He wants to talk. I've had enough talks in the past three days and I don't need another one. Especially not from an always-drunk boy who doesn't even know me, whose intentions are unknown and annoy me.

But here he was, he had chased me down the hallway, no matter how quickly I'd walked away and now he was standing close to me with no escape route. He was too close, his fingers burning my wrist and his body pinning me. I didn't want him near me, no matter how attractive everyone thought Aaron Paul was, I knew he was trouble. Guys like him are always trouble.

"Look... you got me, now talk. I need to get to lunch." I glared at him, his eyes sending bolts into mine. I couldn't understand why he was staring so much. It made me feel really strange.

"Come take a walk with me... I'll buy you some fast food and we can talk then."

"Aaron, I'm not interested in what you're selling." I said. I felt choked, like I was missing something and I realized his hands made me nervous, his distance made me nervous. His face was centimeters from mine, his warmth radiating on my body. I didn't have time for this. I needed to get to wherever I was going.

"Your body doesn't seem to think so." He smirked and I threw him a look of disgust.

"So original, get off me." I rolled my eyes and pushed his hands away as he backed up.

"Look I'm sorry Vy,"

"It's Violet."

"Violet look, please..." I turned to look at his gorgeous eyes. There was no denying that Aaron was really attractive, but I wasn't about to let any guards down for that.

It was the please that got me. It made me angrier than anything ever before.

"Leave me alone Aaron, I said no."

"Why're you so mean?" He said as I'd began walking away. I stopped in my tracks, those same words came from another mouth two days ago. My heart was accelerating. I was a third of the way to the cafeteria. I could easily avoid him and walk to my best friend Stacy. She'd definitely be waiting for me, besides, I didn't want to leave her to eat lunch alone.

"Stacy is not your best friend." He chuckled.

"What?" I turned, so quickly that my neck almost snapped, to meet his eyes. It was calm, like a waterfall and nature had surrounded us and we were alone. I felt serene for the first time in a while and I relished the feeling.

"You heard me," he smirked. The ball was in his court now. "I heard your thoughts and disagreed." He simply said, crossing his arms.

"We weren't even talking about her..."

"Yeah- I know." His lips curled into a smirk.

"You're crazy, what the heck? Anyone could've guessed that."

"Really? I told you already Violet, come have a chat with me. We can skip the rest of the day..."

Something in his eye caught me, I gulped loudly as he reached for my hand this time. I didn't have the energy or the power to push him away. His touch made me feel strange things. Maybe I shouldn't have even come to school today. I failed that math test anyway... there was no climbing back up from that failure. Besides, maybe curiosity did kill the cat. Something inside me told me to go with him. His broad shoulders and perfectly-muscular build was enough to catch my eye. But I couldn't pretend there wasn't anything else. When his hands touched me, I felt something really weird. I can't explain it.

"Ok." I simply said and his white smile glowed through his perfect teeth. I wanted to let go of his hand, but didn't. We walked through the halls and through the cafeteria. My eyes landed on Stacy who looked like she was about to have a panic attack.

She was fuming and I could only plead with my eyes. He'd taken full control, it was as though something possessed me and I followed behind him like a dog.

"Leave it." He muttered, noticing my line of sight.

I'm not some dog that you can command. I glared at the side of his face. I saw a small smile form at the corner of his lips before it disappeared. There goes any hopes of being invisible for the remainder of high school. He'd heard my thoughts somehow.

Suddenly any curiosity on how Aaron was valedictorian but never studied and always partied immediately cleared up. He was probably the biggest cheater on the planet, he'd win the world record for cheating if that existed.

I wondered how he knew, but decided it would be best to just have our "chat" as he had called it.

We walked into the parking lot and left the school.

He drove for about ten minutes before parking in front of a quaint little coffee shop and stepping out.

"Come on." He said, reaching for my hand again. The sun was out, it was so bright and birds were tweeting all around. The air was warm and the fluffy white clouds overshadowed us.

"So what, you're playing therapist now?" I muttered as we entered the glass doors, the bell at the top ringing and a waiter approaching us with a warm smile. "I can't believe I just left the school with a total stranger."

"I'm not a stranger Vy."

"It's Violet."

"I like Vy better." He sat across from me, crossing his arms as his biceps bulged.

"What do you want Aaron."

"Just to talk."

"About...?"

"What you've been going through?" He said and in that moment all the pain returned.

"Get off me!" I shouted at my boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend now.

"See! You prude! I wouldn't have cheated on you if you had put out sooner." He spat at me as tears began to fill my eyes. Gaslighted.

"You cheated?" I cried as shock suddenly filled his face. My religion always taught me to be celibate, I wasn't about to destroy that for the likes of a guy I've dated for a few months. It became a moral endeavor at this point to hold off until I found the one to love forever. Sex was just a temporary pleasure anyway.

"Don't act surprised." He chuckled. It was weird how he could've been such a different person a couple months ago. His true colors showed when he started getting comfortable.

"Asshole." I muttered, biting back tears and refusing to look at him. He had already gotten me naked, I knew he was going to do it away with me. I didn't want it.

"Nah, baby, I won't touch that. I'll stop a little earlier." An evil glint covered his face as he forced entry inside me. I screamed but there was nobody around to hear. I shut my eyes, wishing my parents were here.

"Get off me! Please! Please get off! You're hurting me!! Please!" I cried as his pushed himself inside me. I bit back tears as he finally got up. My heart rate was skyrocketing as he spat at me and left. I was left alone on the ground, tears streaming down my face and a deep pain I wished I never had to experience down under.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you. What's the assholes name? I'll kill him!" Aaron's voice pulled me out of the trance, I hadn't realized the tears that were streaming down my face until his fingers rubbed one away. My heart beat was racing again and my fingers trembling.

I'd been raped, my first time was forced and I didn't want any of it. I didn't even report it because of the shame it would bring to my family. The shame that I felt and the guilt towards it.

"I didn't say anything." I replied coldly. I felt apathetic, I had no desire to talk.

"Your boyfriend... I saw it..." Aaron said as shock filled me.

"Saw it...? You read my mind?!" I felt violated. "I thought you were kidding about that."

"I'm sorry Violet! Look, I just wanted to talk to you..." he paused as the waiter approached us.

"Give us ten more minutes." Aaron said, not even glancing in his direction as the boy strolled away.

"So why are you telling me?" I shut my eyes, trying so hard to get the remnants of last night away. My legs still hurt and I wasn't in the mood to talk.

This morning before school, I went to the nearest drug store and bought a morning-after pill in case I'd gotten pregnant. The only thing worse than being raped was being forced to have the child of your rapist.

"This happened last night?!" He said, loud enough for the entire restaurant to turn and stare at us.

"That's none of your business Aaron." I stood up, a sting striking me as I turned to walk away.

"But it is. Violet, I want to help you."

"I don't want your help, leave me alone."

"No." I wanted to laugh, it was usually me saying no. "Also, I can't because I'm your ride."

"I'll walk." I said.

He stopped behind me for a few moments before rushing over and lifting me off my feet.

I didn't even react.

"Look Violet, you don't have to tell me about anything, I can't hear your thoughts when you look at my eyes. You know what's crazy, the only time I can't hear other people's thoughts is when I'm looking into your eyes. And I do want to help you, but it takes you wanting my help in the first place. But, that being said, I need you to help me."

"You're crazy." I muttered, crossing my arms as we stood by the door, me in his arms.

"Maybe, but I'd like to figure out what's going on with me and I think a smart gal like you can help. I'm not going to push for answers, but just know that if you ever want to talk about it... or tell me who he was... I'll be there to listen."

And a sense of calm filled me.

***

https://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Read-Minds-ebook/dp/B08RYV11F2/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=veronica+Soliman&qid=1609863783&sr=8-3

(Link will be available in the coming weeks)

(Link will be available in the coming weeks)