1. Violet
"Love"
Love is a term with no one particular meaning, and in this century, it's thrown around loosely between people who think they know what it means, people who are just stuck on the idea of being in love, people who confuse love and lust, and kids who believe they've found the one when in reality, they have no fucking clue. No clue of what the true definition was, or how to show it, or how to spot out if it was real or not. I, for one, never considered Evan, or myself as one of those oblivious people but as of right now, i'm not so sure.
"You were right Madeline, we argue way too much," I listened to his hushed tone. He spoke softly since we were only right outside of his apartment complex and he didn't want to draw anyone out of their accommodations. His voice was monotone but mellifluous to me, as it always had been. But not the words spilling out. No, that was more of a cacophonous racket, and I wish it would stop, "I think we should take a break."
My eyes grew wide, and darted to his, searching for something, anything, that assured me he wasn't really considering it. We had been down this road time and time before. Some reasons were stupid and some valid, very valid, but even then, I was never worried that it would end horrendously.. but right now, it felt... different and an uneasy, sickening feeling began to form in the pit of my stomach.
The pace of my heart beat picked up although I tried not to display it to him, not that it would matter much to him at this point. My eyes fell to the floor, the only place I could look to hide the tears that dared prick my eyes. "Please.. no." I plainly stated, as I kept the view of our feet in my vision, never looking up.
He sighed and I could see in my peripheral, his hand leaving his lap and running through his hair. Oh, how I longed to be doing it for him, lying in his all to familiar apartment, basking in his all too familiar scent that I had learned to 'love'. The tears were a bit heavier now while I couldn't help but to recollect all of my fondest memories of the two of us. "I think I just," he paused for a moment (trying to find the right words?) "I just need space.. and time right now. To think things through.." He trailed off.
"Think things through?" My head, by now, was spinning and I was expecting it to fly off at any moment. "What is there to think through? If I love you and you love me, like you claim, what else could you possibly have to 'rethink'?"
"Are you kidding?" He scoffed at me, "are you even listening to yourself right now Madeline?" I now faced him, raising an eyebrow, obviously clueless, before he continued, "remember when you needed a break? I didn't think we needed one yet you insisted and now you're telling me I don't need this? You don't even know what I need."
My now tear stained face hardened and in an instant I grew angry, forming an ugly frown, "Don't you dare hold that over my head, Evan. Don't you dare." Just like a switch, my frown was gone and instead, the tears paraded down my face. I hated to cry in front of him but at this point I was at a loss of words as past events swarmed my memory.
"Wait, so, uh, who's all going out with you and Tate?" The mall was crowded, like packed. You could barely take a step without accidentally bumping into someone. It wasn't unusual though, considering it was 4 pm on a Saturday afternoon, just frustrating.
"Well I assumed you wouldn't want me to go alone with JUST Violet, so, I asked Tate to come along but he claimed he didn't want to be a third wheel. So Violet asked her best mate to come along too. Her names Zoey." The gears in my head spun vigorously as I was trying to make sense of what just came out of his mouth. He grabbed a pair of bright blue shoes from the display rack, "I kinda like these," he examined them a bit more closely before checking the price, "what do you think about them?"
