Landslide: Before (Book 1) (GirlxGirl / lesbian/ LGBTQ)

Chapter Ten

Summary: the one with the mistake

TEN

     A couple weeks had passed since that day, and school was in full swing by that time. I was drowning under a pile of work, and barely had time for anything. I went to school, worked, and did homework. I spent most of my weekends going through the stack of homework I had. Occasionally, I would try to see if Charlie wanted to hang out or do work together, but she would send me away. So, instead, I spent Saturdays at The Lost Book Shop. I would set myself up for the day and do my work and every week Violet would come in and join me. It was almost an unspoken plan that we would do this every Saturday.We'd sit silently and do homework together.  I'd come to expect it and would pick the larger table every week, waiting for the fiery redhead to come join me.

    We didn't talk, not since the first time. She had immediately retreated into herself after our conversation about relationships. I found it interesting that despite that, she still came around. Like clockwork she'd mozy in around noon and a refill of coffee would appear next to me followed by the scrap of a chair on the tile. That would be the indications that Violet had joined me. No words. Just us in our own worlds doing homework or reading, keeping each other company.

    I was curious what was going on in Violet's life that she had to escape here all the time. Personally, I found our Saturdays together comforting. It was reassuring to know that she had gone through something similar. Unlike me, though, she had the strength to end it. Every week I was tempted to ask her, thinking that maybe it would give me the courage to end it with Sawyer. Yet, I never did ask her. Instead, I continued dodging Sawyer's calls, avoiding the thoughts of her, and spending time with Violet. 

    At Barks N' Recreation's, it wasn't much different. Violet and I worked like a well oiled machine. Violet knew what needed to be done without me having to tell her. She did one thing, while I did another, no need for communication. It made chores go faster and much more smoothly. Work was much more enjoyable when I had Violet beside me as extra hands.

    We were working together one afternoon in late September. Violet had come in after soccer practice and found me in the doggy daycare struggling by myself. I was trying my best to kept all the dogs occupied but there were so many. Thankfully, they all got along. A Husky, Lucky, was playing with a Rottweiler named Bear in one corner, two pitbull brothers, Sam and Dean, were fighting over a toy in the middle of the play area, and I had a small pug, Duncan, entertained next to me. Suffice to say, I was outnumbered. I heaved a sigh of relief when Violet walked through the door.

    "You look stressed," She said monotonously.

    "Good observation," I grumbled. She moved over to the pitbull's and started playing fetch with them, which garnered the attention of Lucky and Bear. Soon she had those four dogs happily playing fetch, competing against one another for the ball and the attention from Violet. Relieved, I focused on the little pug in front of me. Duncan was much smaller than the other dogs and often got trampled, but they never stopped him from trying. His resilience was something to be marveled at. I found myself jealous of it.

    Slowly, dogs began to get picked up by their owners. My buddy was picked up by a quirky curly haired women. She was sweet and called lovingly to her pug and thanked me for taking care of him today. Eventually, Violet and I were watching after Lucky and Bear.

    I looked toward where Violet was playing with Lucky. The energetic Husky was giving her a run for her money. He had a squeaky toy in his mouth and kept running circles around her as she tried to get it back. Violet had a wide smile on her face and was laughing at the dog happily. For a moment, I was stunned by the sight before me. I had never see a smile so bright and genuine grace her face before. It was tantalizing. Despite the smile being seemingly out of place, it looked right at home, like that smile used to comfortably sit there a lot.