calamity || l.p

chapter eight

A/N: IM USING 1ST PERSON NOW UNLESS SAID OTHER WISE

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Violet

"Oh my god, Liam, I had the best day back today. I met this student teacher who's majoring in history and education. He's shadowing my World History class until the end of the year." I gushed to Liam, who was trying so hard to look like he gave a damn.

"Did you by chance, oh, I don't know, learn his name?" Liam asked, slight annoyance in his tone. He crossed his arms as he continued to watch whatever the hell movie was on the television.

I brushed off his sudden negativity and went on, "Yes, I did, actually. His name is Joshua West. He asked to hang out sometime soon and get to know me not as the girl who's family died in a freak accident. Which is refreshing considering how many looks I got today because of that very same accident."

Liam's senses perked and he looked at me, a mixture between anger and surprise on his face, "You got looks? Jesus Christ, Violet. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? I got asked out by a cute guy who's attractive, intelligent, and didn't look at me like I was some charity case." I reassured, a true smile growing as I said the very words.

"I just figured it'd be bothersome to you. You know, bothersome enough that even a random guy asking to hang out wouldn't completely cure." Liam explained, emphasizing the latter part of the sentence.

I sighed, deciding to give up on being perky and positive for a few moments, "Listen, Liam. I know you aren't a fan of me being all human again and acting like a freshman girl in college–which I am–and being excited about a potential date. I'm trying to get back to normal, Liam. And you acting like this sure as hell has not helped me out, so let me gush about this cute guy and act a little stupid and love struck. I don't want to think about the stares because guess what? Those people don't know me, okay? They don't know the hell I've been through and how much I just want to get past it. They don't know that every time I overhear someone talking about a movie they saw, I think of the accident and nearly have a panic attack. They don't know that every time they give me one of their fúcking stares of pity, I struggle to move on. Because now everyone sees me as a poor, insecure, and sad girl who lost her family to a damned psychopathic killer! So yeah, Liam, I'm going to try and ignore the stares and be an oblivious girl, because I need to move on and so do you." I finish, my vehemence ebbing as I stare at Liam. He seemed frazzled, which is fair under the circumstances. I turned around and went to my room, that I had decorated with my old things from the storage unit. I changed into a shirt and shorts before sitting down on my bed, thinking about what had just happened.

Then, I broke down.

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I walked out of the room, my eyes beyond irritated and red. I stepped into the living room where Liam still sat, but instead his elbows were propped up on his thighs and his head in his hands. The television was muted and you could hear my every move on the hardwood. Liam slowly looked up and over at me, his face sad and stressed.

He sat up immediately and cleared his throat, "Uhm, uh, yeah?" He asked unsure, a slight fear in his eyes that I was about to go off on him again.

Suddenly, I began to laugh. I don't know if it was the stress and the wave of feelings I was enduring, but I was laughing my áss off, "Y'know, I...I," I kept breaking to laugh every few seconds as I talked, "I realized that...that we forgot about...about the...dog" I finally finished before surrendering to the floor in laughter.

Liam had already been laughing a bit with me, most likely out of relief that I was not about to bust his balls. But, also, out of worry of my inappropriate reaction to the stress I've had, "Oh my god, Casper. That poor dog. We can go get him tonight." Liam replied, completely flabbergasted we forget about the dog.