Page 18 of Guarded By Death

One hour and a bottle of hairspray later, I barely recognize myself. My long brown hair is curled into big waves, my eyes are dark with a smoky tint around them. Red lipstick to match my fiery red dress.

I begin to wonder if it may be too much. "I'm not sure Liv," I say as I questionably stare back at myself.

She holds her finger up. "No, no, no. You look HOT!" she exclaims. "Besides, we have to get going. Zack will be here any minute!" She jumps up and her eyes trail across my face, checking that it's perfect. She nods her head triumphantly and grabs her purse.

I glare around the room looking for my flats when Liv sticks a pair of black stiletto heels in my face. I shake my head, and she glares me down.

Her tilted head and narrowed eyes tell me she's right. I have a whole new look tonight and a pair of flats would completely ruin that. I place them on my feet and hook the delicate straps around my ankles.

A car horn blares from outside and I quickly but carefully make my way down the stairs in my heels. As I'm walking to Zack's Jeep, I spot something in the corner of my eye. I look back but nothing is there, I must be seeing things.

Zack leans against his car and whistles at us when we come into view. It makes me laugh; I pull my dress down a little as he wraps me in a tight hug, momentarily lifting me into the air.

"Scarlett, you look…” he pauses, taking a moment to rake his eyes up and down my figure after he sets me down. “perfect.” he decides. The gesture makes me blush and I quickly become uncomfortable as I shift in my too-tall heels.

I allow the nerves to flow through me, and then I suck it up. I've almost died three times, I truly do need to live a little more. Pierce will never find out.

I laugh when I realize he actually will. But he won't be mad when he sees no harm has come to me or Liv.

Zack slings his arm around me as we walk into his house. His usual immaculate home is dotted with kegs, lights, and dancing bodies with a trail of red cups littering the ground. His mom would kill him if she saw this. Loud music blares through the speakers as we get handed three drinks. I look over to Liv as she sets her cup on the counter, her eyes trained in front of her. She's zoned out, besides not taking her iron pills, we both haven’t eaten anything.

I walk up to her and whisper in her ear, "Take your pills."

She pops two in her mouth and after about twenty minutes she is right as rain. "Time to drink!” she cheers.

I watch as Zack rummages through his pantry for snacks, "Hey, Zack do you have any canned beer?" I ask with a smile.

His brows lift. "There's a keg at the front, didn't someone hand you one?" he asks, looking at my empty hands.

I nod. "Yeah, but I don't drink really, so I would prefer a cold can. If you have any? It’ll just make it easier for me to get it down." I tell him.

Liv raises her hand. "Make it two if you have them!" I smile at her. We learned our lesson the other night. Even if I trust Zack, you truly never know who could be at this party. The thought makes my chest tighten a little, but I swallow the uneasy feeling back down and ignore it. I need to prove a point to Pierce that he can't control everything, even if his intentions are good. Okay, I need to stop thinking of him, he's clouding my every thought.

Zack brings us two closed cans with a grin and makes his way to a nearby keg stand. Liv smiles at me, taking a swig of the cold beer. "I'm glad to see you loosening up Scar, it's a nice change," she says.

"I'm tired of being boring," I admit with a shrug.

She shakes her head, placing a gentle hand on my arm. "You’re not boring; you never have been. I only push you to do different things because I know how much fun you can have. But I swear I will never ask you to go anywhere you don't want to anymore. Are you comfortable here?" she asks, checking on me.

"Liv, you act like you weren't put through the same thing as me at the club. Are you comfortable?" I question.

"I’m more exposed to this world than you, Scar, but this is a nice way to celebrate things with you. In Zack's house where we’re safe." she smiles and gestures towards the table where they're playing beer pong.

As I walk with her, I laugh at myself about her comment of 'this world'. If only she knew the world I have been exposed to, she would see how small we all are.

Zack grabs my waist, pulling me to him. "Hey Cutie, you're my partner," he winks. I can feel his weight leaning on me a bit from the sluggish effects of the keg stands he was doing moments ago, to make up for lost time being sober from picking us up.

I watch as they rack the red cups into a pyramid shape and pour warm keg beer into them. "I’ve never played so I can't promise we won't lose," I tell Zack with a nervous tone, not wanting to embarrass myself in front of everyone. I shrug out of his grip a little, he is a bit handsy, I've just never paid much attention before.

Once the people at the table have finished their game Zack brings his fingers to his lips, letting out a high-pitched whistle to gather everyone’s attention. "Any takers?" he challenges with a boyish, all-American grin. With his slurred speech, I begin to wonder if he did drink before he picked us up.

"I'd love to play." A deep, enticing voice sounds to my right. My eyes search for the familiar tone and I see Pierce leaned up against a wall. He’s dressed in all black and looking devilishly handsome, with his smoldering gaze trained on me.

Eleven

Goodnight, Scar

"What are you doing here?" Zack slurs as he pulls me a little closer to him. I examine Pierce's stoic expression; he tenses up a bit and steps forward. His sharp gaze pans to me, and he softens.

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