𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜

𝙴𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗

Violet was perfectly at peace watching her teammates dance around to the music playing off someone's Walkman. 
Her peace was rudely disturbed by non other than Jackie Taylor. 
"Come on, Vi," 
"Nope. I'm not a dancer-" 
"Nonsense, come on, don't be a party pooper," 
"I'm not being a party pooper," 
"Are too!" she hears Van yell from behind Jackie. 
Jackie pouts, giving Violet her best puppy eyes, "Please?" 
"Fine," Violet playfully rolls her eyes, allowing Jackie to pull her up, joining the others in dancing. 

The girls danced to 'This is how we do it' until the Walkman suddenly went quiet.
"God Dammit" Van walks up, grabbing the machine.
"What happened?" Jackie asks,
"I don't know" Van replies hitting the machine, "Has hitting anything ever fixed it?"
"Maybe try blowing on it?" Mari suggests.
"What the hell is blowing on it going to do?" Violet snarks, pausing when there was a creaking sound upstairs.
"What the hell is that?" she asks, looking up.
"You heard it too?" Lottie looks at the girl, an uneasy feeling forming in Violet's stomach at the statement.
"Why did you say it like that?"
"It's probably just a branch," Taissa says.
Violet looks back down at Taissa, "That's what they say in every single slasher movie known to man and it's never 'just a branch'" Violet retorts. 
"Very helpful, thank you Violet," Taissa snaps back. 
Violet flashes a fake smile, "You're welcome," 

"What if it's... Him?" Mari asks.
"What? The dead guy?" Shauna deadpans.
"Uh, yeah," Mari replies.
Violet hates the way her stomach jumps, chills run through her body and the flash of the dead body stains her mind. 
"That's bullshit," Violet wraps her arms around herself, wishing the image of the corpse would get out of her head. "Ghosts and shit aren't real," 
"You know what it probably was?" Natalie speaks up. "The dead guys fingers trying to find their way home," she runs her fingers over Violet's back, making the girl shudder. 
"Eww, fuck off, Nat," she says a bit harsher then intended, but it still sticks. 

But, Natalie laughs, clearly proud of herself for the joke.
"Nat. You really have to encourage them?" Tai can't help the smile tugging at her lips.
Akilah then speaks up, "You do have to admit that it didn't sound like it was coming from the roof"
'Fine, then it was a rat, or a racoon or something. I don't know it..." Jackie began, only to be shushed by Lottie.
"Oh my god," Taissa groaned.
"Listen," Lottie whispers.
The girls all pause and listen, no noise being heard.
"Well I don't hear it now," Mari throws her hands up.
"All right, all right. You know what I think it was? I think the ghost decided it was time to get some sleep. And we should probably do the same, yeah?"

The girls grumbled, heading to their beds. 
Violet sighs, sitting in her bed and playing with her rings.
The lights go out and the girls all lay down, Violet follows but she doesn't dare to close her eyes. 
She stares up at the ceiling, wishing the sudden pounding in her head would stop.
The lack of food and lack of sleep was taking more of a toll on Violet then she cared to admit.
She had still been barley sleeping, it seemed right as she was finally drifting off, everyone was waking up.
She hadn't been taking much food,  instead leaving it for the others and that way there was more to ration. The hunger pains gave Violet a small amount of comfort, the comfort of knowing her friends had been getting more food to help them pull through. 

"Violet," she hears a voice whisper. 
Violet sits up, Jackie is standing in front of her bed, "What?" 
"Scootch," 
Violet gives Jackie a confused look, even though Jackie probably couldn't see her expression in the darkness that surrounded the room. 
Violet listens however, Jackie gently sits beside her, "You okay?" Violet whispers. 
"I was going to ask you the same thing," 
Violet bites the inside of her cheek, "I'm fine Jackie," 
"How have you been sleeping?" 
Violet makes the mistake of looking into Jackie's eyes when she is asked the question, not being able to look away or lie to the captain. 
"Have you still been having bad dreams?" 
Violet scoffs slightly, "You have to actually sleep to have bad dreams," 

Jackie tilts her head, "You haven't been sleeping like at all?" 
"Depends on the night," she confesses, "Sometimes it's just like my brain doesn't shut up. Images that I wish I could forget are engraved and are constantly replaying like a shitty double feature. It's almost suffocating," 
Jackie doesn't say anything for a minute, it makes Violet scared she overshared and is about to apologize but Jackie beats her to the punch. 
"I'm so sorry, Vi," 
Violet furrows her brows "Why are you sorry?" 
"I can't even imagine what it was like finding the body...or having to help bury it," 
Violet shudders at the memory, "It's fine, Jax. I'm glad it was me and not anyone else,"
Jackie frowns, causing Violet to quickly interject, "I mean it, I'm fine, everything is fine," 
"It doesn't have to be," 

Violet shrugs, "You can go to sleep-" 
"No, I want to sit with you until you fall asleep," 
"That seems a bit creepy, Taylor," Violet attempts to joke, but it falls flat. 
"I mean it," 
"Jackie-" 
"Nope. No arguments, my mind is made up," 
"I'm not a child," Violet's voice comes out a lot harsher then it was intended to, it almost surprises Violet. She expects Jackie to finally get fed up, to walk away in annoyance, but she doesn't. She keeps looking at the brunette in sympathy. A look that makes part of Violet want to scream at her for treating her like a kid, but the other part makes her want to cry and hug the girl sitting close to her. 
"I never said you were. It's my duty as your captain to make sure you are well rested," 
"We aren't on the field anymore, Jackie," 
Jackie laughs softly, "You can argue all you want, but I will win the stubbornness battle,"  
Violet shakes her head, whispering softly, "Well, you'll probably be sitting here for a while," 
"I'm okay with that. Now go on, lay down," 
Violet huffs in slight annoyance, reluctantly laying down, staring at the ceiling. 
"Now what?" she asks. 
"Now you close your eyes and try to fall asleep," 

Violet sighs, turning to face Jackie,  "You know, I forgive you...for what happened. You don't have to keep being so nice to me,"
Jackie fiddles with her hands, "I know. And that's not why I'm being so nice to you," 
"Then why?" Violet props herself up on her arms, "Why now? We've known each other for years and why has it just been right now you're making an effort?" 
"Because," Jackie begins, "Maybe I always wanted to, I just didn't know how to...I don't know, approach you?" 
"What does that mean?" 
Jackie laughs slightly, "I mean, no offence, but you can be kinda intimidating...and scary," 
"Me?" Violet asks, slight surprise in her voice. 
"Your best friend is Nat. Nat is pretty scary," 
"She's not that scary," 
"Regardless," Jackie sighs, "I just, didn't want to say the wrong thing. So, I guess this is me just making up for lost time," Jackie pauses for a minute, moving a strand of Violet's hair behind her ear before resting her hand lightly on Violet's cheek, "Besides, you look after this group a lot. It's about time someone looked after you," 

Violet couldn't help blush that spreads on her cheeks, making her grateful that they were in the dark. Jackie's finger tips feel like fire against Violet's cool cheek, the fiery feeling courses through her body, bubbling in her stomach. 
"Thank you," she whispers, trying to make her brain form actual words "Really. Thank you," 
Violet gives another soft smile, it makes Violet come to the dreaded possibility that-

She might like Jackie.