Dear Ocean

Chapter 7: Violet

"Violet, there's a customer waiting for you," my mom says from the counter.

"Coming, Mom," I say as I come to the counter. "I'm Violet. How can I help you?" The boy at the other end of the counter says, "Hi, Violet. I'm Dylan and my phone won't turn on."

"Let me see it, I might be able to get it to work." I plug it into the computer, which analyzes the phone and I tell Dylan, "It seems that you need a new battery. I can remove it and fix it for you. You can pick it up tomorrow or just buy a new battery if you can't handle being without your phone for that long. Dylan laughs. I note that when he laughs he laughs with his entire face, head tipped back with a completely unguarded expression. He hands me his phone and says, "I think I can handle picking it up tomorrow."

On my lunch break, I see the black haired boy from this morning, Dylan. I ask, "Are you stalking me?"

"No. I promise I'm just eating."

"In that case, can I eat with you? Lunch breaks can be lonely."

"Sure"

"I see you're a fan of pepperoni. It's a classic," I say, noticing his pizza.

"I see you're a meat lover. Sausage, meatballs, and bacon on one pie is bold."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome.You work at the phone store right? What do you do for fun?"

"I tinker sometimes. I haven't had the idea yet. You know, the one project I've been looking for my whole life."

"Oh I know. I want to be a biologist but I haven't had the idea either. My twin sister wants to be a marine biologist and she's very actively searching for the idea."

"Isn't everyone?"

Dylan laughs and says "Yeah, I guess. Anyway, I noticed there were people at the counter with you. Are they your parents?"

"Yeah.They work with a senator of Fuego but times are tough so they have this job as well. I work there because I need to pull my weight as an only child."

"I'm most definitely not an only child. I have a twin sister and a little brother and sister. Luckily, my family has a house big enough for a family of six and two pets."

"And enough income to support that big of a family?"

"We get by. But as great as my life is, sometimes I feel..."

"Trapped," we say at the same time.

"It's hard to be independent with a gigantic family,"Dylan says

"And it's hard to experience the world when you've never left your home state." Our eyes locked for a moment and I can tell we understand each other. Then he gets a call. The contact is Ocean "Hey,my favorite twin sis," he says as he picks up. I only know of one set of twins named Ocean and Dylan, he must be... "Are you Dylan Estrella?" I ask.

"Yeah. Don't let the press know I'm here. I want some privacy right now."

"This was a mistake," I say and take my lunch.

Jean, my blue haired coworker, asks me "Who was that boy? You and him had a total meet cute!"

"I guess we did."

"You should ask him out."

"That wouldn't work."

"Why?"

I whisper in her ear, "He's Dylan Estrella."

"Oh I see," Jean says, "But I have these." Jean hands me a ticket to a party at the governor's mansion celebrating the visit of some Warriarcian nobles. I ask,"How did you get these?"

"My family is going and the ticket includes a plus one. In the name of love, I have to take you."

"But I have nothing to wear."

We're usually the same size. Come to my house later and you can borrow something of mine."

At Jean's house I find a gold dress and matching sandals to wear. We get to the party and amid the dancing crowd I find Dylan. Without his disguise he looks someone different, but he still has the bold,vivid eyes of the boy I talked to over pizza.

There's one problem. I don't know how to slow dance. After I say hi to Dylan, I walk over to Jean. She teaches me a slow dance. Then I go back to Dylan and dance with him.

After we dance for a bit I ask, "Are you free tomorrow? We should see a movie."

"Yeah. It's only the third day of Spring Break. I'm free for the next week."

"Great."