The Story of Us (13 page)

Violet

I could not
get out of school fast enough. I was so ready to go home and just sit around for the rest of the day.

I didn't talk to Nash for the rest of the school day, which actually didn't bother me too much. I felt better when he wasn't around because then I didn't think about him too much. My heart hurt so much when he was around, but I had to be strong.

I could see Ryder's friends looking at me almost the entire class period. When that bell rang, I bolted out of the room before half the kids even stood up.

“Hey,” my brother said when I hopped in the car. I ignored him and fastened my seat belt. “Let's go,” I told him without even looking at him.

“No, we need to talk.” He pulled the keys out of the ignition and undid his seat belt. “I'm sorry for what happened at lunch. I just got really mad at Nathan because he and the rest of the assholes at the school want to hook up with you already. I hear them talking about you in class and I just want to reach over and strangle them.” He clenched his fists and pounded them into the steering wheel.

“It's okay,” I told him. “You were right anyway. I'm still madly in love with Nash and I just lost him to Annabelle.”

“I know. I just thought if maybe the guys at our school knew that you still love him, they would stop talking about you. Do you know how it is, hearing guys talk about you right next to me?” He shook his head and chuckled.

“You don't have to worry about them, Hayden.” I reached over and gave him a hug. “Now let's go home and eat!”

“You don't have to tell me twice.” He put the key back in the ignition and slowly pulled out of the parking lot. We listened to the radio, like always, on the way home but it was still silent. Neither of us sang along or belted out the lyrics at the top of our lungs.

“Do you think about that night?” I asked him as I turned down the radio.

“Every time I drive you anywhere,” he said quietly.

I looked down. “It's amazing how much can happen in a split second.”

“Tell me about it.” We pulled into our driveway and parked behind our mom's car. “I wonder when Dad is coming home,” Hayden said as we stepped out of the car.

“Wasn't Mom supposed to pick him up from the airport today?” I asked him. He just looked at me and shrugged.

“Mommy!” I yelled when I opened the door. Nothing, just silence. I looked over at Hayden, who looked just as confused as I was.

“Mom, we're home,” Hayden yelled. Still nothing. A pause, then
bang!
We both heard a loud crash like a piece of glass had fallen and shattered onto the floor.

“Mom!” I yelled as I bolted up the steps. I found her sitting up against the wall curled in a ball. She was sobbing uncontrollably. I ran up to her and held her in my arms. “It's okay. We are right here,” I told her.

I looked up at Hayden, who was bent over looking at something on the ground. He slowly picked up a broken picture. It was my parents' wedding picture.

“It's over. Your dad and I are done. He went back to that woman in Maryland this weekend. I should've known better than to trust him so soon.” I held her tight while she cried into my shoulder.

She cried in my arms for another five minutes before she pulled herself together. She managed to stand up and ripped the picture out of my brother's hands. She slammed it into the trash can.

“He is coming home tomorrow. I already got the divorce papers and he is going to sign them. Then we are leaving this weekend and I'm not coming back.”

“What!?” Hayden and I yelled.

“We are going to move back home. Nobody moved into our house so we still have it,” she told us.

“What about our life here?” I asked her. What about Nash?

“You two aren't eighteen yet, so I can choose where you two live. I don't want any complaining either.” She turned around and slammed the bathroom door.

I turned to Hayden, whose jaw had dropped to the floor. “What about Nash?” I asked him, already in tears.

“It's okay. Maybe this is what you need.” He grabbed me and petted my head.

“I can't believe all this.” I pulled away and walked into my room, slamming my door shut. I grabbed my phone and loaded up Twitter.

@LovelyViolet:

Pennsylvania, we shall meet again.

I posted. Instantly I got hundreds of retweets, favorites, and comments. God, now people were going to think that I was running away from my problems.

I fell onto my bed and put the pillow over my face as I screamed.
I. Hate. My. Life.

Violet

I'd had to
deal with this feeling many times before. Walking down your school's hallway, knowing that it was probably the last time you would ever see these people. I didn't have many friends anyway, so I wasn't depressed about them. I was depressed about Nash.

I hadn't told him that I was leaving the next day, and the rest of his family didn't know either. I wasn't ready to leave him, though. Even though he was living a completely different life without me, I was still hopelessly in love with him. I didn't think I'd ever be able to experience this love for anyone except him, the boy with the blue eyes.

I dropped off the rest of my papers and books at the school's office. The secretary was extremely nice to me, probably because I was acting really depressed.

“I hope you have a fantastic time at your old school. Come visit us sometime,” she told me through her smile. I waved good-bye to her and headed out the door.

Nobody had been talking to me, they weren't even whispering about me when I walked down the halls. It was nice knowing that I wasn't the center of attention anymore. The guys still stared at me, though.

I hopped into Hayden's car while he said good-bye to a couple of his friends. They bent down and waved good-bye to me as Hayden climbed in.

“Ready?” he asked. I nodded and watched the school fade away into the rearview mirror.

Nash

I was more
than excited to go out with Annabelle. We had been flirting with each other all week and I decided I was finally going to ask her out. I really liked her. She seemed kind of snotty to other people, but she was really sweet and nice to me.

When school ended I dashed down the hall to my locker. I saw Violet leaving hers and she looked really sad. I wondered what was wrong with her. Oh, well. I had more important things to think about.

By the time I got home, it was already three o' clock. I was meeting Annabelle at the park at four thirty and we were going to walk around for a little bit. I was then planning to take her out to eat before heading to the movies. Sometime after the movie, I was going to ask her to be my girlfriend. I hoped she'd say yes.

Violet

The moving truck
was already at my house, loading up the furniture that my mom was taking. She waved to us as we pulled into the driveway. She must've been watching the movers to make sure they didn't break anything. She was extremely picky about her furniture.

“Hey, Mom,” I said to her as she squeezed me to death in a hug.

“I know you are upset now, but trust me. It's going to be worth it,” she told me.

“Where's Dad?” I asked her.

The smile on her face dropped and she looked down. “At work, like always.”

I was about to apologize for bringing him up when I was interrupted. “Violet?” I heard.

I turned around and saw Hayes running up to me. “I'll be right back,” I told my mom before walking up to him.

“What's going on?” he asked as we walked into my backyard.

“Umm . . . my parents got a divorce. Soo . . . my mom is forcing Hayden and me to leave with her,” I said quietly while looking down at my feet.

“You're moving?” he asked. He grabbed my arm and forced me to stop walking and look at him. I nodded and jerked my arm out of his grasp. “I'm so sorry, Violet, I had no idea your parents had issues.”

“Yeah. I never told anybody. They fight constantly and my dad, well, he isn't exactly loyal to my mom.” He didn't respond, and we just kept walking until we made it to his back door.

“When are you leaving?” he finally asked.

“Early tomorrow morning,” I responded.

“Does Nash know?” Gosh, why did he always bring him up in our conversations?

“Like he would care. He has Annabelle now,” I told him. “Look, I have to go, Hayes.” I pulled him into a hug. “Tell your family that I love them and I'm going to miss them so much. Tell Skylynn to take care of her horse Violet and to never forget me. Tell Nash that I hope he can find someone he truly loves and I wish him the best of luck in everything. I love you all so much.”

He pulled away and I saw a couple of tears running down his face. Of course I started to cry, too. “Thank you for everything, Hayes. You mean so much to me. I love you so much.” I gave him one more hug and let my tears fall into his shoulder.

“I love you too, Violet. You are such an amazing girl and one day you are going to find someone who loves you to the moon and back,” he said.

I pulled away and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Good-bye,” I told him as I walked back up to my house.

I never liked saying good-byes. They were always so emotional for me, but this good-bye was definitely the hardest. There was something about that family that made me a stronger person. They were so accepting and loving toward me, something that my family couldn't always be. They showed me that there was always hope and to never give up.

Well, look at me now. I was giving up.

Nash

I pulled into
my driveway and looked behind me to see a moving truck at Violet's house. I wondered what was going on. I walked into my house and saw Hayes pouting on the couch. Skylynn was sitting next to him, holding his hand. She had tears running down her face.

“Hayes, are you okay?” I asked him. He looked up at me and stormed over to where I was standing. I saw that his eyes were red and puffy. “Hayes, what's wrong?”

He slammed me up into the door. “This is all your fault. You had to lose your stupid memory, Nash. You messed up everything! You broke her heart and now she is moving. She has no reason to stay here.”

“Look, I'm sorry, Hayes, but seriously, do you think I wanted this to happen to me or even her?” I pushed him off me and he fell on the floor.

“She was family to you, Nash. We all loved her, she loved you! The reason she stopped seeing us was because she still cares about you and she didn't want to annoy you.” By now he was back on his feet and moving closer to my face. “Now we'll never see her again. You couldn't have tried to be friends with her. No, you had to go after that slut Annabelle. I hope you have fun with her, because we will never accept her into this family.” He spit at me. He then pushed me out of his way and stormed upstairs.

He stopped halfway up. “Oh, and by the way, Violet wanted me to tell you that she wishes you the best of luck.” I rolled my eyes. “Also, she hopes that you find someone you truly love one day.” He turned back around and slammed his door shut.

Forget him. Forget Violet. I didn't even like her, I liked Annabelle. That was who I truly loved.

I stormed up into my room and slammed the door shut. I had a date that was starting in less than an hour.

Violet

“Well, that's the
last of it,” one of the movers announced.

“Thank you so much. I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow evening,” my mother responded. She shook the guy's hand and waved as they pulled away with our belongings.

After my mom walked back into the house, I sat down on my front porch steps and stared out into the sky.

A couple of months ago, I was sitting just like this at my old house. Thinking to myself that I would never be there again. Well, I guess I was wrong. At least I wouldn't have to make friends all over again. I still remembered the kids at my old school. I had a good life there, I hoped nothing had changed. I mean I'd changed a lot. My style, my appearance, my attitude, my social life. I was not the same person I was before. Nash changed me, he made me into someone who I wanted to be. Me.

I heard a truck start up and saw Nash pulling out of his driveway. He must've gotten his license again. He slowed down as he passed me, waving to me with a small smile on his face. I waved back before he rolled up his windows and drove away. Away from me, running into Annabelle's pathetic arms.