Chapter 4

Thank God it was finally Friday. The week proved to be boring and uneventful. Tate's teachers seemed to take a liking to him, which he wasn't sure if he liked or not. It was only the first week. He would have to test the waters to see what he could get away with. Although, if this whole "no friends" thing continued, Tate could probably finish the homework for the rest of the year. He was always use to being a loner so he honestly didn't mind. What he did mind was the suspicious looks he got from random kids in the library. He ignored them with ease, though. After all, he probably looked a little strange sitting at a table and reading about birds. What could he say? He found them fascinating and he wasn't afraid to admit that.

School went the same as usual for him today. His teachers decided that since it was only the first week of the school year, they wouldn't assign any homework over the weekend. Everyone cheered at the news but Tate simply sat there with an indifferent expression. When the final bell rang, Tate stood up from his chair and made his way to the bus without speaking a word to a single person. He'd grown rather accustom to this routine. Some kids would look at him like he was insane which would just force Tate to smile freakishly at them and wink causing them to lose two shades of color in their face and stare at their feet for the remainder of their walk. Once safely seated on the bus, Tate pulled his iPod out and let music pour into his ears. But, to his confusion, One Direction began blaring in his head. Ripping his ear buds out, he looked at the track and shook his head with a smile on his face and changed it. With the bus finally stopped at his stop, he ran out to race to his house. He knew exactly who the culprit was and hopefully she'd decide to show up today.

"Hey mom, I'm home. Going upstairs to do homework." He didn't let her answer as he sprinted up the stairs and entered his room to find a familiar shape sitting in his desk chair with a smug look on her face.

"Welcome home." Violet managed to say as she stifled a laughing fit.

"You're hilarious. That's what makes you beautiful!" He mocked and swayed his hips as he through his bag to the corner of his room which pushed Violet over the edge. She burst out in laughter that shook her whole body and practically made her fall out of the chair.

"Don't ever do that again! I might pass out!" Her arms wrapped around her torso to keep herself together.

"You don't have to worry. That was a onetime deal." Tate chuckled. As he looked up, he noticed Violet's cheeks had grown pinker and a small tear rolled from her eye and stuck to her cheek. Without thinking, he walked over to her and whipped it away with the tips of his fingers, causing her to look up at him. Tate expected more of a reaction. He expected her to storm off or flinch away from him but her cheeks reddened and she smiled at him making a smile of his own manifest on his lips. He cleared his throat and turned. What was he doing? This random chick sneaks into his house at random times of day and he's flirting with her? Well, she was the most interesting person in this town so what harm would it do to do a little flirting? Tate couldn't see a reason not to. You know, besides the whole breaking into his house thing. He'd grown use to it already though.

"So, you think you can take time out of your busy homework schedule to come up to see Beau with me?" Violet suddenly offered.

"Sure. You know, he told me that you two are keeping secrets from me." Tate scrutinized as he led the way out of his room.

"Oh, he did, did he?" She suppressed a smile but her cheeks reddened a little. "Did he tell you our little secret?"

"No, actually. I don't think you realized how much it's torturing me." He looked at her hopeful. "I'm not use to him keeping secrets from me." Hoping that his little flirt might work, Tate looked up at Violet with his dark eyes which contrasted nicely with his light dirty blonde hair that fell scraggly over his face. It seemed to work considering Violet stopped to stare at him, her mouth slightly ajar. "You alright?" He was laughing like a crazy person in his mind. He couldn't believe that she actually reacted to that. Looks like Little Miss Violet was letting some sort of wall down.

"Yeah, I'm fine. And as for the secret, you might get to know what it is sooner than you think." She said when she regained her composure. She turned towards the attic door and pulled it down without letting her eyes stray from his as a sultry smirk played on her lips. Tate squint his eyes as she ascended the ladder, watching the sight before him. It took all he had not to test the waters. He figured that would get him a good kick in the balls. Once they reached the attic, Beau bounded over to Tate and hugged his waist.

"Hey, buddy."

"My turn!" Addie laughed as she ran up to Tate.

"Well, hey there. Keeping Beau company?"

"Yeah. Hey Violet." Addie turned her attention to Violet and hugged her tightly.

"Hi, Addie." She chuckled and Beau and Addie ran off to play ball. Violet followed and sat to one side of them, leaving a spot across from her for Tate. The four of them tossed the ball together, joking and laughing.

"Tate!" Constance's voice rang through the house.

"Mom sounds angry." Addie said.

"When does she not sound angry, Addie?" Beau laughed which made a smile show on all of their faces. Tate got up and went back down the latter. When he turned around, Constance was glaring at him.

"Uhh… Hi mom."

"You know how I feel about dishes being left all over the place." Tate stared confused.

"Yeah. Why are you reminding me?"

"You left two cups filled with coffee in the counter and the coffee pot is still on."

"Well, I didn't do it. I don't drink coffee and, if you haven't noticed, I don't have guests over so why would I poor two cups.. You know, this is ridiculous. You know I don't drink coffee. You must have forgotten you made it."

"Don't talk to me like I'm stupid."

"Well, stop sounding stupid." That seemed to shut her up.

"If you do it again, you're grounded." Tate just laughed as she walked away and climbed the stairs.

"What did you do?" Violet asked with a smile.

"Well, according to her, I made a pot of coffee, poured two cups of it, and walked away." He shook his head.

"Addie, I think it's official. Mom is going crazy." Tate laughed.

"Tate, that's not funny." Her face was straight.

"I agree with you. Her going psychotic is a very bad thing." This time, Addie couldn't keep it in. She let a few chuckles spill from her lips.

"That's weird. Why on earth would you do that?" Violet mocked Constance's voice and posture.

"Because I just love pissing you off." Tate smiled.

A few hours later, Beau voice that he was getting a little sleepy so Addie, Violet, and Tate left him to go to bed. Addie wandered off to her own room which allowed Tate and Violet to hide in his. As Tate looked out the window, he couldn't believe how dark it way. Glancing at the clock on his bedside table, he chuckled. "Damn, it's already 11?" Violet's face grew serious.

"I should probably get home." She said.

"Yeah. Wouldn't want your parents stopping by to get you." He chuckled.

"What? Oh, yeah. Right." She smiled.

"Well, maybe you can call them and tell them you'll be a little later." Tate suggested. He didn't want her to leave yet. She was really the only friend he'd made since they moved here and… In all honesty… He really liked having her around.

"No. That's not such a good idea. I'll come back tomorrow. It' the weekend so I can come over early if you want." Her face lit up. Like she was hoping he'd say yes.

"Is that excitement I see there?" As Violet's eyes fell to the floor, she walked closer to Tate. When she was directly in front of him, she looked up. Their lips were so close that Tate could feel her breath on his.

"Maybe." She whispered. Tate smiled and closed the distance between them. Once their lips touched, Violet's small hands slid up his arms and rested on his shoulders. Tate's, on the other hand, slid onto her hips, pulling her closer to feel her body on his. Just as their kiss deepened, a loud bang sounded throughout the house and the power shut off leaving the two of them on each other's arms in pitch-black darkness.

"The fuck was that?" Tate whispered. The two of them stood there listening to the sounds around them. He knew this house was old but they were told that pretty much everything was updated thanks to the previous owners.

"TATE!" Without waiting for anything else, Tate sprang out of Violet's arms and down the hallway to the source of the scream. "TATE!" Addie's voice rang through the house but he could find out where she was.

"Addie! Where are you?"

"In the basement!" Her voice sounded frantic. Tate took the stairs three at a time, which was easy to do since he was training harder to be on the track team. He ran faster than he thought he'd ever ran in his life. But he felt like he was fast enough. Once at the basement door, he threw it open causing it to bounce back and slam behind him.

"Addie?" Tate yelled again. There wasn't any sign of Addie. "Addie?" His voice wavered in the air but there was no respond. All was silent until Tate heard a faint scurry behind him. He spun around to see a small shadow facing him. He could tell it wasn't Addie though. Whatever this thing was, it didn't have much hair, if any at all. A faint grown sounded from it making Tate step back with caution. It's breathing was freakish. Almost like a child's; high pitched and sort of nasally. "Hey. How'd you get in here?" Tate took a step forward to it which was the wrong move. It lurched forward with its' hand raised revealing long, sharp, dirty nails and scratched at Tate's shoulder, shredding that part of his shirt and leaving claw marks on his flesh. "What the-?" Tate didn't stick around to find out. He climbed up the stairs and slammed the basement door shut behind him.

"Tate?" The sound of Addie's sleepy voice startled him do back that an actual scream left his lips and he flew face first into the closed door in front of him.

"Dammit, Addie, you scared the shit out of me." He paused for a moment. "Wait… You weren't in the basement, were you?" Addie looked at him with half closed eyes.

"No. I heard you screaming and I wanted to make sure you were okay. You sounded scared." Tate should his head. "What happened to your shoulder?" She asked quietly.

"Nothing. I must have been dreaming then snagged my shoulder on something. Just… Let's go back to bed." He whispered as they ascended the stairs. Tate tucked Addie back to bed and walked back into his own room. "Sorry about that. Did you hear—" Tate look about the room to find it empty. "Violet?" He whispered. "You there?" He looked in his closet and behind his door and found no one. "Well, damn." Tate huffed. With a quick shower to wash away the day and clean off his new scratches, he pulled on a pair of loose pants and slumped onto his bed with a million thoughts running through his head. Yet, despite everything, even the little pygmy whatever in the basement, his mind wandered to his and Violet's kiss. Wonder if I get to try that again tomorrow without screwing it up.

Okay… I have a lot of explaining to do for not updating earlier even after I said I would.

But the truth is, I had to reinstall Word onto my computer and I couldn't do that until recently.

I hope you all, if anyone continues reading this [Lol], enjoy this chapter.

I'll update the next chapter soon and this time I'm not bull shitting you! :D

xoxo