"You okay?" Emily asks, watching as Violet hesitates to unbuckle her seatbelt.

Violet chews her cheek for a moment before she takes a breath and nods.

"Yeah," she replies, sounding surprisingly confident. "Yeah. I'm fine."

Emily squeezes her hand.

"I'm just a phone call away," she promises.

She's pretty sure she's more nervous than Violet is. The last time Emily let her out of her sight, she was kidnapped by a vengeful criminal.

She pushes the thought from her mind when she sees Violet half-smile. She follows her gaze and sees Matthew hurrying towards the car with a huge smile on his face.

He throws open Violet's door and wraps his arms around her happily.

"Oh my god, never leave me again," he breathes dramatically.

"I thought you had a new friend?" Violet laughs.

"Yeah, a friend," Matthew replies, as though she's crazy. "It's not like you're replaceable. God. It's been torture without you."

Emily grins, happy that Violet has Matthew.

"Hey Emily," he says, leaning so he can see her better. "How's it going? You excited to get back to work and slaughter some serial killers?"

"Nothing brings me more joy, Matthew," she replies dryly.

He laughs and Violet leans down to pick up her bag from the car floor. She gives her mother a hug and lets Emily squeeze her a moment longer.

"Have a great day," Emily says.

"You too," Violet replies, offering a small smile as she gets out of the car.

Emily watches as she and Matthew head for the school doors. Matthew chatters away and Violet smiles, helping Emily feel a little less nervous.

She waits until they disappear inside the school before she drives away.


Violet can feel eyes on her as she and Matthew walk through the halls towards their first class. She feels her cheeks blush slightly.

"Do people know?" she asks Matthew quietly.

He rolls his eyes at the people looking.

"Yeah, that stupid secretary who looks like Murderface from Metalocalypse told this gossipy group of mothers at a PTA meeting. Mr. Braff gave her shit but the damage was already done. I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want you to rethink coming back. Besides, who gives a fuck?"

Violet chews her cheek, willing herself to stay calm.

"Are you mad?" Matthew asks, looking nervous.

"No," Violet tells him, touching his arm. "Not at you. I just…I hate being stared at."

"Fuck 'em," Matthew waves dismissively, not faltering in his confident stride. "Let's just do what we do best and be awesome. Fuck what they think."

Violet laughs breathily. "You make it sound so easy."

"I've always been the 'weird' kid," he shrugs. "It stopped bothering me in fourth grade."

Violet shifts the shoulder strap on her bag as they near their classroom.

"Hey Violet," they hear, looking up to see Braden.

Violet doesn't stop walking or let any emotion whatsoever register on her face.

"Hey," she replies, walking past him, even as he steps towards her, thinking she'll stop.

She waits a moment before glancing at Matthew.

"He better not start thinking we're friends or something again," she mutters.

Matthew rolls his eyes. "I think it's official that nothing will shrink that douchebag's ego. Did I tell you that Kaya hooked up with him at a party last weekend?"

"No," Violet replies, not surprised.

"She spent Monday just staring at him, waiting for him to acknowledge her or something," Matthew goes on. "It was actually uncomfortable to witness."

"I don't doubt it," Violet shakes her head.

"How did I not tell you that?" Matthew wonders aloud.

"Doesn't matter," Violet shrugs. "We were pretty busy talking about the season finale of Drag Race."

"Ugh," Matthew breathes, rolling his eyes dramatically. "So amazing. Sharon Needles is the queen of life."

Violet laughs and they enter their history classroom, taking their usual seats in the far corner of the U-shaped table arrangement.

"Also, I can't believe she and Alaska broke up," Matthew laments as they sit down.

"I think it was devastating for all of us," Violet assures him.

Matthew sighs, pulling out his binder.

"You guys didn't get partnered for that project yet, right?" Violet makes sure.

"Nope. Today," Matthew replies. "I don't see why they can't just let us pick our own partners. It would be way more fun and I'd actually intake more information."

"Oh yeah?" Violet raises her brow with a grin.

"Well, I dunno," Matthew waves it off. "I just don't want to be paired with some jock or asshole. Unfortunately, we're in full supply of those."

He raises his eyes to look around the classroom, now almost full.

Kaya sits down beside Violet.

"Hey Violet," she says, as though it's a regular thing for her to acknowledge Violet.

Violet looks at her. "Hey," she replies, offering her best version of a smile, which is just a closed-mouth half-grin before going back to her binder.

"I heard about what happened," Kaya goes on, surprising Violet further by clamping a hand on her forearm. "That must have been like, so scary."

Violet nods slowly, chewing her cheek. "Mmhmm," she murmurs, not really up for having a discussion about it.

"Is it true you were shot like, four times?" Kaya asks, having the decency to at least lower her voice a little bit.

But several kids are watching them anyway.

Violet frowns slightly at Kaya in confusion. "No," she replies.

"Oh," Kaya says, a bit surprised, but she quickly smoothes her expression. "Well, thank god. I heard you like, almost died."

Violet presses her lips together, feeling her cheeks flush. "Nope," she replies, unzipping a pen from her pencil case.

Kaya doesn't take the obvious hint that Violet's uncomfortable, so before she can say anything else Violet leans closer to her.

Kaya, thinking she's about to get an inside story, leans in immediately.

"I really don't wanna talk about it, y'know?" Violet murmurs quietly.

"Oh," Kaya replies, actually looking disappointed. "Of course. Yeah."

Violet gives her a small nod and opens her binder, turning slightly towards Matthew so Kaya won't say anything else.

But the people around them heard everything and the kids who aren't staring are whispering to each other.

Violet meets Matthew's eyes and gives him an exasperated eye roll. He reaches over and squeezes her hand and she's more grateful than ever to have him as her best friend.

Near the end of class, the teacher brings up the group project.

"Now, as you all remember you have your European history assignment coming up. I'll be putting you into groups of two to work on it. It's due three weeks from today, so make sure you arrange times to work together. I will not be accepting any late projects."

She eyes the class meaningfully and takes a piece of paper from her desk.

"I've assigned your partners randomly and no, you aren't allowed to switch. The real world doesn't work that way. You don't always get to work with your best friend."

Sighs and groans puncture the silence that follows.

"Yeah, yeah," she waves them off.

She starts reading names out. Matthew is partnered with a guy named Peter, who was at Westminster with them. He's a nice kid, quiet, and really smart, so Matthew gives Violet a look of relief. She smiles but waits nervously to hear who she's going to be forced to hang out with. Being an introvert makes things like this agonizing.

"And Violet, you'll be partnered with Kaya Sullivan."

Violet exhales quietly and refrains from meeting Matthew's stare. She already knows the look he's going to give her.

"Oh, this'll be fun," Kaya says happily, smiling at Violet before writing something down and then ripping the tiny slip of paper away. "Here's my number. We should start as soon as possible. I've got a whole bunch of really good ideas already."

Violet does her best to smile politely as she takes the slip of paper and gives Kaya a small nod.

"Sounds good," she murmurs.

The bell rings and everyone starts leaving. Kaya smiles at Violet again before sauntering from the room.


"I should have agreed to let my mom homeschool me," Violet says, monotoned, as she and Matthew walk down the hallway.

"At least she's not so bitchy anymore," Matthew replies. "She actually seems excited about it."

"She's hoping I'll tell her all the gory details of my fucked up recent events," Violet mutters.

"Well, obviously," Matthew agrees. "But she's not insulting you or giving us dirty looks anymore, so that's still a plus."

"Yeah," Violet sighs. "Still. I am not looking forward to this."


When Violet gets home from school, she's surprised to find her mother home already, though it appears she just walked in the door.

"Hey," Emily greets warmly, smiling as she unloads groceries. "How was the rest of your day?"

They texted throughout the day, but Violet hasn't told her the details of her first day back.

Her response to her mother's question is an unimpressed stare and a raised eyebrow.

"Uh oh," Emily makes a face. "What happened?"

"I think we should rethink the whole homeschooling thing," Violet replies, unlacing her boots.

She sees the look of concern on her mother's face.

"Nothing bad happened," she says, waving a hand. "But nothing great happened, either."

"I'm confused as to what's happening right now," Emily glares in thought.

"Guess who my partner is for that European history project?" Violet asks, tilting her head with her arms crossed.

Emily gives her a look of sympathy. "Not Matthew," she replies.

"Kaya Sullivan," Violet smiles placidly. "Yep. Partners. For the next three weeks. Also, she texted me an hour after finding out we were partnered and sent me a schedule. I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that Kaya will be coming over after school on Mondays and Wednesdays for the next three weeks. Not her house. Not even once. Here. For three weeks."

Emily lets out a sympathetic chuckle. "Aw, honey. I'm sorry."

"You have to do everything in your power to be home every Monday and Wednesday between the hours of 3:30 and 5:30," Violet looks at her sternly. "Seriously."

Emily abandons the groceries and envelopes Violet in her arms.

"Maybe it won't be as bad as you think," she suggests.

"The first thing she said to me today was when she asked me if it was true that I was shot four times and almost died," Violet mutters, unimpressed.

Emily rolls her eyes. "How does she even know what happened?"

"Secretary Murderface let it spill at a PTA meeting," Violet replies.

"That bitch," Emily breathes, shaking her head.

She tucks Violet's hair behind her ears.

"I'm sorry, baby," she tells her. "I knew you weren't being honest when your reply to my first text was that your day was going 'superbly.'"

Violet sighs, falling onto a kitchen stool and resting her face on her palms.

"Can we have Oreos and donuts for dinner?" she mutters.

"No," Emily replies with a chuckle. "But whatever room you have left after dinner, you can fill with Oreos."

Violet raises her brow, surprised.

"There's only like, seven of them left," Emily replies, rolling her eyes as she waves dismissively.

"You ate all the Oreos?" Violet stares. "This is the worst Monday ever!"

She gets off the stool and grabs her bag before going to the stairs and beginning to stomp up them.

"You sure?" Emily asks.

Violet stops and glares down at her, seeing her slide a little white box onto the island from her purse.

Violet's eyes widen slightly.

"Is that an iPod?" she asks.

"Well," Emily breathes, leaning against the island casually. "It was sort of my fault that your old one went through the wash."

Violet's mouth opens slightly, shocked to hear her mother admit this since she's adamantly refused responsibility for the ruined iPod.

"But," Emily adds, holding up a finger. "I will not claim total responsibility. Something told me you'd need something to cheer you up today, so I decided we'd share the blame here and move on with our lives."

Violet smiles, amused at their identical stubbornness.

She drops her bag and does back down the stairs.

Emily drops her hand on top of the box when Violet gets to the island.

"Whom do you love more than anyone else on the planet because she's the greatest mother ever?" she asks, looking expectant as she teases.

Violet tilts her head but has to smile. "You, obviously," she replies.

Emily smiles and kisses her cheek before handing over the iPod.

"And it's purple," she adds with a grin.

"Something tells me Mother's Day will be good to you to this," Violet replies, raising a brow at her.

Emily laughs.

"Thank you," Violet says, giving her mother a happy smile.

"You're welcome, baby," Emily grins, and runs a hand over Violet's hair as she heads back for the stairs.