She's Just That Kind of Girl

Twenty | Tanner

The elevator doors opened and I dashed out. All the way to Violet's door. I knocked urgently while catching my breath.

The door opened and Selena's face greeted me with a bright smile. This is what I need. Cheery, positive people. Well, Selena.

"Hey, Tanner!" she said, then her face deflated. "What's the matter? You look like you just came from a funeral."

"Can I come in?" I asked.

"Yeah!" she said moving out of the way.

I stepped in and she led me to the living room. Violet flipped through a magazine behind the island in the kitchen while her bodyguards sat at the table playing some sort of card game. When she noticed me, her face lit up as quickly as it changed to concern.

"Tanner what's wrong? Why are you out of breath?" She asked, hurrying to my side.

Violet guided me to the couch and we sat. I controlled my emotions a bit before explaining, "Mary and I broke up."

Violet had that oh god look on her face. "No. Tanner, that's terrible. I'm really sorry. Why? What happened?" she gently patted my back, shooting me a sympathetic half-frown.

As I explained everything from the first words spoken to the last—okay, maybe I skipped over the ones about Violet—I couldn't help but feel completely deflated. Yeah, this was what I wanted. But our relationship felt kind of like a sham, a play I wasn't given my lines to. Something I didn't even sign myself up and audition for. I didn't even buy a ticket to see it. I wasted two years and had gotten nowhere in that relationship realm. Either way, it's done. Two years have come and gone anyway.

Violet frowned. "Here, I have an idea. Let me take you out somewhere. Get your mind off things. Okay?"

I thought about it. "Um, alright. Sounds good."

"Good! Just give me a second to figure out where." Violet grabbed Selena's hand and scrambled into her room and closed the door.

A minute later, I heard a creaking door down the hall and peered down it. Dallas's head popped out of the door crack.

She spotted me with exhausted eyes. "Where is everyone?"

"Are you just now getting up?" I asked.

"Hey, I used to be the first one to get up around here, I'll have you know. And here lately, the one that used to sleep in until two as been getting up at five lately to see a certain someone," she said retorting.

I was confused at first. Whether she meant Violet running with me most mornings or that Violet was now a morning person. "Hey, I'm not judging. I'd love to get the sleep you guys are getting."

"I'm sorry, no one talks to each other for the first thirty minutes after waking up."

"Ohh," I glanced at the time on the microwave. "I'll check back with you in thirty minutes then."

Dallas nodded in approval. "Great. But, um, you never answered my question."

"Oh! Everyone's in Violet's room," I said pointing.

"Thanks," Dallas said, sneaking out of her room then disappearing into Violet's.

Ten-ish minutes ticked by before they came out. Her bodyguards eyed me every now and then intimidatingly for some reason. Violet plopped down next to me. "You've probably been to these places. But I was thinking we could go to the River Walk, and the Paul W. Bryant Museum, maybe?"