BLOOD FOR BLOOD ─ paul lahote

[ 017 ] i hurt myself sometimes, is that too scary for you?

Earlier, she'd already given the girls a rundown of her entire interaction with Alice in the bathroom, then the lunchtime ordeal with Bella and Edward, in addition to a brief summary of today, when Bella had caught her in the hallway with another attempt at friendship or something akin to that. But it'd been the last class of the day, and all Violet wanted to do was get this afternoon's therapy session over and done with so she could skate with Kit and Sage. What she'd purposefully omitted from the recount, though, was that she'd managed to wrangle Alice Cullen's number out of Bella.

Shielding her eyes with one hand, Violet tipped her head back, letting the warm rays stroke her skin. For once in a long time, the sky wasn't all clouds and ever-present gloom. Just the barest of blue, but it's enough to draw people out of their homes. They'd passed a few kids in bathing suits sunning themselves on their front lawns on the way back to Kit's house.

"Yeah, but she's grossly straight," Violet said, with a derisive flick of her fingers. "She just thinks that just because we're both involved with the Victoria thing means we're gonna be tight. Something to bond over, or whatever."

"Maybe she's lonely," Kit said, swiping the back of her hand over her sweat-slicked forehead. Lying on her back beside Sage, Kit squinted up at Violet. "Jake says she doesn't really have any human friends who understand her position. That must be fucking miserable. Think about it. Sage is just as involved as you are since Victoria saw her too, so at least you've got her. But Bella has no one. She's surrounded by vampires and werewolves, and all her human friends are very removed from the situation. That's gotta suck."

"I mean, yeah, I guess I can understand that." Violet shrugged. "Still, not my problem."

Sage snorted. "Cold-ass bitch."

Lip curling, Violet mimed kicking Sage's head in. Sage ducked, letting out a shrill cackle as she held her arms up to shield her face.

Shaking her head, Kit sighed.

"Man, I need to pee so bad," Violet grunted.

"Paul isn't home," Sage said, smirking a little. "Just thought you should know."

Violet rolled her eyes. "Shut up."

Kit made a face. "I'm just gonna pretend I'm not hearing all this."

A devilish gleam sparked in Sage's eyes, and in that dawning moment, Violet knew deep in her bones that Sage was going to say something that might establish herself as the biggest asshole on the planet. So, before she has the chance to yell something lewd about Paul and Violet, Violet put her hands to her ears, and walked backwards into the house, making a beeline for the guest bathroom.

Before she could shut the door, it was shoved open abruptly as Sage ducked into the tiny space, the sudden intrusion forcing Violet against the sink. In a flash, Sage had the door shut and locked, and as she whipped round to face Violet, who looked at her like she'd grown five extra heads, Sage went to seize Violet's wrist.

"Dude, what the fuck—"

"Quiet," Sage hissed, tightening her grip on Violet's wrist as Violet tried to squirm out of her hold. Somehow, she'd managed to flick the tap on in the midst of the fray.

Panic gripped Violet in a chokehold as the hem of her long-sleeved shirt threatened to slip up her forearm, exposing her scars. She fought Sage, but, like a wolf closing its jaws around the neck of its shaking prey, Sage's fingers only dug deeper into her flesh, determined to prevent Violet from escaping her iron grasp. Sage had already seen Violet's scars once. In the middle of the woods, the day Victoria had shown up. Months went by and the knowledge of Violet's secret sat between them like a smoking shell dropped in an occupied foxhole that they've been hunched over, tense and waiting for it to blow, with every excruciating minute that passed, unable to decide if it were a dud or not, too afraid to move an inch even if their noses itched on the malicious chance that it might take their skin off. Just because Sage had seen her scars already didn't mean that Violet wanted to put them on display a second time.