Dried Violets

Chapter One

Author's Note: Every chapter will be accompanied by a song. Please listen to the music to as you read, because the music is part of the scenery and will help you feel the mood of the story. All of the songs I include are personal favorites of mine and I highly recommend these artists, albums, and songs. I hope that through this love story, you have an enjoyable time reading and discover some great new music along the way.

Sunset. As the sky and clouds slowly melted into rich hues of pink and purple, Bri admired the work of her newly cleaned and decorated room. The window to the right of the room was open let in the light and some fresh air that was rich with the smells of the end of spring and beginning of summer. Simple fairy lights hung over her bed to the left of the window, in the corner of the room, facing a sliding closet with gold trim that doubled as a mirror. Her room was a cream color but she filled it with pots of purple flowers, organic looking decor made of twine, and cool colored crystals scattered about. Sitting on her bed with pale pink sheets, she noticed how much her room mirrored the colors of the sunset that she so adored.

Feeling the draft of air as the sun sunk below the hills in the distance, she took a moment to admire the houses around her, something she had yet to do in the seven years she lived in The Yellow House Second From The Corner. Bri never interacted with neighbors, she mostly kept to herself unless she bumped into them on the sidewalk, and it wasn't like that was going to happen any time soon as under the current circumstances, she couldn't leave home.

The other houses were also beautiful, the one to the right was a light and cutesy blue, with a white trimmed well in the front yard and a radiant garden, though the crabby old woman who lived in it was the exact opposite. The house to the right, the corner house, was a plain brown house, almost like a modern log cabin. She suspected that a family lived there, judging by the garden gnomes and tiny bench in the front garden plot, but she had never seen them. As she gazed at the corner house, she found herself staring into another lit window, and eventually another pair of eyes.

The eyes were an icy blue, they seemed reserved and quiet but very intimidating, and as Bri noticed the girl attached to the eyes, she saw why. The girl had pale skin like a porcelain doll, golden hair in ringlets, and appeared to be rather tall. She sat at her window looking at the sunset, much like Bri was doing now, and looked like a princess straight out of a fairy tale. This girl had the same exact thoughts about Bri. 

Her name was Erika, and she had finished all of her online schoolwork with ease some time around three in the afternoon. For the rest of the day she kept herself busy, with trying to write new song lyrics (a bust, she wasn't inspired since she couldn't go to her favorite behind-the-library spot). When she could think of nothing else, she opted to sit by her window facing the side of the cute yellow house next door and enjoy the sunset. She often noticed the neighbor girl enjoying them, too, and part of her wanted to talk to this girl so they could watch them together. However, the neighbor girl didn't reach out, so neither did Erika, as it appeared neither had the time. 

Being cooped up wasn't too hard on Erika, she wasn't much of a people person to begin with. Very few were able to understand her cold nature. She wasn't dark and broody, on the contrary she loved sweet and colorful things and she was kind and empathetic with her friends, but she didn't like being around others if she could help it. She valued solitude, but something intrigued her about this girl that compelled her to look through her window sunset after sunset. 

The girl's window was open and Erika sat, staring at this girl, until their eyes met. Erika had never noticed the girl's eyes before. They were a dark brown, unless light was going directly into them, in which case they seemed a warm chocolate brown. Her skin was peachy and slightly tanned from a lot of time outdoors, and she had a great many freckles dusted across her skin. Her hair was a think, mostly wavy brown pixie cut dyed a dark purple, but was quickly fading into a lavender shade. The girl seemed to match the colors of the sunset with gorgeous vibrant hues of purples and pinks. She looked like a fairy.

After the colors in the sky began to darken into deep blues and blacks and the sun sank below the green hills, Erika decided finally took a sheet of rose colored paper and a black pen and quickly scribbled down in large, bold lettering, "I liked watching the sunset with you :) I'm Erika" covered in cute doodles of hearts and flowers. She taped it to the window and, at the first call of her name, bolted down her carpet steps to eat dinner. When Bri looked over and saw this sheet, she pulled her own white sheet of paper from a tray on her desk and in thick cursive, responded, "Me too! Let's do it again. I'm Bri."