Dirty Beginning (Dirty 0.50)

“So what? It’s Friday night. Study on Monday morning, like the rest of us .”

I shake my head as I turn the page. “I want to get good grades, unlike the rest of you .”

Scarlett reaches over and pulls the book from my lap. She tosses it onto the floor before I can even protest .

I exhale, looking at Scarlett. “What are you doing here? I thought you were going out dancing with Jake tonight .”

I watch as she flips her long ombre brown-colored locks over her shoulder before she begins picking the polish off her perfectly manicured hands .

“I broke up with Jake,” she says, not looking up at me .

“Ugh, not again .”

She quickly sits up. “Don’t lecture me, she who has never had a boyfriend .”

I roll my eyes. “I’ve had a boyfriend before. There is just

no point in dating right now. I’m supposed to be focusing on my studies and modeling jobs .”

Scarlett yawns. “Boring .”

“How did this become about me? You’re the one who broke up with that boy again. That makes it the fifth time this year .”

“I’m tired of being tied down. I want to be single when I go off into the world .”

I get up and go pick up my textbook off the floor. “But why are you here? You still have time to find a date to take you out tonight.” I turn to face her. “Or you could go alone since that’s what you want so much .”

She smiles mischievously at me. “Or you could go with me ?”

“No,” I say as I settle back into the couch .

When I glance back up, she pouts her lip, and her eyes grow sad in a way only she knows how to do .

“Please,” she begs .

I can’t help the smile that grows over my lips from seeing her beg like this. She’s not begging because she needs someone to go out to the bars with her. Scarlett is the most confident person I know. She loves being the center of attention. She’s asking because she wants me to have fun for once in my life .

“I don’t know…maybe,” I say, giving her the same answer I’ve told her hundreds of times before .

“Come on, Kins. You don’t need to study. You have the highest grades in our class, and you don’t even like theater .”

“I do, too,” I protest even though I don’t, not really. I suck at acting. I find the history behind theater interesting, but I have no interest in really working in that field .

On autopilot, I pull my phone out of my pocket. I begin texting my dad, like I always do. But I know what he’s going to say before I even ask. He’ll say no. It’s seven thirty. I’m supposed to call him in an hour for our weekly updates. I love his calls, but I think he chose Friday nights just to keep me out of the bars and clubs, not that I mind. It’s also why he chose Yale for me over some of the other colleges. Yale isn’t exactly known for being a party school. I prefer his calls to drinking until I puke, like Scarlett does .

My thumb hesitates over the phone. I’ve never really had the opportunity to try out my theory on drinking until I puke. I’ve just assumed I would prefer talking with my father to it. And I can’t make any more mistakes .

I move my thumb to press Send when Scarlett’s body tackles me to the ground. My phone drops from my hand and slides across the hardwood floor. It’s a miracle it doesn’t shatter, but from where I lie on the ground with Scarlett’s body pressed to me, it doesn’t seem like it even got a scratch on it .

“What—get off of me, Scar.” I try to wiggle out from underneath her bony body, but it’s no use. I have no leverage to get out from underneath her .

I stop fighting and resolve to listen to her. “What was that for ?”

“I am not letting you ask your father for permission to go to a bar tonight .”

I narrow my eyes at her, trying to figure out if I can use the element of surprise to get out from under her grasp. “Why not ?”

“Because you are a grown-ass woman who can make her own decisions. You turned twenty-one three days ago, and you haven’t even so much as gone out for a drink yet .”