Forty-Three: The Saturday of Your Nightmares.
Ah, the weekend. No early days, no school, absolutely no stress whatsoever.
Or that's what I thought.
I basically missed the entire morning because I'd slept right through it, but even after getting up at noon, I still felt I needed more sleep. Alas, the need for food was stronger than that of sleep, so I unwrapped myself from by blanket after a great struggle and falling off the bed, grabbed my phone and my ivory robe before heading downstairs.
"You're home." I said when I saw Dad cradling a mug of something hot at the kitchen island, I walked in with Moo who had followed me from her spot in the dining room. "G'morning."
"I'm guessing you slept well." He asked a bit gruffly before gesturing to my hair, I'd managed to wash the meadow bits out of it before bed last night but now it looked like I had a whole bush on my head.
"It was cool... Are you okay? You sound odd." I said, pouring myself a bowl of cereal.
"Woke up with a sort of cold," He replied, sipping from his cup. "I may have overworked myself yesterday, we had quite the Friday night at the restaurant."
I narrowed my eyes at him, "What exactly happened? Don't tell me those girls didn't leave."
"Somehow those girls caused the highest customer inflow we've had since the restaurant was opened. Had to call for backup, there were teenagers everywhere." Dad said and he seemed to be having war flashbacks as he stared into the distance. "And they ate so much..."
"One would think you'd like more customers." I said, going over to put his blanket that had fallen off back over his shoulders while Moo jumped into his lap, trying to see what he was drinking.
"Teens definitely aren't my target audience, but I believe I can make some adjustments, some of them were nice, I got some adorable compliments yesterday, compliments my own daughter never thought to give me..." He said, pointedly.
"Oh please." I rolled my eyes, setting cereal bowl down so I could sit next to him.
"...they told me I have great hair, you've never told me my hair was great, and you've never told me I have a great b-"
"Come on, Dad!" I groaned, while he went into a fit of snickers. "So glad I wasn't there for that."
"Left me to die."
"Yup, and had the most amazing time while I was at it."
He sipped from his mug, giving me a side look. "Amazing, huh?"
"Yeah," I said dreamily before tapping my phone awake, "Do you want to see pictures?"
"Goodness no!" He grimaced.
"Wh- they're not bad pictures!" I said before frowning at him, "you're unbelievable."
"Well forgive me for trying to be safe, have you seen the kind of things your mates do? I think I'll have to go to therapy after last night." He said and sneezed so loud he sent Moo hissing and running to hide in the pantry.
I shook my head at how dramatic he was and got up to take his mug which had half of its contents spilled from the big sneeze so I could prepare another one. It was full of germs now anyways.
"Looks like he did good, huh?" Dad said, hunched over my phone as I returned his mug with fresh tea. He paused on the video where Angelo was looking at the duck in his hands.
"And you did good too."
"Me?" I chuckled lightly.
"Look at this kid." Dad said, raising my phone as the part where I was fighting laugher behind the camera played. Angelo's adorably confused look had turned into something else as he looked at me.
"Smitten."
"Huh." I chuckled again, a bit shyly now as I took my phone back. "On that note... we're kind of dating now?"
Dad raised his eyebrows and I didn't know what to make of his expression till his shoulders lowered a bit.
"You think it's too soon, huh?" I asked.
"Well let's say you're not the only one worried about missing any more bad signs." He said and he seemed a bit sad before he frowned. "But unlike that Frances boy, I have an actual connection with Angelo and I like what I see when you're together. Which is why I'm not eating myself up as much for not shielding you from the rest of the world. Though I really want to..."
After a moment of his words sinking in, I smiled at Dad, touching his hand as I did. "Thanks for trusting him and for looking out for me, I'm lucky to have you."
When he smiled back, it seemed like one of surprise and relief. "Well what do ya know?" He murmured, looking down at his mug.
Not a moment later, the doorbell rang and we exchanged a look.
"Did you order something?" We asked at the same time, hence getting our answers.
"I'll get it." I sighed, dragging myself to the front door, through the glass I could make out more than one blurry form out there and one of them pressed the bell again.
"In a moment!" I said, unlocking the door and swinging it open without bothering to check the peephole.
I should have checked the peephole.
"Crap" I whispered and immediately shut the door except it slammed against something hard before it could close completely.
"Not so fast, Bestie." Cassandra Manuel said with the most smug looking smile I'd ever seen on a person. "Nice one Emily." She added.
Emily only replied with a pained whimper and teary eyes which was expected since I'd slammed the door on her leg.
"If you think you can stop us from coming in, you're wrong" Tina jumped in before giving me a once-over, "FYI, you look like a rat that just got out of the spin dryer."
"Why on earth are you here?" I asked before it suddenly hit me that Dad had invited them over to "play" with me on weekends. "Oh hell no."
"Hell yes." Cassandra said before calling into the house, "Is Jimmy home?"
"Violet, who is it?" Dad called back and they started to squeal and rush forward but I still managed to push the door back even though my socks were sliding against the flooring.
"No! That's just the TV! You can't barge into my house...!" The next thing I knew, I was on the floor and they were skipping over my body to get inside.
I turned over with a groan and saw Moo just sitting there and watching me all judgemental.
"I'm gonna sell you and use the money to buy a guard dog." I said pointedly.
She just meowed lowly and tried to bite me in the face which she would have succeed in doing if I didn't jump to my feet at the sound of: "Wow, Jimmy it's so big...!"
"STOP!" I screamed and charged into the living room with one eye closed.
"Is.... everything alright?" Dad asked and I opened my eyes to find them standing in the living room, with Dad holding his Ultimate Cooking Challenge 1st place trophy. The one he only bragged about when he knew the guests would be around for a while, because apparently it was a loooong story.
"Oh, Vi's always been so dramatic, just like when we were little, remember bestie?" Cassandra asked, her innocent smile morphing into a smirk.
I rolled my eyes and stepped forward. "Alright. You've come in, ruined my weekend and you've seen my Dad, now you can leave."
"Don't be dumb, Vi!" Tina cooed, swiping her hand through the air with a smile. "We're here to spend time with you. Your dad being around is just a bonus."
I may have shuddered outwardly because Dad came over to ruffle my hair. "Come on, it'll be fun, you can all hang out like you do with Susan and Annie and- ATCHOO!" He sneezed into his elbow and Moo peeked into the room with her back arched.
"Oh Jimmy you're sick?!" Cassandra asked with the biggest doll eyes ever.
"Yeah, I'd hate for you to catch..."
"That's PERFECT!" They chorused.
Dad blinked.
"The timing is perfect." Tina corrected before twirling a lock of her black, silky hair around her finger.
"That's totally what we meant." Emily put in.
"Because I can take care of you." Cassandra said, smiling up at him.
"Actually, we were just heading to the pharmacy." I said, grabbing Dad's arm and trying to pull him along. "Let's go now."
"There's no need for that, my Mom's a nurse, I'm good with things like this." Cassandra said, pulling him by the other arm.
"My mom's brother's nephew's son is a nurse too!" Tina put in.
"My dad's a vet!" Emily said and we all looked at her.
"Well," Dad said, breaking the awkward silence before herding us all towards the stairs, "Looks to me like you girls need to figure some things out. Why not go up to Violet's room while I...attend to some important matters in my office."
I rolled my eyes at him just dumping everything on me, but it was better than them being all over my Dad so I led them up to my room.
"Ugh, smells like cheap perfume in here." Cassandra said, strutting in and looking around at my purple nearly everything.
"And toddlers." Tina added, holding her nose. "It's so childish, all that's missing is the diapers, Adams."
"Stuffies!" Emily squealed, gesturing to my bed covered in stuffed toys, with Lucky the purple winged pig, my new favorite, sitting among them.
Cassandra and Tina gave her a look.
"Um, how gross." She said softly.
"You read hard copy magazines? Where are you from, the 90's?" Cassandra asked, grabbing a travel magazine from my desk. "Everything you need to know is on the internet! Ugh and it's not even about fashion."
"Is that a poster of the periodic table?" Tina asked, squinting at something on the wall and I was even surprised she knew what that was. "You're a certified nerd!"
"Yes, and my room's pretty terrible," I agreed with a plastic smile. "Why don't you head on home to your absolutely glamorous perfect rooms then?"
"Oh yeah, Cassandra's house has a heated pool!" Emily said before frowning. "But her Dad's around and all he ever does is-"
"Do you have a death wish, Emily?" Cassandra glared at her, immediately causing her to seal her lips shut.
I was about to ask where the logic was in leaving her own father in her big fancy house to torment my own Dad, on a SATURDAY MORNING, but Tina walked out of my closet and held up my long vintage skirt which still had some grass stuck in some places.
"Isn't this what you wore to your little thing with Angelo Frances-Sullivan yesterday?" She asked, waving it around. "Is this what you tried to win him over with?!"
"That's not your business, give it back." I said, going to take the skirt but she tossed it over to Cassandra.
"You caused quite a stir, you know, everyone going on about how you went on a date! Blah blah blah, it was so annoying." Cassandra rolled her eyes, "Especially since you're way out of his league. You know that, right?"
"I'm sure she does," Tina stalked over, standing right in my face. "I bet she's also trying to do some gold digging. First with Hale and now with his cousin, you probably stuck your nerdy little nose in their family secrets, didn't you?"
I just stared at her, returning her ice blue glare full on. There was no way she could come to my house and insult me.
And the way she was looking at me, her face red and her breaths heaving, it looked like jealousy, it looked like...
"Are you in love with him or something?" I asked, unable to keep the snarl out of my words.
She scoffed, stepping back, pushing her hair behind her ears and rolling her eyes. "Literally everyone is..."
"No I mean really in love with him, like you've fed yourself hopeless delusions and it's not a silly admiration, it's a full on...thing." I shot back and that was enough to douse her fiery attitude a bit.
Tina scoffed again, "You can worm your way as close to him as possible, wear all the pretty dresses you want and pretend to break an arm for attention, but that doesn't change the fact that I'll always have a bigger chance than you in getting him. Think about it."
I blinked in surprise. Wow, she was that delusional? Angelo who she had only said a few words to ever, Angelo who probably didn't even know her name, Angelo who had literally asked to be mine yesterday...
The last thought made heat crawl up my face and Tina must have taken it as embarrassment because she smirked triumphantly.
"Good to know you have a brain that works."
I couldn't help the snort that escaped my mouth and I quickly covered my mouth with my hand. "Girl, Angelo is literally- !"
I had to pause halfway, they couldn't be the one to hear the news first. I hadn't gotten to tell Annie and Susan yet. They had both sounded very busy this morning so I decided I'd tell them when next I called.
"... he's not into anyone." I concluded, dropping my shoulders to make the lie more convincing. "If you took a minute to actually look at him without drooling, you'd see."
Before Tina could say another word, Cassandra tossed my skirt somewhere and gave a little laugh. "Not into anyone? Oh please! Just be relieved I'm not going for Angelo Sullivan, because if I wanted to have him, he'll be mine. You all thank your lucky stars."
"Yeah!" Emily put in from her spot on my bed with my stuffed penguin in her hands.
"Now what can someone do for fun around here...?" Cassandra asked, and while she looked around, I found myself wondering what they were actually doing here and while they were dressed like... regular people on a lazy day.
One thing only a person who'd known Cassandra all her life would know was the fact that she'd take her time to dress up like the next teen idol just to grab cookies from the kitchen. But here she was in sweatpants and a fraying sweater with her usually bright strawberry blonde hair in a dull, greasy knot at the top of her head.
Even Emily and Tina looked better than her today with their jeans and tops and necklaces. There was definitely something up with her, especially with the dramatic breakdown episode she'd pulled on Friday in front of literally everyone.
Perhaps if I got her to let her guard down, she'd tell me what was up and I could try to help her fix it, and if I were successful, she'd go back to her life as Miss Popular and she'd have no time to bother me or my Dad ever, EVER again!
"Wh- why are you smiling to yourself and tapping your fingertips against each other like that?" Emily asked and I realized they were all looking at me all weird.
"Nothing." I said with a shrug and hummed lightly as I went up to my closet to pick out some clothes. I hadn't touched these particular ones in ages because they were the ones Hale had given me, there was no way he'd ever see me in them ever again. That didn't mean they weren't useful though.
I picked a random shirt and a random skirt and a random hat and arranged them on my bed with the proudest look I could muster only to find the three of them looking at me in confused disgust.
"Where exactly do you plan to wear that to?" Cassandra asked, scrunching up her nose.
"Isn't it obvious? The madness carnival." Tina put in.
"She literally paired stripes and polka dots." Emily said watching me with concern. "I'm scared, you guys."
"You're so dramatic, for what?" I rolled my eyes. "I'm just going for a picnic..."
Cassandra rubbed her temples in distress, "You're so lucky I'm here and I don't mind charity work, step away from the clothes, Violet Adams."
I frowned, "This is none of your-"
"Do what she says." Emily pleaded and I threw my hands up before stepping back.
"Let's see you try to do better." I said, landing heavily on my bed and faking a sulky attitude.
"Girl, I can make ten picnic outfits for each season of the year in the time it takes you to pick your nose." She deadpanned, picking the top between two fingers like it was that terrible.
"We can take pictures and make a catalog." Tina said and rolled her eyes, "for future purposes of course, we don't always have time for losers."
"Whatever."
And that was all it took for them to start the process of turning my room into a little photoshoot studio, complete with the makeshift backgrounds and lighting that would probably make Dad's jaw drop at the sight of the electricity bill.
Cassandra really was that good. She was even better! She'd made so many combinations in such a short period of time and gotten Emily to model most of them since she was the only one my size. Tina and Cassandra could only wear the ones that didn't fit me anymore and they were awesome with the modelling thing, they even seemed to be having so much fun. It was like watching reality TV.
Then they told me it was my turn.
"Oh no no, I'm not really... I'm camera shy." I said waving my hands.
"That's fine, everyone kind of is at first." Emily said from under a sun hat, she raised it off her face with a grin and pulled me off my bed. "Come onnn!"
"Put these on, they'll look good." Cassandra said, handing me some clothes, thankfully these were all from my new collection that I'd bought myself. "And I'll fix your hair."
"I mean it, modelling isn't my thing."
"Ugh, boo." Tina said lightly. "Just this one, promise."
I couldn't believe I was giving in to peer pressure.
I put on the outfit anyways and it wasn't so bad. It was a regular academia outfit so they were probably going for a stereotypical nerd look except with my high heeled lace up boots and that was fine by me.
The cool part was how they genuinely looked pleased when I walked out of my bathroom with the clothes on.
"Oh, I'm so amazing." Cassandra said, touching her heart and her friends nodded in agreement.
Emily was right about being camera shy only at first. After a while, I kind of started to get into it even though the skirt felt way shorter with my high boots on. They even lent me a pair of glasses to go with the outfit and in a matter of minutes, I felt like a professional, doing fierce poses and blowing kisses at the camera.
When Moo walked in to see what all the fuss was about, we all stopped what we were doing and looked at her.
"Kitty!" Everyone exclaimed and just like that we found another model and she was born for the life of a star.
I didn't want to admit it but hanging out with the popular girls was actually...fun.
By evening time, we'd run out of ideas and had looked though all the pictures we had taken which meant there was nothing left to do than to lay on my purple carpet and make cut outs from my travel magazine in half-dressed states.
"Ugh, this guy's so pretty." Tina said, showing us a surfer dude with gold skin and pale blonde wavy hair.
"He is." We all agreed.
"That's the Maldives." I pointed out.
"Ah, the Maldives, I've always wanted to have a romantic getaway there and Daddy promised me one for after I graduated." Cassandra said. "Doubt he'll let me go anywhere further than New York now."
I winced as she snipped a poor tourist's head off. "Let me guess, you did something wrong and he thinks the best way to punish you is to take away some freedom? Been there, Dads give the worst kind of punishments."
"Not even close." Tina snorted.
"Your Dad's perfect, doesn't treat you like an asset, does he?" Cassandra asked, "Mine just looked at me one day and decided that I-"
"Girls! Dinner!" Dad called from downstairs and the three of them bolted upright.
Oh come on, I was so close!
"Hold on! He decided that what? What did he decide?" I asked Cassandra quickly as she hurried to the door.
"Who cares?" She asked before opening the door, "Coming Jimmy!" She sang.
Then I realized she wasn't wearing pants.
None of them were wearing pants!
"Hey, come back here!" I barked, grabbing the jeans and sweatpants from my bed and running after them.
"Try and stop us!" Emily called and I heard them pound down the stairs, laughing.
"No!" I screamed in horror. "Come back here and put on your clothes! Close your eyes, Dad! Close your eyes!!"
To be continued...