XOXO, Violet by Ginger Li
23Violet
Time should have stopped after I fought with Wesley, but of course, it didn’t. Life moved on. After celebrating a quiet New Year’s at home with my family, Marcus returned to college, and Micah and I were back in school on Wednesday.
Thankfully, revealing my online persona hadn’t made a big difference in the way the other students treated me. A few more kids waved at me in the hallway, but no one mentioned my channel. I was grateful for the anonymity because inside, I was a wreck.
I couldn’t shake the knowledge that I’d done irreparable damage to my relationship with Wesley. I watched the clock in all my classes, desperate for lunch period to arrive so I could talk to him. I needed to fix things between us.
But at lunch, it was just Piper, Olivia, and me.
“Did Ash say anything to you?” I asked Piper.
She bit her lip and shook her head. “He only told me that you and Wes had a fight.”
Olivia slid closer and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Why didn’t you tell us you saw Jason again? We would have come over and taken care of him. Made sure that he couldn’t reproduce his heinous line.”
My giggle soon turned into a sob. “It was awful. Wes and Jason have been friends since they were kids. That means he knew Jason in middle school.”
Olivia rubbed my back. “Did Wes take Jason’s side? Is that why you fought?”
I sniffled and took the tissue Piper offered. “No. He apologized for bringing Jason to my house. He said he didn’t know.”
Olivia scowled. “Wes should have kicked Jason to the curb and made him Uber home. The fact that he didn’t…” She frowned.
Yeah. It felt like he’d chosen his friend over me.
Piper rested a hand on my arm and looked me straight in the eye. “Wesley wasn’t thinking. He probably didn’t realize that he’d hurt you.”
Misty-eyed, I stared at my friend. “Wes told me he liked me.”
Piper stilled. “And what did you say?”
A sob tore from my throat, and the words poured out in a jumbled mess. “I…I told him we should remain friends. You know how Wes is. He goes through girls so fast. I know that Jason and Wes aren’t the same, but when Jason embarrassed me, it took years to recover. If Wesley broke my heart…” But I couldn’t finish. If Wes broke up with me, I didn’t know what I’d do.
“No one can predict the future,” Piper murmured.
She was right. But I could infer what would happen from past events. “Wes has had a revolving door of girls.”
“But he hasn’t dated anyone since Taylor,” Olivia said. “He hasn’t shown interest in anyone. In fact, the only girl he’s hung out with is you.”
A small seedling of hope sprouted within my broken heart, but I refused to let it grow. “It doesn’t matter. Wes will tire of me too. I mean, I’m not like the other girls.”
“No. You’re not,” Olivia said. “Other girls chase Wesley. He doesn’t even have to lift a pinkie, and a whole bunch of them swarm him. But throughout this whole weird tutoring arrangement, he’s pursued you. Don’t you see? You’ve been different right from the start.”
Was that true? I recalled the events of the past few weeks. Arranging our tutoring sessions, taking me out on my first date, even checking up on me at YouCon, Wes had pursued me through it all.
It was like I was the flower, and he was the bee.
Oh. Oh.
Grabbing my phone, I texted him.
Me: I am SOsorry for accusing you of being like Jason. I know you’re nothing like him. Can we meet up to talk?
His response was immediate.
Wes: I can’t. I’m sorry.
Olivia and Piperwrapped their arms around me as the tears streamed down my face.