𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭 ✰

𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐯𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐭

VIOLETTA
January 1st, 2007 — Monday

"You gotta go already?"

"Sadly."

"You oughta come back by and see us sometime, short stack."

I've been dubbed "short stack" by Elio. Once he brought up the name, everyone decided on loving that one because I hated it most.

I think he might be my favorite out of them all.

nononononononononononono.

Why are they growing on me?

"Where y'all live at?"

"Shire County side on my pawpaw's farm." Kai replied first, looking away as if he was ashamed to be telling me his whereabouts. Why did I even ask? Gah, what's wrong with me?

"You moved in with your grandpa?" He nodded shyly, avoiding my eyes like it was a secret meant for closed doors and quiet nights.

Elio shook his head and suppressed a laugh.

Azara playfully hit him in the side, making him double over and fake being hurt. They both ended up laughing so hard they were out of breath.

"What're you laughing at? Stupid."

"You say that like you're embarrassed. It ain't no secret you love that old man, yet you're over here acting like it's a bad thing your mama don't want you over there no more."

"You're acting like a hormonal little girl. That's why."

Azara and Elio spoke at the same time, words running together until they were unrelated and unintelligible. Kai rubbed his temples and shook his head, eyes squeezed shut like if he couldn't see their combined foolishness his headache would disappear.

"Bye Violet." Azara gave me a goodbye grin.

Elio saluted me, a dumb smile on his dirty face.

Kai gathered the nerve to look into my eyes and shot me a devilish grin, his blue eyes piercing me like a sword. He stole the breath from my lungs and put a flutter in my heart.

It seemed like I was entranced indefinitely until a honk from behind me brought me freefalling back to reality. So much for being on cloud nine.

Kai flipped off an old all black Mercedes-Benz and rolled his eyes when the driver returned the aggravated gesture. They drove off, engine roaring and noisy, and I heard that cars exhaust long after they were out of sight.

"Drive safe, doll."

Doll?

"Bye."

                                       ~~~
My thoughts were a messed up jumble of random information and things I'd been overthinking since I left Sonic.

Beside me in the drivers cup holder, my half full ocean water with the lid sliding off splashed upwards. Blue droplets landed on the center console, but at the rate my heart is beating and the way my mind is all jumbled up.. I don't care about the mess I'll have later.

Drive safe? Doll? Who does he think he is? Who does he think I am to him?

I'm not his girlfriend. I'm not his sugar pie, his honey, his darling, or dear.

I have to stop. I can't go on like this.

Today was the first and last time I'll ever see Kai, Elio or Azara again. They can't plague my thoughts for long. I won't let them.

Flipping through radio stations, dividing my attention between the dashboard screen and the baren road ahead of me, I searched for a decent one yet found nothing.