The Violet Hour (The Violet Hour Series) (9 page)

Rachel returned to the table with a bottle of water.  I smiled when she looked at me, hoping for a sign she would be nice to me even if she and Luke apparently didn’t get along.  Instead, she looked away.  Rachel was easily the most gorgeous and best dressed girl in the entire school, wearing a white lace tank top and faded jean-shorts.  Seemingly plain choices, she dressed it up with a multi colored silk scarf and silver hoop earrings that matched the silver bangles going up her arm.  I was
almost
jealous of the tall tan cowgirl boots that finished her look.  Trendy, yet she fit in well. 

“Rachel, this is Logan.  Logan this is my girlfriend, Rachel,” Jack said flatly, as if dreading what was about to happen next. 

Rachel looked at me and I smiled.  She was a girl I could see myself going shopping with, studying with and ultimately being friends with. 

“I love your outfit,” I said, hoping to break the ice.

“I like your outfit too, Charlie Brown,” she said snidely.  Jesse choked on his apple and I heard someone kick him under the table.  My smile fell as I slowly caught on that I was wearing brown and yellow.  One of the last fond memories of my mother ruined by such a careless remark.

“That was rude.  Why do you gotta say things like that?” Jack hissed.

“Rachel, I’ve tolerated your nastiness before, but no more.  This stops.  Get used to Logan being around,” Luke said sternly as he got up and grabbed my hand, pulling me up with him.  She said nothing, just smirked, while Luke took my things and walked toward the door.  I followed him out of the lunchroom as he made his way down the hall.  Rachel must have known I was coming, but everyone had failed to warn me about her. 

“What was that all about?” I asked.  First Alexander, now Rachel.  What was it about Luke that caused this reaction from people?

“Nothing for you to worry about, I’ll tell you about it some other time,” Luke said, leading the way.

“Just like you’re going to tell me about last night?” I muttered under my breath. 

He must have heard every word because Luke stopped dead in his tracks and turned back with a glare. 

“Hello,” a chipper voice said, “You must be our new student.  Logan?”

I turned to see a teacher walking out of my next classroom with
Romeo and Juliet
in hand.  Finally, saved by Romeo.

“Yes, I am,” I replied.

She smiled and welcomed me into her classroom.  Luke shuffled in behind us and I could practically see the fumes rolling off him.  She informed me there’d be a pop quiz and to take a seat wherever I wanted.  We were the only two students since everyone else was still at lunch.  I headed toward the back of the room, assuming Luke would follow, wanting to finish what I started in the hallway. 

Luke sauntered over and placed his book on my desk.  “Is this seat taken?” he joked.

“Oh, have you decided to randomly be nice to me again?” I asked, jarred yet again by his mood changes.

Luke pretended to grab his book and walk away but finally sat down next to me when he realized I wasn’t playing.  He looked over at me and mouthed ‘sorry.’  How was it this guy could take my breath away with a simple gesture and yet be so fierce with his words at the drop of a hat?  If that had been Brody and I in the hallway, we would have started wailing at each other, teacher or not, and then sat at opposites ends of the classroom.  Or, Brody would have laughed when Rachel called me Charlie Brown to the point I would’ve went home and burnt the outfit I was wearing.  Every day spent with Luke made it that much easier to get over that jerk, but whatever Luke was keeping from me was going to tear us apart if we didn’t address it.  Soon. 

I still hadn’t returned any of Lindsey’s or Brody’s calls.  Whatever was going on between them almost didn’t matter.  More and more, I realized they just weren’t good people for me.  I planned to tell them that once I got a little more over the whole ordeal.  First, I needed to make new friends to help me forget about the old ones.  Then, my slate would be clean in time to go back to Cali without the drama.

Rachel entered the classroom and scanned the desks.  She saw Luke sitting beside me in the back corner and opted for a seat at the front.  The rest of the classroom began to fill as the warning bell rang.  Mrs. Thomas invited me to the front of the room, just as the rest of the teachers had done.  Begrudged, I gave a short speech about who I was and where I was from.  The same speech I’d already given to more than half the class throughout the day. 

“Does anyone have any questions for Logan?” Mrs. Thomas asked. 

No one had asked me questions in any of my other classrooms.  Rachel’s hand shot up out of the corner of my eye, smile smeared across her face.  My stomach dropped.  I froze; eyes on Luke, knowing this wasn’t going to end well.

“Yes, Rachel?” Mrs. Thomas offered.

“What happened to your mother?” Rachel asked in a sweet songbird voice.  A few students in the classroom gasped while Luke sat up in his chair.  He looked almost in pain.  I knew I was.

I held my breath, swallowed and turned to look Rachel in the eyes while my own filled with tears.  She stared coldly back, waiting for me to either answer her question or fall apart.  I turned and walked steadily out of the classroom.  I could hear Mrs. Thomas calling order to the class as both my hands hit the bathroom door across the hall.  I went into a stall, locked it, and slid down the door.  I hit the floor and my head fell into my hands.  My stomach burned, my heart ached and my mind raced.  Why did this girl hate me?  I didn’t even know her. 

I heard someone say my name outside the stall.  I wiped the tears from my cheeks and stood up to open the door.

“Are you okay?” a girl asked as she gestured to put her arms around me.

I sobbed and walked into them.  I wanted to get into my car and drive away from here.  Far away from here.  She turned to the sink, wet some paper towels with warm water and led me toward the counter.  I started to catch my breath while she took the wet paper towel and dabbed under my eyes.  She pulled my hair behind my shoulders and smiled.

“Don’t worry about Rachel, she’s mean to everyone,” the girl said kindly. 

I looked in the mirror at makeup smeared down my cheeks and started wiping it away. 

“I’m Ashleigh, by the way,” she said as she put her hand out to shake mine. 

“I’m Logan Keller,” I said and took her hand.

“I know who you are…everyone knows who you are,” she confirmed.  “Mrs. Thomas said to take as long as you needed.  She’s just going over the reading from last week and giving a pop quiz,” she said as she pulled herself onto the counter. 

I didn’t want to go back to class so I hopped up beside her.  Ashleigh was tiny, with short bright red hair and mint-green eyes.  She seemed genuine and sweet.  Her fair skin looked gorgeous against the teal sundress she was wearing and it did her eyes the justice they deserved. 

“Are you and Luke Callahan dating?” she asked, shocking me speechless for a moment.

“No…” I hesitated.

“Huh.” Ashleigh sounded unconvinced. 

“Why do you ask?” I questioned lightly.  I was unsure if we had a title.  Maybe she saw us in the parking lot, I thought.  I realized Luke and I had held hands briefly in the hall but he had let go before we got to the lunchroom.

“It’s strange, I guess.  Rachel usually never has anything to do with anyone other than the Callahan boys.  She had a huge crush on Luke when the boys moved here last year.  They started school right before Homecoming and Rachel very publicly asked Luke to go with her but he turned her down.  I guess she started dating Jack over the summer,” Ashleigh proclaimed as if breaking headline news.  Little did she know, she was.

“I had no idea.  I know the Callahan boys because they live at my dad’s ranch.  I just got here this weekend, so they’re the only people I’ve really met.

“Are you friends with the Callahan’s?” I asked.

“No,” she replied.  “Your dad and Kate took them in after their parents were killed in a car accident late last summer but I’ve only seen them around school, haven’t gotten to know them much. 

“Just gossip I’ve heard that’s gone around school about them.  But, I’d totally go for any one of them,
especially
Luke, if he’d give anyone the time of day.  He seems content just being alone,” she said, as if maybe she’d already tried.  “And of course, if I didn’t have a boyfriend,” she added for good measure.

“Sorry about this,” I said, changing the subject, “I guess I overreacted a little in the classroom.  I’m not used to people being that mean to my face.”

“It’s no biggie.  I heard about your mom – everyone did.  That’s how the whole school knew you were coming here.  I’m sorry for your loss, Logan.  If you ever need someone to talk to, let me know.” 

Ashleigh must have sensed my uneasiness with the topic.  Instead, she talked about after school functions, sports, guys, girls and classes instead.  She never asked me questions, leaving my mind free to plot my conversation with Luke.  I knew I had to confront him again and I didn’t care if he got upset.  He owed me answers.  He had never even mentioned Rachel until she was sitting three feet away.

The bell rang, startling me.  I couldn’t believe we’d spent an entire hour in the girls’ bathroom.  Ashleigh and I jumped off the counter.  When I got to the door first, I paused, turned around and hugged Ashleigh.

“Thanks for checking on me and staying to talk,” I said

“Oh.  No problem.  Maybe we could hang out sometime?  I mean…” she asked with an undercurrent of hesitation.

“Sure!  That sounds great.” 

Without a moment’s hesitation, she gave me her cell phone. 

While I typed my number into her phone, I realized I had no other choice.  I wasn’t going to let Luke lead me on any longer.  It was time to man up, answer my questions and tell the truth like he’d promised so I wasn’t hit by any more curve balls.  Ashleigh relaxed as she took my mood shift as a sign I was genuinely grateful for her, which I was.  She had helped me come to these conclusions.   

Standing just outside the door, waiting with a concerned look on his face, was Luke.  He handed me my bag and textbook. I smiled at Ashleigh as she stepped around us and back into the classroom.  Luke stiffly led the way toward our last class.  I wondered if he suspected Ashleigh had told me something she shouldn’t have.  I wondered how much more to the story there was.  We walked in silence to the gym while I pondered.   

Mr. Hunt came out of the locker room and introduced himself to the class.  He wasted no time and got right into discussing the semester, not torturing me with another mundane student introduction.  The school was late filling his position, so, thankfully, this was one class I wasn’t behind in.  At the bottom-row bleacher, I noticed Jack and Jesse.  Jesse was surrounded by a few freshman girls smiling and giggling amongst themselves.  It seemed Ashleigh and Rachel weren’t the only ones enamored with these boys. 

Mr. Hunt informed us we would dress in gym clothes the next day and, as long as we kept it down, we could chat the rest of the hour.  Perfect.  I turned my stare on Luke as soon as Mr. Hunt finished.  Jack and Jesse both raced up the bleachers toward us as if they knew they needed to save their brother. 

“Not now,” Luke mouthed to me as they took a seat on either side of us.

“Why?” I asked, loudly.  He was not going to put me off any longer.  Especially since we had an hour to do nothing but talk.

“Not now,” he growled again.  Both Jack and Jesse snapped their gaze toward Luke. 

I got up from the bleachers and headed toward the girls’ locker room.  Was I really going to hide from everyone in bathrooms all afternoon?  Thankfully, it was my last class of the day.  Mr. Hunt was in his office and didn’t notice me as I passed his window and walked down the locker room hall.

Upon entering the girls’ side, I immediately noticed the emergency exit door propped open.  I looked behind me to make sure no one had followed and slid out the door, finding myself in the parking lot.  Perfect.  I ran to my car and jumped in.  I’d never skipped school before, but I wasn’t about to stay any longer.  I turned the key to start my car and looked up to see Luke outside my door.  I rolled my eyes and cracked my window.

“What do you want?” I asked rudely.

“I want you to move over so I can drive.”

I sat there torn.  If I let him in, I’d be giving in again and condoning his mood swings.  If I didn’t let him in, it could be the end of any relationship we had or might’ve had. 

I rolled the window up and put the car into drive. 

Luke took a step back and watched as I sped past him. 

There was nothing strategic about my decision.  I was letting the teenage girl inside of me call the shots.  The same teenage girl that led me to a fast food joint parking lot to eat French fries, drink soda and skip class.  The same teenage girl that hoped Luke would come crawling back with an apology and explanation as soon as I got home. 

I sat in the parking lot until class ended so my dad wouldn’t suspect I had skipped.  As I navigated to the interstate, I wondered how Luke would get home.  If he stayed at school waiting for Jesse, he wouldn’t be back for hours.  That would give me time to get situated before he arrived.