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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Summer took root in Oak Point like the growing flowers across the sloping sides of the hills; seedlings transforming into seas of yellows and whites; pinks and ceruleans. Days grew hotter and longer, the heat beating down insistently through the leaves to the dirt paths and pavements below, the shade of the trees lining the walks providing little in the way of protection. As I biked through the town, sweat beaded on my forehead and arms more readily than ever before, and by the time I reached my destination, usually La Promenade or home, I was glad for a change of clothes.
High school graduation went as quickly as it came. Barely two weeks after ECHO's performance at Woodlands, Oak Point High held its high school graduation, the graduating class numbering a hundred in all. To any city-goer, the number must've been laughable, but it was purportedly Oak Point's highest since 1995.
I don't see Will in the time between the performance and graduation. Even at the ceremony, I only spy his tall figure and distinctly blonde head on the stage and afterward for a few seconds, and him locking eyes with me was enough to send a jolt of electricity through me. I opened my mouth, about to call out to him amidst the crowd of students and parents milling around the auditorium, but he just flashed me a quick grin, sending a flurry of butterflies in my stomach, before he disappeared back into the throng.
Danny, Ryder, and Olivia all come to greet me, though, and despite the cheesiness of it all, we decided to take a picture of us throwing our graduation caps into the air — Danny and Ryder had theirs on the same day and had come straight from their ceremony. Olivia was the only one without a cap and gown — she had only finished her junior year and still had another year to go — but she reveled in our small victory, directing us on doing all kinds of strange poses that had us laughing until our ribs hurt.
It was after our mini photoshoot, once Danny and Ryder looked over Olivia's shoulder at how the pictures turned out, that I ambled through the crowd of Oak Point High graduates, spotting all the familiar faces I'd seen for the last few years. Some people gave me a smile or a nod as I walked past. Ever since the Woodlands performance, more people were greeting me in the hallways at school than ever. It was still a strange feeling. It was almost like I had become more solid in people's minds; as if I was only a shadow before. Even I felt it. Something about taking the stage at Woodlands made me feel stronger and more present than before.
"Hey, wait up."
A sudden voice made me stop and turn around, glancing around for its source until my eyes landed on Ethan's.
I turned around again and was about to walk away and pretend like I never heard him, but he must have seen my expression immediately because he quickly called out to me again. "Violet."
The way he said my name - Violet instead of Violetta, without any trace of disgust or mockery - gave me pause, although annoyance still pulsed through me.
I faced him again, my voice flat. "What is it, Ethan? You think just because you called me Violet that I'm going to listen to you?"
I expected him to lash out at me, but he kept his tone serious. "Not really, no. I just came to tell you that I saw you at Woodlands."
