Chapter Four

The sound of thunder woke me up. I didn't want to be awake. I wanted to bury myself deeper into my bed and stay there all day. It seemed like the perfect day to do so. Today was cloudy and rainy. Sleep weather.

        Still, I forced myself out of bed. There was a long-sleeved flannel lying at the end of my bed. I changed into that and threw on some sweats.

        The smell of bacon drifted up as I walked out of my room.

        My mother was home. Lovely. I still made my way downstairs.

        “Violette!”, she called.

        “Yes?”, I replied.

        “I wanted you to look at something for me.”

        “What is it?”

        “I finally finished a piece yesterday. I think it may be one of my best. I wanted your opinion. Before I do anything with it.”

        What she really meant was she wanted me to stand and look, ooh-ing and ahh-ing as she explained it. Like a practice before she took it to one of the galleries for showing in town.

        “Yeah. I'll take a look.”

        I followed her upstairs to a room she made into a studio.

        “There it is.”

        It was on a large canvas. There were so many different colors, swirling and intertwining. Shades of blue, purple, red, and orange. It didn't look like anything in particular, but everything all at once. A typical Lucille Dupree piece of work. Indescribable madness thrown onto a canvas, but still beautiful.

        “It's great, Mom.”, I said, just as I did to all the other pieces she would have me examine.

        “I hope so. This one gave me hell. Complete hell. I'm taking it down to King's Galleria this afternoon for first presentation.”

        “It's great, Mom.”, I repeated.

        “Well, thank you for looking.”, she used the same tone she used with prospective art buyers.

        “Sure.”, I said as I walked to my room.

        I needed a cigarette. I opened my window, lighting one.

        My phone rang, scaring me enough I jumped a little.

        “Hello?”, I answered.

        “Hey! What's up with you today?”

        It was Lisa.

        Lisa Norman was my one friend. This was a spunky girl, always enthusiastic about life. She had tight honey-blond curls that came down to her chin and light brown sugar colored eyes. Her nose and cheeks were covered in freckles and very rosy. She had the build of a volleyball player and was a bit on the short side at only five-foot-three.

        “Not much really.”

        “Good. Let's do something. I'll see if my mom will take us somewhere. I don't know about you, but I'm starving!”

        “Sounds good to me. Beats the hell out of being here with Mom.”

        “MOM!”        , she yelled, not bothering to pull the phone away, although I sure as hell did, “Will you take Violette and me to town?”

        “Get ready, she's taking us. I'll be there soon.”, she said after a minute.

        “Okay. I'll be ready.”

        “See ya. Bye!”

        “Bye.”

        

        “Pizza?”, Lisa asked me, one eyebrow cocked up.

        “Pizza.”, I confirmed.

        “I'll probably pick you girls up in about an hour or so. Got your phone, Lisa?”, Lisa's mom, Sharon asked.

        “Yes. I do. I love you, Mom. See you then.”, she gave her mom a quick peck over the seat as she pushed the car door open.

        “I love you too. Stay out of trouble you two. Mostly you, Lisa. Violette is my good daughter.”, she chuckled.

        Sharon was my surrogate mother. Lisa and I had been friends forever practically. She often referred to me as the “good daughter”, jokingly.

        “Bye Mom!”, and Lisa shut the door.

        We walked in to Pizza Parlor Plus. Not too busy, not too quiet, exactly what you would expect on a drizzly day. There was a low hum of people talking quietly, some shuffling around. Lisa walked over to our usual seat, and I followed suit. We always sat in the same one, assuming no one else had taken it, which had only happened once before. It was the booth in the corner by the window.

        “What do you girls want to drink?”, the waitress was at our table by the time we were situated. She must have been new, considering she was asking us what we wanted. I wondered where Abigail was, our regular waitress. I think she knew everything about us, we'd been here so many times.

        “Lemonade.”, Lisa ordered.

        “I'll have the same.”

        “Alright, darlings, I'll be back in just a sec.” She walked off to get our drinks.

        “What are we going to do this summer?”, Lisa said.

        “I don't know.” I stared out the window, watching the rain slide down the glass.

        “I know the last week before school starts back me, Mom, Dad, and Alex are going to the beach. However, we have to find something to do in the mean time.”

        The waitress had brought out our drinks.

        “Are you ready to order?”

        “Usual?”, Lisa looked at me.

        “Yep.”

        “We'll get a medium house special, extra cheese, no peppers.”, she said with no hesitation. It was tradition. We got the same drinks, same type of pizza, same seats. A ritual of sorts.

        “What did you have in mind?”

        “I don't really know. Of course, there's not much we can get into here. It's so... boring.”        

        “Sometimes I think that's a good thing with the way you are.” We both laughed at that, knowing it was true. Her natural enthusiasm for life sometimes overpowered her ability to use common sense.

        “Well, we'll figure out something regardless. Maybe camping or something just as cliché.”, she said drearily.

        “Lisa, anything that is anywhere along the lines of what a normal person would do is cliché to you. Or boring. Or a waste of time. We don't have do something extravagant, like catching leprechauns, to have fun.” I rolled my eyes at her.

        “Oh puh-leeze!”, she responded with rolling her own eyes back at me, “You know I'm not that crazy.”

        “Sure.”

        She furrowed her eyebrows and pursed her lips before sticking her tongue out at me. I stuck mine back out at her.

        “You're such a stickler when it comes to adventure.”

        The waitress was bringing out our pizza. We moved our drinks and silverware out of the way. The pizza sizzled a little, a signal it was fresh out of the oven, at it's peak flavor. She sat two plates down, one in front of me and the other in front of Lisa.

        I was getting a piece off the tray when I saw someone out of the corner of my eye, standing across the street, hands in pockets, cigarette hanging out of mouth.

        “I've got to go the the bathroom. Now. Be right back.”

        I stumbled getting up, not getting up quite fast enough. Trevor could NOT see me. That was that. This was getting weird. Was he stalking me now or something? No. The idea was insane. He didn't know where I lived or where I went to eat or who my friends were.

        I ran through the bathroom doors and put my back up against the wall, just breathing. Why was I freaking out? He was just a boy. A boy I still didn't really know for that matter.

        “Get a grip.”, I whispered through gritted teeth.

        I walked back out to our seat.

        “What was that about?” Lisa stared at me, her jaw slightly hanging.

        “I just had to go.” I said, as innocently as possible.

        “Right, sure. You looked like you had seen a ghost, no s**t!”

        “I didn't.”

        “That's it! We should go ghost hunting!”        

        Oh. What. The. Hell.

        “Lisa, no. No, no, and did I say no?!”

        “It'll be fun. You know it.”

        “It is fun. Not much happened when I went, but it's interesting. Dare I say calming?”

        The voice didn't belong to Lisa or me.

        This couldn't be happening. I closed my eyes and buried my head into my hands, not bothering to breathe.

        “Who are you?”, Lisa asked.

        “Trevor. You are?”

        “Lisa. Do you know Violette?”

        “I do.”

        “Okay, Trevor – outside! Lisa, you stay. Now!” I glared at him. What nerve.

        We made our way to the sidewalk, the bell on the door jingling as we opened it. I automatically reached into my pocket, pulled a cigarette out of the pack and lit it, taking a long, heavy drag.

        “Please tell me what the f**k you're doing here? Are you stalking me now?” There was nothing polite or friendly in the way I was speaking to him.

        “Maybe I'm hungry? I didn't realize I wasn't allowed to eat here.” He shrugged, then smiled. Trevor and his God awful, silly, beautiful smile. God, please, damn him to Hell. I'm begging you!

        My hand hit my forehead and I let out a frustrated, almost growling, sigh, smoke rolling out with it.

        “Is it imperative that you assume the persona of a smart a*s?”, I almost yelled at him.

        “Whoa. Sorry. I really didn't know you were here. Still, it proves my point. I knew I'd see you again.”

        “Why is it such a big deal?”, I asked, a bit softer, on the verge of feeling bad for ranting at him.

        “It's not. Maybe we should go back inside, I think your friend is waiting for you.”, he pointed back to the restaurant door.

        At that point, I turned to see Lisa peering through the glass, her face halfway pressed against it, trying to make out what was going on. The moment she realized we were aware of her, she ran back, like she wasn't doing anything at all. Typical Lisa. I couldn't help but laugh, along with Trevor.

        “Alright. I'm sorry for blowing up on you. It was unnecessary.” I threw my cigarette down and watched the raindrops put it out.

        “I might can forgive you. Under one condition of course.”

        “And that would be?”, I raised my eyebrow, half smiling.

        “That would be letting me join you for lunch. I'm sure your friend, Lisa if I'm not mistaken, wouldn't mind.”

        I felt a twinge of jealousy, which bothered me. Our second encounter and now I was getting jealous. This was getting too ridiculous. Complete bullshit!        

        “Probably not.”, I agreed anyway, “What the hell, you're already here. Let's go.”

        Trevor and I made our way back to the table, Lisa staring us down the whole way.

        “What's this about?”, she asked, intrigued, eyes wide open.

        “What's what about?”, I retorted.

        “You two.”

        “Oh. I just met him at the park yesterday. That's all.”

        “That's all?” She wasn't buying it. Not one minuscule bit.

        “Yes.”, Trevor interjected.

        “Oh.”

        “Do you mind?”, he said, reaching for a slice of pizza.

        “No, go ahead.”

        The way she looked at him made me uneasy. I knew she was formulating ways of hooking him in her mind, like batting eyelashes and school girl giggles – flirting tactics. I knew she must have found him attractive, as most girls probably would. Hell, even I did. I didn't like the idea of that, so I shuddered it off.

        What I didn't like the idea of even more so, was this whole jealousy thing. I almost felt as though out of nowhere, Cupid struck me, dead in the a*s, with no warning, and now this poison was seeping in slowly, but surely. He was a right b*****d for it too. How could I be jealous of a stranger? There was no way.

        “What do you think?”, Lisa was staring at me now, expectantly, waiting for me to answer whatever had been asked.

        “Sorry, what?”, I asked back, hazily.

        “Never mind. You're so spacey, Violette.”, she laughed.

        “Yeah.”, I said in the same hazy tone. I wasn't spacey. Just in thought.

        “I've got to be going.”, Trevor interrupted.

        “See ya.”, I said, having a little more confidence in those words this time.

        “See ya.”, Lisa repeated.

        As he was leaving, he shoved something down into my hands quickly. A balled up napkin. I held it in my hand, low under the table, as I watched him leave. Afterwards, I shoved it into my pocket quickly, to look at later.

        I know I had never really been too sure of anything, especially when it came to people. This was still something I had never experienced. I wasn't even going to think the words that described what was happening in my mind. I would just think it was unlike anything else I knew.

        

        

        

        

        

        

        

        

        

 

Author's Note

Another draft. :) Hope you like it!

Reviews

[Rose Kavanagh]

I really enjoyed this chapter. Your sentence structure has really improved and I like the character development of Violette and Trevor. Lisa is a very fitting additional character, as well- almost the exact opposite of Violette.
I'm very intrigued as to what will happen next, so please write more! You definitely have my eye on this one ;) Best of luck!

[Tracie Skarbo]

“I might can forgive you. Under one condition of course.”

I don't think you wanted the word can in there? Anyhow great chapter...off to read more...

[Bud]

Pure Talent. Has just the right touch of humor in just the right places. Excellent! : >)

[Adeline]

Good chapter again. Although I think the f word was a little unnecessary.