt anyway? It was only me in the end.

"I wish I could stay." Robert said, running his hands over his hair. "Especially after that. But I really need to go."

I laughed. "Go. I can handle here."

---

A/N: A filler after so many days. What do you think? Did I give you the break that you wanted?