Pillow Talk

14~ Monster

"River."

I couldn't see anything, even with the flashlight on River's phone on, everything was still a huge black splotch in front of me.

"We're almost at the door. Just hang on a second." River snapped back, earning a very nasty curse word from me under my breath.

"Here." I nearly fell to the ground in relief when he opened the door to the building, revealing a brightly lit hallway.

"Light!" I cried, laying my head against the wall. I could see River shaking his head out of the corner of my eye.

"Put this on." It was then that I finally saw the letterman jacket hanging off of River's arm. When had he grabbed that? Hadn't I hid it somewhere in my closet after Steve found it?

"I don't want to." I muttered, giving him a skeptical look. Why would I put his dumb football jacket on? I had turned Caleb's away multiple times, just for the sole fact that I knew what it meant to where one of them, even if he was my brother.

"Nobody from school is here, Scarlet. Just put the damn jacket on." River said, almost as if he could read my mind. I hesitantly took it from his grip and slid it on, nearly falling into a fit of laughter once I saw how big it was on me.

"Why?" I asked as we continued down the hallway. He didn't look at me whatsoever, making me wonder if he was going to lie or not.

"Because everyone knows me by the number on it, okay? If they see you in it, they'll leave you alone." I was about to ask what he meant by everyone when he pulled another door open and revealed exactly what he meant without a word.

I stopped dead in my tracks, my jaw hitting the ground at the scene in front of me. A guy around my age was sitting in a chair, a towel hovering over his face as he dabbed at the blood that was leaving his nose and mouth.

"River." I gasped, "You're a street fighter?" I spun around, feeling as if someone had just dropped me into a tub of ice cold water.

"I told you I was a monster, Scarlet. Now you believe me." I started to shake my head, backing away from him.

This wasn't right. This wasn't some book or movie. River couldn't be a fighter, not my River.

"Hey, River, my man!" I jumped even further away as a man approached River, clapping a hand on his back. I could see the youth in the man's eyes from where I stood, making some part in the back of my head question just how old the guy was.

"I'm here to pick up the money." Is all River said, his eyes darting over to me every few seconds.

"And who is this beautiful girl?" Just as the man took a step toward me, River stepped in front of him, pushing him back almost playfully.

"I need the money, Mel." He repeated, blocking the man, Mel's, view of me entirely.

"Oh, come on, dude. Let me see her, I just want to introduce myself." I watched in silence as River grabbed his friends arm and dragged him away, whisper-yelling and making gestures.

"Fresh meat, eh?" A girl's voice pulled me out of my trance. I slowly lifted my head to find a tall red haired girl standing in front of me.

"Excuse me?" I blurted before I knew what I was doing. She lit the cigarette in between her fingers, nodding toward River.

"I haven't seen him bring a girl here for a while, not since the accident." I blinked in confusion. Could this night get any more cliché?

"You don't know?" The girl pushed her red bangs out of her eyes, "She was cute, nice body if I may say so myself, but she had an attitude. It resulted in her getting attacked. She dropped off the face of the Earth, it was such a shame because she was pretty hot." I only stared at the girl in front of me, my head shaking.