Summary: When Violet meets her new next-door neighbor, things don't go quite as she expects. As police cars and a state wide search for a killer in the area puts everyone on edge, she finds her previously dull life flipped upside down.

Rating: M - Mature Content (Violence, Sexual Themes, Sensitive Topics and Language)

The subway tile was cold against Violet's knees as she stretched, trying to reach the little silver coin. Without it, she would have to sneak past the spinning electronic arms that only moved when you gave up a dollar fifty. But without the quarter, inches from her fingertips, she didn't have enough money to pass. Giving up, she straightened up from the ground and waited near the gates, hoping for an increase of traffic. If enough people went through, she could easily just slip in with some other person. And sure enough, thirty seconds later, there were a few more people than usual. Turning down her music, just in case she needed to hear someone yelling after her, she held her breath and practically attached herself to some random guy's back, squishing up behind him as he passed through, taking her with him. He turned once through, eyebrow raising and she gave him a thankful smile before she disappeared into the crowd.

The train was leaving just as she hopped on and sank into a seat, thoughts swimming and tired. She was on her way to meet with her friend Leah. After her parents had divorced, she had gone on a 'downward spiral' as her father liked to say. He was a shrink. But in Violet's opinion, he was just full of shit. As for her mother, Vivien, Violet admired her. But Vivien thought it would be better for Violet to stay in California for a while. Violet knew she only said this because she didn't want the responsibility of taking care of her. That and she could tell her mother was craving freedom once more. So, here she was, stuck with her dad in the state she had just moved to nine months ago.

The move was supposed to be a fresh start. But Vivien had caught Ben cheating again almost two months ago and had decided that enough was enough. Violet hadn't seen her since. Occasionally she would get an email or a text message, but for the most part, her mother was a ghost to her.

And as for her dad, she was surprised that despite him being a huge, smart therapist, he failed to realize that his daughter needed legitimate help. She didn't think so, of course, but it was obvious to almost anyone who had known her before the divorce that she had taken it pretty hard. Smoking in school, skipping classes, getting into fights… It wasn't the old Violet. But the old Violet would never have become friends with Leah either. In fact, nine months ago, the two despised each other.

But times had changed and here they were – inseparable and joined at the hip. Leah had automatically taken Violet in, under her wing after her parents split. She had gone through the same thing, apparently, tons of times with her mom. Except her mom kept remarrying. So somehow, the enemy status had been exchanged for best friends for life. Besides, Leah helped her with more than just the emotional trauma. She helped her get cigarettes, alcohol if she wanted and even gave her money. Well… at least, she gave her jobs to do and then someone paid Leah who would hand the money off to Violet.

After the divorce, Violet also lost her job. She used to work in this nice little vintage CD shop on 15th Avenue. But after missing three shifts in a row, they let her go. And since then, money hasn't exactly been pouring in. The best she can do is whatever jobs Leah has lined up for herself. It's pretty shady work, at the end of the day. Hiding some weed for someone, dropping off a bag of drugs, or something else that was totally illegal. But in a way, Violet liked it. Doing bad things now made her feel alive. Made her feel like maybe her parents would realize how much they had messed up her life with their shitty marriage.

Forcing herself to stop thinking about everything, Violet focused on the Nirvana blasting in her ears. It was always a common thing for her to listen to before she went to work with Leah. It calmed her down.

Because now, they didn't just do 'petty' crimes. No, Leah had long discovered that being a girl, she could get a lot of money from guys for a pretty small favor. Violet joined her for the first time three weeks ago. At first, Violet had said she would just make sure that Leah didn't get murdered or something. But Leah assured her that she wasn't just finding these guys herself. She had a manager who took care of it all. After meeting the guy, Violet realized that he was a pimp. Which made Leah a prostitute… But in Violet's eyes, she could never be that. However, the guy offered for her to join as well. It didn't cost her anything, she just had to pay twenty percent of whatever she got from the guys to him.

It sounded like a good deal at the time. And so, she agreed and joined Leah. The first time she just sat there, smiling back at the guy while Leah did all the work. Occasionally, she would make out with her friend, just so she didn't feel so useless. But for some reason, that was one thing she couldn't do, no matter how bad it was. Losing her virginity. And it wasn't because she was a prude or something. Waiting until marriage seemed stupid. But giving it away to some guy who was paying her for sex seemed even stupider. Obviously, she didn't get paid as much, but she didn't mind. For three weeks, she was content with the amount she had made just being a prop.

But everything had changed earlier today when the two girls had been skipping Biology, sharing a smoke in the girls' washroom. They were squeezed into the stall together, passing the cigarette between the two of them, occasionally complaining about something. But during a lull of silence, Violet piped up.

"I'll do it."

Leah automatically clued in to what Violet was talking about. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"… Cool."

Leah was quiet for a few seconds as she put out the cigarette on the side of the bathroom stall, eyes focused on the smoke that curled up into the air. But a few seconds later, she was moving closer and closer until their lips connected. It wasn't a sexual kiss. Nor was it meant to be romantic. It was more of… a Leah thing. It only lasted a few seconds – brief, smelling of smoke and surprisingly soft – before she pulled away and the bell rang, signalling the end of classes.

So now, here she was, sitting on the train that she had to sneak onto, heading off to lose her virginity. It sounded so weird. And in a way, she had that feeling in the bottom of her gut that she was doing something wrong and she would most definitely regret it.

The automated voice that told you what stop you were at rang through the intercom and she caught the last bit of whatever it said, ear bud pulled from her ear as she stood. She didn't even need to hear the station name to know she was in the right one. It was where they always met. But for some reason, Leah wasn't there. Moving inside, so she wasn't standing out in the cold air, Violet debated lighting up a smoke. There was no one in the small shelter, besides her and this shady looking guy. And he reeked of smoke, so she assumed he wouldn't mind. Just as she was reaching for one though, she was practically tackled by a familiar head of brown hair and she grinned.

"Ready?" Leah questioned, smirking after Violet had fixed her hair, smoothing down the sides with a playful scowl.

"Yeah." It was a simple enough word – four letters and one syllable – but it was certainly not what her body was telling her.

Later, Violet felt numb. It had been five hours since she had met Leah at the train. And five hours ago, that feeling in her stomach had been right. Though it hadn't been exact. She should have been worried, but not because she was going to lose her virginity. Because she would chicken out. And she did. She had said no – far too late. She still could feel the sting under and around her eye from the guy's fist. Leah had tried to pry him off but he just kept hitting her. Eventually, Leah smashed him over the head with a lamp and they had booked it out, half dressed and holding each other.

But Leah had to go home, though she wished she could have stayed with Violet, and they parted ways when they reached her stop. Leah let her wear her coat, so she wouldn't have to walk home practically naked and then she was alone. The train ride was silent, save for the occasional ding above her head as they reached the last few stops before hers. After she got off, she walked home, half-running because it was far too cold outside for her liking.

She reached her doorway and stumbled inside, knowing that her dad would be passed out on the couch. If the light in the living room was on at the time, he was always asleep there, on the leather sofa, a bottle of beer in his hand or spilled over on the carpet. And like clockwork, as she tiptoed past the room, he was there, lightly snoring. But for once, she wasn't angry. In fact, she was grateful. With a swollen lip, black eye and bruised neck and cheek, she really didn't want anyone to see her at the moment. Knowing she would have to clean herself up, she made plans to go to the washroom after she went outside for a cigarette. She needed to calm down.

Still shaking as she stepped outside and took a few steps away, she pulled out a cigarette and lit it, taking a long drag. It helped a bit. However, she practically jumped out of her skin at the sound of footsteps across from her. Head whipping to the side, she grabbed the nearest weapon – a barbeque tong – and held it out.

"What're you going to do with that?" The voice kind of came from nowhere. But if she squinted a bit, she could see a male, a bit taller than her, standing against the fence. She was bathed in the porch light, so he would be able to see her perfectly. But he was swallowed by darkness.

"I'll stab you," she warned, gripping it tighter, as if that might make a difference.

"No need. I didn't mean to scare you," he said, moving a bit closer with his hands raised in a state of defense. "I was just wondering if I could bum a smoke. We just moved in." He paused to gesture behind him at the previously empty house. It still looked abandoned to her, but at the moment, she didn't really care.

Hesitating for a few seconds, she slowly set the barbeque tong down and reached in her pocket, pulling out a smoke.

"Here," she said, holding it out for him to take. It seemed he had his own lighter, because he didn't ask for one, just reached into his pocket and illuminated the darkness for a few seconds with a small flame.

"Thanks." He spoke around the cigarette, a bit of a smile tugging at his lips.

She shrugged, not really caring that he was happy with his cigarette. She could feel his eyes on her, though. Not in a bad way – like the other guy. But like he was inspecting her. Which was normal, considering she probably looked like a car crash victim.

"What happened to you?" It was a fairly direct question, considering they were strangers and most people avoided the topic of bruises or injuries. Especially ones that could involve domestic abuse or something.

"Got into a fight," she replied coolly, eyes narrowing towards him as she took another drag of her cigarette. "No big."

However it was a 'big.' She felt violated, even though nothing had happened. Nothing she hadn't felt before. But it was scarier now, because she had almost lost something. And could have easily lost her life. Surprisingly, she didn't feel scared standing near this guy. Her new neighbour. But that didn't mean she was about to go telling him her life story.

"I bet you left the other person worse," the boy replied, smirk tugging at his lips, cigarette still hanging between them.

She cracked a tiny smile, nodding with a breath of a chuckle. "Yeah."

There was an awkward silence and she shuffled one of her feet, hitting it against the pavement as she focused on her backyard. It was pretty bare looking and the grass hadn't been cut in a while. He was probably wondering why the hell she looked naked, except for the jacket. It wasn't a very long jacket, cut to mid-thigh, so she looked like she was either dressed like a whore or not wearing any pants. He didn't comment though. In fact, she was proven wrong as she glanced over. He wasn't looking at her legs at all. He was staring at her face. It was kind of unnerving. The eye contact was something people usually didn't do a lot of.

"Well, I'm going to go inside before I freeze," she piped up awkwardly, clearing her throat as if that might help alleviate the awkward. Butting out her cigarette against the barbeque, she nodded towards him and began to walk to her house.

"Wait!" He called, stepping further into the light, so he could be seen clearly now. She wasn't really surprised to see he was around her age. She had guessed from his voice. "I'm Tate." He gave a lopsided smile as he greeted himself and nodded his head.

She was quiet for a moment before she opened the door and stepped into the doorway. "Violet," she replied, lips moving sideways in a sort of smile before it closed behind her and she was gone.