Sinners ─ B. Watts

Change of Scenery

          "Well?" Beth asked.

     No response.

          "V?"

     Nothing, again.

          "Violet," Beth firmly tried to get her attention back.

          "Hm?" Violet replied, absentmindedly.

          "Why didn't you open it?" Beth's words went through Violet's ears like a dagger through the stomach, making their way to her brain in a few minutes instead of seconds. "The envelope."

     It took some time for the brunette to process. Her attention had been stuck between reality and ideal. She had it drowned beneath a huge mass of thoughts and it seemed like even Beth couldn't access it, and the only way to escape consisted of actions. She was the only one left in her life and Violet wanted to put even more effort into their friendship. Violet was not going to let anyone, not even Benny's failing attempts to approach her become an enemy to them. She couldn't be that selfish. They had something special, untouchable, priceless and too powerful to be ruined. Violet was, in fact, much more scared of losing Beth than being heartbroken over a fantasy, a stupid thought that would casually play with her head.

     What the hell was going on with her mind?

          "Well, if you're not planning on talking, have fun with your nonsense," Beth added in a hoarse tone, clearly disturbed by Violet's behaviour, which had been already confusing her for the past minutes.

     Violet gave herself a tiny break from her moment and reached out for Beth's wrist. "Sorry," she immediately tried to make up to her. "I'm a little stressed over this whole thing and I don't even know why I care so much about it 'cause I should've thrown this in the first trash I saw the moment we left the restaurant."

          "I thought you were still mad at me," Beth cracked her neck, lifting her hand to her scruff.

          "I never was," Violet chuckled, her lips revealing another weak smile, "Yeah, maybe you should have told me that Benny called, we really did have a fight before our match, and I kind of wanted to hear him apologize," Violet whispered the last part in a playful manner, which caused Beth to let out a nervous giggle.

          "He never said he was sorry. But I assume that's why he wants to see you," Beth pointed out, her eyes travelling across the room to the envelope.

     A short moment of silence settled in, trying to let them both decide what do to next and whether to open Benny's envelope or go to sleep and ignore that he even tried to reach out for Violet, though the girls knew this wasn't an option — as much as they liked to believe they were careless enough to throw it away. The brunette didn't let another minute pass and quickly clutched it from the nightstand, ripping the paper out.

          "Plane ticket."

          "And a letter."

     A short exchange of looks was enough for Violet and Beth to know which was for whom to see. There was no name on the letter, not even a "Dear Violet", just his name, down in the right corner. It had so many crease lines, all of them fluffy to the outside from so many times being folded and unfolded. The paper was soft to the touch. Violet's eyes caressed the strokes of the pen, trying to figure out when did he write this, seeing the personality behind the strong lines and heavy punctuation marks. She felt as if he could step through that piece of paper into their hotel room.

          "Violet, there's one ticket here. To New York."

     She ignored that her heart could explode at any second and began to read Benny's letter, her fingers shaking over the piece of paper, warning Beth that she wouldn't be able to focus on two things at a time,  referring to her voice. Those feelings of hers channelled through her soul, making Violet even more nervous than she had been. Her eyes were pleased to read such beautiful expressions with yet some ordinary meaning. It was an informal letter. Clearly, Violet's head was processing his words differently now that she knew Benny had earned a huge spot in her brain.