The high school opened for business two weeks later. It was decided that the school would have a half day for the students' first day back. Everyone was still a little shaken up, but ready to get back to work. When Violet got to school, she had a few minutes before class started, and headed for Mrs. Hogle's classroom. The room itself was locked. The school felt that no one was ready to use it yet, plus it was still technically a crime scene. However, outside the door, there was a small shrine with Calvin's yearbook picture from last year. There were a few flowers and notes there already, and Violet added the bouquet she had brought. Mrs. Hogle came up to stand next to her. Violet smiled at her in greeting, and looked at the shrine again. "Thank you to doing this," she said.
Mrs. Hogle was surprised. "Oh, I didn't do this. Didn't you know?"
Violet turned to face the teacher. 'I assumed…"
"Well, I was going to, when he called and told me he wanted to."
"Who?"
"Tony Rydinger."
"What?" Just then, Violet saw Tony, at his locker a couple of doors down. He seemed to be just hanging out.
Violet excused herself and walked over to him. She didn't say anything, but just smiled.
"What?" Tony finally said.
"I was just thinking what a great guy I have for a boyfriend."
"What brought you to that conclusion?"
"You know," Violet said, nodding towards the shrine. When Tony tried to play dumb, she continued. "Mrs. Hogle told me."
Tony looked annoyed. "I asked her not to do that." Looking at Violet's smiling face again and feeling a little sheepish, he said, "Well, I guess I thought somebody should, and, well, I guess I'm sorry about how things turned out. If you thought of him as a friend, I guess he couldn't have been all bad."
Violet hugged him. "You're a good boyfriend."
"I know."
They walked over to the shrine, where another student had left a small card. They stood in front of it for a minute, then Violet spotted Kari and waved to her. Kari waved back, but walked on to her class without stopping to talk. Violet noticed that her hand didn't have the bandage on it anymore, but she still flexed it, as if there was some lingering pain that just wouldn't go away. She hugged Tony close to her and they set off for class.
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Finito! Thank you all for reading, and please tell me what you think.