It was August 23, 2013.

Tate woke up and smacked the top of his alarm clock. He made a sleepy groan before sitting up and rubbing his eyes. He dragged himself to the shower and hopped in. He adjusted the water several times and finally started waking up. By the time he got out and dried off, he felt awake. Finally. He dried off and threw on a red striped shirt and jeans. He checked his phone, nothing, as usual. He put the phone in his pocket and went downstairs. He grabbed a box of cereal and made a bowl.
"Tate! ..Taaate! Tate.. Tate, dear. There you are." Constance approached him.
"Yeah, here I am." he replied. Tate was never fond of his mother.
"I just wanted to wish you good luck at your first day of school. A junior! Almost a senior and then you'll be leaving me."
"We can only hope."
Tate finished the bowl of cereal, put in the sink, grabbed his backpack, and left.

Violet woke up and shut off her phone alarm clock. She went to her bathroom and turned on the shower. She looked at herself in the mirror before undressing. She hated her body. She felt depressed. She grabbed her makeup bag and took out a razor. She knew she needed to stop cutting, but it was an addiction. That's what people didn't get. When she cut, it was more mental than physical. It was like the pain escaping her body with every cut. She didn't care about the physical pain, it was the emotional pain that was killing her. She got into the shower and cried. She wished she could just find someone who understood her as well as her best friend, Tate. He was 17, he was gorgeous. She was 16. She got out of the shower and got dressed. She went downstairs and saw Tate waiting for her with a cup of tea. "Thanks" she smiled at him. He smiled back. They discussed the normal stuff, new bands they'd found, last nights episode of The Walking Dead and Vampire Diaries. She knew Tate didn't actually like either of the shows, but he watched them with her because she enjoyed them. After she finished her tea, they got up and walked to the bus stop.

While they sat on the bus Violet pulled out her phone.
"This guy added me on Facebook yesterday." she said
"Oh. Is he hot?" Tate joked.
"Yeah, he's pretty attractive. He lives in Scotland though. He looks like you a little actually.."
"So you think I'm hot now?"
"I don't know. I guess."
They both nervously laughed.
"Well, Vi, you're not hot. You're beautiful. If this guy, or any guy, tries telling you otherwise, I'll kick his ass."
They shared a look and both worried that the other would catch on to their true feelings. Both Tate and Violet were in love with each other, but neither knew it. When Violet looked at Tate, she saw her world, she saw the boy she could go to for anything, she saw her life and her future. When Tate looked at Violet, he saw the only person he'd ever truly cared about, the only person who could ever make him nervous or scared, because he was scared of losing her, he was scared she'd find someone who was a good guy, that would never put her in danger.

They'd been best friends since 2nd grade when Tate was a loner who loved music and Violet was ripping heads off Barbies to scare the other girls. Violet saw him sitting alone one day so she brought him a Barbie. When she handed it to him he was taken back.
"Why would I want that?"
"Because you're angry."
"What makes you think that?"
"You're all alone over here because you're different. I'm different too. Rip the Barbie head off. You'll feel better."
Tate did as Violet insisted, and they both laughed.
"I'm Violet."
"Hi Violet, I'm Tate."
They sat and talked about what kind of things they liked, and realized they were next door neighboors. It scared their parents because Constance always thought Violet was crazy, and Vivien and Ben thought Tate was a psycho. It never stopped them though. They were best friends, and didn't care who knew it.