Entry #534037, added on 09-09-07 @ 6:24 pm EDT
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| Chapter Eighteen | Entry #534037 |
Violet felt terrible when she and Christian arrived at the lake. Until then, she had forgotten that Drake was mad at her. She'd forgotten that they wouldn't be hanging out together at the Senior Sizzle, but that he would be spending all that time with Andria.
"Where do you want to sit?" Christian asked her.
Violet's eyes scanned the area, looking for a patch of open grass that she and Christian could spread out on. She had brought a blanket big enough for a small army, but frowned at the thought that it would only be used by two people.
As she looked through the crowd that was already gathered by the lake, her eyes landed on Drake. He and Andria sat close to the edge of the water, smiling together. He had his arm around her and she looked quite happy.
Then Drake's head turned and his eyes met Violet's. The happiness seemed to vanish from them. His eyes shifted to Christian for a second, then back to Violet before he turned away, and Violet knew it would be just her and Christian.
They found a spot in the back, behind a large crowd of cheerleaders and football players. They kept turning around to say things to Christian, and he would respond politely before talking to Violet again.
When the cooking finally started, Christian drifted off to get them food while Violet layed back on the blanket and looked up at the sky, which was getting darker. She took a deep breath and smelled the water on the lake and the smoke that was drifting over from the grills on the other side of the park. She listened to the sounds of the bugs that were beginning to come out and the lapping water.
Everything seemed so familiar. With the wind blowing lightly, the evening reminded her of the camping trips that her family used to take every summer. Around the end of June, her family and Drake's family would load up and drive to Yellowstone Park. They would rent a plot big enough for all their tents, then take hikes and go sight-seeing. She remembered the first time they went, when she and Drake waited in the rain to see Ol' Faithful explode. They had huddled closely on the bench, shivering and counting down the seconds before it erupted.
Then they would all huddle around a fire and cook hot dogs before crawling into their tents and sleeping in the cold.
The trips had stopped a few years back, when everybody was too busy to take time off for such a vacation.
When Christian returned, he set their food on the edge of the blanket and layed next to Violet. "What are you looking at?" he asked, looking up at the sky with her.
"I'm not looking," she answered. "I'm smelling, and hearing, and feeling."
Christian turned his head to look at her, but Violet didn't move. She was listening to the voice over the loud-speaker.
"Okay, everyone, it's time to begin the slideshow!"
Violet pushed herself into a sitting position and watched as a screen was unraveled and set on a stand by the water's edge. A group of students was working with the sound equipment, computer, and projector, trying to get everything to start.
Violet picked up the hamburger that Christian had brought her and bit into while she waited for the slideshow to begin. She was munching away when music blasted over the speakers and pictures began to scroll across the screen. Each picture froze on the screen for a minute before being pushed aside by another. Athletics, clubs, fine arts, orginizations.
Then came the school pictures from freshamn year, each person's face displayed in front of the Senior class. Violet groaned when hers was plastered up there. She had been having a bad hair day on picture day that year.
Then came the personal pictures, the ones submitted by different groups of friends.
When this section began, Violet excused herself to go to the bathroom. She wanted to go before it was time to go, and she knew that the show was almost over. As she walked, she kept her eyes on the screen, watching different people she knew pop up on it.
She froze in place when she saw her and Drake's picture up on the screen. Rain was sliding down their faces and they both laughed hard at the camera.
Violet's heart ached as she stared at the picutre, then watched it fade away to make room for a new one. She felt tears sting her eyes and remember how mad Drake had been at lunch the day before.
She turned to look at the spot where she'd seen him and Andria earlier and saw that Drake's eyes were on her.
He no longer looked upset, as he had earlier. Now he looked sad, his eyes sending her an apology, one that she wasn't imclined to accept.
She took a deep breath, and then turned and continued to walk toward the bathrooms.
When she emerged from the bathrooms, the slideshow was over and all of the Senior class was rising to their feet to sing the school song. She hurried over to where Christian stood and sang along with him before the Senior Sizzle ended and they went home.
Maggie knocked on Violet's door that night and waited for her to anwer with, "Come in!" before opening the door.
When she did, she saw Violet sitting on her bed, a dress layed out in front of her, and a book in her hands.
"Hi, sweetie. How did your day go?"
Violet sighed and layed her book down on her bed. "It was okay, I guess. I mean, the shopping was great, but the Senior Sizzle wasn't so fun."
Maggie walked to Violet's desk and sat down in her computer chair. "Why not?" she asked.
Violet shrugged. "I don't know. It just wasn't."
Maggie was curious what kind of things were going on with Christian. "You didn't have fun with that boy?" she asked.
Violet smiled. "Christian? No, we had a great time."
Maggie wondered if the problem had been Drake. With the way he had been talking before the event, she wouldn't have been surprised if he had been the one to spoil the party.
Maggie let her eyes travel to the dress on the bed and really looked at it for the first time since she walked into the room. It was a beautiful dress, and she could just imagine how great Violet looked in it.
The last time Maggie had seen Violet in a dress was at her sixth grade graduation.
Maggie looked at Violet, who had obviously seen the direction of her mother's gaze and was now glowing with excitement. "Isn't it pretty?" she asked.
Maggie nodded. "Yes, it is. Did Christian help you pick it out?"
"Kinda." Violet stood and plucked the dress off the bed before holding out in front of herself to demonstrate how it would look on her. "He thought I should have worn red, but he liked this one, too."
Violet gazed down at the dress and Maggie saw how she adored it. See? she wanted to say. Doesn't Christian understand that this is why I'm doing this? Look how happy she is!
Maggie smiled at her daughter and then paused when an idea came to her. "Wait just a minute," she told Violet before rushing out of the room and down the hall to her own room. She knew Thomas was asleep in the dark so she didn't turn on the lights. Instead, she found the mini flashlight that she kept by her bed and went to the jewelry box on her dresser.
She slowly opened the silver lid and shined the light over the blue velvet that covered the inside. When she found the string of pearls with the light, she pulled them out and close the lid.
She hurried back to Violet's room, where she still stood by her bed, admiring the pale pink dress.
"Here," she said, handing the string of pearls to Violet. "They'll go perfect with the dress."
Violet looked down at the pearls then back up at her mother. "I can wear them?"
"Of course!" She reached out for the pearls. "Here, I'll show you how to clasp them because they're kind of tricky."
She stood close to her daughter and showed her how to open and close them, and then handed them back.
"I've never seen you wear these," Violet said, sitting down on her bed.
Maggie sighed. "They're quite old. Do you know when I got them?"
Violet shook her head, and Maggie took a seat at the desk again.
"Your father gave them to me the day I told him that I was pregnant with you."
Violet smiled. "Why would he do that?"
Maggie shrugged. "Because he was so happy, I guess."
Violet continued to smile as she looked down at the dress and the pearls, and Maggie got up to leave.
"I'll see you in the morning," she told Violet as she opened the door. And just as she stepped through and turned around to close it, she spotted Drake across the way, sitting in his lit room, watching them. |
© Copyright 2007 GryffindorGurl (UN: magicfreak11 at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
GryffindorGurl has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.
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