okay but fuck you

Scarlett Niles 19 Mutant

[scxrlettniles]

[text]: its gotten to the point where if her hand isn't on my butt i think we're in a fight

[MSG:] thats because u usually are

[MSG:] i get worried if one of u hasnt touched the other’s boobs in over eight minutes

[scxrlettniles]

(Lia) [TXT]: .....did you take down my 1d posters??????

[MSG:] they were offending me

[MSG:] i left the zayn ones up

[vxera-blog]

Vera was not a frequent visitor to the library, contrary, perhaps, to popular belief. It was no secret that she read a lot, in fact her shelves at home may actually have rivalled those belonging to Alistair Grismond. The only difference being the chosen genres; and the fact that hers were kept alphabetically arranged, amongst other things. They even had their own little, plastic pouches to fit into. To keep out the dust. Books were not prized possessions to Vera, though she kept them so immaculate it was easy to see why some would think it. If someone asked why she was in the library right then, she wouldn’t have had an accurate answer. She wasn’t browsing the library’s wares, though she scanned one aisle so intently that anyone would have thought she was trying to solve a puzzle. But her eyes merely skimmed across titles, taking in the colours of their covers rather than what they were actually named. The quiet, of late, had become more of a comfort to her than the white noise she normally favoured. 

…That and Alice was currently trying to hunt her down so that she might force her to give up her work shoes. According to Alice, Vera’s footwear was an eyesore, and despite Vera’s immediate response that she liked her shoes and would not get rid of them, the other woman had been (and continued to be) persistent. She was rubbing gentle circles into the side of her small bump when she stepped into the next aisle, to promptly have a trolley connect with her heel. It hurt a little, but came as such a surprise that Vera barely reacted at all. Instead she stood and watched as the trolley tipped over, sending copious amounts of books toppling to the floor. Her eyes only lifted to the offender when they spoke up, and she blinked a few times, as if that was telling of her delight at seeing Scarlett. At the near use of profanity, Vera’s head tilted. “You would have been less likely to run into someone with your trolley if you’d steered its front away from the corner. People tend to keep to the sides of pathways and –” She hesitated. “What are you doing in a library?”

[scxrlettniles]

Scarlett’s eyes had stayed fixed on the books that now lay across the aisle, and as such hadn’t realized that it was Vera that she’d crashed the trolley into. Pregnant Vera. When she heard the voice her head snapped up, eyes widening, and she side-stepped past the trolley to move a little closer to the woman. “Uh -- detention. Are you okay? Sorry. I didn’t see it was you. Obviously. Not like I was intentionally trying to ram a cart full of books into people.” Her eyes flickered briefly to Vera’s small bump, and she folded her arms as she cleared her throat. The librarian had appeared at the other end of the aisle by then, frowning and with her mouth half open like she was going to shout, but she must have changed her mind upon spotting another teacher stood there. Scarlett was thankful for it; the last thing she needed was another lecture of the reptilian book overlord, who disappeared around the corner once again. 

For a moment she looked down at the books on the floor and considered starting to pick them up, but decided to focus her attention back on Vera. “Why did you sound so surprised about me being in the library? It’s not that weird. What are you doing in the library?”

[scxrlettniles]

[txt] (dagny) if anyone asks if you were with zoe last night, say yes. will explain later but it is very important. please

[MSG:] uhhh sure??

[MSG:] were we doing anything specific or what

[scxrlettniles]

[TXT] (Grace) Hi Scarlett. Have you managed to speak to Ms. Keneally about a referral for Zelda?

[MSG:] yeah. she said she’ll write one out some time this week. 

[MSG:] thanks for checking about it

[scxrlettniles]

[TXT] i snorted chilli powder for a dare and now my nose won’t stop bleedin dude wtf!!!!!

[MSG:] HOW ARE U STILL ALIVE???

[MSG:] go get ur nose looked at jesus christ

[scxrlettniles]

Scarlett had been given extended detention for the last two days (something about how throwing encyclopedias at people in the library was dangerous – though in her defense, she said, they were being loud and annoying) and she could have sworn the librarian holding the detentions hated her. Probably had something to do with Scarlett throwing her precious first edition books around, but she didn’t think that gave the woman any right to have her stacking shelves whilst everyone else got to sit in mindless silence. She also could have sworn that the librarian filled the book cart with the heaviest books possible, just to put her through more pain and suffering. But it’d been made clear to Scarlett that if she skipped out on these detentions she’d be sent to isolation instead, and if anything that was even worse.

So she pushed the cart along the library aisles, grumbling to herself and shoving books into the place closest to where she thought they’d go. They should have gone in alphabetical order or something like that, but frankly she hadn’t been listening when the librarian had explained and she didn’t really care. Most of the time she stared at the large clock above the library doors, willing the hands to turn faster so she could leave. The library had always been her least favourite place in the school (perhaps only second to the pool) and having to spend time in there unwillingly definitely didn’t put her in a good mood.

About five minutes before she was supposed to be able to leave, the librarian came along and dumped another load of books on the cart, the same lot she’d just put away, and said she couldn’t leave until they were all in the correct place and not thrown around wherever she felt like putting them. Scarlett had the sudden urge to push her over and send all the shelves toppling like dominoes. But then she’d probably only have to clean it up, so she jerked the cart around as the librarian walked away, pushing it forward and glaring at the old woman over her shoulder. And she was so busy glaring at the reptilian bitch that she didn’t see anyone come around the corner of the bookshelf, and so she ran the cart right into them, effectively overturning it and sending the books flying everywhere with an incredibly loud crash.

“Oh for f– can you watch where you’re going?!”

[scxrlettniles]

[txt] hey stfu about my light up sketchers like, remember that time we couldnt see for shit bc it was dark and the only source of light we had was my shoes?? yea you werent complaining then were you!!!

[MSG:] they’re still lame shoes

[MSG:] ur wardrobe looks like u havent changed it since u were 12 

[MSG:] actually im not sure u have

[scxrlettniles]

[TXT:] (Vera) You and Ash… are romantically involved now?

[MSG:] yeah

[MSG:] are u surprised?

[MSG:] u sound surprised

[MSG:] but i can never tell over text

[MSG:] are you happy for us

[scxrlettniles]

[TXT:] (Weston) I could never hate you.

[MSG:] you have a really funny way of showing it

[MSG:] can we just go and do something?

[MSG:] not involved in all this.......crap

[MSG:] something kind of normal

[scxrlettniles]

TXT:] OK who would win in a fight? alice or keneally? i need to know

[MSG:] i wanna say vera because u know obviously but

[MSG:] ??? it’s a tough question

[MSG:] on the one hand vera can snap ur bones just by touching u. and she has some really cool fighting and gun stuff going on

[MSG:] but anderson doesnt even need to be within five feet of u to fuck you up

[MSG:] okay okay im gonna say anderson would win in a fight with powers but vera would win if there were no powers involved

[scxrlettniles]

(vera) I was only gone a week, and you've managed to dirty every dish and kill all of the house plants!

“Okay, well, in my defense... I was very busy looking after your son. I was being, y’know, super attentive so that nothing bad would happen to him. You wouldn’t have wanted that, right? And that didn’t really leave me a lot of time for washing plates and watering plants.” It wasn’t entirely a lie -- Scarlett and Weston hadn’t been apart the whole week that Vera had been away, and she had been busy looking after him, but it wasn’t as if she’d had no time whatsoever for keeping up with the minor list of chores Vera had left. It was just that the house had so many plants, and most of the time she had intended to wash the dishes -- but after story time with Weston and finally getting him to bed each night, it was usually time for America’s Next Top Model and she was always asleep on the sofa by the end of it. “I can do it now, if you want.” The offer wasn’t all that serious, mostly because she knew that Vera would want to do all the cleaning, properly and to her own high standard. “Or I can take Weston out of your hair until dinner so you can do all your cleaning and checking and then we can sit down and you can tell us all about your trip. Sounds good, right?”

[scxrlettniles]

"Hey, listen, it's sweet that you're checking up on my nose and all that, but I've got Tatum. Ash is an asshole but - like, maybe you should go and talk to her? Trust me, you don't want to waste any more time apart from someone you, you know, love. I've learnt that twice, remember?" She paused. "Love you though."

Scarlett didn’t really know what to say to that, so she didn’t say anything, and instead continued to mash buttons on Zelda’s gameboy to move the tetris blocks into place. She and Ash hadn’t really spoken since the incident with Zelda’s nose -- they’d had one brief argument but that didn’t really count, and as far as she could tell her girlfriend (ex-girlfriend? on-a-break-girlfriend?) didn’t really want to speak with her anyway. Her own anger had long since burnt out into exhaustion and confusion but Ash’s, apparently, continued to blaze. “I don’t think she wants to talk to me.” Scarlett spoke without moving her eyes from the screen in front of her face, but her fingers had stopped moving. “We had an argument. Again. I tried texting her but she didn’t answer. I called her and she picked up once but I think that was an accident, because she hung up straight away.” 

The situation was getting under her skin as much as she hated to admit it, and every single piece of advice she’d heard just seemed ridiculous. Talking about the issue was easier said than done. Couples counselling might have worked if Ash had bothered to turn up to the first session. The whole thing probably could have been avoided outright if Scarlett had explained things a little better at the beginning. But none of that had happened and so they were stuck. “Every time we try to talk we argue. What’s the point? I can’t -- I don’t know how to deal with that.” A faint crease had appeared between her brows as she lowered the gameboy, eventually managing to look over at Zelda. “I’m... kinda scared. What if she decides that this whole thing is too much of a deal breaker for her? I don’t know if things could be normal again.”

[scxrlettniles]

(Weston) "I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it. What I said to you, about not caring about you. Oh god please, please stay awake. I'm gonna get you out of here. Keep squeezing my hand. Come ON! Star!"

The lights above Scarlett’s head kept flickering; at least, she thought they did, until she realized it was just her own eyes fluttering open and shut again. Everything felt so much more than it should have -- her own breathing sounded loud in her ears, and every muscle in her legs and arms felt like they weighed a hundred pounds each, but the one thing she couldn’t feel was the pain that should have been coming from her lower abdomen. That was where the bullet had hit. She knew because she had felt the impact, seconds before losing consciousness, but she’d only been out for a few moments. Her first thought, upon opening her eyes and seeing Weston at her side, was worry. They didn't have time to be stopping and tending to the wounded, and a small part of Scarlett suspected that any help would come too late. Getting shot was her own fault. Nobody else needed to die just because she'd been too careless -- especially not Weston. 

Dimly she was aware that he’d grabbed her hand, and that she was holding on more tightly than she thought. Her entire self felt like it was slipping; not in a physical sense but something more spiritual, and part of wondered whether letting go of Weston’s hand would allow her to fall over whatever edge she was hanging from. But he wasn’t going to let go, and a part of her didn’t want to let go either, even though she knew Weston wouldn’t budge while she was still alive. She wanted to tell him to run. To leave while he still had the chance, before someone arrived to kill him or capture him and turn him into an experiment. She could hear other’s calling his name from down the hall, and crashes that sounded a million miles away, but the only things that seemed real were the lights above her head and the feeling of Weston’s fingers laced through her own. 

“Don’t worry.” Eventually Scarlett managed to speak, her last chance as her breathing became more shallow, and the metallic taste of blood began to rise at the back of her throat. “You’ll still be able to see me after I’m gone.”

[scxrlettniles]

[TXT:] (Vera) There is a new girl moving into the dorm next to yours tomorrow morning. I need you to help her with whatever she needs help with, please. I can tell you more afterwards.

[MSG:] uuUUUUUUUUGH

[MSG:] i hate helping people

[MSG:] you know this

[MSG:] why can’t lia do it shes actually nice to new people

[scxrlettniles]

[TXT:] (Vera) Take care of him for me. I love you both.

[MSG:] ??? we love you too but this is a weird message out of the blue lmao

[MSG:] are you okay??

[MSG:] ...

[MSG:] ...

[MSG:] vera????

[MSG:] message me back asap

[MSG:] better yet answer the phone

[MSG:] wtf where the hell are you???

[scxrlettniles]

[TXT:] dude there’s this really weird girl spouting bible shit in the common room come quick I’m about to attack her with silly string

[MSG:] is it darlene

[MSG:] brunette that dresses like shes amish

[MSG:] i feel kinda bad for her tbh maybe just gently attack her with silly string