the boy wearing pearls - vinnie hacker

stargazing

SCARLETT'S POV:

I inspect the honey crisp apples and find two that look the best to me, and drop them in my basket. I then leave the produce section and head towards the back of the Trader Joes. There's something so comforting to me about going grocery shopping. It makes me feel like I'm a little kid again, going to the store with my mom so I can avoid doing my homework. I browse through the aisles and find the pizza sauce for tonight. I hear a familiar voice call my name, and I turn around to see Liza standing there.

"Hey, Liza!"

"Hey! What's up?"

"Not much...just getting stuff for the week." She peeks in my basket of ingredients and raises her eyebrows at me.

"Is it pizza night with the boyfriend or something?" I throw my head back and laugh.

"Ha! No! I told you already, I'm as single as it gets." She squints her eyes at me in disbelief. I don't know why it's hard for her to believe it when I have the social skills of a rock.

"You're really gonna make yourself a pizza from scratch instead of buying a frozen one? Fuck. I need to stop being so lazy." I laugh knowing how lazy I usually am. I was just feeling fancy and wanted to feel like an actual adult who doesn't order Postmates every night.

"What do you mean, it looks like you're cooking something." I motion to her basket.

"Oh yep....I'm picking up some food for Vinnie and.." My heart skips at the name. "The house wants to make burgers tonight so I said I would pick up the stuff while I was out. You know, just assistant thingsss," she says with a chuckle. 

"So you don't have anyone special waiting for you at home?" she asks. I look back up at her and cross my arms.

"No, Lizaaa stop rubbing it in my face jeez"

"Then come to the house tonight!" 

I freeze. I was prepared to stay in my comfortable little bubble tonight, which is staying in my apartment and watching TV. I wasn't prepared to possibly see Vinnie tonight. 

Liza reads my anxiety right away and says through a laugh, "We have more in common than I thought." She tells me it's gonna be totally lowkey and not to worry, and a tiny part of me wants to go.

"I won't be offended if you don't come, it's up–"

"I'd love to!" I scream a little inside as the words slip my mouth.

"Tight! You can drop your stuff at home and then we'll head there. Just text me your address."

"Okay...yeah..sounds good. See you later!"

"Bye." I head to the cash register and tuck my hair behind my ear, exhaling. I'm gonna do my best not to overthink tonight, but we all know that's not gonna happen.

I hop out of Liza's car and grab some of the groceries from the backseat. I feel the night time California breeze send a chill through my body. I'm wearing a white crop top and leggings, because I didn't have time to change when I dropped my stuff off at home. Liza sees me shivering and laughs. "Don't worry, there's like ten people in this house. I'm sure someone will lend you something." When we enter the house, my heart melts at the couple of dogs that greet us. I kick off my shoes and notice that there's still that new house smell, one of my favorite scents ever. We enter the kitchen, and I get deja vu as everyone turns their heads to me. I do a quick glance and don't see him.

"Vinnie's girlfriend is here again!" Calvin shouts.

"Calvin shut up, leave the girl alone," Thomas laughs as he takes the food from us.