Finding My Way

Turns For The Worse

Nick

When I got home that night, all I thought of was Violet. With her hint of mystery, I couldn't understand why anyone wouldn't want Violet. She was the closest thing to an angel you could find. This morning though, I heard people talking about her in the hallway. They were talking about how, just a few days ago, she had attempted to sit with Gracie McHallister and her crew. I didn't hear every single detail, but I listened in enough to know that Gracie had totally blew her off. It made me mad, knowing someone was capable of being so full of themselves that they would make a new kid feel like a complete idiot. I decided to talk to Violet about it, that is, if she would talk to me. Something about the way she held herself, like if she moved she would break down into pieces. She had been hurt in some way, and I needed to find out how. I rushed through my next classes, doing everything as quickly as possible, as if I controlled how quickly time went by. When lunch finally came, I looked all around the cafeteria to find her, but she was nowhere to be found. It suddenly came to me that she couldn't find a seat, which would make sense. I decided to look in the hallway first. When I didn't find her there, I scanned the courtyard, and finally spotted her sitting on a bench in the garden. I took a deep breath, and walked over to her. "So, I heard about what happened in lunch a few days ago." She jolted upwards. "Oh, um, yeah... I guess everyone knows by now, right?" "Yeah, Grace can be a real jerk sometimes. I can tell you that from personal experience." Grace looked confused. "Huh? What did she do to you?" I was debating whether I should tell her or not. It wasn't something anybody liked to talk about. "You don't have to tell me if it's too uncomfortable" "It's not that, it's just that... well, we used to be best friends." She was silent, her face blank. Finally, she forced out a reply. "Wh, what happened?" I sighed as I remembered it, and decided to tell her. " One day me and her were hanging out, when this jock named Ryder came up to her. He started to flirt with her, and I got really mad, so I told him to back off." I sighed, remembering it perfectly. "I thought she would appreciate me standing up for her. But then, she slowly got up and took his side. She told me to stay away from things that didn't concern me, and walked away holding his arm. They are still together, and we haven't talked since. I was confused for days. I just couldn't understand what I had done to hurt her. I was trying to protect her! I still don't know..." Her eyes burned into mine, filled with understanding and sympathy. We stared for a full minute before she shifted her gaze. She gasped, and leaned in to whisper, keeping her eyes on target. "Look, quickly! She's coming!" I didn't have to ask who "she" was. We started to slowly get up to walk away, but it was too late.

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Violet

"Look who's here." She looked my way. "It's miss stand and st- stutter. Oh? And who's this?" She looked sad for a moment as she looked into the eyes of her former best-friend, and she couldn't help but look guilty. Another girl in her diva posse decided to help her out. "Just leave em, Grace. Two losers like them aren't worth our time." Gracie seemed to slowly leave her trance. "Y-yeah, you're right. Come on girls, let's get out of here. The stench of nerds and geeks is starting to get to me." The other girl called out. "Don't think you're off the hook yet," she said, "you made Grace upset, and no one gets away with that." She waved her hand and walked away. There was a moment of silence, then Nick spoke up. "Um, Violet? I'm so sorry about that. I should've said something, but I just couldn't make myself open my mouth. I was like a statue." I nodded, then rose up. I needed time to absorb the reality of what had just happened. "Wait! Please don't go!" "I need to go do some things. I'll see you later, Nick." It wasn't a lie, I did need to gather my books for the next period. "Hey, Violet?" He was almost whispering, like he didn't know if he really wanted to say what he was going to say. "Y-yes?" I was stammering again, and it was beginning to become frustrating. "I was wondering if you would like to see a movie or something with me this Saturday." I gasped. Memories flooded my brain. The last time I had been to the movies was when my mom was alive. It was my 14th birthday, and the two of us spent the whole day together. It was the most fun I had ever had, just me and her doing whatever we felt. I clenched the necklace I wore around my neck as the pain kicked in. Bad move. That necklace was the one that my mom was given for her 16th. She told me that the necklace was to be a reminder of her when she was gone. As my mother's voice played in my head, tears filled my eyes and I began gasping for air. I heard Nick's voice, filled with worry. "Violet? Talk to me! Are you alright?" My hands groped around for something to cling to, but it was to late. I could do nothing to secure myself as the light began to fade my vision. The last thing I remember is a pair of arms, cradling me, as I slowly slipped into unconsciousness.