violentine enthusiast

           “Oh my god, dude. Stop it.”

The fact that Aasim raised his tone snapped Violet out of her thoughts, and she turned her head to look at him. “Wha?”

     “Cracking your shit.” Aasim gestured towards her knuckles, which she’d been popping mindlessly.

“Oh?” Violet took this as a challenge. She lightly leaned her neck to the side, and the crackle that it gave out with such little pressure was enough to make Louis cringe. “Like this?”

         Louis let his mouth hang agape, and dropped his bagel onto the desk. “Holy shit Vi, you’re like a glow stick.”

Violet grinned with pride, and took a sip of her hot chocolate. “Where’s Clem? Lee-Mr. Everett’s here already.”

        “Ooh, you’re on first name basis with the Pops?” Louis propped his elbows on Violet’s desk, blinking happily. “Exciting.”

“Shut the fuck up, Lou.” Violet warned, pushing Louis back onto his own desk. This behavior only encouraged him, and he leaned up against Violet, slinging his shoulder around her in that way that tall people annoyingly do to all their short friends.

       “Aw, you’re blushing!” Louis squealed, roughing up her hair and earning a strong shove from the flustered blonde. “She went to pick up some worksheets with Brody for Mr. Everett. Should be back before the period starts.”

Violet frowned, drumming her fingers tentatively on the desk. “So, uh, where are you guys going on your date?”

        She expected any kind of denial from Aasim, but he just pursed his lips in thought, and started clicking his mechanical pencil.

“Ooh, how about Joan’s?” Aasim suggested, racking his mind for other options. “I dunno about the actual food but I know she has a killer chocolate cake.”

         “Deal.” Louis happily obliged, taking his eyes up from his phone for a second to cast a smirk at Violet.

“I’m gonna go catch up with Clem,” Violet murmured, freezing at the knowing look the two gave her. “In case she needs help with the papers.”

    “Ah yes, papers are notoriously very heavy.” Aasim teased. “I’ll cover for you.”

She ducked out of the class the moment Mr. Everett had turned his back to start copying the assignment on the chalkboard.

      Printer’s in the library. Violet voiced to herself as she quickly flew down the stairwell and past the open courtyard.

For the first time in ages, she had her head held high. Shoulders lazily leaned back, a bit of confidence in her stride.

     The corners of her lips curved upwards into a tentative smile as she turned the corner and Clem’s soft, sleepy voice met her ears.

“I... fuck, Brodes. What can I do to help?” Clem’s hoarse voice was riddled with distress that made Violet’s heart drop.

             Still, she rounded the corner.

“Just...“ Brody started before she caught glimpse of Violet. Her eyes went wide, like a deer caught in headlights. “Heyyy, Vi!”

        Clementine turned around at Brody’s fright, and met eyes with the tall blonde girl. Her jacket was disheveled, curly springs of hair more wild than usual.

“Oh, Violet! You look cute today.” Clem piped up, giving her a warm smile that melted almost all of her concerns. “Not that you don’t look cute everyday. You do, especially when you sleep in and your hair’s all shaggy and-“

       Brody cleared her throat, and giggled at her friends’ awkwardness. “I’ll bring these back to Mr. Everett. Dont hang back too long.”

The anxious redhead practically zoomed out of their way, quick footsteps tapping distinctly against the tile.

       “What’s with Brody?” Violet asked, crossing her arms at the weird behavior.

Clementine shrugged in an unconvincing manner. “I don’t know.. there’s all this planning we have to do for the Halloween dance. Totally last minute, but student council responsibilities and that shit.”

       “Oh.” Violet hummed, her posture relaxing as Clem reached out to the taller girl’s cold hands, and brought them up to her cheeks. “Why are you so hot?”

Clementine giggled as Violet desperately stammered to correct herself, and warmly traced her fingers along her knuckles. “Dork.”

        “You know what I meant.” Violet ducked her head sheepishly, narrowly avoiding the loving gaze from her girlfriend. “So, Halloween dance, huh?”

“Yeah, um..” Clementine’s voice wavered. “About that. The student council meeting... The Delta offered to host it this year. It’s pretty much a guarantee that the school’s gonna take them up on it.”

        Violet’s face must’ve dropped drastically, because Clem immediately went into panic mode.

“We don’t have to go. I know Minerva will probably be there, and that’s gonna be.. ugh. We can just skip it! We can hang out at my place and watch a bunch of dumb Halloween movies and stuff our faces with discount candy.”

        “That does sound... appealing,” Violet conceded with a cautious smile, before tucking a stray curl behind Clem’s ear. “But I do still wanna go. Minerva, Shminerva.”

Clementine’s eyes lit up.

      “Plus, uh, if we don’t take Aasim and Louis down a peg by taking their place in the Couple’s Costume Contest, who will?” Violet laughed.

“Ooh, definitely a fringe benefit,” Clementine happily squeaked, wrapping herself around Violet’s arm. “But I don’t think they’re the ones we have to worry about. Have you seen Ruby and Brody’s costumes?”

     “Yeah, true.” Violet mulled that over for a second. “You know what? We can let ‘em have it, because we’re just such good people.”

“Probably way too nice to be pirates.” Clementine agreed, swinging her prosthetic foot forward for emphasis.

          They continued down the hallway, but Violet couldn’t let the silence settle. “Hey, Clem?”

“Yeah, Vi?”

“Thanks for, y’know, telling me about the Delta thing. Brody ducked out of there as soon as she could and you were kinda left with the news. It’s, um, refreshing. I do love her, I love all my friends, but I feel like they sometimes walk on eggshells around me, especially about the whole Minnie stuff.” Violet’s voice was soft and sincere.

          Clementine was quiet for a second, her lips pursed together as she tried to think of something to say. Deciding actions were the way to go, she pressed a quick, reassuring kiss to Violet’s knuckles. “No problem.”

Violet finally exhaled, the ends of her lips curving upward as she processed the interaction. “Hey, Clem?”

         “Yeah, Vi?”

“Would you... be down to do the dorky Halloween movies date tonight? After we finish our costumes? There’s a bunch on Netflix, and I have Lou’s password.” Violet grinned cautiously.

“Sounds perfect.” Clementine replied with a cheeky smile. “We’re kicking it off with Hocus Pocus.”

      “As long as Beetlejuice and The Haunted Mansion are somewhere on that list, I’m totally down.”

“Ooh, and Halloweentown High. I had the biggest crush on Natalie.” Clem added it to the mental checklist. “And I can raid Lee’s desk for the good candy. He’s got a drawer full of Starburst.”

       “Ooh la la,” Violet giggled. “Delinquency for me? I feel honored.”