Strange Love//Dylan O'Brien

// t w o \\

When Evan walked in, Violet was sitting on the bare bed, on her phone. The room was awfully small, the four white walls started closing in on him. There was a small nightstand with a broken lamp on top of it, in front of the window with a crack in it and a torn shade.

The bed was the same bed that Evan had at home, just bare and empty, along with with the walls. There was a small mini fridge that was all dirtied up with a microwave on top of it. As he looked at the wall closer, he could see the white paint struggling to cover up murals that the previous owner had painted.

"So- what do you think?" Evan asked unsurely

Violet shut off her phone and threw it in front of her as it bounced on the bed "I think it's ugly and small and I hate it" she announced as Evan sat on the bed next to her

He could see her fidgeting around and moving her feet uncomfortably, telling that she was a little frustrated at the moment. He could tell that her five seconds of happiness and being optimistic in the car had worn off, and that the grumpy Violet had now returned.

As much as he liked the happy Violet, the grumpy Violet was normal to him. And that's exactly what he had needed in a place so unfamiliar.

"I'm gonna head out to the car and grab some more shit, you can join if you want" she said, jumping off the bed and walking out.

The wooden floor was quite creaky, making her even more irritated, but she was trying to keep her patience. The more she thought about this place, she started to realize how much it was a mistake, and how her parents were right. But she wasn't going to give in just yet, especially to them. 

She walked out to the car, keys in hand as she kept repeatedly pressing the button, she tied up her hair as she approached the car.

The car was a very old 1970 Pontiac, that Evan had fixed up after purchasing it from a vintage garage, he had been working on it for months. She had never seen him work so hard on a project besides his artwork and it was fun to watch. His parents hated the car, the only one who liked it was Violet. It made a lot of noise and it would constantly breakdown. The only work she contributed to the car was laying on the hood in the summer time, in charge of the music playlist, but that was about it.

She opened the doors to the backseat as she placed the tubs of sketchbooks, clay tools, markers, and practically every art supply they had owned on the pavement of the parking lot. She stacked them on top of each other, also grabbing the bed sheets as she plopped those on top.

"Do you need help with that?" She turned around as she was met with Dylan, she took a deep breath

"No I'm good- thanks though" she said, giving a weak smile as she picked up the two tubs, shutting the car door with her back as she started to walk away from him, walking carefully up the cement stairs as she watched Dylan walk down the campus sidewalk from the reflection in the dorm building door.

She leaned over to scan her ID as she held the door open with her back, quickly stepping inside as Evan grabbed the boxes from her, she watched him grunt as she walked back to the car.

They went over this process for hours, picking up and dragging boxes back and forth and handing them to Evan like a grueling process, and Violet was becoming restless.

She sat on the bed, gazing at the stacks of boxes piled high, staring at her menacingly, crumpled, unpacked, and just- disappointed? It seemed like the boxes were upset and angry at her, practically yelling at her to be unpacked, but the other stack of the boxes sad that they were away from their home, Violet felt her heart sinking farther down in her, now looking at the time, close to 11:45 at night.