Violetta (Violet) Jackson has big dreams. None of which happen to include sitting in detention for a week straight for a lab disaster that wasn't even her fault. That's all thanks to Will Hawthorne, his friends (one of whom she unfortunately used to...
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Willow called me the next day just as I was locking up my bike outside of the school parking lot.
"Violet, what did you do?" She asked her question almost before I had the chance to put the phone to my ear.
"What are you talking about?" I asked, stuffing the key to my padlock into my backpack, already uneasy at Willow's urgent tone of voice. "What's going on?"
"Five hundred views, that's what's going on!" Willow said, and it took a moment for me to realize that the urgency in her voice was that of barely contained excitement. "Have you looked at the video's numbers recently?"
I had been actually spending quite a bit of time trying not to think about it, but I don't tell Willow that. "No."
"Well, you should. It's only day three and it's currently sitting at five hundred and thirty-three views. That's like, basically all of Oak Point."
I snorted, but Willow continued before I had the chance to say anything else.
"If it keeps going like this, you'll definitely beat Royal Flush. They have seven hundred views on their video right now. Plus it's not even good. Just a bunch of shots of them playing in their school's gymnasium, and one shot of their guitarist doing a backflip, as if that proves anything. Plus they didn't even-"
"Willow."
"Alright, I'm rambling, I know, but still! Whatever you did to promote the video, it's working!" The only time Willow talked this animatedly is when she was explaining the plot of a new book she was reading. "So what did you do?"
I bit my lip, unable to remove the image out of my head of Will standing on top of the cafeteria table, blasting Life in Color for everyone in the vicinity to hear. "Ask Will." My voice came out curt, but I suddenly get a weird sinking feeling as I remember walking away from him yesterday after dragging him from the lunchroom and giving him a piece of my mind. I quickly pushed it aside.
There's a rustling sound on the other end. "Crap, I gotta go, class is starting. Well, when you see Will today, tell him he's the BEST!" Willow said before I heard the distinct beep of Willow ringing off.
I stared at my phone, my stomach churning uncomfortably.
The rest of the day was just as strange as it started. As I walked the hallways of Oak Point High, students that I recognized but didn't know the name of greeted me, nodding my way. One sophomore made a rock-on gesture at me as he strolled past, humming a tune that sounded suspiciously like the bridge of Life in Color. Thankfully, I don't run into Ethan or any of his friends. Will was nowhere to be seen. Mrs. Abbott, the guidance counselor, stopped me in the hallway on my way to my last class. "It's good that you're seriously thinking about your music career, Violetta," she said, her voice serious, lines marking her face. "But we should also have a talk sometime about getting you applied to other music schools if you still had that in mind. Deadlines are coming up very soon."
