The Story of Us (8 page)

Violet

The rest of
the week was just normal, regular school days. All of the drama and tension finally calmed down. Nobody stared at me as I walked down the halls. Well, people still stared if Nash showed me any affection. A simple hug and I would get glares from all of the girls. The only girl who was happy for me and Nash was Annabelle, but even she seemed a little frustrated about the topic.

I was finally relieved when the week was over and Nash drove me home.

“I'll see you tonight, then.” I leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. He started blushing, which made me blush. Damn, he is just so cute.

“I'll see you at five, babe. Love you!” he said as I jumped out of the car. “Love you too, Nashty.” I blew him a kiss and walked back into my house.

Tonight was going to be a little stressful. My parents were finally meeting Nash and his family. I was beyond nervous. I threw my backpack in my closet and scanned for a cute dress to wear. Hmmm . . . I had to think. Not too short, not too fancy, just a casual dress, that was all I needed. I finally picked out a strapless coral dress that went a little above my knee. I grabbed a cardigan to wear with it because I didn't want to be too revealing. I finished off the outfit with simple leather flats. Perfect.

It was already three so I decided to just get in the shower and finish getting ready. After I dried off, I washed my face and brushed my teeth. I needed the freshest breath possible.

I start with my makeup first. Since it was a special night, I wanted to use a little more makeup, but not too much. I put concealer under my eyes and on a few blemishes. I then covered my face with a light coverage of BB Cream to even out the color. I took my Naked2 eye palette and gave myself a light smoky-eye look. I then put winged eyeliner on the top and made my eyelashes extra long and full. I finally completed the look with some EOS lip balm, since my lips were pink enough and didn't need any more color.

My hair was already dry, so all I needed to do was straighten it. I decided to take the time and waterfall-braid my hair. I then curled my ends a little bit to give them a slight wave.

I put on my dress, cardigan, and shoes and applied some fresh deodorant. Didn't want to be smelly, now, did we? I sprayed on some Vera Wang Princess perfume and looked in the mirror.

This called for a selfie. I looked good. I took like twenty selfies and uploaded a few on Twitter and Instagram. Within seconds I received likes and favorites that never seemed to end. I could never get used to all this attention.

For once I wasn't the last person getting ready. I went downstairs to watch TV while I waited for my parents to come down.

“Well, don't you look good,” I joked with Hayden as he walked downstairs. He didn't like to dress up in nice clothes. He usually wore Nike shorts and a regular T-shirt. Tonight, though, he wore khaki shorts with a nice striped shirt.

“It's not too fancy?” He was walking up and down the hallway and was strutting his stuff like he was on the runway.

“Oh, please stop!” I started to laugh really hard but he wouldn't stop. He turned on some music and started moving his arms and flipping his hair like he was a model. I quickly grabbed my phone and Vined him from different angles while he wasn't looking.

“What are you doing?” He stopped the music and ran after me.

Ninety-eight percent downloaded . . . C'mon . . . There. “Just posted a video on Vine.” I gave him a devious smile and he reached for my phone. I quickly jumped out of the way and locked myself in our bathroom.

“Look, Hayden! Already two hundred likes and a hundred and twenty-five re-Vines. You're famous, boy!” I shouted through the door.

“I'll get you back! You just wait.” He stomped off and went to his room.

Opening the door quietly, I checked to make sure the hallway was clear and then I stepped out.

After about ten more minutes of waiting, my parents finally came down with Hayden. We walked across the road to the Griers' house.

Will opened the door and welcomed us in. I saw Mrs. Grier come running out of the kitchen and over to us. Nash, Hayes, and Skylynn came down from upstairs as well.

Nash gave me a quick hug and introduced himself to my dad and then my mom. Skylynn ran into my arms; I picked her up and she gave me a big hug. Mrs. Grier then introduced everyone else to each other.

“Why don't the kids go downstairs into the rec room while I finish up dinner?” Mrs. Grier suggested. We all agreed and headed down to the basement.

I'd never been down there before. There was a huge flat-screen TV with an Xbox and a Wii. There was a full-size pool table, an air hockey table, and a Ping-Pong table. Wow, they had everything.

“Hey, Violet, do you want to play Call of Duty since you think you're so good at it?” Hayes said jokingly.

“Oh, you're on, Hayes.” He tossed me a controller and I sat down next to him on the couch.

Nash, Will, Hayes, and I were playing while Hayden sat on the couch watching us. I felt bad that he was left out, so I tossed him my controller.

“Here. Show them how it's done.” He smiled at me and picked up where I left off.

I walked over to where Skylynn was and sat down next to her on the floor. She was brushing her Barbie's hair. “Violet!” She jumped on me and gave me another big hug.

“How's my best friend?” I asked her.

“Good. Violet misses you.” She looked up at me with a sad look.

“Well, then let's go see her!” She jumped up with a big smile on her face. She grabbed my hand and led me back upstairs.

“Oh, hi, honey. Do you need anything?” my mom asked as we passed the kitchen.

“No. The boys are playing Call of Duty, and Skylynn wanted to show me something,” I responded.

“Well, dinner is going to be ready in five minutes, so come back down when you're done,” Mrs. Grier said with a smile. I smiled back at her and nodded as Skylynn dragged me up the steps.

Skylynn jumped on her bed and was staring at me. “Are you and Nash going to get married?” she asked.

I laughed a little bit. “Oh, honey, I don't know. That won't happen for a long time and a lot could happen over the years.”

Her face looked a little sad and confused. “But, you like each other. I see the way he looks at you. He talks about you all the time and is saying how you're so pretty and smart.”

I smiled and looked down. “Well, that's very sweet of him,” I said.

Someone cleared his throat behind us. Skylynn and I turned around to see Nash. His face was red and he was smiling a little bit. “Umm . . . dinner is ready. You guys should come down.”

I looked at Skylynn and she started giggling. “Way to go!” I joked around with her.

When we arrived downstairs, there were only two empty seats left. One had a booster seat in it, so that was where Skylynn would be sitting. I took the last seat, which was in between Nash and Hayden. Skylynn, Will, and Hayes sat across from us while our parents sat at the ends.

Mrs. Grier had made homemade lasagna, which was delicious. The parents mostly talked throughout the whole dinner. Everything was fine until my dad had to bring up me and Nash.

“So Nash, I've heard that you and Violet are dating.” He wiped his mouth with his napkin and looked straight at Nash.

“Uh . . . yes, sir. We are.” Nash was nervous, but he was acting like such a sweet gentleman. “I would've liked to introduce myself to you guys sooner, but I didn't realize you were away on a business trip,” he continued.

“Oh. Well, I stay up at the military base during the week and come home on the weekends. This past weekend, though, I had to go to a few meetings at the Pentagon,” my dad explained.

“So you are in the military?” Nash asked.

“Yes. I've been in the air force for twenty-two years.” My dad was very proud of his job, but it was very stressful for him.

“Wow. That's amazing. Thank you for your service.” Aww . . . Nash. I placed my hand on his thigh and he seemed to relax a little bit.

“Well, thank you. I really appreciate that. You know, I'm really happy Violet found a nice guy to be with,” he said.

I looked over at Nash and he had a small smile on his face. Score for him!

“All of her other boyfriends were such disrespectful and immature dirtballs,” my dad continued.

“Umm . . . Dad! Can we not bring up my exes?” He started to laugh and the rest of the group laughed with him.

Before I knew it, it was time to head home. I pulled Nash to the side so we could be alone for a little bit.

“Well, he likes you!” I told him. I gave him a hug and looked up into his eyes. Those enchanting blue eyes of his.

He smiled down at me and kissed my forehead. Then he leaned down and whispered into my ear, “You look very pretty tonight, Violet.”

“Well, thank you, Grier. You don't look too bad yourself.” I poked his stomach and he picked me up and carried me back to my parents.

“She's all ready to go,” he proclaimed as he sat me down next to my parents. Everybody laughed and said their good-byes.

Skylynn ran up to me and gave me a big hug. I then patted Will and Hayes on the back. “Did Hayden smear you guys?” I asked.

Hayden laughed. “Of course I did!”

I gave Nash one more hug before I headed out the door.

So my dad liked Nash. What a relief. This had never happened before.

Violet

The rest of
September flew by a lot more quickly than I realized. The weather was finally starting to cool down and it didn't feel like a hundred degrees every time you walked outside.

It was hard to believe that Nash and I had already been dating for almost two months. It felt like just yesterday when he asked me to be his girlfriend.

“Are you nervous?” Nash asked. He grabbed my hand and held it tight.

“A little.” I was not a little nervous. I was freaking out inside.

Two weeks ago Nash had asked me if I wanted to join the 26 MGMT family and go to one of their meet-and-greets. Nash was part of the family and he would always tell me about how much fun he had with the guys and meeting fans.

This week we were traveling to Seattle to meet all of their fans up in the northern part of the country. Thankfully they asked a few famous girl Viners, Tess and Lacey, to accompany them on this event, so I wouldn't be alone with a bunch of childish teenage boys.

Tess and Lacey were next to me and looked just as nervous as I felt. We were the first girls to ever join the boys in one of their meet-and-greets.

All the guys were joking around with us as we waited backstage in a hallway. “Are the little girls scared?” Cameron asked in a baby voice. Everyone laughed.

“Shut up, Dallas,” I snapped at him, a smirk on my face.

“You got a sassy one there, Nash,” he said.

“That's why I love her so much.” Nash kissed the top of my head and pulled me closer to him. One by one, Sierra announced us. All the boys had already gone out except Carter.

“Just be yourselves,” he told us before he ran out the double doors. We heard him yelling and we heard the fans go wild.

“Violet. You're next,” one of the backstage managers told me.

I took a deep breath and smiled at Tess and Lacey before I ran out.

“All right, who do we have next? You guys know this girl. She and her boyfriend were voted Vine's Cutest Couple. Give it up for the lovely Violet!” Sierra announced.

I ran out and a bunch of fans were screaming my name. I ran down the railing, grabbing their hands, a huge smile on my face.

I ran up onstage with the guys and waited for Tess and Lacey to come out. The fans were just as excited to see them. “You were perfect,” Nash whispered into my ear as he grabbed me.

“It looks like the girls influenced a lot of guys to come today. We usually only have girls come meet us,” Hayes said.

There were just as many boys in the crowd as there were girls.

“You're going to be next to me. I want to make sure people keep their hands off you,” Nash said to me. Everybody laughed and I shook my head.

Chad came onstage and explained how the event was going to play out. Nash and I were behind him, making fun of him as he spoke. Everybody started laughing, and when he would turn around we would stop and blame it on somebody else.

Eventually we went to our spots for the meet-and-greets. Nash and I were the very last people in the line. It was going to take a while before fans came on our side, so we decided to take some pictures with some of the fans who had general admission.

“Violet, over here!” people screamed. “Nash! I love you, Nash.” There were so many girls fan-girling over him. I thought it was cute.

I made my way down the railing, trying to take pictures with as many people as I could. I felt bad if I skipped people, but I couldn't get to everyone.

About five minutes later, Nash and I walked back to our tables and talked to fans.

Everything was going smoothly for the first two and a half hours. We took a thirty-minute break because we all were starving and I had to go to the bathroom really bad.

Tess and I sprinted down the hall to the nearest bathroom. We both had to go and we couldn't wait. We ran into the women's bathroom and quickly locked ourselves in stalls before anyone saw us.

We were both laughing and giggling when we walked out. We were on our phones and I wasn't paying any attention to where I was going.

I walked right into someone and fell backward. “What the hell?” the person said as he turned around.

“Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention,” I said while I scrambled back on my feet.

“No, it's fine. Wait—holy shit, you're that girl,” he proceeded to say. Tess and I both looked at each other and smirked.

“Look, I have to get back to the guys,” I said. Tess and I were walking away when he grabbed my arm.

“Where do you think you're going?” he asked. He had a smirk on his face. I wasn't going to lie. He was extremely good-looking, but Nash was cuter. This guy had short blond hair that lay perfectly on his head. He had dark green eyes and it looked like he was staring straight through my soul. He was perfectly tan and I could see the definition of his muscles when he pulled me toward him.

“I'm sorry, but we have to go,” I said.

I turned around to look to Tess for help, but another guy had already grabbed her.

“We're going to go for a little walk.” He started to drag me down the hallway toward the elevators.

“Let me go!” I screamed. “Nash! Nash, help!”

I heard Tess yelling for the boys as well. “Help! Carter! Cameron!
Somebody!
”

“Shut up!” they said as they shoved us into the elevator and blocked the exit.

The elevator went up a couple of floors, and when the doors finally opened they grabbed our arms and pulled us into a dark room.

“What are you doing to us?” I said quietly.

The lights flicked on and I saw Ryder sitting in the corner. Flipping through a sports magazine, he looked over at us and smiled.