(present)

Fuck. What now?

Entering the house, I studied Frisco whose posture screamed uneasy. He was stiff, and close to fidgeting. His breathing was fast, too.

"What's up?"

He nodded to the living room, and grimly said, "We've got company."

I suddenly had a bad feeling about this.

Frisco and I headed there, where I could already hear Alfie's cold voice leave a ring in the air. The house was quiet. Music stopped playing. People surrounded the scene.

Damn.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" spat Alfie.

His cheeks were red, while he swayed a little as he stood. My eyes wandered to the cup of beer in his hand. This wasn't gonna end good if he was the one who handled this.

Him + alcohol + fight?

Bad combo.

"It's a high school party. What do you think?"

I inwardly groaned. I didn't have to look to see who the dipshit was. Just his voice sent an instant chill of rage surge within me.

Why for fuck's sake did they have to barge in and ruin everyone's night? Why couldn't they just fucking keep to themselves like the damn goodie pussies they were? They weren't welcome here. Nothing but a bunch of eyesores.

"Last time I checked," taunted Alfie, frowning as if something baffled him, "there are no losers allowed."

"Then why are you here?" countered Scout, not taking shit from any of us.

Heh. Not for long.

"We're here because we just won a game," I piped in, stepping up beside Alfie. I discreetly waved a hand for him to back away, in case he lose it and lunge. I kept my eyes on Scout, but I saw Alfie move. "A word that seemed to be lost in your vocabulary," I added in a voice full of wonder.

His jaw clenched, and his eyes blazed in anger.

"Plus," I continued, "the hostess personally invited us. How did you get here," I paused to leer at him, "word of mouth?"

"It's a free country."

My gaze turned ice cold, as did my voice. I was reminded of everything they did. The blood they spilled. The spirits they burned down to the ground. The lost justice from it all.

"But not really free people, as you so kindly engraved in our heads."

"That was your own fault," he replied strongly, the crease on his forehead deepened. "Stop blaming me for something you did."

I scrutinized him.

No twitching in his face. No blinking in his eyes. No avoidance of the matter.

And then, something clicked.

I've thought about all those times I've talked to Scout. Now that I considered it, it didn't make any sense if he was behind what happened. It didn't seem like him. He was disgustingly good. No matter what, he'd always been fair and square.

Damn.

He really didn't know anything about that day - what his teammates did. He was honest all this time about being innocent.

That just made him a helluva lot dumber.

I rubbed my face with a hand. "You have no fucking idea, Crimson," I laughed humorlessly, shaking my head.

"You keep saying that," he muttered exasperatedly, letting out a breath of frustration. "Educate me, then."

"Nah, it's more amusing to see you look like an idiot," I said harshly.

He shook his head at me, his nostrils flaring.

"Found the hostess!" announced Connie, dragging a preppy girl in the middle of it.

"Ah, Gina," I flashed her my most charming smile.

She was one of the cheerleaders for the football team. Yeah, they were divided. I pitied the ones cheering for the other team. Anyhow, I remembered Gina always pining over Kurt. He always liked to play it cool, so I didn't think they were anything more than fuck buddies.

Still, we already had that advantage.

"They stay or we stay," I shrugged. "You pick, since it's your party."

"Can't you guys just get along?" she pleaded.

"I won't ask again."

On the corner of my eye, I saw Alfie grin lazily. Connie chinned up, while Kurt crossed his arms. Frisco was quiet. Gina? She was fidgeting.

"Stop it, Oz," ordered Scout. "We'll leave."

When he turned to leave, I signaled the rest of the team to block the way. They did, causing for Scout and his minions to stop.

"Afraid she won't choose you?" I smirked.

"What more do you want?" demanded Finn, sending me a glare. "We're already leaving."

"Not yet," I deadpanned. I turned to Gina. "Choose."

She looked scared, glancing at Kurt for help. He only waited for her say something. Looking away, she bit her lip and ran a nervous hand through her straight black hair. She closed her eyes for a second, then faced Scout with a sad expression.

"I'm sorry, Scout. Y - You need to leave."

I grinned.

I didn't know what the hell he expected her to say. But the look on his face said that even though a part of him knew she'd pick us, it still stung him. His minions had the same look on their faces. No doubt they felt humiliated.

Good.

"That's what I want," I admitted coldly, with a low voice. "All of you feeling like unwanted scums, not welcome to any parties aside from your own."

Nobody spoke for a moment, letting my words sink in their systems. This was why most people feared me. And this was only half of what I was capable of doing.

Seriously? I hurt people physically, mentally, and emotionally. It's what I'm good at. Sure, it's not really a 'good' thing. But you know what? I don't give a fuck. Good is overrated.

"That's not fair," Finn managed to choke out. "You forced her to choose you."

"Did we force you?" I asked Gina.

She looked down on her feet. "No," she mumbled. "I want them to stay for real."

I turned back my attention to Finn, my eyes drooped a little from boredom.

"You were saying?"

He was too furious to speak, which only made my smirk grow wider.

"I think they were saying that they're gonna leave now," Alfie answered for them, raising his cup to his mouth to hide his wicked grin.

I gestured my team to move from the door. They nodded and stepped aside.

"I've made my point," I stated. "Leave."

"One of these days, Oz," grumbled Finn, shaking his head.

The corner of my lips twitched. "You're threatening me?" I scoffed. "I'm just finishing what you fucking dickheads started."

"What exactly did we start?" demanded Scout, stopping in his tracks to face me.

I sneered. "That fact that you're asking that shows how shitty your leadership is."

"I'm getting tired of this," he said, pulling up his hands in defeat. Then, he pointed a finger to my chest. "I'm sick of you acting like you know my team better than I do."

Apparently, I do.

And I was getting sick of this conversation, too.

"Stop stalling," I whispered. "Just fucking leave."

Each of them sent dirty looks our way as they walked out of the house. But with the badass intimidating teams we played against every season? We were already immune to that shit. Theirs were even so poorly done it sent tears in my eyes.

After a couple of minutes, the big house party started back up again. Music blared on the stereo, and people were chatting like nothing happened.

"I am definitely getting a threesome tonight, thanks to those fucktards," said Alfie, burping through his words.

"You're gross, you know that?" Connie told him, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"You love me, anyway," he grinned, as he put an arm around her.

Instead of answering, Connie shoved his face away.

"Ow! You wound me."

Connie snorted. "Let your bimbos nurse your bruised ego."

"Don't mind if I do."

Kurt and Frisco chuckled, while my eyes landed to Gina who passed in front of us. She looked a bit shaken.

"Smart choice, Gina," I told her.

She rolled her eyes, and said in a tired voice, "Whatever." She walked up to Kurt, her hands running up his chest seductively. "You owe me, K-man."

I raised an eyebrow at Kurt. He caught my eye, and he grinned.

"Let me make it up to you, then," he replied, tilting up her face with his fingers on her chin. His thumb slowly traveled across her bottom lip.

"Can you make it up to her in private?" suggested Connie a-matter-of-factly.

Their voices drowned in the background as I thought back to the realization that I made tonight. One that changed everything and nothing at the same time.

"He's clueless," I murmured to myself.

"What?" asked Frisco, having heard me.

My eyes wandered around to each of them. They grew silent when they noticed that I was serious. Kurt whispered something to Gina, making her leave and hop upstairs.

"Crimson doesn't know a damn thing."

Silence.

"No way."

"Hell."

"Fuck me."

"Honestly, it doesn't surprise me."

I looked at Frisco. He shrugged.

"It doesn't make any sense how he could stomach doing such a thing," he explained, scratching his head. "But then, I realized he couldn't. He's too good for something so . . ."

"Cruel?" I offered.

He sighed and nodded. "Yeah."

Silence again.

"Nothing changes, though," I added.

Before any of them could reply, sirens roared off from a distance. The music instantly stopped, and I waited for the announcement.

"COOOOOOOPS!"

Next thing you know, people were running out of the house like a swarm of bees. No one wanted to get caught with underage drinking.

Despite what was happening around us, my lips stretched into a crooked smile.

"The dickheads called the fucking cops."

"Damn it," grumbled Alfie.

"Let's go, you morons!" yelled Connie impatiently, pulling us to the back exit. "You've already got a record! Move it!"

I saw the veins in her neck about to pop out, making me alert. The boys saw it, too, because they listened and hurried out to the back. When Connie's veins made an appearance, it was usually wise to do whatever she said.

When we passed by the swing, I suddenly remembered a certain drunk adorkable girl. I sure as hell hope she and her friends left before the police arrived.

A shiny thing on the ground caught my eye, making me stop.

"Oz, what're you doing?"

"Just a sec."

I reached down and picked it up. It was a purple crystal necklace. I'd bet my ass I knew whose jewelry was this. It was just as oddly pretty as her.

I pocketed it and followed the others.

"What was that?" asked Connie.

"A mystery," I simply answered. She shrugged and let it go. "Hey, Frisco," I called out, as we hopped off the fence.

"Yeah?" he panted behind me.

"Tell me more about Halo Buckley."

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What exactly happened to make Oz and his buddies that furious? :O

Thanks to Mitch for proof-reading some Cruel Me chapters. Her keen eye is aweshum~! xx