The Story of Us by Rebecca Harner Page A

stuff and he left.
    â€œDude, just give her some space. She obviously wants to be left alone if she asked her brother to pick up her stuff. Just wait until tomorrow at school or something,” Will said. He’d always been good with advice about girls, so I figured I should listen to him.
    â€œYeah. You’re probably right. Thanks, Will.” I slapped him on the back and headed upstairs for a shower.
    I knew she’d probably read all the comments already. I tried to stop her. I tried to warn her. I hoped she was strong, because I knew a lot of girls who would fall apart if it was about them.
    I checked my phone one last time before going to bed. Still nothing from her. I sighed and pulled the covers up over my head.
    â€œGood night, Violet. I love you,” I said to myself before closing my eyes.

Violet
    Hayden drove me to school the next morning. I knew I was going to have to talk to Nash today, but I wasn’t quite ready just yet.
    I managed to go through my whole morning without bumping into him.
    Today was calm. Nobody was staring at me as I walked down the halls. No guys tried to stop me when I walked near them. It seemed normal.
    I had become really good friends with Hayden’s friends at lunch. They all loved me and I loved spending time with them because they were so funny. Hayden didn’t mind me hanging out with him and his friends as well.
    The whole day I was dreading Music class because I would have to see Nash. I heard him and his friend walk through the door and sit behind me. I kept my head down, trying to avoid eye contact.
    All was well until he tapped me on my shoulder. I turned around and gave him a fake smile. “Hey, Nash. Haven’t seen you today.”
    â€œYeah, same here. I missed you.” He looked nervous and sad. His eyes didn’t sparkle like they usually did when I looked at him.
    â€œYeah, I—I missed you, too.” I stuttered a little bit because it was true. I did miss him. The truth of the matter was I wasn’t mad about the whole Vine thing. I mean, yeah, I was hurt by those words, but it was just like what Hayden said. They didn’t know me. Only I knew me, and I knew that those things weren’t true. They were just words. So I wasn’t mad at Nash over that; I was mad that he took my phone and was trying to control me.
    I saw a smile form on his face and his eyes started to shine again like they always did. “That’s good. Hey, can we talk later? I can take you home today.”
    â€œYeah. I would love that.” This time I gave him a real smile because I really did love him.
    Nash
    â€œYeah, I—I missed you, too.” I felt a sense of relief spread throughout my body when she said that. She missed me. Or was she just saying that so it wouldn’t be awkward?
    â€œThat’s good. Hey, can we talk later? I can take you home today,” I said to her. I was nervous to talk to her but I wanted to fix the situation. She was too important to me and I wasn’t ready to lose her so soon.
    â€œYeah. I would love that,” she replied. She flashed me that beautiful smile of hers. All I wanted to do was take those lips and kiss them with all the power I had. Stop it, Nash. Control yourself.
    After Music, I walked her to English. Ryder wasn’t there anymore, only his friends. They didn’t say one word to Violet or me. That’s right—keep your mouth shut, assholes.
    English was extremely boring as usual and seemed like it was taking forever. The bell finally rang and Violet and I walked to her locker.
    â€œLet me just text Hayden that I got a ride.” She pulled out her phone and the incident of last night flooded back into my mind. I was being such an asshole to her. Damn, Nash. Why did you have to do that? I’m so stupid.
    We sat in the car for what felt like thirty minutes in silence. I couldn’t do this.
    â€œViolet . . .” I said, breaking the silence.