I woke up with a single thought on my mind. I didn't understand why she was who I was thinking of when beside me lay a beautiful Amy Bloom. She'd definitely blossomed since when she was younger. She was the depiction of the ugly duckling who became a beautiful swan.

I remember it was the transition from freshman year to sophomore year when she got her braces off finally and Amy actually got hot.

I was hung over out of my mind and my brain hurt like hell. I looked around the living room of Violet's house. She was the raven-haired girl who worked at the drug store and sold me some Dior red nail polish all that time ago. She was so beautiful. As soon as my eyes flew to her, they were immediately met with Aaron's glare. I hadn't even realized the doofus was even awake.

"What?" I mouthed in his direction. He simply shut his eyes again.

"Damn I've got the worst hangover in all of history," Aaron said, I glared at his loud voice, watching the girls open their eyes. We all had fallen asleep on Violet's living room floor.

Violet looked at me and I looked at her. It was a silent moment before she turned her gaze to Aaron.

"I hate you." were the first words she mumbled out of her mouth as a sly grin appeared on Aaron's features. His hair was a mess and I hoped mine didn't look like that. He held her in his arms.

"No, you don't. You said so last night when you were screaming my name." He smirked as my eyes widened along with Violet.

"You make it sound so bad... I was yelling at you." She rolled her eyes and stood up, stretching as she walked into her kitchen. "God, you're so annoying."

I snickered as I watched Amy's blonde hair sway beside me, she was finally waking up.

"You're all so freaking loud." Amy groaned, tossing her tangled hair over her shoulders and sitting up. She looked like she had a killer hangover. Aaron stood up and disappeared from my sight as he followed Violet. Last night was wild and I'm actually grateful that it happened. It was quite the insight into the world of Violet and Aaron.

"FINE!" Violet had had it with Aaron and gave into his obnoxious demands. He wanted her to 'let loose' as he called it and let the bad energy out. Whatever that meant...

Aaron's smile stretched from ear to ear as he stared at her. He looked at her like how I looked at Amy. Did Aaron love Violet? I don't recall them even knowing anything about each other or spending time with each other. But then again, what was he doing at her house?

"Can you people hurry up? I'm sick of carrying these." Amy groaned, setting the drinks down on the table. "Are we playing truth or dare or what?" She walked into the kitchen, completely blind to the privacy that Aaron and Violet were seeking, but I was tall enough to see past the small area that covered them.

"Yes," Aaron declared, walking out of the kitchen with Violet by his side.

"You're my greatest curse," Violet said, staring at Aaron as he led her to a seat on the carpeted floor beside her wooden coffee table. I wondered what that meant but for the two seconds the thought came, it passed and silence overcame us until Amy opened her big mouth. I loved her.

"So are we gonna play a game or what?" She leaned into my side. We had bought 3 small bottles of straight vodka and one of champagne, "truth or dare? The cliche bottle game that everyone does."

"I'm game," Aaron said. I looked at Violet as she rolled her eyes; I would be annoyed too if I was stuck next to Aaron.

"Let's get this over with." Violet groaned. She stood up and grabbed a few random cups from her kitchen, I'd left shot glasses in my car, but it didn't really matter what we drank out of.

"Finally," Amy squirmed beside me as she poured her cup, "so... you either tell the truth or do the dare, if you don't, you have to drink. Easy?"

We all nodded. Violet was looking kind of sick already, "If we have any leftover drinks, we need to finish this tonight; my sisters can't find out I have alcohol." Amy declared. I knew nothing about Amy's dysfunctional family, but the more I delved into who she was, the more I realized why she is who she is.

"Can I start?" I asked, wanting so badly to learn more about Violet.

"Wait," Aaron interrupted, "let's play spin the bottle instead."

"You're ridiculous." Violet protested as Aaron grabbed a water bottle from a backpack beside him.

"It'll make the game more interesting. Kiss, truth, or dare... or drink." He chuckled, "I call Violet."

"nope."

"Stop it. You're no fun." Amy said to Violet.

"I never said I was..." Violet muttered, quiet enough for Amy to not hear, but I heard her loud and clear.

"Fine. Can we just get this started already. Stop with your bickering!" Amy poured herself a cup and chugged down half of it.

"Woah there Aimes, you might want to slow down." Aaron laughed. I was irritated that he had a nickname for her when I didn't.

"Can we start?"

"Yeah let's start."

"Finally, Thank God!" Amy announced as we could finally jump this hurdle of starting the dang game.

My eyes flickered over to Violet. Man, she was beautiful.

She looked at me for a slight moment then at Amy and back at me.

"Dare." Aaron said, I had been so lost in Violet's eyes that I hadn't realized the game had already started.

"I dare you to lick whipped cream off of Violet's elbow." Amy laughed. I looked at her and wondered what went on in her mind. Violet's eyes widened as she stared at me. Was she insecure about her elbows?

I was more curious than ever. She stared at Aaron.

"I'd rather drink than have your tongue anywhere near me." She said.

"You weren't saying that a couple minutes ago." He replied as her eyes widened. I wondered if they'd actually ever kissed; but then again, I didn't really want to find out.

"You're disgusting."

"It's just a game violet. Drink or do it." He crossed his arms, glaring at the beautiful angel sitting beside him.

"I'm drinking." She decided, taking a big swig of vodka. She'd swallowed that so fast, it was as though it was never there, to begin with.

And so the night continued much like that until Violet got very drunk. That's when funny things started to happen. Like her trying to hug Aaron and her strange fear of losing Aaron. It made me wonder how close they really were.

But then again, I hadn't really drunk all that much anyway. Things started getting weirded when Aaron would move his arm and she'd start crying.

And then they kissed. Like full makeout, tongue and all. I was disgusted, but surprised.

Perhaps that shell that Violet held around herself like a shield or something was just an eggshell. And maybe, just maybe, Aaron had found a way to crack it and enter.

********************

From the Author: Hey everyone! I'm really grateful that you've stuck with me this long! I know it's been quite some time since my last update and I wanted to apologize for that! Hopefully, there will be more consistent updates in the future, but I'm not sure I can even guarantee that considering my third year of undergrad starts up in just a week! Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. Please comment your thoughts and vote and all!

Follow me! @VeronicaSoli

I've been working on a new book called 'out of sight' which will be available on amazon soon! Check it out on my profile!

In case you're interested in getting the totally edited/revised/changed paperback version of this book:

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)