Red For Rebellious

The Truth Comes Out

Colton’s face held a blank expression as we stared at each other in silence. My gaze slipped further down his face to where a large purple bruise had started to form on his jaw line, and it took all my restraint not to smile.

“What are you doing here?”

My words came out shaky, rather than the strong confident tone I had tried to convey. I couldn’t help it, any time Colton was around I either didn’t know what to say or do.

“My jacket,” he said in a bored tone, leaning against the door frame.

“You’re wha-“

He interrupted. “You still have my jacket, and I want it back.”

His words were harsh just like earlier at school. Glaring daggers at him, I took a step forward. “You have a lot of nerve coming here.”

“Like I said, I just want my jacket.”

Taking in a deep breath, I took a step back into the house. I wouldn’t allow him the satisfaction of getting to me, he just wasn’t worth it. Without another word, I slammed the door shut and made my way upstairs. Colton’s jacket was slung across my chair, and as I picked it up I tried not to remember how comfortable I had felt in it. His smell still lingered on the heavy material.

“Sutton you’re going to miss the start of the movie get down here!” Vee called from downstairs as I took my last step.

“Be right there,” I shouted back.

I grabbed the handle to the front door and opened it. Colton stood exactly where I had left him, his hands in his pocket. At the sight of his jacket, a smile spread across his face. He reached up to take it, but I pulled my hand back out of his reach.

“Hey what the hell!”

“I never said I was going to give it to you. Who knows, maybe I’ll give it to Mark; he’s really into fashion and whatnot. It’s kind of a shabby thing; he could do some great work on it.”

My voice dripped with sarcasm. Colton must not have been expecting me to be so reluctant to give him his things back.

“That’s my lucky jacket!” he exclaimed, standing up straighter.

I laughed. “And now it’s mine.”

Without another word, I slammed the door shut and turned around. Opening the front hall closest, I tossed the jacket in.

“What took you so long?” Mark asked as I stepped into the family room.

A pile of blankets were thrown across the floor, and about a dozen pillows lay everywhere. Mark sat on the left and Vee on the right, leaving me to claim the spot in the middle. Three bowls of freshly made popcorn sat next to Vee, who ate out of all of them. Along with her ice cream, a tub of frosting and three cokes was a family sized bag of Cheetos.

“Vee I think we could feed Africa with all that food,” I commented, stepping over her carefully. “But to answer your question there was some guy at the door looking for my dad.”

Mark nodded and held up the remote. “You two ready for some Superhero action?”

“Let me guess, The Avengers.”

He nodded. “Nothing’s better.”

With a click of the remote, the movie started and I snuggled down into my blankets. But sadly enough, even the amazing Robert Downey Jr. couldn’t take my thoughts off of Colton. What I had said about him at the party was wrong, and I regretted it but I didn’t deserve how Colton treated me. He had gone too far talking about Mark and Melody, and he knew it was a touchy topic.