The Girl in the Hooded Jacket

Pentsworth

After we finished at the gym, Violet and I drove Melvin's car to the diner, ordered some fries and two milkshakes, and sat down at a booth in the corner.

"I have my eye on him." Violet said, holding a fry between her fingers like a cigarette. I followed her gaze to a boy who sat a couple tables away.

"Aaron Pentsworth." I said.

"Yeah." Violet stuffed the fry into her mouth, chewing ecstatically. "Captain of the football team. More muscles than brain cells. Total man whore." She finished off the fry, then licked her fingers clean. "I love it."

"He's a dick." I said, reaching for one of Violet's fries. She slapped my hand away.

"He also has like, nine rows of abs."

"He's a dick." I repeated. Violet rolled her eyes.

"Shit. He's coming." She hissed, wiping her hands on her jeans.

"What?" I asked, but the second I turned my head, he was standing in front of our booth, his eyes fixed on Violet in a way that I could only assume was supposed to be smoldering.

Violet's blue eyes gleamed. "Aaron."

He grinned down at her. "Violet."

Aaron turned to me. "Mind if I sit?"

"Actually—" I began, but he was already inching himself into the booth. "Alrighty then."

"So, Violet." He said. "You. Me. Saturday night. Lorenzo's. What do you say?"

I'd say that was just about the shittiest way ever to ask a girl out.

"No thanks, Pentsworth." Violet said.

I knitted my brows. Was this not the same Violet who, ten seconds ago, was drawling on about Aaron and his nine rows of abs?

"C'mon, Carter." Violet slid out of her booth and stood at the edge of the table, waiting for me to join her. "We gotta get going."

Still confused, I awkwardly stepped over Aaron and not-so-gracefully stumbled onto the floor. Violet linked her arm in mine, and we walked out.

"What are you doing?" I asked her, once we were outside the diner.

"Just wait for it." She whispered in my ear.

As if on queue, the doors swung open behind us and out jogged Aaron Pentsworth, looking a tad less confident than before.

"Sanders." He said. "Did I do something wrong, or somehow make a bad impression?"

Violet bunched her lips to the side. "Naw. Just not interested."

"C'mon." Aaron looked like a confused puppy. I guessed he wasn't used to girls saying no to him. "Why don't you just give me a chance?"

I looked at Violet, who was pretending to look bored.

"Please?" He asked.

Violet sighed. "I guess I could."

Aaron's whole face seemed to lift as he regained his confidence. "Perfect. I'll see you on Saturday at... eight?"

Violet gave a small wave. "See ya, Pentsworth."

Aaron gave a slight salute and jogged back into the diner.

I chuckled.

"What?" Violet asked.

"Ah, nothing."

"What is it?" Violet asked again.

"Did you really have to play that game? You couldn't have said yes the first time?"

"Oh, please." Violet said. "I refuse to be one of his easily-conquered conquests." She fished Melvin's keys out of her pocket, tossed them into the air, then caught them with one hand. "Now he knows I'm a challenge, and now he's intrigued."

"Why do girls always over think these things?" I wondered aloud.

"Why do guys always under think these things?" She retorted.

"Touche."

***

It was 11:07 pm, and I was laying in my bed with my hands folded over my stomach.

Across the room, Cameron was on his phone, his face illuminated by it's light.

"Hey, Cameron?" I said.

He turned over and looked at me. "Yeah?"

Then, completely out of the blue, I said this:

"Violet seems to, uh, like it here. Do you have any idea why she left?"

Cameron covered his face with his large hands and sighed. "She hasn't told you yet?"

"Uh... no."

"Violet and I had an affair— or something of the sorts— two years ago." He admitted awkwardly. I felt a lump rise in my throat. Something about speaking to a guy about his relationship with Violet didn't settle well.

Regardless, I asked, "Did you guys, um..."

Camera raised his eyebrows in confusion. "Did we what?" A couple moments later, he understood. "Oh."

I pursed my lips.

"No." He said quickly. "We didn't."

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding.

"Yeah." Cameron said. "Theresa found out eventually, and as much as she loved Violet, she knew she'd have to leave, before a social worker found out."

I didn't respond. I rolled over to face the wall.

"Carter." Cameron said, his voice reflecting the slightest bit of concern. "You alright?"

"I'm fine." I told him.

But I wasn't. From that day on, I didn't look at Cameron the same way. He was no longer the energetic, happy go-lucky athlete. Instead, he was the guy who deprived Violet of Theresa and the one house she was happy in. It was his fault that she ended up in all thoseb awful homes, and that was something I couldn't bring myself to look past.

This book will be critiqued/reviewed by Epicadrenaline , so a huge thanks to them!:)