The rest of the class period was quiet. I wasn’t really paying any attention to Mr. Dewall’s lecture. All I had on my mind was Nash. Did he really like me? I mean, he was sticking up for me, but maybe he was just being nice because I was new.
“Are you coming?” Nash asked. I jumped and realized the bell must have rung because everyone was leaving. My papers fell to the floor and Nash bent down to pick them up. “Are you feeling all right? You pretty much zoned out for the whole class period.” Our hands touched when he handed the papers back to me and I felt sparks rush through my body.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little tired, that’s all.” Nash was looking down at me and I started to fall into a trance as I looked up in his eyes. “Can we just go home?”
“Sure. Let’s just head to our lockers real quick,” Nash said.
I quickly texted Hayden to ask if he wanted to ride home with Nash and me. He responded, saying he was hanging out with some people he met earlier. I wasn’t surprised. I knew he would hook up with some girls as well. I grabbed my books and headed out of the school with Nash.
Nash
Violet and I didn’t talk much the whole way back. I turned on the radio and we just listened to music the entire time. Before I knew it, we had pulled into the driveway at her house.
“Want to come inside for a little bit?” she said. She looked over at me and was smiling. How could I say no to the most beautiful girl in the world?
We hopped out of my truck and headed up to her front door. I was in shock when we walked inside. Her house looked so much smaller from the outside. It was decorated with what looked like very expensive furniture. They had fancy leather couches and big flat-screen TVs.
“Want something to eat?” she asked. She was already heading down a hallway that led into a very big kitchen. She started to go for a bag of chips but couldn’t reach them.
“Here, let me help you with that.” I grabbed her around the waist and lifted her up in the air so she could reach the chips. She was small and extremely light. She looked like the kind of girl who would snap if you hugged her too tight.
“Thanks. I don’t know why everything in this house is up so high.” She flashed me a smile but immediately looked away. “So, why don’t I give you a tour?” She grabbed my hand and led me out of the room.
The rest of the house was pretty much the same. Fancy furniture, sculpted pieces of art, and hand-painted walls. “And the grand tour ends here!” She flung open a door and then jumped on the bed. This must have been her room. Most of it was white furniture, and she had hung up Christmas lights all throughout. She had pictures of her old friends and her old life. I didn’t realize all that she had given up and left behind when she moved here.
I turned around and jumped up on the bed with her. She was just texting on her phone and looked like she was getting upset. “Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah. It’s just my mom. She had another fight with my dad and she always vents everything to me.” She tossed her phone on the pillow and got up to head to the bathroom.
I waited for about ten minutes, but she still hadn’t come back. I went up and knocked on the door. “Hey, is everything all right in there?” I heard sniffling and the door swung wide open.
Her eyes were all red and puffy and she had tears running down her face. I immediately grabbed her and hugged her real tight. She started crying again and held on to me while I started rubbing her back. I had no idea what was going on, but I knew something was hurting her. “It’s all right,” I told her. “Everything is going to be all right.”
Violet
I didn’t know what happened. One minute I was hanging out with Nash and having a good time. The next, I’m bawling my eyes out onto his shoulder. I could feel him hugging me tight and he started rubbing my back. I barely knew the guy, but I felt so safe with him and I knew I could trust him.
He grabbed my hand and sat me on my bed. He ran back into my bathroom and grabbed some tissues for me.
“I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened. A lot has been going on in my life and I couldn’t hold it in much longer.” He just started rubbing my back again and told me it was fine. He could tell that I was hurting and must have had a lot of pain in my life in the past.
“If you ever need to talk, just know that I’m always here to listen,” he said. He gave me another hug and squeezed me tight. He was a lot stronger than he looked.
“You probably think I’m a complete freak. I barely know you and I just started crying my eyes out in front of you.” I was worried that I might have lost the first person who’d helped me since I moved here.
“I don’t think you’re a freak. You obviously have a lot going on and you hold back a lot. Do you want to talk about what just happened?” His big blue eyes looked down at me, and he had a concerned look on his face.
I just shook my head. I wasn’t ready to explain all my issues to him. “Not yet. I just kind of want to be left alone. Is that okay?”
“Yep, that’s fine. I’ll give you some space. Just text me if you need anything.” He gave me another hug, and as we separated he gave me a quick kiss on my forehead. I started to blush like crazy and he just smiled as he walked out the door.
After he left, I took a long shower and changed into my pajamas. No one was home yet so I decided to put in a movie before I went to bed. I popped Mean Girls into my computer and lounged around for the rest of the night. I still wasn’t tired after the movie was over so I decided to text Nash.
Violet-Boo: Hey :)
He responded in less than a minute.
Nashty: Hey cutie! Feeling any better?
A huge smile gathered on my face and I could feel a blush starting to creep up.
Violet-Boo: Much better! Thanks for being there for me. I know you barely know me but it means a lot.
Nashty: Yeah no problem! I will always be here for you. :)
Violet-Boo: That’s good to know. I’m going to go to bed. Nighty night!!
Nashty: Good night cutie! Sleep tight :)
I plugged my phone into its charger and headed off to bed. A lot had happened today, but I realized that Nash had been making my life a whole hell of a lot better. Was I starting to fall for him? I’d just met him a few weeks ago—it wasn’t possible. I had so much going on in my head that I didn’t even know what to think.
Violet
The rest of the week went by smoothly. I made some good friends, and I started to bond really well with a girl named Annabelle. We had almost all the same classes, so we had a lot of time to get to know each other.
Annabelle was short but she was still taller than me. She had long blond hair that always was straightened perfectly. She had crisp blue eyes that were reminiscent of the ocean. She was insanely pretty and I felt very self-conscious around her. She was the only person at school I bonded so well with. Well, besides Nash.
Nash and I had started spending a lot of time together. I learned a lot about him, but I still felt like he was not telling me something. I knew he was the lacrosse captain and was extremely popular. I could see the way girls looked at him and how the guys tried to be his best friend. I don’t know. Maybe people just really like him.
I was walking down the hall at school when I felt someone grab my arm and pull me back. It was Nash. “Hey, best friend. I have to ask you something.”
Nash was so adorable and every time I saw him I just wanted to jump on him and give him kisses. “What’s up, best friend?” I gave him a flirty wink and started to giggle a little bit.
“Tonight there’s a party at my friend’s house and I wanted to know if you wanted to come with me?”
“Yeah, sure. What time is it?” I had only been here for a week and was already going to parties. I could get to like it here, I thought.
“I can pick you up at seven forty-five. Okay?” He had a huge grin on his face and
seemed overwhelmingly excited.
“That works for me! See you later, best friend,” I said. I gave him a quick hug and ran out to my brother’s car.
“What took you so long, Violet?” Hayden said. My brother must have been in a hurry.
“Sorry. Nash was just talking to me about some party.”
He gave me a look and rolled his eyes. “You two have been spending an awful lot of time together. Are you guys . . .”
“No, no! We are just friends.”
He gave me another look, then started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot.
“So are you going to the party tonight?” I wanted to ask him because he usually went to parties every single weekend.
“Nah . . . I’m hanging out with some buddies at the gym. Thought it was about time to start training because the season is coming up soon.” Hayden ran track and was actually really good at it. He always placed in the top three but recently he had been winning first place in all his races.
I felt kind of relieved that he wasn’t going. He was always so protective of me and probably wouldn’t let me out of his sight. I guess that was kind of his job, being the big brother and all.
We pulled in the garage and I immediately ran upstairs to my room. This was my first party here, so I had to decide on the perfect outfit and get ready.
After I decided what I was going to wear, I went for a run back in the woods behind my house. I’d already created a trail that circled the outside of the neighborhood and went around the lake. My family kept telling me to join track, but I didn’t like doing school sports. There was too much pressure involved with it. But I thought maybe I should try something new and create a different image of myself this year.
The lake was absolutely beautiful that day. All of the trees and the sky reflected off the lake and made it seem like I was looking into a mirror. I took a short break on a bench and just stared at the view. This area reminded me of home. I never told anyone in my family about this spot; I decided to just keep it to myself.
I took a nice long hot shower once I finally arrived back at my house. I took my time in doing my hair but I still failed to make it look nice. If there was something I was extremely bad at doing, it was my hair. I could straighten it, curl it, or throw it up in a ponytail or bun, but that was it. I ended up putting it in a messy bun. It was casual but still looked cute. I threw on my clothes and skipped down the stairs.
I heard the doorbell ring and I ran to answer it. Nash was standing there, looking as handsome as always. He didn’t say anything. He just stared at me with his mouth hanging open. I started to blush and a small smile formed on my face.
“Violet, you look . . .”
Nash
She had her hair up in a bun, but it looked so good on her. She was wearing jean shorts that showed off her leg muscles and made her butt look good, and a loose white tank top with a cream-colored knit cardigan over it.
I wasn’t trying to check her out, but she did look good. I couldn’t even talk to her, my mouth just kind of hung open. Man, I must’ve looked like a complete and total idiot.
She started to blush and I could see a slight smile form.
“Violet, you look amazing.” I looked down and started rubbing the back of my neck. At that moment, the only thing on my mind was her. I needed her. She was mine.
“You don’t look too bad yourself, handsome.” She punched me playfully on the arm and ran to get in my truck. I opened the door for her and she hopped in. “For you, my lady,” I said. She smiled and rolled her eyes.
For the rest of the ride we jammed out to the radio. She was a really good singer. There was still a lot I didn’t know about her yet.
When we finally reached the party, it was completely crowded. People were outside, inside, in the trees, in the pool, and even sitting on the fence. The music was playing really loud but you could still hear everyone screaming and laughing.
“Well, this looks like one hell of a party, Nash,” she said. “I hope I don’t get lost in the crowd.” I looked down at her and grabbed her by the waist.
“I won’t leave your side,” I said. “Trust me. You don’t really want to be left alone with these guys who were checking you out in school. Now, with you looking even more gorgeous, they won’t be able to keep their hands off. Just stay by my side, okay?” I didn’t want anyone near her. She was mine and that was all there was to it.
Violet
First Nash couldn’t keep his mouth closed when I opened my door. Now he was telling me I was gorgeous and that guys were going to be all over me.
I already saw the way the guys looked at me at school, but I hadn’t cared. I had my eye on someone else. But after what Nash had just told me, I was scared to go inside.
Nash had his arm around my side and I reached down and grabbed his hand tight. “Don’t leave me, okay?”
“Promise.” He looked down and smiled at me and gave me a kiss on the top of my head. He always did that; it never bothered me.
“Don’t let the guys scare you. Just remember to have fun.”
Have fun. Right. That was the whole reason why I wanted to go to the party. I wanted to have fun. Why was I getting so nervous about some drunk guys? I had Nash right by my side and I knew he wasn’t leaving.
Nash
After Violet grabbed my hand, I felt like a surge of electricity was going through my body. I didn’t think she felt the same way about me, but I didn’t care.
I leaned down and kissed her on the top of her head. I had been doing that ever since she had that breakdown a couple of days ago. I always did it when I wanted her to know that I was there for her.
I told her just to have fun and ignore the guys who were going to be there. She seemed to relax a little bit and dragged me into the house.
Right away people came up to me and tried to get me to high-five them and to talk to me. Violet looked confused about why I was getting so much attention, but I told her I would explain later.
I wasn’t quite ready to tell her about Vine, though. I didn’t think she even knew what the app was and I wanted it to stay that way. I wanted her to like me for who I was and not for my fame. People already tried to use me, and I didn’t want her to be one of those people. But if I didn’t tell her soon, someone else would and that would not end well.
We walked over to Annabelle and it seemed like she and Violet were friends. Violet let go of my hand and started laughing with Annabelle about something.
“Oh. Annabelle, this is my friend Nash.” She didn’t have to introduce me to her. We already knew each other, quite well, actually.
“Oh, we already know each other.” I didn’t want to bring up my old relationship with Annabelle. We had dated last year for a couple of months but then she dumped me for some senior. Then, once she found out I was famous on Vine, she started flirting with me again. I didn’t want anything to do with this girl. We had a lot of memories, good and bad.
“I’m not surprised. It seems like everyone in the whole school knows Nash,” Violet said. Just. Great. This was probably a perfect opportunity for Annabelle to bring up Vine.
“Why wouldn’t they? He is famous,” said Annabelle. I hate you, Annabelle. Once again, you are ruining my life.
“What do you mean by famous?” Violet looked over at me, confusion on her face.
“She doesn’t know who you are?” said Annabelle. “Well, Nash, looks like you have some talking to do.” Annabelle walked away and left me alone with a very perplexed Violet.
“Nash, what is she talking about—why would you be famous?” I could tell she was starting to get frustrated. All of a sudden the room got quiet and everybody was paying attention to us.
“You don’t know who he is?” someone shouted. “Here, Violet, maybe you should take a look at this.”
Someone tossed her a phone and she started to watch it.
I saw her confused face turn blank, then she looked at me. I could see fury in her eyes as she ran out of the house.
“Violet, wait!”
Violet
Everything made sense then. I understood why Nash was so popular and why all the girls practically were all over him. I knew now why he had so many friends and why everybody liked him at school.
He was famous on some app called Vine. I had no idea what it was. All I saw was his profile and it said he had five million followers. Five million followers? Holy shit. Why wouldn’t he tell me something as important as this?
I started to run out of the house. I wanted to get away from everyone. They probably all thought I was stupid for not knowing and were laughing at me. Tears started to roll down my cheeks. I was running faster and faster until someone grabbed my arm and made me stop.
It was Ryder.
Violet
“Hey there, pretty girl. You know girls like you shouldn’t be out alone at night.” He started walking toward me and I backed into a wall. Perfect. I could smell the alcohol on his breath and his eyes looked glazed.
“Leave me alone, Ryder.” I started to move away but he grabbed me again and held me there. He was a lot stronger than I was. His tight grip on my arm started to hurt and I knew it was going to leave a bruise.
“I don’t see your little Nash coming to save you. Well, that’s too bad.” He leaned in and stuck his tongue down my throat. I was trapped. He was holding both my arms and had me pushed up against the wall.
His breath smelled so bad it made me want to vomit in his mouth. I bit his tongue hard and he jumped back in pain. “Are you kidding me!?”
I started to run but he grabbed my arm again and pulled me back. “Nash! Nash, help me!” Then I felt a surge of bitter pain in my cheek and everything went black.
Nash
I was running down the street, calling her name. I had to find her. I was not ready to lose her right now.
“Nash! Nash, help me!” I knew that voice. It was Violet’s. I sprinted down the street and saw Ryder carrying a girl and throwing her in his truck. It was Violet.
The Story of Us Page 2
