A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update guys! I've been working an average of 11 hours a day and it leaves little time for writing when I finally get home. Thank you so, so much to: jandjsalmon (my Tate is a wonderful mix of psychotic manipulator and genuine romantic. I've caught him before he goes beyond the point of no return), IDLETEEN, Trish, Rock The Rain, chanellll (thank you for your suggestion, I will definitely keep it in mind), sublimesubtleties (I was intimidated too! Write your own, it's a wonderful feeling!), MoonlightNymph, and an anonymous guest for your wonderful reviews. You guys are incredible and the reason that I do this. Per some suggestions I am going to try to reduce the amount of same events from both of their prespectives. I don't want you guys to get bored. I love showing what Tate and/or Violet is actually thinking but I will do my best to keep it exciting. Enjoy my lovelies and don't forget to review!
Violet awoke the next morning with a smile on her face. Once she realized what she was doing she quickly turned it into a scowl directed at herself. She was most certainly not the kind of girl to be all giddy over a boy.
Except she was.
She hadn't even had any nightmares last night, which was strange. Violet didn't remember the last time she had both slept and been nightmare-free. She stretched and squinted against the perpetual sun that crept through a gap in her heavy curtains. Idly, she wondered if Tate might wait for her so they could walk to school together. That prospect made the butterflies in her stomach awaken and she threw back the covers, letting her bare feet hit the floor with a thud.
Her alarm was still half an hour away from going off so she went to the bathroom to shower. The house was silent – maybe her parents had already left for the day. She hoped that was the case.
The scalding hot water hit her scalp and bare back and she relished in the almost unbearable heat, taking her time shampooing her hair and putting off getting ready for the day that awaited her. It was Thursday, so she had two tests, one in math and the other in AP History. She was prepared - she just didn't feel like answering the multitude of inane questions that her teachers thought might challenge them. Nothing challenged her anymore. She hoped that college would be harder.
Before shutting off the water, Violet examined the marks on her arm. She ran a finger across the raised lines and had to suppress another smile at the memory of Tate kissing them. Heat traveled through her body at the thought of him. Heat that had nothing to do with the water. Good Lord, what was happening to her?
Violet got out and toweled herself off, examining her naked body in the mirror. She was small for her age, lacking the curves that most of her female peers had already developed. Pushing her shoulders forward, she experimented with her nonexistent cleavage and gave up with a heavy sigh. It was good she didn't have giant breasts yet, they would just sag sooner.
Yeah, just keep telling yourself that, she thought and hurriedly dried her hair. One glance at the clock on her bedroom wall told her that she had taken too long getting ready so she quickly threw on the first shirt and dress that her hand came into contact with, which turned out to be a light olive long-sleeved shirt and a white and black speckled dress with red accents that came just below her knees. She slid black stockings over her legs, cursing as she snagged a broken fingernail on the flimsy material. Over all of it she pulled on a baggy, purple and blue plaid shirt and her usual ankle-high brown boots.
She dashed over beside her bed and snatched up her messenger bag and raced out the door and down the stairs.
The smell of coffee lingered in the kitchen and Violet inhaled deeply. She saw that all of her hurrying had paid off, allowing her a couple of minutes to chug as much of the coffee as possible. Sipping quickly and watching the clock on the microwave, Violet let herself relax for a moment, going over her boring schedule for the day. A brief buzzing noise interrupted her thoughts and she looked down at the counter to see her dad's iPhone. The phone itself was unremarkable but what was going across the screen made her heart stop and her stomach turn. The thing about iPhones was, when one received a text message, the entirety of the message popped up on the screen without one having to unlock it. The message upon her father's screen was from her. From the baby-whore who had fucked Violet's father and had been half-responsible for the past year of hell that their family had gone through.
Violet snatched up the phone and re-read the message over and over again.
Hey lover, sorry I missed your call.
Call me back when you can.
xo Hayden
Rage rose up in Violet and, unfortunately for him, her father chose that exact moment to enter the room. Her head snapped up, and she fixed him with her most devastating glare. He stopped dead in his tracks, opened his mouth to ask what the matter was, and then spotted his phone clenched in her fist. She set her coffee cup down on the counter with such force that hot liquid splashed out and onto her hand. She didn't feel it. All she could feel was betrayal and fury.
Her father was about to say something but she interrupted him by hurling the phone directly at his head. He managed to dodge it, and only its protective case prevented it from being smashed to smithereens. Without a backwards glance Violet sprinted out of the door, slamming it behind her so hard that the glass rattled in its panes.
The morning was cool for a change and it whipped her hair out behind her as she sped down the sidewalk. She was so upset that she didn't even think to check for Tate - didn't even think of him at all until she was most of the way to the school and by that time she was thankful that he couldn't see her like this.
Violet wanted to be alone, and only her father's presence in the house prevented her from going back and spending the day locked in her room. Besides, she had those tests and would no doubt have to make them up after school if she missed them. So she went, fuming all the way.
She wanted to hit something. Hit someone. How could he do that? How could he still be in contact with that slut after all the promises he had made to her mother, had made to her. That lying piece of shit had the audacity to always preach lessons to her, to kick Tate out yesterday.
Violet felt like an idiot for ever believing a word he said. His promises meant nothing, his words were empty. She wondered if she should tell her mother. Part of her was terrified that if her mother found out their family would be done for good. The other part was wondering why she cared. Wouldn't she and her mother be better off without him? Wouldn't their lives be easier without a pathological liar in the house?
Her mind going a mile a minute, Violet frantically dug her cigarettes out of her bag, despite the fact that she was almost to school. With manic excitement she hoped that, that bully-bitch Leah would see her. Violet was more ready for a fight than she had ever been in her entire life.
The courtyard was packed, as usual at this time and Violet strode right in as she had before, cigarette pressed between her lips, blue smoke trailing out behind her. She was still furious and majorly displeased at having to be in this hellhole at the moment. Violet navigated the maze of lunch tables that were arranged in the undercover area outside of the cafeteria.
The incessant chatter of her peers droned in her ears as she imagined a myriad of ways to punish her father when she was shoved from behind. Her cigarette flew out of her hands and onto the pavement as she whirled around to see her attacker. Leah. Who else would it be, really?
"I told you not to smoke out here," Leah said loudly, her two minions stepping up behind her. Violet looked her straight in the eye, showing no fear because she felt none. She was more than ready for this.
"What is your problem, bitch?" she asked, hands clenching at her sides. Leah's eyes widened in disbelief at the insult.
"Did she just call me a bitch?" Leah asked and Violet saw small smiles start on the minion's faces.
"Sounded like bitch," one of them agreed. Three against one, this would be interesting, if they ever stopped their moronic games and got on with it. Violet decided to step it up.
"Seriously. Mommy drink too much? Daddy love your brother more? Your uncle play with your titties when you were a kid? I'm not scared of you."
"You should be," Leah replied, fury sparked across her face. Heads begin to turn, attracted by their increasingly loud exchange.
Violet and Leah continued to stare each other down, daring the other to make the first move. There it was. Violet didn't miss it. That small twitch. No, Violet wasn't afraid of Leah, Leah was afraid of Violet.
In a flash, Violet lunged forward, arms outstretched and she tackled Leah around the middle, driving her to the filthy pavement. Leah's head hit with a satisfying smack but quickly recovered, delivering a stinging slap across Violet's cheek.
"Fight, fight, fight!" students chanted, forming a circle around the girls. Straddling her, Violet didn't hesitate, she landed two hard punches, one to Leah's cheek, the other to her stomach as the other girl struggled to get out from under her. Suddenly hands grabbed Violet from behind, dragging her off of Leah. She shook them away, regaining her feet. It didn't take long before Leah was swinging her hand around to connect with Violet's cheek. The force of the blow knocked Violet's head to the side, making her see stars.
Violet recovered quickly and grabbed Leah by the shoulders, shoving her into a set of lockers. The minions were there in an instant, digging their claws into Violet's arms, trying to drag her off of their leader as Violet struggled to pull out as much of Leah's dyed hair as possible.
The minions finally overpowered her and she found herself sliding face first over a table full of people's abandoned breakfasts. Then Leah was on her again and Violet was unable to attack her as the minions held her arms. Leah grabbed Violet by the collar and flung her down onto the ground, straddling her.
Leah's face was a mask of rabid fury. She punched Violet, despite Violet's attempts at blocking the blows. Violet didn't feel the pain; or if she did it only made her hungrier to inflict more upon her assailant.
She smelled it before she saw it. The abandoned cigarette. Violet turned her head and spoted the smoldering stick. She reached out and somehow managed to grab it, quickly burying it into Leah's exposed arm.
Leah let out a shriek and recoiled from Violet and her cigarette. Violet took the opportunity for freedom and leapt to her feet, just in time too, because teachers are running towards the commotion. Without looking back Violet snatched up her bag and ran as fast as she could, not stopping until she had reached the bathroom nearest her first class.
Violet leaned up against the door, panting. Her blood was coursing through her veins hot and fast, heart pounding. She turned the lock behind her, glad that this was an old school and still had locks on the inside of the doors. She walked over the sinks and turned one on, letting the cold water run over the bloody knuckles on her right hand. She looked up and raised her eyebrows at the sight in the mirror. A somewhat scary smile was plastered on her lips and her hair was sticking out every which way. There was an angry red scrape above her left eye; she would have to cover that up somehow so her parents didn't see.
All in all, she didn't look too bad considering the beating she had received. Most of her injuries were concealed by her clothes. She knew there would be a nasty bruise on her ribcage; she could already feel it spreading. Cupping her hands together under the frigid water she leaned down and splashed her face, wincing as the water stung the scrape. The bell rang as she was drying herself off and she had just enough time to smooth her clothes down and settle on the hat she had dug out of her bag before unlocking the door and crossing the hall to her class.
There were a few whispers from kids who had seen the fight, but nobody seemed to know it had been her. Violet was good at invisible. She liked invisible. The teacher entered the room and Violet allowed herself to become lost in the lesson about seventeenth century poets, forgetting, however temporarily, about her father and her new nemesis.
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It wasn't until Violet was almost home that she remembered Tate. The events of the day had been enough that he had completely slipped her mind and she stopped at the start of her street to look around. He was nowhere in sight. A twinge of disappointment struck her. She thought he might appreciate the full story of her showdown against three bitches.
Violet started down towards her house, her steps growing slower as she remembered the cut on her forehead. Maybe if she got up to her room fast enough nobody would notice. All she had to do was keep her head averted, right?
The scents of dinner filled her nostrils when she carefully pulled open the kitchen door. Dread filled her as she spotted her mother, who has her back to the door. Violet tried to cross the room before her mother could catch her but to no avail, Vivien spots her.
Great.
Violet gave her mom a small smile and made to leave the room when her mother stopped her.
"Woah," her Vivien said, and walked quickly towards her.
Violet stopped, annoyance coursing through her. Her mom was the last person she wanted to see right now. She still didn't know what to do about what she had discovered about her father and, until then, would feel heinously guilty for keeping such a huge secret from her mother.
"What happened to your face?"
"I fell down," Violet replied sullenly, not meeting her mother's concerned eyes.
The lie isn't convincing.
A sigh, "Come here, sit down."
"I'm fine," she replied, making to leave the room again.
"If you don't clean those up properly they'll get infected," Vivien replied and Violet knew she was right. Part of her didn't care but another, more practical side wanted the marks gone as soon as possible so Leah wouldn't get the satisfaction of seeing her handiwork. So she obeyed, perching on a stool at the breakfast bar, trying, and failing, to think of a good lie. Her mother had an uncanny way of seeing right through her, even now that they had drifted apart.
Vivien went and grabbed a first aid kit, then ran a towel under hot water, taking a seat in front of Violet.
"Was it a girl or a boy?" The heat from the towel stung and made Violet flinch, sucking in a sharp breath through her teeth. Her mother continued her ministrations.
"Girls. Three of them." No point in lying now.
"Hope they look worse. You know their names?" Oh sneaky, mom. There was no way in hell Violet was giving her mother any more information, she would just use it to get Leah and her minions in trouble, which would make Violet look totally weak. She was not the kind of girl to go crying to mommy.
"I'm not narcing."
She patiently sat where she was, allowing her mother to take care of her. If it made Vivien feel useful, if it made her feel happy for a moment, Violet was willing to put up with it.
"You know, we can easily move you to a different school. There are a lot of really good private schools right in this neighborhood."
Oh yeah, and admit defeat? No way.
"I'm not running away - I'm not scared of them," Violet responded, rolling her eyes. She knew her mother was just trying to help, but she couldn't help the twinge of indignant pride that flashed through her at her mother's suggestion of switching schools.
"You're not afraid of anything. It's like that time in kindergarten when you insisted that I bring you home from a slumber party because all the other girls were sleeping with a night light on."
Violet stifled a smile. She remembered that night, they had been telling scary stories, and it had been fun, until they wanted to go to sleep and one of the girls had started crying because she was afraid of the dark. So childish. Even when she was a child, Violet hadn't really acted like one. Adults had always thought that she was strange because she had always been so serious, so practical, never desiring to take part in the usual activities of young children.
Her mother went on, "You got the short end of the stick lately. This move and, your dad and I haven't exactly been great to be around." No, really? Violet thought sarcastically, but didn't voice the usual cold, aloof comment that she r might have spouted. Despite herself she was enjoying this quiet, intimate time with her mom. She hadn't remembered the last time that her mother had actually taken care of her, not the other way around.
Instead she said, quietly, "Why don't you guys just get divorced if you're so miserable."
"We still love each other," her mother responded sadly, still dabbing at Violet's cut, this time with antibiotic.
"Really? Could have fooled me. I thought you hated each other - well, at least you hated him. I don't blame you. He was a shithead." She paused, biting her tongue as her mother pulled away and gave her a look. She didn't want to ruin this moment by earning a lecture about her language, so she apologized, "Sorry."
Her mom smiled slightly, "It's okay - he was a shithead." Violet smiled then, too.
"You know, we've got a lot of history, your dad's been through a lot, I've been through a lot." Her mom paused, looking down sadly and Violet knew she was thinking about her almost-sibling. She turned back to Violet, giving a few last dabs, "I guess we need each other."
Violet looked at her mom, studying her face. She was still beautiful, despite the lines that the past year had etched into her features. Violet had always been a little bit jealous of her. Her perfect hair, perfect body, high cheekbones, eyes that sparkled when she smiled. Violet didn't know where she got her looks from, but it certainly wasn't from her maternal side.
"What are you scared of?" she asked suddenly. "You said I'm not scared of anything. So what scares you?"
Her mother looked her right in the eye, "Lately? Everything. Life will do that to you."
Violet understood where her mom was coming from, but didn't know the feeling. She had always lived her life facing down one monster at a time, overcoming any challenge that faced her with fists raised. She couldn't tell her mom about what she had seen on her dad's phone, she just couldn't. How could she hurt her like that, especially when things were already so tense?
Her mom began packing up the first aid kit and Violet stood up.
"Dinner will be ready in half an hour," Vivien said, putting the box back in the cupboard.
"Okay," Violet replied and made to leave the room, but stopped in the doorway. "Hey mom?"
Viven turned to look at her.
"Thanks."
Vivien smiled, "You're welcome, Violet."
With that Violet left the room, ignoring her father completely as he came out of his study, headed towards the kitchen.
#####
After dinner, Violet locked herself in her room and plotted. Leah must be stopped, she knew that, but she had to figure out how. She was about to turn on her iPod when she heard a faint click. She paused and listened.
Click. There it was again, it was coming from the window. She walked over to it and flipped the curtain aside, shoving it up just as another pebble struck the glass.
Tate.
He was standing under her window, arm raised to toss another projectile but he lowered his arm when she leaned out of the window. Violet suppressed a smile at the sight of him. He was exactly what she wanted right now.
"Hey," he whispered, "can you come out?"
"Can you come up?" she whispered back. She knew that it would be almost impossible for her to escape her house right now and there was a conveniently placed lattice work growing up underneath her window. She had already planned how she would climb down it one of these days but right now it would be easier if he just came up. Her heart skipped at his answering grin as he dropped his handful of pebbles and began to climb. She was impressed by how silent he was doing it and soon she was stepping back to allow him entrance into her bedroom.
A silly, completely foreign part of her mind compared the situation to Romeo and Juliet but she immediately packed that notion right back where it had come from and self-consciously smoothed down her dress as he slid easily through her window.
Once he was safely in, Violet slipped past him, avoiding eye contact and closed the window as quietly as she could. Before facing him she shook her head slightly in an attempt to cover up the scrape, and then turned, leaning back against the window sill.
Tate was standing a few feet away, hands shoved deep in his pockets, shoulders hunched, looking around. When his eyes came around to her, he smiled and she returned it with one of her own.
"Hey," she said, suddenly shy.
"Hey," he replied. Violet walked over to her iPod and set it on shuffle, pleased when the first song that came on was by Nirvana. She turned it up enough that her parents wouldn't be able to hear them speaking, but not loud enough that they would come pounding on the door yelling for her to shut it off.
When Violet turned back around, Tate had settled himself in the armchair by her bed. He was wearing jeans and a black sweater with red trim. She was becoming very fond of his sweaters, very fond indeed.
"So, how's it going?" he asked casually, as if he hadn't just snuck into her room late at night. Almost as if he did this all the time. Violet hoped that he didn't do this all the time. She had allowed herself to delude her mind into thinking that they had something special. That, just because she had never had a boy in her room, well, with the exception of him, that he had never been in another girl's room. She pushed the thoughts aside and climbed up on her bed. What did it matter? He was here right now.
"Oh, you know, just another day in Hell High," she joked and brushed an errant lock of hair behind her ear. He noticed the mark on her face immediately and got up, his face full of concern.
"What the hell happened, Violet?" he asked, leaning over the bed towards her, ignoring her attempts at hiding the scrape.
"It was nothing, just some bitches at school," she replied, looking away. Her eyes snapped up to his as he tenderly ran a thumb over her eyebrow, just under the cut. He was so close that she could feel the heat coming off of him, smell the marijuana smoke on his clothes. Before she could react he had pulled away and settled back in the chair, face serious.
"Tell me," he said, and his voice barely concealed his anger. Violet found that she quite enjoyed the touch of protectiveness that he seemed to feel towards her, but she didn't want him to see her as weak or a victim.
"Since day one this bitch has been all over my ass about smoking," Violet began, rubbing a finger over her tender knuckles, the rage beginning to bubble up at the mere mention of her.
"Who was it?"
"Her name is Leah."
Tate's lip curled up in disgust at the name.
"You know her?" Violet asked.
"Yeah, I know her. She is a first class crack-whore," Tate said and she noticed how dark his eyes became in his anger. "Was that your guys' fight that the whole school was talking about today?"
Violet wasn't surprised he had heard about it, half of the school had been there to witness the fight itself, and the other half had probably known all about it by second period.
"Yeah, that was me," Violet replied, rolling her eyes.
"I heard you really fucked Leah up," Tate said and Violet thought she detected a hint of pride in his voice.
"I hope so," Violet said and stood up, unable to keep still. Just thinking about Leah made Violet want to find out where she lived and finish what she had started in the courtyard. Something had to be done.
Suddenly furious she began pacing, unable to control herself. "I hate her. I want to kill her!" she exclaimed stalking back and forth in front of Tate.
"Then do it. One less high school bitch in the world making the lives of the less fortunate more tolerable is, in my opinion, a public service," he said, matter of factly. Violet stopped her pacing and looked at him, considering for a moment that he might be serious. He smiles and she laughs a little.
"Got any more of that weed?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips. He looked up at her, surprised. "I can smell it on you, Tate, I'm not an idiot."
He grinned and dug around in his pockets, extracting a mint tin. Violet walked over to the larger of her two window seats and opened the window, breathing deep the cold night air. She felt the cushion shift beside her and looked over at him out of the corner of her eye. He placed a joint between his lips and flicked open his Zippo lighter, sucking the flame into the twisted end. He inhaled and blew out smoke a couple of times, burning off the excess paper before handing it to her for the first real drag.
She took it from him with a small smile, and pulled on the joint, savoring the heady, herbal flavor of the excellent quality marijuana. Closing her eyes in relief she French inhaled before inhaling fully, holding the smoke in her lungs for a few burning moments, then exhaled, sending the smoke out into the LA night.
They sat like that in silence for a long while, sharing the joint between them, becoming increasingly stoned as the paper burned down.
"Look," Tate began, croaking the word out with lungs full of smoke. He exhaled in a rush and continued, "You want her to leave you alone? Stop making your life a living hell? Short of killing her, there's only one solution: scare her. Make her afraid of you, that's the only thing bullies react to."
Violet considered this, taking the last hit before wetting her fingers and pinching the cherry out between them. Her head was marvelously foggy yet clear. Everything seemed so simple, so easy.
"How?" Violet asked, flicking the burnt paper end to the ground, not caring where it landed. She shifted so that she was facing him completely, cross legged. The weed had made her much less self-conscious and now she relished their proximity. He turned as well, mirroring her posture so that their knees were touching. Despite her haze she felt a jolt of electricity from their contact points which raced right up to settle as butterflies in her stomach.
"It's simple. You simply walk up to her and say something like, 'hey I'm a dealer and I'll give you a good price if you stop fucking with me.' Something along those lines."
"She's a cokehead. I don't have coke," Violet said, skeptical.
"You won't need it. That's just an excuse to get her over there." He gestured with his head to his house across the street, dimly illuminated by the street lights and a single lit window on the bottom floor. "She'll leave empty handed and terrified and I promise you, you'll never be bothered by her again."
Violet raised her eyebrows at him and wondered what exactly he planned to do to Leah. "How am I gonna terrify her?" Violet asked.
"That's where I come in," Tate said and gave her a deviously sexy smile that made her heart jump. The plan was a good one, if they could pull it off. Plus she would get to see his house which was also extremely enticing.
"Alright, deal," Violet said and grinned evilly, matching his expression. They both laughed a little, excited by the prospect of teaching the queen bitch a lesson.
"You wanna watch something?" Violet asked suddenly and immediately bit her tongue. The weed was making her bold, too bold. "Sorry, you probably have to go or something," she said, looking away from him.
"No, I'd like that," Tate replied and Violet turned her head slightly to look at him. His eyes were so dark in his otherwise fair features and she thought she was in very real danger of becoming lost in them, like some sort of pathetic television character.
When she realized that he was being serious, that he did want to stay here, with her, at night, and watch something she got up and walked towards her bed. Her laptop was on the bedside table and she pushed up a couple of pillows against the headboard to make viewing more comfortable. Without waiting for him, she settled herself on the far side of the bed and began to browse her plethora of illegally downloaded movies. He shut the window and joined her, hesitating for the briefest moment before climbing onto her bed. She probably would have missed the hesitation if she wasn't so aware of each and every one of his movements but it was nice to know that she wasn't the only shy one in the room.
Violet picked something out, an indie horror movie that she hadn't watched yet and turned the volume up before placing it between them, down near their knees. She was trying so hard to act nonchalant, like she did this all the time and hoped that he didn't notice her flushed cheeks and slightly shaky hands. She nestled back into the pillows, realizing too late that their shoulders were touching but unable to pull away for fear he would look into it. Even though there was plenty to look into.
Tate was way too flirtatious and bold to be completely indifferent to her. He was the one who had come knocking at her window, after all. The one who had kissed her wrist, held her hand all the way home yesterday. No, there was definitely something here. There had to be.
The movie began and Violet switched off the lamp on her side of the bed. She couldn't focus on what was going on, the majority of her attention was solely focused on the boy beside her, breathing softly, one arm thrown up behind to support his head. Finally the effect of the marijuana overpowered her nerves and she allowed herself to relax, sliding down against the pillows, learning to enjoy the continued contact between them even if it was just their shoulders.
They laughed at all of the same parts, made quiet sounds of horrified amusement at the particularly nasty bits. Violet's eyes began to become heavy, dropping every now and then before she dragged them open again, blinking away the sleep. Soon though she was powerless against the weed, against the contentment she felt and her eyes closed one last time and didn't open again.
#####
Violet was woken by the sun streaming through her curtain which was pushed back from its normal closed position. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again, squinting against the harsh light. Then she sat bolt upright looking about her frantically.
Tate.
Tate had been here when she fell asleep. Oh God why did she have to fall asleep?
Her computer was back on the bedside table and she was quite surprised to find herself all tucked under the covers. Tate was conspicuously absent. Had he covered her up or had she slipped under the blankets all on her own? The mental image of him tucking her in made her blush furiously.
Violet ran a hand through her tangled mess of hair, wincing as her fingers caught a snag. She cursed herself silently and got out of bed, tugging down the hem of her skirt. She walked to the window that Tate had originally climbed through and saw that it was still open a crack. He must have slipped out in the night.
Oh man, what if she snored? What if she drooled? Humiliation coursed through her. She had awoken too early again so she showered and took her time picking out an outfit. Another beige, long sleeved shirt and a button down blue floral print dress with a baggy cardigan over the top of it all. A hat tumbled from the top shelf of her closet and she smiled as she bent to pick it up.
Coon skin hat.
Perfect.
Violet plopped the fashion monstrosity upon her head and appraised herself in the mirror. Aside from the hat she looked pretty good, but the furry partial-animal atop her head added a slight edge that might freak Leah out all the more.
If that plan was still a go…
Wanting to avoid all contact with either parent, Violet skipped the kitchen and slipped out the front door. The days were getting slightly cooler as October came to an end. If she were still back in Boston the world would be orange, red, and brown, the leaves giving one last show before disappearing for their long hibernation.
She walked slowly down the driveway, watching Tate's house. When had he left? She was usually such a light sleeper but he had managed to leave without disturbing her. Violet mentally kicked herself again. She didn't blame him for leaving. There was no sign of movement from the house. Maybe he had already left for school. Huffing a sigh of frustration with herself Violet hitched up her bag and picked up the pace.
She rounded the corner and almost crashed right into the figure who was there, leaning up against the fence.
"Woah, there!" Tate exclaimed, hurrying to steady Violet as she stumbled. She looked up at him with wide eyes as he let go of her shoulders and picked up her pack of cigarettes that she had dropped in her bewilderment.
"Tate!" she said breathlessly, trying to regain her composure – he had startled her. "What are you doing here?"
Tate smiled down at her and laughed a little, "I was waiting for you." Violet hadn't known how much she had wished that to be true until he had said it and she couldn't hold back her answering grin.
"Cute raccoon," he commented, pretending to pet it and she ducked away, laughing.
"I thought Leah would appreciate my excellent fashion sense," Violet replied and it was his turn smile. They turned in the direction of the school and began walking, their shoulders bumping occasionally as they went.
"Sorry I left without saying goodbye or anything," Tate mumbled, and she peered up at him out of the corner of her eye.
"S'okay, sorry I fell asleep. When did you leave?"
"After the movie was over, it was a pretty good one. You're cute when you sleep."
Violet almost missed that last bit, he had said it so casually. Her head snapped up, suspicious that he was making fun of her but when she met his gaze there was only a small smile playing on his lips and a tenderness in his eyes that she had never seen before. From anyone.
"Right," she replied sarcastically, playing it off and lit a cigarette, anything to keep her distracted from the million things that were going through her head. Their situation was so strange. What were they? Friends? She certainly didn't think of him as just a friend. How could she when he looked like…that. Especially when he stared at her with that way of his and said things about how she was cute when she slept.
Violet tried to push the thoughts out of her head, chiding herself for being an idiot. It didn't work.
Soon they were in sight of the school.
"So the plan is a go then?" Tate asked as they neared the entrance.
"Yep," Violet said and took a final drag of her cigarette before dropping it on the ground and grinding it in with the toe of her boot. She wanted to get close enough to Leah to talk to her, not to get punched in the face again.
They walked into the crowded courtyard and paused. Violet didn't miss the glances she got, that they got. She thought she might like that attention.
"So…" Tate said, "See you at my house then?" Violet nodded. "Okay, just come on in the front door, nobody will be home. The door to the basement is the first one on the left. I'll leave a pair of my Converse outside so you'll know for sure."
Violet nodded and they shared a devious smile. With one last affectionate pet to her hat, Tate walked off, the crowd parting to let him pass. Violet headed in the opposite direction, on the hunt for her quarry.
Leah wasn't hard to find, she was at her locker, dialing in the combination, alone for once. Violet walked right up to her, squared her shoulders and started talking.
"Here's the deal. I need you to stop harassing me." Leah whirled around to face her, a glare already in place on her flawless face. Violet, unfazed continued, "Meet me after school for your free sample. I'm a dealer and a good one; I've got the best shit in town."
Leah gave her a satisfied smile and Violet turned on her heel and walked away, victorious. Oh this was going to be so, so very sweet.
A/N: Ruh Roh, things are about to get scary! I have a grand plan for the events of Leah's terrifying experience and then the break-in AND then more lurrrve between Tate and Violet. Angst, horror, romance. Le sigh…I can't wait! Can anyone bring me some cupcakes? I have a mean, mean craving for funfetti cupcakes with funfetti icing. Nommm. Until next time my dears, I love you all!
Xx Lady Ten