Nash
“Do you promise you won’t go on Vine?” I asked her. I was just trying to protect her.
She rolled her eyes at me and tossed the controller on the bed. Then she walked out of the room. I stood up to go after her but Hayes stopped me.
“Just give her some space. Hopefully she’ll be calmed down tonight.” I hoped he was right.
I reached in my pocket to pull out my phone and saw that hers was in my hand instead. I still hadn’t given it back to her. Our mom stepped into our room with a furious look on her face. “What did you guys do to her?”
I looked over at Hayes. We both were confused. “What are you talking about?” he asked.
“Violet just left. She said she wasn’t feeling good and asked if we could reschedule dinner. She looked like she was about to burst into tears.” I didn’t say anything and placed my head in my hands.
“Whatever happened, you need to fix it and apologize to her. I will not allow my sons to treat a young girl that way.” She glared at us and slammed the door shut.
Violet
After about fifteen minutes of sitting on the floor, I finally dragged myself up into my room. It was eight o’clock already and I hadn’t even started my homework yet.
I called Hayden from the home phone to ask him if he could pick up my bag and phone from the Griers’ house. I wasn’t planning on walking over there anytime soon. I had to tell him I wasn’t feeling good and didn’t want them to see me. I wasn’t completely lying to him.
After we hung up, I fished through my dresser for some clean pajamas. I finally decided on some Nike shorts and a regular T-shirt from my old school.
I tore off my clothes and threw them in the hamper in my bathroom.
I stopped to look at the scars on my body in the mirror. One of them started from underneath my armpit and went all the way down to my waist. I turned around to examine the one on my back that started at my shoulders, crossed my back, and traveled down to my waist.
I remember that night like it was yesterday.
Hayden and I were coming home from the movies and we were singing along with the radio at the top of our lungs. It was really late so it was extremely dark outside. A deer ran out in front of the car ahead of us and the driver slammed on the brakes. Hayden slammed on his brakes, too, but he wasn’t quick enough. I had taken off my seat belt for a second to grab my purse behind me. I remember flying through the windshield and landing outside on the road. The glass from the windshield cut me extremely bad and I lost a lot of blood.
Since then, I’d lost all my self-confidence in my body. I wouldn’t go swimming because I didn’t want to wear a bikini. I made sure nobody saw my back or my side. That accident changed me. It was hard to believe that it only happened five months ago.
I forced myself to walk away from the mirror and pulled myself into the hot shower.
Hayden dropped my bag and my phone on my bed. I didn’t have much homework so I finished really quickly.
I grabbed my phone and my fingers hovered over the Vine app. Without thinking twice, I opened it up and created an account.
There were some suggestions of people to follow. I scrolled down the list until I saw his name: Nash Grier.
He had 5.3 million followers now and was the most followed person on the app. I watched a couple of his videos and they were really funny. I wasn’t going to lie. He and Skylynn were so cute together and made me smile.
I saw a video he was tagged in and it was my reaction video. I scrolled through the comments, trying to hold back tears. Fat, ugly, whore, skank, bitch. All these comments clouded my mind and I threw my phone to the floor.
I burst into tears. Nash and Hayes were right, these comments were terrible.
Hayden walked in and saw me crying my eyes out. He ran to my side and pulled me into a tight hug. I cried into his shoulder, which reminded me of the night I was crying into Nash’s shoulder.
“What’s wrong? What happened?” Hayden started rubbing my back and placed his chin on my head. I pointed to my phone. I saw his jaw drop as he scrolled through the comments.
“Who are these people? How do they know you?” He was furious and looked like he wanted to punch something. His face softened when he looked at me and I saw the caring big brother I loved. “They are Nash’s fans. They don’t like me hanging out with him, apparently.”
Hayden went into utter confusion. “Why in the hell does he have fans? Is he famous or something?” he asked.
“Yeah. On this video app called Vine. He is the most followed person,” I responded.
He rolled his eyes and hugged me again. “Don’t listen to these people. They don’t know you. You are so much better than them. You are the most beautiful girl in the world, Violet.”
“What would I do without you, Hayden? I love you so much.” I hugged him back even tighter.
“I love you too, li’l sis. Now let’s go watch a movie.” He pulled me downstairs and popped in Pitch Perfect. He knew me too well.
I literally had the best older brother in the world. What other boy would watch this movie with his little sister?
Nash
No new messages.
I’d been checking my phone like every five minutes and I still hadn’t heard from Violet. Her brother came over earlier to grab her bag and phone. I didn’t ask about her. I just gave him her stuff and he left.
“Dude, 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.
“Yeah. 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.
“Good 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.”
“Yeah, same here. I missed you.” He looked nervous and sad. His eyes didn’t sparkle like they usually did when I looked at him.
“Yeah, 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.”
“Yeah. I would love that.” This time I gave him a real smile because I reall
y did love him.
Nash
“Yeah, 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?
“That’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.
“Yeah. 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.
“Let 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.
“Violet . . .” I said, breaking the silence. “Violet, I’m so sorry. I was acting like a complete asshole last night. I don’t know why I was acting that way. I was just trying to protect you because I care about you and I didn’t want you to get hurt by them.”
I grabbed her hand and saw tears forming in her eyes. She looked away so I couldn’t see her face.
“Nash, I read the comments last night. And yeah, it was hurtful. Those comments made me feel like I was being shot in the heart. But Hayden told me something that made me realize the truth. They are just words. And at the end of the day, you, me, Hayden—we all know that those words aren’t true. I know that what they are saying isn’t true. So it shouldn’t matter what they say, because I know in my heart who I really am. They don’t.” She looked over at me and I didn’t see a hurt Violet staring back at me. I saw an extremely strong, beautiful girl I was in love with. She was right, though. They were just words.
I pulled her into a hug and held her tight. “I’m so sorry, Violet. I—I love you. I love you so much.”
Violet
He pulled me into a tight hug and whispered into my ear. “I’m so sorry, Violet. I—I love you. I love you so much.” He loved me? No guy had ever said that to me before. It made me feel alive and special.
I pulled away from him and looked him straight in the eyes. I grabbed his head in my hands and pulled him close. “I love you too, Nash. So much that my heart actually hurts.” Before he could respond I smashed my lips onto his.
We moved perfectly in sync. It was like we were meant to be together. This kiss was not like any other kiss we had together. It was powerful. It was beautiful. I felt him smile and he pulled away a little bit. He rested his forehead on mine, and we gazed into each other’s eyes.
“You’re such a tease.” We started to laugh a little, then he kissed me on my cheek. “C’mon. Let’s go home.”
Nash
Nothing could be more perfect. I was in love and the most beautiful girl in the world was sitting next to me, and she loved me back. I felt like life wasn’t real, like it was a dream.
I looked over at her and saw her scrolling through her Instagram feed. Everything about her was perfect. Why did she have to do this to me? She stole my heart.
“So, I’ve been thinking.” Gosh. Even her voice was beautiful.
“Really? You’ve been thinking?” I mocked her voice but acted like I was shocked.
“Oh, shut up.” She punched my arm playfully but pulled it back, shaking it out. “Oww. Nash, you hurt me without even trying.”
“What can I say? You basically just punched a wall of bricks.” I smiled at her and she started cracking up.
“Anyway, stupid. I want to make videos on Vine.”
My face dropped. No. She couldn’t want me to help her. I thought she wouldn’t turn out to be like every other girl.
“But, I want to do this on my own. I don’t want you shouting me out and asking people to follow me. You became famous on your own, and I want to see how far I can go.” Yes! Thank you. I knew she was different from most girls. She wasn’t the type to use me and my fame for herself.
“I think that’s a great idea. Maybe we’ll be famous together.” I grabbed her hand and intertwined our fingers.
“I just need your help on some things. Like where to film, what people like to watch, when is the best time to upload, things like that. Could you explain some of that stuff to me?” she asked.
“Of course. You know what your first Vine should be? A smack cam on Hayes. Also some Vine advice. Just be yourself. People are going to love you, trust me.”
She looked up at me. “You really think so?”
“Oh, I know so, honey!” I said in a girl’s voice, flinging my wrist. We started laughing like crazy. “Okay. So you should come over to my house so we can think of the best smack cam.”
She nodded excitedly. “Oh my gosh. This is going to be so much fun,” she said.
Violet
Nash told me to walk quietly into his house so no one would know I was there.
“Go run up to my room. I’ll grab something to hit him with,” he whispered to me. I did what he said and quietly walked upstairs.
I heard Hayes and Will talking in one of the rooms. Skylynn was with them. I tiptoed down the hallway and quietly closed Nash’s door.
Nash came up moments later. “Hey,” he whispered. “I told them I was going to be on the phone with some important guy about Vine so they won’t come in.”
“Okay . . . did you get something?” His hands were empty so I was confused.
“Yep. Pick your weapon.” He pulled up his shirt and he had three different bottles tucked into his pants. My eyes gazed upward at his stomach. Oh my gosh. His abs. I hadn’t seem them since the day I’d moved here. It looked like he’d been working out.
“Like what you see?” I blushed and quickly turned away. He tossed me the three bottles he picked out. Whipped cream, cheese in a can, or chocolate pudding.
“Really, Nash? These are the choices? Umm . . . I’m going to go with the pudding.” Nash told me how this was going to play out. It seemed easy enough.
We started the Vine of him filming me as I held up my hand with the pudding and said, “Smack cam.” Nash told me to hide behind the door while he called Will, Hayes, and Skylynn into the room. He had three chairs facing him; their backs would be to me. Nash told them they needed to film them like this for a Vine. Nash held up his phone and looked at me. That was the signal.
I ran up to Hayes, yelling “Smack cam!” and smacked him in the face as he turned around. Hayes fell to the floor, holding his chin, then realized it was pudding.
We all started laughing and Nash showed me the completed Vine. It was perfect. He told me to label it “Hayes Likes Chocolate Pudding” and put #SmackCam at the end so people would see it. Then he told me to click on all the categories so more people would see it.
After I uploaded the video I ran and gave Nash a huge hug. “Thank you so much.”
Hayes was wiping the pudding off his face and eating it. “Eww . . . that is so . . . nashty,” I said. Everyone cracked up laughing again with my choice of words.
“I’m guessing this was for a Vine, Violet?” Hayes asked.
“Well, Nash and I thought it would be good revenge. You know, for yesterday?” I responded.
“Well, I’ll go re-Vine it since I’m in it.” He grabbed his phone and I jumped on top of him and pulled it out of his grasp. “No!” He looked at me in confusion. “I don’t want you guys trying to help me get followers on Vine. I want to do it myself.”
“Are you sure? I mean you would instantly get thousands of followers.” Hayes was still confused.
“I’m positive. I’m not going to use you guys.” Hayes started to smile and he seemed to understand where I was coming from. “I think she’s a keeper, Nash,” he said before the rest of them left the room.
I turned to Nash and smiled. “I hope so,” we both said at the same time.
Violet
Nash and I stayed up in his room for the rest of the day and watched movies. Hayes and Will occasionally came in to check on us, which seemed to bother Nash. Once Nash and I were comfortable, his mom called him to come downstairs.
“Nash! I know you have a friend over, but you need to do the dishes.” He rolled his eyes and headed downstairs.
“I’ll be back in a couple of minutes,” Nash yelled up to me.
I didn’t feel like sitting in his room without him, so I decided to go see Skylynn. I hadn’t actually been able to get to know her yet.
She was in her room playing with her horses. She had a lot of horses, actually. She even had a swing hanging from her ceiling. Wow. This little girl had everything.
“Hi, Skylynn!” I crouched down and she came running up to me to give me a hug.
“Violet! Do you want to play with my horses with me?” She was the cutest four-year-old I’d ever seen. She had soft blond hair and big brown eyes.
“I would love to! Tell me, what are their names?” She grabbed my hand and dragged me over to where she was playing. “This is Daisy.” She picked up a small white horse with yellow hair. I could tell where she got the name from. “This is Peanut and Buttercup,” she continued, pulling out two more horses that looked quite similar. “Nash gave me these four. Here is Waterbugs, Nashty, Bae, and Vine. He named all of them.”
I laughed. “Of course he did.”
She had about ten more horses and she told me all of their names. I was trying to memorize all of them but there were so many. She had horses named after her mom, dad, and all her brothers. The horse named Nash wasn’t the prettiest.
The Story of Us Page 5