I woke up earlier than I usually would the next morning. The air was stickier than I was comfortable with and I could tell it would be far more humid today than on an average day. I peeled my shirt off my already sweating torso and tossed it aside, padding out of my room and suddenly remembering last night's events when I saw Violet sleeping soundly on my sofa.

I felt a pang of sadness in my dead heart as I recalled her confession. I crept over to the sofa and stood at one end, watching the slow rise and fall of her chest as she slept. Her not-quite-blonde, not-quite-brown hair was fanned around her head wildly and she was curled tightly in the foetal position. It was nice to see her face so relaxed – it was like a fresh piece of paper; no creases, no smudges, just the page in its purest form.

On cue, as if she'd read my mind somehow, her eyelids fluttered open delicately and I watched her eyes focus on the room then roll over to me. I tried to make it look like I'd only just walked in; I was endlessly conscious of her thinking I was a creep. I really wasn't, it's just that she fascinated me.

She sat up carefully and gave me a measured look. She almost looked embarrassed. I gave her a relaxed, reassuring smile and offered her breakfast. She shook her head and smoothed her hair down self-consciously. "I am so sorry about last night," she muttered. "Ignore everything I said. I think I was just tired," she laughed to brush off the previous night's events but I still saw the tightness in her eyes. I knew she was angry at herself for letting her emotions get the better of her. I knew because I felt exactly the same sometimes. We were more alike than I could have imagined.

I rolled my eyes at her. "You don't need to apologise. You can tell me anything." I instantly regretted that statement; we barely knew each other and I thought I was coming on too strong. What was wrong with me? Obviously, lack of social interaction had taken its toll on me and I was basically just an imbecile now.

Violet didn't want to talk about it anymore so I respected her wishes and dropped it. "Can I use your shower?" she asked and I was glad she did. Not in a perverted way, but because I was happy she'd finally noticed the heat and maybe she would stop wearing seven layers of clothing every day. I nodded and showed her to the bathroom, handing her a clean towel. I heard the sound of the water running and I went back to my room to wait for her to finish.

I was lay back on my bed, re-reading the last chapter of Wuthering Heights – I knew it was completely and utterly lame, but it reminded me of my high school days, so I liked to read it for ironic, sadistic memories – when she entered my room, towel wrapped around her petite frame and droplets of water from her hair dripping onto the linoleum floor. I lowered my book and observed her; even when I was conscious about not being a freak, I couldn't stop looking at her like that. She smiled slightly as she realised I was in the room but she didn't move from the doorway.

I was distracted completely by the shimmer on her skin from the moisture and how she barely had an ounce of fat on her, yet she had curves in all the right places. She was literally a walking angel. How had she come to be in such a dirty, uncomfortable place when she was so perfect? I snapped my mouth shut and I saw her watching me with a bemused expression. "Wuthering Heights?" she snorted, jutting her chin in the direction of my book. I looked back at the cover to give myself time to compose myself and smirked.
"Yeah. Have you read it?" I knew she had read it.
She rolled her eyes. "Of course I've read it." Of course she'd read it. "I always hated Cathy. Such a whiner."
"Nah, Cathy was totally hot," I grinned as she raised an incredulous eyebrow.
"She was a bitch. Toying with Heathcliff's heart!" she placed one hand to her chest dramatically.
"That's true," I agreed more seriously. "If you love someone, you should never hurt them. Ever."
She looked directly at me with her chocolate eyes, some foreign emotion there that I didn't have time to pick up before it disappeared. "I know right?"

As soon as she left, I missed her. I missed her all day and I missed her in the evening and I missed her when I went to bed that night. I didn't understand what was happening to me and why I longed for her presence so much. Even when I was alive, I'd been a bit of a loner. That was mainly because the other kids were afraid of me... I guess they had reason to be. But when I came here, I'd accepted the inevitable – I wasn't going to suddenly be popular. I was used to being on my own.

At first, I thought it was just company in general that I was missing, not Violet in particular. Or maybe it was because Violet was a girl and I become instantly attached to the first girl that gave me the time of day. But I had Odessa, too; I didn't want to be with her twenty-four-seven. Violet hadn't even told me when I'd see her again. I wanted to kick myself in the crotch for being pathetic. She was just some girl. The voice in the back of my head screamed, "She is definitely not just some girl!" But I ignored it and locked it away in a mental cupboard.

A few weeks passed and I hadn't seen or heard from Violet at all since the night she slept over. I began to accept maybe fate wasn't on our side and that perhaps we were never really destined to know each other any better. I shrouded the disappointment in my cold, dead heart and moved on. I had managed to acquire a car from a crazy guy with a drinking problem. I was aimlessly walking down the street and he stumbled in front of me, blocking my path and making me jump ten feet in the air. He slurred his words and showed me to his car, which was an old Honda with peeling paintwork and the aerial was missing from the roof. The guy looked desperate to get rid of it and offered it to me for free. Warning bells went off in my head at that – nobody gives things away for free without there being a catch – but I accepted nonetheless. He didn't come after me and burly men were not sent to my door asking for money. So now I had a car, which was probably the most excitement I had experienced since I had arrived here.

I woke up one morning and it was strangely cool and dreary. I glanced outside and saw that it was raining lightly; that thin kind of rain that soaks you right through to the bone. I decided that today could only go in my favour, so I dressed and packed some clothes, my toothbrush and the remains of edible food in my refrigerator into an old duffel bag and threw it into the back of my car, folding myself into the driver's seat.

I had no idea where I was going but I wanted to explore this place. I was eager to see if it had an end, like a border or something between the living and the dead. The thought of an eternity spent cooped up in my dingy apartment building made me want to bash my head off a wall repeatedly. I buckled up and set off, heading south out of town. I couldn't be happier to see the dusty streets, now flattened and moist by the welcome rain, grow smaller and smaller in my rear-view mirror. With every mile I drove away, the desire to come back lessened. I wondered if I ever would. There had to be somewhere else out there for me.

I had found a stash of old cassette tapes in the glove box when rooting in there a few days before, so I clumsily shoved one into the outdated music system and turned the volume low, for some background noise. I drummed my hands on the steering wheel and took a deep breath. The air smelled of damp and rain and I couldn't help, in the back of my mind, wishing Violet was in the passenger seat beside me.

Sorry this one was a little boring. The next couple might be like filler chapters, before the real good stuff begins. Stick with me! Thank you for all your wonderful reviews. I hope 2013 is kind to you all. ALSO who watched Wednesday's AHS? I can't cope. That scene. I can't. (You know the one I mean.)