Scarlett Solace's POV

I stood on Ashton Cane's from porch, an evil-looking grin on my face. My finger hovered over the doorbell. This was it. This was my chance to beat Jessie, once and for all. 

I know- it sounds creepy. A teenage girl standing in the July heat, waiting for her cousin's boyfriend to answer the door so she can manipulate him into loving her? Some might say its sick, but I thought it was the perfect plan. 

Ding Dong. There. Done. I watched the door knob turn, head someone breathing, and without looking, pressed my lips against theirs. 

"Oh my gods, Scarlett?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?" Jessie pulled away, smacking me across the face. "What was that?!" 

My face turned bright red. "Oh my gods...." That was all I could say.

"Jessie? Is everything o-" Ashton couldn't even finish before Jessie spit the story out. 

"And then she kissed me!" Ashton shook his head, still comprehending. I tried to back away, but Jessie grabbed my arm. My lip was bleeding, the warm blood trickling down my chin. 

"Were you going for me, Scarlett?" Jessie asked, her eyes full of fury. "Or were you hoping for someone else?" I didn't speak. 

"Oh my god!" Ashton yelled, his face red. But he wasn't embarassed at all- he was in a rage. "You tried to kiss me? You are a sick human being, Scarlett. Sick." 

I covered my eyes. 

"I will take it upon myself to ruin you," Jessie whispered in my ear. 

"No!" I screamed. If my pride was gone, then I certainly couldn't afford to lose my popularity. 

"It could all go away," Ashton taunted.         

"Give me a chance, guys!" I cried."I'll do anything."

Jessie and Ashton exchanged a glance. "Anything?" I nodded my head.

Jessie disappeared for a second, then came back with a costume that looked a little like a hot dog. 

"Take my shift- all you have to do is dress in this in the middle of town. It's for Trudy's Hot Dog Stand." I gulped. Standing in public dressed as a hot dog could easily destroy my social life. Easily. But I could recover from that. 

"Fine," I grumbled, Jessie thrusting the suit into my arms. She smiled. 

"Have fun, Ms. Hot Dog!"

                                                                                            ~

I got home and put on the costume. I looked hideous. I tried to think up a plan that would let me move to California instead, but no such luck. 

I had to walk all the way into town dressed as a hot dog, and stand there for 6 hours dressed as a hot dog. The day couldn't get much worse for me. 

But of course my bad luck never runs out. So I got pooped on my a seagull, bitten by a ferocious chihuahua, and became the laughing stock of Facebook. 

At 6:45 PM, I was finally done. I waited for the next person to come take over. At 8, just as I was about to leave, a guy turned the corner, running straight toward me. 

"Thank you so much for waiting," He said, panting. I stood there, frozen. It was Cameron Carnegie. The most popular guy in school.

"No problem," I said, stepping out of the costume. "Anything for a friend." 

Relief washed over him. "Thanks," 

"I wish you didn't have to work- I have to go out to dinner alone." I put on the face that made guys fall at my feet. 

"You know, this is kind of stupid... I can ditch- I really don't need the money. Just don't tell my dad I didn't work today, and you've got yourself a date."

I smiled, knowing I had the upper hand. "I'm afraid that that isn't enough for me, Mr. Carnegie." He stepped closer to me, taking my hand. 

"What more do you need...?" He whispered into my ear. My eyes flashed. He leaned into me, the pool of light surrounding the lamp post up above us just barely reaching us. He ran his fingers through my hair, and someone from across the street gasped. My bad luck was over. 

                                                                                        ~

"Oh. My God." I turned around to see Isabelle's jaw wide open, her hands on her hips. "You're dating Cameron Carnegie?" 

Word had spread of our little moment the night before like wildfire. I had gotten looks from people all day. 

"Maybe... why?" Isabelle pushed her pink iPhone in front of my face.

"Because he just updated his Facebook status! Maybe you're not such an un-pop after all." Behind Isabelle, I could see Jessie and Ashton, and for some odd reason, Cameron still felt wrong. Ashton held some part of me that seemed like only he could hold. And as much as I wanted to crush Jessie and have Ashton all to myself, I knew what they'd ruin me with now if I did. 

I laughed at whatever Izzy was telling me (sometimes she talks so fast I can't even understand), flipping my hair behind my shoulder.

"Well... are you two going out any time soon? Justin and I would love to join you," Izzy said. Ever since Justin Kimberly had broken up with his girlfriend, and he and Izzy had started dating, she'd been flaunting him like a new Gucci purse. It got od pretty fast, but Izzy wasn't one to catch on quick. 

"I dunno," I admitted. I'd only just found out that we were dating. I continued to walk down Main Street, smiling as the sun beat down on us. 

It seemed like the whole town was out and about. I saw hundreds of familiar faces walking the streets of out quaint little town. It was 4th of July, after all. 

"C'mon, Carly. It's the 4th of July. He's bound to ask you out." I shrugged, turning to look at her. 

"We've only been dating for, like, five minutes. Plus, it's kinda last minute, don't you-" I couldn't finish my sentence. Cameron Carnegie was screaming my name and waving at me. 

"Scarlett!!!" He called. 

"One sec," I said, waving a little goodbye to Izzy before crossing the street. I went to greet him, and he smiled. 

"Hey," he didn't waste time. "Listen, I hve to run... but let's meet at the beach for fireworks, 'kay?" I didn't even have time to respond before he ran off. 

"Okay," I said, my inside self squealing. My first real date with Cameron! 

I knew Isabelle would want to know. But she was no where to be found, so I just bought myself an ice cream.

It almsot seemed like Jessie and Ashton were trying to kill me. I walked into the ice cream store, and there they were sharing a milk shake. Jessie was laughing at something, and Ashton was grinning like he was on a sugar high. That was supposed to be me, not Jessie. She wasn't supposed to get the perfect guy. It seemed impossible to let go. I sat down all alone in a booth across the store from them. Ashton was kissing Jessie now, but Jessie pulled away, whispering something... then she pointed to me, and Ashton nodded. Was Jessie trying to be considerate? Couldn't she just give him to me?? 

The day dragged on and on and on. All I wanted was for it to be firework time. When it finally was, of course I was late. 

"Hey!" Cameron said. He stepped away from the crowd of teenage couples. "I was wondering if you'd ever show up." I wanted to make a face, or say something clever, but I couldn't. We walked toward the dunes away from everyone else. I saw someone's blanket set up, a picnic on it. 

"Here we are," Cameron said, stopping at the blanket.

"You did all this?" I asked, smiling. The sun had  dipped behind the ocean. 

"Yeah. Do you like it?" I smiled, and he tucked my hair behind my ear. 

"Of course I do. You did this for me, and that's pretty adorable." He smiled. I took my phone out of my back pocket, setting it down next to my hand. 

"Isn't this gorgeous?" I said, smiling at the fireworks popping above us. People cheered in the distance, but we were silent. 

"Yeah... and so are you...." He turned to face me, and leaned in for a kiss when my phone buzzed and up popped something I thought I'd never see. 

Cameron was still expecting a kiss, but I pushed him away. 

"Cameron?" I said. Tears welled up in my eyes. On the screen was a picture with me tagged in it, but I was no where in the picture. It was a picture of Cameron kissing a girl on the cheek. And that girl was Isabelle Mariano. "How could you do this to me?" I stood up, grabbing my bag and stomping away. He made no effort to even stop me. Jessie and Ashton were seated on the top of the hill, all alone. But as soon as Jessie saw my face, she ran down.

"Scarlett? Are you okay?" I couldn't stop shaking and sobbing. I showed her the picture and she just hugged me. My hatred for her disappeared in that moment, and was replaced with gratitude.

"Thanks," I said after a few minutes of Jessie trying to calm me down. I wiped my nose with my sleeve and smiled weakly at her. 

"That's what cousins are for. Why don't you come sit with Ashton and I? It'll be fun. We have cookies."

I smiled. "Cookies do sound pretty good." My face was still tear-stained when we reached the top of the hill. I made sure to sit on the other side of Jessie, not next to Ashton. 

"Hey Scarlett," He said casually.

"I'm really sorry about yesterday..." I looked down. I couldn't meet their eyes. 

"All's good," Jessie smiled.

"Yeah, it's no biggie," Ashton cracked a smile. "You've provided a pretty good laugh for us the past two days," 

I nodded. "...Thanks... I think...." 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: 

Hey guys! What's new? So.... this chapter.... intersting, right? For some reason, I'm on a 'make the bad girl good' streak... I've done it twice already, haha. 

Anyway, how's life going? My printer almost killed me today- kinda scary, but pretty funny. the fast draft made it fall on me lol :D

I'm super jealous because my dad is taking my mom to Italy next week, and I want to go so badly, but they deserve it. It's their 21st anniversary in a few days (the 6th) so I guess it'll be their getaway. But my grandma's coming, so that should be fun!! Haha, I love it when my grandma comes because she lets us eat anything, unlike her daughter, who likes to casually moniter my calorie intake lol :)

Are you guys excited for Halloween? I know my little brothers have been freaking out... I'm not much of a Halloween person though... I don't really like candy or scary things, but that's okay. I'm going to hand out candy because I love the adorable little kids in my neighborhood, and I love the candy my family gives out. Yummy! 

There's going to be a VERY exciting chapter next for Lena... I'm not going to spoil anything, but it might make me cry.... 

Well, I have math homework to finish, so I'll talk to you guys later!

XO

~PercyAnnabeth20owl