The Story of Us (17 page)

“Where are you guys and who all is coming?” I asked him.

“Carter and Sierra are both here with me,” he responded.

“Okay, but where are you guys at?” I asked him. I had no patience at that moment and he was taking too long.

“We are going to her school. Thought it would be nice to surprise her, you can come, too,” he said. Why was he going to her school?

“Isn't that going to make a big scene, though?”

“Why do you think we are doing it?” He chuckled. True, Cam loved to embarrass people. “We already called her school and they said school ends at two, so we can wait for her outside. I think she should see us and then you come out of the car and surprise her.”

“That actually sounds like a great idea, Cam. Let me guess, Sierra thought of it.”

“You thought correct!” I heard her yell through the phone.

“Okay. Well, we are on our way.” I hung up the phone and ran out to the car. Will and Hayes were already right behind me.

This was it. I was going to get Violet back.

Violet

Five more minutes
until the bell would ring. I had managed to stay away from Hayden all day because he really made me mad this morning.

I don't know why people couldn't understand that I was finally starting to get over Nash. Bringing him up 24/7 is not helping my case at all.

I heard the bell ring and all the kids shuffled out of the classroom. I made a beeline straight to my locker so I could go home.

There Chance was, waiting for me. He was so cute. He smiled at me when I walked closer to him. “Hey, beautiful!” he said.

“Well, hello there, handsome.” I threw my books in my locker and headed down the hallway with him.

“So do you want to hang out today again, at my house? You can meet my little sister,” he said.

“I would love to.” I smiled up at him again but dropped it when I saw the crowd of kids. “What the hell?” I said out loud. There was a large group of kids surrounding my car. Was there a fight or something?

Chance and I pushed our way to the front to see what the commotion was all about. Everyone went silent and looked at me when I walked past them. When I saw what everyone was freaking out over I dropped my books to the ground. I could not believe what I was seeing.

I ran up to all of them and they gave me a big group hug. “I missed you guys so much,” I said to them.

“We missed you more,” one of them responded.

“Cameron!” I jumped on him and gave him a big hug. “How's my best friend?” I asked him, all sassy.

“Fantastic, now that I'm with you.” He poked my nose with his finger, which made me smile.

“So what are you guys doing here?” I asked them. None of them responded and just gave me the biggest grins. I turned around and looked at all of the kids who were still huddled around us. Chance and Hunter were among the crowd and looked at something with sad expressions on their faces. All the girls' mouths dropped and they started blushing like crazy.

I turned back around to see what they were all looking at now and this time I was in complete and utter shock.

Nash stepped out of the car and smiled at me. After him came Will and Hayes, who both motioned for me to come near them. As I walked closer to him, my heart started to race. My palms felt sweaty and my thoughts were clouding my mind. When I got next to him he didn't say a word, he just grabbed my hand and pulled me in front of the car so we were in private.

“Nash, what are you doing here?” I blurted out. I honestly had no clue what was going on.

“I missed you so much,” he said. He pulled me closer toward him and rested his hand on my chin.

“Wait, did you . . .” He wouldn't even let me finish, he just nodded. I felt tears forming in my eyes and collapsed into his arms.

“I missed you so much,” I said into his shoulder. He picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist.

When he finally let me down I couldn't even look at him. I picked my head up and I stared into his enchanting blue eyes. He leaned in and I closed my eyes. There was no way I was going to stop him.

When our lips finally met I felt a surge of electricity spread throughout my body. I forgot what these sparks felt like. Instantly, everything around me disappeared and I felt like Nash and I were the only people around. But we weren't.

I pulled away, which I think disappointed him. “I'm sorry, I'm crazy thinking . . .” he began to say.

I cut him off and grabbed his hand again. “No, Nash. It's just a little awkward, you know, with so many people watching.” I giggled a bit but stopped when I saw the hurt looks on Chance's and Hunter's faces.

My smile fell to the ground, but Nash pulled me to the front, where everyone was standing. I didn't dare to look up so I just stared at my feet.

“Violet, what's wrong?” Cameron asked. I just shook my head and squeezed Nash's hand tight one more time before letting go. I picked up my books and set them in my car before hopping into my front seat.

Luckily no car was parked in front of me, so I was able to drive forward instead of trying to back up into the crowd. As I pulled away, I looked back into my mirror and saw all of them watching me go. They quickly hopped into their cars so they could follow me, I guess.

I was a pretty good driver and my car was fast, so I was able to lose them in seconds. The only place I could think of going was back to my house, but I knew they were going to head there too.

Instead of going straight home, I decided to go for a little drive to give me some time to think things through.

First, Nash was back. Like, he was back, back. I loved Nash and I still had feelings for him, but was it possible to like two people at the same time?

Second, I think I hurt Chance. I knew he probably saw me with Nash earlier and I knew he liked me. I'm not going to lie, I liked him too. He was so sweet to me and charming. But Nash was too.

I guess I'm just going to have to follow my heart, I thought. It's times like these that even the smartest people in the world can't answer the question Who will make me the happiest? I thought I knew the answer, but everyone makes wrong choices.

Nash

Violet just drove
away from us, away from me. She was driving way too fast for any of us to catch up to her in time. Also we didn't know the town as well as she did.

“She probably is going home,” Cameron said from the back of my car.

“Why would she just leave like that?” I asked while turning onto her street.

“Carter and I saw that guy, you know, from her Vine. They were walking together but they got separated when she saw us,” Sierra started to explain.

My grip on the steering wheel was impossible to break. I didn't even know the guy but I wanted to rip his head off. Violet was mine and no one was going to get in the way of that.

When we parked in front of her house, we saw the rest of our cars following straight behind me. Her car wasn't there, no surprise.

We started walking up to her porch when we heard another car speed up the street and pull into the house across from us. Well, someone drove like a maniac. My jaw dropped when we saw who stepped out of the vehicle. It was him.

I pushed past Cameron and made my way across the street to his car. He saw me coming and he waited for me to catch up to him.

“Can I help you?” he asked with a smirk on his face.

“Yeah, you can. Leave Violet alone. I'm trying to get her back and I don't want anyone getting in the way of that,” I snapped at him.

The smirk on his face dropped and I saw anger in his eyes. “I thought you looked familiar.” He looked straight past me at the rest of the guys in the street. His eyes focused back on me and he spoke again. “You can't force me to stay away from her.” He slammed his car door shut and started walking to his front door. He stopped halfway and turned back around. “Besides, she confided stuff to me that she has never told you. Looks like she trusts me more.” He gave me another smirk before heading inside.

I knew there were things that she wanted to tell me, but they hurt her too much to even bring up. I respected her for that because I didn't want to mess with her feelings. Obviously, though, they didn't bother her that much if she opened up to him. Did she even know him that well? He could secretly be a murderer that preys on beautiful girls.

Violet

Hay-Bear:
Where are you?!

I ignored the message and tossed my phone on the passenger seat. I was only gone for an hour, so they couldn't be that worried.

The door opened and Steph climbed in with two Starbucks coffees. “Here you go.” She handed me one while taking a sip of hers.

“Thanks,” I said while moving around to get more comfortable in my seat.

“Are you okay?” she asked. I shook my head and then heard her sigh. “What happened? I thought you would be excited Nash is back!”

“No, I am. I missed him a lot. It's just—I'm confused.” I looked out the window at the cluster of trees in front of us. It seemed so peaceful here, like there was never anything to worry about. “Is it possible to love more than one person at the same time?”

“I mean I guess, but I would have to believe then that neither of them is the one. When you find that special person, it should only be him and no one else,” she responded. “Who is the guy?”

“Chance,” I said quietly. I heard her giggle and I whipped my head to look at her. “What?”

“Nothing, it's just that he plays every single girl he goes out with. He acts like he is so sweet and charming and tells you he loves you. Then after you give yourself to him, he gets bored and drops you like that.” She snapped her fingers when she spoke the last word and giggled some more.

“So you think he is just playing with me?” I asked. This could not be true; I trusted him.

She grabbed my hand and squeezed it tight. “Trust me, sweetie, Nash loves you more than life itself. He is the one for you, I'm positive about it.”

I gave her a small smile. “Yeah, I guess you are right.” I set my coffee in the holder and snapped my seat belt back on.

“C'mon, let's go introduce you to some cute boys.” I heard her giggle as I pulled out of the park and headed toward my house.

Even if Steph was wrong about Chance, he still wasn't the one. Nash had always been there for me and supported me with everything. Well, except when he lost his memory. He came all the way out here for me. No guy would do that if he didn't love his girl. Chance wouldn't do that for me.

Nash

So there we
all were. Sitting in her living room, waiting for her to walk through the door. I was half-asleep on her couch when I heard a noisy car pull into her driveway. I didn't jump up from the couch until the door opened and she stepped in.

Running over toward her, I grabbed her into my arms and held her tight. I thought she might push me off her, but she didn't refuse.

“I'm sorry for driving off,” she said quietly into my shoulder.

“I understand.” Honestly, I had no clue why she drove away from all of us. Was it because there were a bunch of kids around us? Was it Chance? It didn't matter anymore. She was here now and that's all I cared about.

I heard Hayes clear his throat and Violet pulled away. “Haass!” She ran over to him and jumped on his back.

“Thought you forgot about me!” he said as he gave her a quick hug.

“Noo . . . that would be impossible.” She messed up his and Will's hair before she moved into the living room. Everyone stood up and gave her all separate hugs. I had my eye on all of them, making sure they weren't too long or hands weren't in places where I didn't want them to be.

She and Cameron sat on the couch talking, which didn't bother me because he told me that they were really good friends. I knew he wouldn't try to date her with me in the picture.

“So!” I clapped my hands together, which grabbed everyone's attention. “What should we do tonight?” I personally didn't want to sit around all night and I was looking forward to seeing her tiny town.

“I don't care what you guys do, but I have homework!” Violet stood up and grabbed her book bag.

“No you don't. You are taking the rest of the week off to spend time with your favorite people.” I grabbed her bag out of her hands and placed it up on the fridge. She was too short to reach it; after a couple of jumps she finally sighed and crossed her arms.

“Fine.” She grumbled in defeat.

I smiled and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her closer to me. I didn't kiss her, I just wanted her comfort next to me. I placed my chin on the top of her head and let out a deep breath of air. “I missed this,” she whispered in my shoulder.

“Not as much as I did.” I leaned down and kissed the top of her head, which made her blush. “Do I still make you nervous?” I asked her with a small chuckle.

She giggled and pulled away. “C'mon.” She grabbed my hand and dragged me back into the living room, where all the guys were. “So there is really no fun place to hang out around here. Anywhere we go, you guys are going to get mobbed because word travels fast.”

“Do you want to go get pizza and we can just watch movies? I'm beat from all that driving,” Hayes said from the back of the room.

All the guys nodded their heads up and down like crazy. They needed their food.

“Does anybody want to come with me?” Violet asked. Everyone stood up and made their way to the door. I didn't want anybody to go with her except me, but I knew that wasn't going to happen.

“Why don't we just all eat out and then come back here,” I suggested. Everyone nodded except Violet. She sighed and walked out the door.

“Don't tell me I didn't warn you,” she called out from outside.

We all filled up the cars and followed Violet to go get pizza. This town was a disappointment. The mall only had a few good stores in it, the restaurants were very limited, and there was only one street that had all the businesses on it.

We finally arrived at a small Pizza Hut that was practically empty. “Is it even open?” I asked Violet.

She nodded and smirked. “Trust me, it'll be packed soon.”

After we ordered we found a large table for all of us to sit at. “Do you mind if I invite my friend Hunter to come over later? We are like best friends,” Violet asked all of us. Everyone shook their heads except Carter and Violet's friend Steph. They seemed to be hitting it off; they hadn't stopped talking to each other.

I nudged Violet and pointed my finger at the two of them. She smiled. “I'm happy for her. She hasn't found a good guy yet,” she whispered to me.

So there we all were, just talking and waiting for our food. We heard annoying laughter and noticed that a large group of girls were hovering near the cash register. I looked over at Violet and she rolled her eyes, looking back at the girls, who were now making their way over to us. “Do you mind if we got a few pictures with you guys?” one of them asked. She looked like a total Barbie. You could tell her tan was one hundred percent fake and she had a cake face. I saw her give a dirty look to Violet, who was trying to ignore all of them.

“You know, you could do so much better.” The Barbie placed her hand on my shoulder and popped her gum. I gave her a dirty look and grabbed Violet's hand.

“Why don't you just leave,” I told her. She rolled her eyes and made her way over to Carter and Steph. Steph looked up at her and glared. The Barbie then placed her hand on Carter's shoulder and whispered something in his ear that no one else heard.

“You're disgusting.” He pushed her away, which made all of her friends gasp.

“C'mon, it would be fun.” She ran her fingers through his hair and his face went beet red. We knew Carter and he wasn't nervous, he was pissed.

Violet stood up and walked back over to the cash register. “Can we actually have our pizza to go?” I heard her ask. They finally brought out the boxes of pizza and I walked over to help her carry them all.

“Let's go,” I yelled at the group. They all stood up and walked to the door with the fake Barbies right behind us. “Not you.” I pointed at all of them and saw their smiles drop. They all sighed and stopped following us.

When we pulled into Violet's driveway, there was a strange car already parked there. A tall figure stepped out and waited for all of us to get out. When Violet had asked if she could invite a friend, I thought it would be another girl, not a guy. She ran over to him and he gave her a big hug. Great, more competition.

“Guys, this is Hunter,” Violet introduced us to him. We all shook his hand and I made sure I had a tight grip. When we were done, I wrapped my arm around her waist, pulling her closer to me. “I'm actually a huge fan of all you guys,” he said. Man, he was such a suck-up. He looked over at Violet and me and his smile suddenly dropped. “So are you guys back together then?” He looked down at the driveway and dragged his right foot back and forth.

“Ye—” I started to say, but Violet cut me off.

“We haven't really talked about it yet,” she told him. His face looked up and I saw happiness in his eyes. I moved my arm back to my side, which I think upset her. I then looked at Cameron, who was glaring at Hunter.

“They'll get back together. They are meant for each other,” Cam called out before walking inside the house. The rest of the guys and Violet followed him. That just left Hunter and me alone outside.

“I just want to let you know that I care about Violet a lot. If you dare treat her badly, then I will come after you. Just remember that,” he said to me before walking inside.

I ran up to him and stopped him from opening the door. “Just remember that it can go both ways,” I told him before cutting in front of him.

I didn't care if they were best friends, Violet was mine. I didn't need Chance or Hunter trying to cause problems. If I had my wish, I would be the only guy she could talk to. I couldn't control her, though, it was her life. I just hoped that in the end, it'd be me she'd see as she walked down the aisle.

I managed to pull Violet away from everyone. “Can we talk?” I asked her. She nodded and grabbed my hand. I followed her upstairs.

“I know what you want to talk about,” she said as she shut the door to her room. I sat down on her bed, which she then did as well. “I just don't want you to be worried about any other guy. You are the only one who catches my eye.”

I smiled and grabbed her hand. “Violet, I love you so much. There is nothing I want more in the world than to be able to call you mine again.”

“What's stopping you?” She cupped her hands around my face and leaned in. The sparks rushed throughout my body and my heart started to race faster and faster. I pulled her on top of me and I fell on my back onto her bed. Like always, the kiss was perfect. I licked her bottom lip, which she gladly accepted. I felt her fingers going through my hair before she squeezed her hand into a fist. I groaned a little bit before she pulled away.

At first we didn't say anything, but she fell down next to me and started to laugh. “Nash, I'm hungry.”