Can You Feel My Heart (MFF)

Prologue

One year ago...

A house was teeming with excited energy, the graduating class of Hillside High danced and laughed as they celebrated the end of their high school days. Violet Thompson, self-proclaimed wallflower, had situated herself in a corner. A very lovely corner with a nice potted plant for company.

The poor plant would probably be dead by the end of the week. It had been used as a urinal, sink, and trash can all evening long. If it were Violet's, she would toss it to the curb, or give it to someone she didn't like very much. Maybe she should take it home as a present for her mother. But that would require touching the thing and that just wasn't something she was willing to do.

Violet scanned the crowded room, looking for her friends, Zack and Ashlee. They had wandered away from her shortly after they had arrived at the stranger's house. When she didn't see them, she took another pass of the rooms she could see. If it weren't for the teens and their damage, the house could be pretty.

The furniture all looked new; soft, dove gray couches were situated around a dark wood and glass coffee table, black and white photos of scenery and inanimate objects covered the walls. It was all very monochrome, but gave off a comfortable vibe. It was obvious that whoever's it was, liked nice things. Hopefully they wouldn't be too upset over the puke stains on their beige carpet or the torn curtains from where two guys had decided to hold a jousting tournament with the rods.

Violet and her potted plant friend sat back in their corner and watched the crowd. At times she would talk to the plant, commenting on someone's choice of clothing or sharing gossip she had heard about others. She might have been a little drunk, talking so easily with the plant. But considering that she and her friends drank a mix cocktail of hard liquors before they had come to the party, it was highly possible that she was more than a little buzzed.

Her ears were on fire, a tell-tale sign that there was alcohol in her system. Not that she was too concerned with that information. She was celebrating her graduation and talking with a mistreated plant. At least, the plant hadn't started talking back. A giggle escaped her lips as she thought about what would happen if it did.

"Good thing you can't actually speak, huh, Mr.Plant," she slurred into its wide green leaves. She bent over and nudged a leaf with her pointer finger, almost daring it to disagree with her.

This was the position that Zack found her in when he walked up to her; plastic cup in hand and a Cheshire grin on his face.

"Here Vi, drink this."

That statement would wind up to haunt her for months. It was the beginning of her demise. But she didn't know this, so she drank like she had been in the Sahara and hadn't had a drop to drink in days.

She smiled up at Zack, taking in his clear skin, his from a bottle jet black hair, and his contact blue eyes. Silently thanking him for his kindness. He would have been more attractive to her, if he wasn't so... fake. But he was one of her best friends and his insides made him devilishly attractive.

So sipped on her drink and eyed her surroundings. When Zack led her into the crowded living room to dance, she willingly went with him. They danced freely, laughing and apologizing when they bumped into other people. Violet got extremely happy, more exuberant in her movements as a song from her favorite band started playing.

'So say hello to all the boys at the top of this table that you're under.'

Zack spun her in a circle, the two of them singing along to the song at the top of their lungs.

'Lipstick lullabies.'

Violet started getting dizzy, but shrugged it off, thinking it was the alcohol she had consumed throughout the evening.

'This is goodbye for the last time.'

A wave of nausea had her stumbling against Zack, holding tight to him as she tried to fight off the dizziness. Leaning against him as he led her back to her potted plant, complying when he told her to lean over the pot in case she needed to puke. It gave her an ample view of the newest addition to the already wretched soil.

"Oh god, I'm going to hurl," she groaned as Zack rubbed her back and whispered sweet words over her shoulder.

But Violet couldn't hear him. She could feel him. She could see him, but his voice was distorted. He felt far away, yet right beside her. She clutched her stomach as another wave of vertigo washed through her.

"Let's get you outside."

She tired to nod her head in agreement, but the motion made her feel floaty and imbalanced. Her eyes blinked in and out of focus and she had the sensation that she wasn't really there. She tried to force her eyes open, but the more she tried, the harder it was too keep them open. All she wanted was to find a bed and sleep for a million years.

Zack led her out of the house; his hand on the small of her back, keeping her steady as they wandered around to the back. Promising that the fresh air would be good for her, that being out of the crowded house would ease her dizziness. The darkness surrounding them didn't help with her sudden urge to lay down on the grass and just pass out.

When they stopped behind a shed in the darkest corner of the yard, Violet wrapped her arms around Zack and let her body go limp. She was tired of trying to stand up, tired of keeping her eyes open. Just, so tired.

Zack rubbed soothing circles on her back, making shushing noises as he lowered her to the ground and began kissing her neck. Their secluded location giving him the privacy that he had been aiming to achieve. Violet murmured something into his chest, snuggling closer to him and falling into a deep sleep, not caring where she was or what was happening.

And that was the spot where she woke up the next morning; naked, with hand prints all over her body, and the worst hangover she had ever had in her life. Along with a beautiful case of amnesia that covered several hours.