Tate peaked his face out around the cement column. He watched as she quietly walked through the garden, her cigarette smoke floating up around her face. He smiled peacefully at the image before him and sighed. She was completely different. She smokes, listened to angry music, and had an attitude like no one else.
His smirk fell when Violet was all of a sudden surrounded by three girls. He knew they were the bitchy, popular girls. They had that look about them. Tate listened as they bombarded Violet with accusations and questions. Violet was trying to be nice and stomped out her stick, but one of the girls kept getting in her face. Tate thought she must have been on the rag.
Violet was taken to the ground by the girl with long, dark hair. Tate hurried over and pulled her off of Violet. Violet quickly got up and pressed her cigarette to the girl's neck. She screamed in agony as Violet laughed and started to run away.
The other two girls chased after her, so Tate let the one in his arms drop and raced after them. He was a great runner and knew the school like the back of his hand. He had taken a few twists and turns and then finally jumped out in front of Violet. She was surprised.
"What are you doing here?" Violet asked as they ran together.
"Follow me." He said and grabbed Violet's hand.
He pulled her through the halls and up and down stairs to try and lose the chicks hunting them down. He snuck her through the guys locker room and then out into the woods in the back. Finally they were far enough away from the school and the bitches coming for them.
Violet sat down on the ground with a huff, "Thanks."
Tate grinned and nodded, "No problem. You didn't deserve their bullshit."
Violet chuckled, "Well you weren't kidding. Assholes and bitches."
Tate laughed too as he sat across from her, leaning against a tree, "I warned ya."
"Well, they're gone now so who cares?"
"Yeah, but you're on their radar now. Not the best place to be."
"Well, then promise me you'll be there to back me up like today." Violet joked.
"I know you're kidding, but I will be there is you need me."
Violet stared at him, "Why?"
"Because their mean and you don't need that. I just want you to know that if you need me you can call." Tate shrugged.
"Well I probably won't. I like to handle my own shit, not have someone else do it."
"I'm just here if you need me." Tate smiled genuinely.
Violet nodded. She stood up and walked around in a little circle, looking at her surroundings. She could slightly still she the school through the trees and the street on her right a bit, but the rest was dark, crowded forest that she couldn't see an end to.
"You could just hide in here forever." She thought out loud.
"Maybe." Tate shrugged.
"So, what do we do now? Hide out here all day?"
"If you want. We could go to class now and hope we don't run into them, or just go places around the city. Home isn't too far." Tate suggested.
"My dad does his work there so we can't go to mine."
"My mom stays home with Addie." Tate said, sadly.
"Well, show me around town then." Violet smiled, holding her hand out to Tate.
He stared at it, like it was the greatest thing he had ever seen. Slowly, carefully he took her hand and let her help him up. When he was to his feet, he didn't let go of Violet's hand. He grazed his thumb over it and gazed longingly at it. It freaked Violet out a bit, and she pulled it away. She frowned at him as she stepped towards the road and looked back to see him staring at her again.
She thought he was a total creep, but he had also saved her and that was cool. She didn't know what was up with him, but also didn't really care that much. She just wanted to get away from the school and have a descent day, even if it was with a strange guy.
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Tate had taken Violet to the zoo, museum, and library. When it was around lunch time they had sat down at a café and drank coffees while reading their new books. Tate was looking at and learning about birds. Violet was reading some dark, mystery, romance novel. Tate wasn't sure what it was, but Violet couldn't put it down and was happy when he bought it for her.
"What is it about anyway?" he asked.
"Basically this girl falls in love with this guy and he ends up having secrets and a bunch of other scary shit it going on around them, making their relationship more difficult." She summarized.
Tate nodded, "Sounds kind of over-played. Isn't that how every love story goes?"
"These books are way better though, and isn't love all about dealing with each other's faults and getting through the tough times?"
Tate sat and pondered this as he finished his coffee. She had a point. If you except another one's flaws and work through a problem together your relationship would be sound. Tate liked the thought. He didn't think it would be too hard to get over a flaw of someone you love and then just help each other out. It made Tate smile that he had already helped Violet today. He thought it meant they were going to work out, but Violet hadn't even shown a sign of liking him. It brought him down, but Tate liked to stay positive.
"You know, school ended a while ago." Tate mentioned as Violet's eyes zoomed over her pages. "We should head back to your house so your dad doesn't worry."
Violet sighed, closing her book, "Okay, I'll finish continue when I get home."
"Do you wanna hang out more today, or again tomorrow?" Tate asked excitedly.
Violet frowned at him, making his smile drop, "You want to hang out again?"
"Of course, if that's okay?" Tate muttered.
"I didn't think you had a good time." She admitted.
"I had a great time. You're really interesting, and thoughtful, and creative."
Violet blushed, "Thanks. No one has ever told me that."
"Has anyone ever told you you're beautiful?" Tate smiled, the sun light making his eyes shine.
