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"Now are you going to let ently press into my side

I dither, then place ht off my foot "No, but I’ll let you help ne apes at o to class," I argue, then hold ne is delicious "It’s important"

"Why? It’s just one class"

"Because I don’t miss class Ever"

He searches n of sanity ht Violet…" He waits for ive hi my real last na person left carrying it I could usethat one out either since it see someone an open invitation to know et you to class"

Then for the first time in thirteen years, soly does it

Luke

I help Violet to class, bearing as ht as she’ll letht on her ankle It looks like shit, purple and blue, swollen up so big she couldn’t even get a shoe on and I seriously just want to pick her up so she won’t put any weight on it at all, plus I’ll be able to move at my pace not hers But I can tell there’s no way she’ll letlike my normal self I’d have left her out under the tree

It was a complete fluke that I crossed paths with her I’d taken one too y for me to drive to the university So I had to walk and just happened to pass by when Violet was leaning against the tree She looked like she was struggling and all I could think about was her falling out the …over to her

We end up being late and she’s upset about it She doesn’t see on a schedule or getting good grades, but neither do I My need to control rades, is an obsessive habit I developed early on to fight the constant loss of control that always surrounded me when I was at home I wonder what her reasons are

I don’t sit by her in class, not just because I don’t want to couy, but there aren’t any vacant desks beside her I sit at an empty desk a fes behind her and I try to concentrate on what Professor Dotter, but it’s hard

I thought about her a lot last night, even in etting drunk But she never did explain to me why she ju to end her life, but knohat I know--knohat happened with As behind her juer I watch her, the more I analyze her She’s extre as far as refusing to stretch her foot out coht up in her chair, with her feet planted firht have met my match for the Stubbornest Person in the World award It’s an award I’ve prettysince I was sixteen when I decided to stop trusting people and doing only what I wanted I’d spent way toothey needed and finally I turned sixteen and got o anywhere whenever I wanted and it didn’t matter ith me I had myself and that was all that mattered No one controlled s stayed that way ever since

Violet kind of seems like that I’ve never s on their own But it’s not like I’aveher last name and she’d probably try to kick h, the idea of her trying to kickI like things easy and uncomplicated, because er For so Then again no one’s ever really tried to challenge e I purposely send out

I can tell Violet tries to look tough, but beneath the diamond stud in her nose, the red streaks in her hair, and the tattoos on the back of her neck, she’s fking gorgeous--even though she’s wearing the saht, she has no makeup on, and her hair isn’t done She also doesn’t have the s and arms better suited to wrap herself around ue in s and arms wrapped around me as I pin her underneath ota break fro-in-substance wo up with since I was sixteen

In the lances over her shoulder It’s obvious she’s trying to discreetly look atat her, so it doesn’t work Her eyelids lower a little, like she’s going to scowl at ivesat her first I’m not sure how to react to this, because usually I’ obsessive since I barely know anything about her, other than she likes to ju notes, seeking sohts I can handle chaos when I’ht now I’ into my life

I remain focused on the lecture for the rest of class and when the professor lets the class go I seriously consider letting Violet fend for herself But as I walk by her, I notice her staring at her ankle with her book tucked under her arm and her eyebrows furrowed As much as I only take care ofout the , either by accident or not, I findher the option of taking it She looks up at ht They’re insanely big and beautiful, surrounded by long black eyelashes, but there’s so from them Emotion Most of the tili, but with Violet I can’t see anything, like she has a shield up

Her fingers wrap around ets her balance, I slip my arm around her lower back and settle my hand on her side I feel her muscles constrict, but her face reht onmy cheek, and alk out of the classroom