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SHE WAS READY TO leave. One hour in and Viola's head was already pounding with an aching pain that comes from the loud music bouncing off every wall in the house. She spins around on the swivel bar stool, searching the crowd of a hundred or so intoxicated teenagers for her best friend. When she realises that she's alone in a room full of people she knows, Viola dumps her plastic cup on the counter and manoeuvres through the large crowd for the front door, tightening her cardigan around her small body in order to shield her skin from the cool breeze that flows through the open door.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like you're leaving." Viola groans silently, squeezing her eyes shut as the taste of freedom dissipates from the tip of her tongue. She turns around to the familiar voice.
"Hey, Eddie." She sighs and looks up into his brown eyes, a wavering smile adorning her pink lips. She tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear, shifting from foot to foot, eager to bolt out of the house.
"Leaving so soon?" His eyes twinkle dangerously, the smell of alcohol lacing his every word. His plastic cup is a light crumple between the force of his hands, his large figure swaying slightly from side to side.
Eddie leans into Viola's personal space, touching her chin lightly with soft fingertips. She gasps at the feeling of his freezing hand against her warm face, a shiver falling down her spine as her body reluctantly simmers to a more suitable temperature.
She coughs. "Oh, you know, uh—big test tomorrow." She mumbles quickly, resisting the urge to roll her eyes at her blatantly obvious lie.
Eddie raises a brow, a hint of a smirk playing on his red raw lips. "It's Saturday tomorrow."
"Oh, is it? Wow, looks like I need some sleep and where's sleep? In my bed and my bed is at home. Okay, bye!" Viola chews on her lower lip as she attempts to beeline out the door, but was held back by a grip on her shoulder.
"Can I get your number?" He says softly, his words suddenly much clearer as though his mind was no longer drowning in the effects of alcohol.
Viola pauses for a second, her eyes flickering between the door and the boy in front of her. "Yeah, sure." Eddie smiles, placing his cup on a side table with an alarmingly expensive looking vase on it and reaches into his pocket for his phone. Viola starts to recount her mobile number to him when suddenly she's cut short by a looming presence beside her.
"There you are." Ben's low voice stirs Viola's stomach in a way that was completely foreign to her, his jaw tight as he stares ahead at Eddie. Viola looks between the two, confused as she spectates the heated stare-off between the two testosterone driven males.
She rolls her lips into her mouth, "right, well I was just leaving." Viola finally races off without another word, refusing to give anyone the chance to even stop her. She basks in the cool air of the dark night as she crosses the threshold, internally whining when she hears heavy footsteps following behind her and onto the glistening grass nature strip.
"Viola, wait up!" Ben flanks her side, gripping her elbow lightly and turning her body to face his. "Do you wanna sit out with me? I'm kind of sick of the party anyway." Ben looks at Viola with kind eyes and a small smile before sinking to the curb of the road and patting the spot next to him.
Viola chuckles, shaking her head and joining him, pulling her knees to her chest. She wraps her arms around herself, enjoying the small breeze that whips around her figure and cools her nerves. They sit in silence for what feels like hours, the only sound coming from the booming music trapped to the confines of Ben's house.
"I'm Ben." Viola raises a brow, confusion etched into her soft features. "I figured with needed a new introduction, one where I don't try to kiss you." He grins shyly, running a hand through his tousled locks, staring across the road and in the direction of the one-story suburban home opposite to his.
"I know." Viola rests her chin on her knees, tilting her head to one side in order to gaze at the boy beside her. He smiles in return but stays silent, allowing Viola to continue. "We share like three classes together." She chuckles, shaking her head.
He opens and closes his mouth, huffing exasperatedly with a tired smile. "Right. I'm so stupid."
Viola nibbles on her lower lip, "then why did you go through all of this?"
Ben looks down, wringing his hands in his lap. He chews on the corner of his lip and it took all the energy in her body for Viola to not reach out and release it from the captivity of his teeth. She opts with wrapping her arms around her thighs and under her knees, trapping them from any stupid decisions.
He shrugs, "to be honest, I just wanted to get to know you."
"A simple 'hey' in the hallway wouldn't have sufficed?" She laughs, a lock of hair slipping from behind her ear and falling in front of her eyes. She watches Ben's hands twitch in his lap before she reacts quickly and pushes it back.
Ben hums, chuckling slightly as he stares into Viola's soft hazel eyes. "What, I can't be romantic?" His lips quirk.
Viola snorts. "Romantic, really? Creepy, definitely. Romantic, not so much." Viola smirks, raising her eyebrows high as she pulls her legs tighter against her chest at the sudden gust of wind that sends a shiver down her spine. Ben shuffles a hair closer, his arm grazing her own. "How on earth did you even get my number in the first place?"
A sheepish look takes over his features. "You really shouldn't put your phone number on tutor posters in school. Who knows what psycho will use it to his advantage and try to make you fall for him." Viola laughs, tilting her head to the side as Ben stares back with a wide grin and an unidentifiable emotion in his ocean blue eyes.
"Not romantic at all." Viola says, licking her lips. "I still can't believe you went through all that effort just to and I quote 'get to know me' when you could've just tapped me on the shoulder during chemistry. Oh my god, I borrowed your rubber!" Viola shoves him in the shoulder as he bursts out laughing, feigning hurt.
"I wanted to be able to say everything to you without a face, so you could believe in your own worth because you wanted to, not because you knew who was saying it to you." Ben gives her a small smile, casting his gaze to the asphalt road. "I still want that."
She smiles sadly. "Sometimes it's not that easy."
"Hey, a guy can try." Ben chuckles in hopes of lightening the mood, bumping shoulders with her.
Viola chews on her gloss coated lip, smiling softly up at the boy who manages to find a way to get closer and closer to her heart day by day. "Well then, thank you."
He furrows his brows, tilting his head to the side like a small child, squinting in confusion. "For what?"
She shows off a toothy smile, finding nothing but pure comfort in his warm presence. "For trying."
