Carter pulled her white t-shirt over her head and pulled on her long, black, cargo skirt. It was saturday and she was happy to have a day off of school. She ran down the stairs, excited to go over to Zac's house and find out what was up, but of course she had to have a run-in with some people she didn't exactly want to see.
Gabi was sitting on the couch between Melissa and Abbie. They were comparing pictures of prom dresses.
Carter rolled her eyes. "I thought you stopped hanging out with this trash, Mel."
Melissa gave Carter a look between sisters that told her to shut up.
Gabi stood up. She had on a tiny grey and pink plaid skirt with a pink tanktop. Her long, layered, brown hair was almost too shiny and perfect for words. It swayed on her hips as she walked over to Carter. "Trash? You're calling us trash? You should really be looking at yourself in the mirror, Car. V-neck t-shirt, black army lookin skirt... where's your combat boots?"
"Actually, I was just going to look for them. Mel have you seen them? I think you borrowed them yesterday." Carter grinned at her sister. She was in no mood to argue with her snotty friends.
"I don't wear your boots." Melissa whispered, looking down at the floor.
"Yeah. Ok." Carter almost felt bad for embarrassing her sister. Almost. "I'm going next door."
"Wait." Gabi grabbed Carter by the arm and jerked her back.
"Ow! Dammit!" Carter rubbed her arm. "What the hell is wrong with you anyway? You're... what... 18?"
"Yeah. So?"
"So get over it. Taylor is 16 years old."
"So?"
"You have a thing for younger people don't you? Just so that you can boss them around? Well you can't do that to Taylor and you better not do that to my sister. I don't give a shit what you do to Abbie though."
Gabi glared at her. "And just why can't I do that to Taylor?"
"Because he hates your guts. That's why. He doesn't go out with preppy little whores."
"He went out with Melissa didn't he?"
Melissa jumped up and stood in front of Gabi. "DO NOT call me a whore!"
Gabi rolled her eyes. "Sit. Now. I'm going to tell you this again, Carter. Stay away from Taylor. Or else."
"Or else what?"
"Just... or else."
Carter laughed. "Oookay. So anyway. Bye." She gave Melissa a half-sympathetic look and opened the front door. Once again, she was faced with somebody she really didn't want to see. "Hi Todd." She sighed.
Todd had on a pair of black leather pants and a blue velvet shirt. His hair was slicked back today instead of spiking out in all directions. And it was black, not purple, not pink... just black. "Hi Carter. Is Abbie here?"
Abbie sighed. "Go away Todd. I'm hanging out with my friends."
"I'm supposed to pick you up."
"Yeah well, tough. I'm staying."
Todd sighed. "Ok then. Can I talk to you Carter?"
"Yeah. I'm heading next door anyway." Carter closed the door behind her and stood on the front porch in her socks, with her arms crossed over her chest.
"You look really nice."
"I like your shirt. Did you get it from Abbie?"
"No actually, it's mine. I was kind of hoping you'd go out with me."
"I'm busy."
"I didn't even ask when."
"Well, I'll be busy then."
Todd laughed. "Why do you always play so hard to get?"
"See that's where you're mistaken, it's not hard to get. It's blind hatred."
Todd looked surprised.
"I know what you're up to actually. I know about the guy that attacked me that night. It was your friend's friend wasn't it?"
Todd's mouth gaped open. "Who told you that?"
"Melissa. See that was your biggest mistake, telling your loud mouth sister all about your plans. What exactly did you want with me? Money? Cause if you wanted money, I don't have any."
Todd continued to stare.
"Oooh. I get it. You wanted sex. Nope sorry, Todd. Not gonna get any of that either. So I'll tell you what. You can take your gothic backstreet boy looking, punk ass and get the hell away from my house before I beat the shit out of you. And believe me, I could. K?"
Todd lunged forward and grabbed her by the arms. "You think you can talk to anybody like that?"
Carter raised her knee and slammed it into him. She watched Todd grab himself and back off. "DON'T ever touch me again. You got it?" Carter glared at him one last time before hopping over the banister and walking into Zac's house, without knocking. She wanted to get away from Todd as fast as possible. She would never admit it, but she was a little afraid of him.
Todd watched her walk into the house and he grunted to himself. Gabi came outside. "I told you she's a bitch."
"Yeah, you didn't tell me she'd kick me in the nads though."
"I had no idea she was as physical as she is annoying. So now what? You're not going to give up are you?"
"No." Todd glared at the door to the Hanson house. "See, I might not get what I wanted, but that doesn't mean I'm going to lose. And you're not going to lose either."
"So what do I have to do."
"Just keep her away from Taylor. You want him, and I want her."
"What about Zac?"
"He's not what bugs me. It's Taylor."
"Yeah." Gabi sighed. "I've seen the way he looks at her. And I know she has a thing for him too. Who wouldn't."
"But we're not going to let that happen are we?"
"Nope." Gabi smiled.
"Melissa doesn't know anything about this does she?"
"No. She's clueless. She thinks I'm actually her friend. Poor girl is so insecure, she'll latch on to anybody that's popular. What about Abbie?"
"Nope. She has no idea that you've been in on this with me the whole time. She thinks she already told Melissa the truth. She'll do anything to keep Melissa as her friend. Unfortunately, I never told her the second half the the whole story."
Gabi smiled and leaned over. She whispered lightly into Todd's ear. "We'll get what we want. I'll make sure of it."
Todd grinned and slid his hand across her back. "I know you will. It's what you're best at, getting what you want."
"Too bad I don't want you. We'd be really great together."
"Yeah, too bad."