My Cheerleader Has A Gun - Chapter 31: Chapter 31

I stared hard at her, stretching my fingers as I prepared myself for the attack. She glared in return, craning her neck to each side then adjusted herself into a fighting stance. I admit, It was bold of her to challenge me into a fight. I didn't know what came over her that she woke me up and unexpectedly asked for a match, but one thing was for sure, something was bugging her.
I was impressed how she looked so focused right now and if it would continue, she would learn a lot in no time. Usually, she would take our trainings lightly, losing her focus eventually. But today was different, for the first time, she asked me on a fight, telling me not to hold back. It got me curious about what was going on with her, but looking at her right now, I knew she wouldn't tell me anything unless I gave her what she wanted.
"What's up with you Liv?" I asked, hoping she would tell me. I honestly had no idea what I did wrong causing her to act this way.
"Just do this and I'll tell you," she answered seriously.
"But you're asking me to hurt you."
She sighed defeatedly and rolled her eyes., "Scarlett, I won't ever be ready if you always go easy on me. That's why you're training me right? So I would be prepared."
"Yeah, but why now?... Something's bothering you Liv. I could tell."
She opened her mouth but closed it eventually before nodding faintly. "Just give this to me Scarlett and I promise I'll stop if it gets too much."
I reluctantly nodded, "Fine... Just say the word and we'll stop." She nodded, and before I could ready myself, she suddenly launched forward, swiftly throwing a punch on my way which I easily blocked. She threw another predictable punch and I managed to dodge it, countering a punch to her side causing her to step back and clutched the part I hit. It wasn't a strong punch but it was enough to make her feel pain.
Clenching her jaw, she regained her stance and raised her fists. This time, I didn't wait for her attack as I moved forward, mimicking her first attacks and somehow she managed to block them but she didn't see the kick I gave to her gut causing her to tumble back to the ground.
"Come on, get up," I urged. I realized  she was right about what she said. If I wanted her to really learn and be ready, I should teach her the hard way also.
Glaring, she heaved herself up from the ground and readied, a determined look was written on her face. I was pleased at her tenacity to do this and whatever she was going through right now, it somehow triggered this strong side of her. And I admired it.
"I'm not done yet," she said before sprinting forward, throwing a punch on my way which I easily dodged and when I countered a punch on her way, she immediately ducked down, and went behind. As I was caught off guard by her move, I felt a sudden pain on the back of my knee, making me kneel to the ground. Then with a swift movement, she sent a kick to my side, thankfully I had a quick reflex and somehow managed to block it but the force was enough to throw me to the side. I quickly rolled to my side, hunkering down and looked at her. She was smirking.
Looks like I underestimated her.
"Nice move," I complimented, "you caught me off guard."
"Hmm, you underestimated me then."
I smirked, "And now I learned my lesson," I said before initiating another round with a newfound excitement. I admit, this has gotten interesting and since Liv was taking it seriously, I did the same also.
Our little combat took almost ten minutes before I stopped as I got carried away and ended up busting her lip. I felt bad about it and I sincerely apologized, thankfully she took it well, saying she was to blame for challenging me. Well, she was right.
We laid down onto the grass, side by side, both of us were panting from our little brawl.
"Now I have a busted lip, that gonna make me a badass?" she asked seriously causing me to snort in laughter. Gosh, she definitely got me there.It was amazing how she could easily make me laugh without making too much effort doing it.
After my laughter, which lasted for few minutes, died down, I turned to my side, propping my elbow and looked straight to her eyes. "Seriously Liv...that was a stupid question," I said in a  deadpan tone.
She rolled her eyes, "I know right. I'm just messing with you."
"So, you gonna tell me what's bothering you?" As soon as the question left my mouth, her expression turned glum as she laid on her back again, staring up at the clear blue sky. I watched her carefully, patiently waiting for her to open up to me.
She let out a deep sigh and began talking. "I had a bad dream...no, it was a nightmare."
"What is it?"
"Um, well, you kind of died in it," she answered deadpanned.
"Oh," I mumbled. Again, she dreamt of me being dead. Why couldn't she have a dream where I was kicking asses? I remembered she told me she had a dream of me dying that time I was shot. And now this, I mean come on, it sucked when I often died in her dreams.
"Yeah," she continued. "The Mother shot you... on the chest while I...was hiding behind you because I was too scared at the gun pointing at us," she said, sounding disappointed as she had a distant look on her face. Judging by what we did not too long ago and her expression right now, I could tell she was beating herself up over it.
"Look, I know you don't want to feel scared and that you want to be able to protect me... or the ones you care about, but you don't have to beat yourself up over that because as long as I'm here, I'll always protect you even if you feel like you don't need it."
She turned to her side and looked at me, "And that's why sometimes I don't like your bravery Scar. It could get you killed one day and I don't want that to happen."
I smirked, mesmerized by those two blue orbs I was so engrossed in, "Who do you think you're talking to, lady? I'm Scarlett Smith, I'm hard to kill," I said teasingly to lighten the atmosphere.
"Ha-ha," she retorted mockingly, rolling her eyes at the same time. "Okay, I don't want to talk about this anymore, so let's change topic, is Sara's gonna come here today?" she asked directly.
I laid on my back with a sigh, "Maybe. I'm just waiting for her call."
"Oh I hope not," she mumbled under her breath but enough for me to hear it. I decided to ignore it and just laid silently, looking at the sky above. A comfortable silence instantly loomed around us as we were both engulfed by the azure above.
As minutes passed by, I felt my eyelids grew heavy and decided to close my eyes, hoping to get some sleep. I didn't care if I was outside, lying on the ground, as it felt comfortable while the gentle breeze was touching my skin.
"Scarlett?" she called all of a sudden. I inwardly groaned and opened my eyes to look at her. This girl, she really liked to disrupt me when I was about to sleep.
"I've been thinking..."
"Yeah?" I prompted. She pulled herself up to a sitting position, facing me. Noticing the seriousness in her expression, I sat upright, facing her also. She was silent for a brief moment as we stared at each other, before she continued.
"Our lives are in constant danger now, nowhere is safe for us, and the Red Circle could attack us anytime. We're lucky we're still alive until now, but for how long?" she shook her head, closing her eyes momentarily, "...What I'm trying to say is, I want to take my chances because I don't know, maybe...maybe this will be the last time we'll see each other."
I frowned, "What are you on about Liv?"
She took a deep breath and straightened up. "I wanna go on a date with you."
*
I looked at myself on the mirror, craning my neck to each sides as I inspected the black wig that ended on my shoulders, thinking at the same time that agreeing on a date with Liv was a huge risk I was about to take, knowing far too well that we could run into the Red Circle out there.
But it's a risk I'm willing to take.
Liv was right. In our situation now, we couldn't tell what was to come and thinking about it, I wanted to take chances also and do the things I liked and as of now, going on a date with Liv was what I liked to do.
"Looking hot babe," Liv complimented as she stood on the doorway, leaning against the doorframe. Looking at her through the mirror, I noticed she was also wearing a wig, though it was color red, and with some eyeglasses.
"Ohhh, you look like Red and Sara combined," I joked, chuckling.
She huffed and crossed her arms, "Whatever! But admit it, I look hot as well."
"Yeah, yeah..." Taking a deep breath, I smiled and turned away from the mirror to face her. "Okay, I'm ready."
She beamed, "Now that's what I like to hear. Let's go."
We eagerly went out of the house and headed to my new car. Although I felt excited for our date, I couldn't help but feel a little bit anxious. We shouldn't be doing this, exposing ourselves to the enemy but I knew that no matter what, there was no convincing her to stay. Yes, I liked the idea of having a normal date with her but what I liked wasn't as important as her safety. But since we were doing this, I should peel my eyes open and be alert just in case.
"So, where shall we go first?" I asked breaking the long comfortable silence. Her brows knitted together as if she was thinking of something.
"Hm, how about we go...shopping?"
I grumbled, "Really? That's your idea?"
"What? What's wrong with it?"
I rolled my eyes and sighed, "Nothing. It's just that shopping is boring...and boring."
"What do you suggest then?" I shrugged and turned my attention to the road. I couldn't think of something in particular right now so might as well be spontaneous when we reached the city.
After two hours of driving, we finally reached downtown and as Liv's suggestion, I pulled up at the parking lot near the urban park. I got out of the car first and looked around.  A bustling place like this, it would be hard to spot something unusual, I needed to be careful and stay vigilant all the time.
"So what should we do first?" she asked excitedly. As I roamed my gaze around, I spotted an ice cream cart. Smiling, I pointed its direction and as she looked to where I was pointing, her face instantly lightened up.
"Oh I wouldn't pass up for a chocolate ice cream!" she giggled, and together we made our way to the cart.
After buying our ice cream, we walked slowly to the park, taking our time, enjoying each other's company. I admit, it was starting to feel like we were on a normal date, even if  I was a little on edge. Of course, I didn't show her I was feeling anxious as I wanted her to forget everything and enjoy this moment.
As I was constantly looking around, I felt her soft hand slipped on mine as she held it, interlacing her fingers to mine. Looking up, I saw a genuine smile curled into her lips, making my heart skipped a beat.
"Now it feels like we're on a date," she said and I smiled in return, squeezing her hand.
"Yeah," I mumbled. We sat on the grass as we ate our ice cream, watching people do their activities.
"Oh, look at those two kids," she suddenly spoke, pointing to their direction, "They're so cute!" I followed her gaze and spotted two girls fighting. I chuckled when I saw the girl with a lollipop stuck her tongue out while the other one just watched her, pouting.
"Kids," I said, smiling. Liv suddenly snorted beside me causing me to look at her curiously. I casted a questioning look at her and she just shook her head, a smile was now written on her face.
"You have ice cream there," she said, pointing at the skin above my lips.
"Oh." When I was about to wipe it, she suddenly held my hand and brought it down before wiping it on her own, her immediate touch causing tingles throughout my body.
"Thanks," I mumbled. She then unexpectedly leaned in and captured my lips for a brief and gentle kiss.
"You're welcome."
I smiled before looking away as I found myself blushing as it wasn't too often we kissed in public. Sure, I kissed a lot of girls in public before but with Liv, the feeling was different, I couldn't help but feel flustered.
"So what's next?" she asked after I finished my ice cream.
"Hm, how about we play?" I suggested when I saw two strangers playing in the distance.
"Play what?"
"Badminton." I pulled myself up and offered my hand. Smiling, she took it and heaved herself up and then we walked towards the direction of the two boys. As we strode, I felt my phone vibrated on my pants' back pocket. I stopped and fetched my phone, hoping it was Sara, for I had been expecting her call since this morning. But to my surprise, it was Violet.
"Oh thank God you called," I said, letting out a sigh of relief as I hadn't heard from her since that day we rescued Liv.
"Scarlett, where are you?" she asked, sounding edgy.
"Why? Are you okay Violet?" Noticing my expression, Liv looked at me anxiously.
"Y-Yeah, I'm okay. Look, I got the two names of the triad...I don't have time Scarlett, I need to see you now. Where are you? Are you at the house?"
"No, I'm here at the urban park, downtown...Violet, tell me what's going on."
"I've been compromised. I'll meet you there Scarlett," she answered hastily before ending the call.
"What happened?" Liv asked worriedly.
"Violet's cover has been blown but she got the two names of the triad. She'll meet us here."
As we waited for Violet, I dragged Liv to the car, thinking that it wasn't safe anymore to linger out in the open field and gave her my phone so she could call Violet to let her know. The whole time I was on full alert, contantly scanning the area for anything suspicious.
Ten minutes later, I spotted Violet getting out of the car. She looked around until her gaze landed on mine. Nodding, she crossed the street and jogged in my direction and as soon as she reached me, I instantly pulled her into a quick hug.
"I'm glad you're okay," I mumbled before pulling away, "Come on, let's get out of here, we'll talk later."
She shook her head, "I can't Scar."
I frowned in confusion, "W-What's wrong?"
Her eyes slowly gleamed with unshed tears as she shook her head, "I'm sorry Scarlett. I'm sorry..." As I stared at her in confusion, my gaze then shifted when I heard two black SUVs skidded to a halt across the street. Several men in suits piled out of the car... and then it hit me. I turned to her again and found it difficult to speak.
"W-What's the meaning of this...Violet?" I stuttered, finding it hard to breath.
"I'm sorry Scarlett," Violet cried as I felt a hard gripped on my shoulder and something pointed in the middle of my back. I knew it was a gun but I didn't care about it as I felt numb all of a sudden. I couldn't believe she would betray me like this, after everything we had been through. Did I do something wrong to make her do this?
My head snapped to Liv when I heard a muffled shout. She looked at me, panic and confusion welled up in her eyes as a goon opened the door and pointed a gun at her.
Despite of the place being crowded, they still had the guts to do this.
"Get in the car," demanded the goon holding me. I threw an angry glare at Violet who was still crying, as they opened my car. Betraying me was now the most hurtful thing she had done to me and I didn't think I could ever forgive her for doing this.
But when I was shoved inside the car, my resolved had instantly crumbled when I heard Violet's words before they closed the door.
"I'm sorry Scarlett. She has Sara!"