Troubled with Tattoos
Chapter Eight
Sleepovers With A Case Of Munchies
Yesterday had been an extremely confusing day. I mean for one Camden Taylor is good friends with Austin Hayes, who would have guessed? And then out of nowhere, there were gunshots.
I had lived in the city my whole life and we had heard of these types of situations all the time. But never did I think I'd be in one. I shivered at the memory remembering how stupid I was and couldn't even move. It had brought back so many unwanted flashbacks of my past.
I scrubbed the shampoo all throughout my scalp furiously causing me to wince when I accidentally tugged too hard. I was in the shower, the place where most teenagers do all their important thinking these days. My phone was playing music but these wandering thoughts couldn't help but block it out.
His words kept replaying in my head as his angry voice rang over and over again.
Violet run.
I just wanted to rip my hair out in frustration. Why couldn't I run?
"Violet! Your friends are here!" I heard Cherry shout to me from downstairs. I quickly poured conditioner all over my head and rinsed it out at the same time. I turned the nozzle and the water slowed to a stop.
Wrapping a towel around myself I ran back into my room with my phone blaring music in my hand. I wasn't expecting them to be here so early. Or maybe I was just in the shower for too long. The wrinkles on my fingers proved the second thought to be true.
"Violet!" My aunt yelled. I cursed under my breath harshly running a brush through my soaking wet hair.
"I'm coming!" I yelled back leaving my room.
"It's not a date you know!" She called back and I rolled my eyes playfully. What was her deal with dates lately? I had to get down there before she invested my friends in my negative dating experiences. I ran down the stairs nearly face planting when my foot slipped, luckily I caught myself.
Rose and Lizzie stood in the doorway smiling at me. I was dying to tell someone about last night but I didn't know who to tell. Aunt Cherry told me to stay away from our neighbors but she doesn't know they are the ones who fix her car. Lizzie and Rose warned me to stay away from Austin. It was just a favor for my aunt but I didn't leave when I had the chance. I settled on the idea of never telling a single soul.
"Violet, you've never been on a date?" Lizzie questioned planting her butt on the leather couch. I mentally cursed at Cherry as she excused herself so she wouldn't have to face the wrath of Violet.
"That's my cue to leave, let me know if you need anything!" She bolting up the stairs chuckling. I glared hard at her as she gave me an innocent smile before hiding away in her room.
"Well, have you?" Rose pushed. I bit my lip shaking my head shamefully.
"We could set you up a tinder." She offered as she pulled out a giant bag of cheese balls from her overnight bag.
"I'll have to pass on that one," I said. She chuckled shoving her face. We were about ten minutes into a rom-com when a fight over cheese balls erupted.
"Give me some!" Rose whined reaching out towards the bag of cheese balls. She dodged her arm moving the bag. She tried to speak but she had too many cheese balls in her mouth. She resembled a hamster with her cheeks all puffed out.
"Lizzie, give me some!" She climbed off the loveseat and jumped on top of Lizzie. I just watched as they got in their own little battle over cheese balls. Rose's foot was on her face while Lizzie's hand was pushing her away.
"Mine!" She yelled but Rose held the other half of the bag. I didn't see this ending in a very clean way. The bag ripped right down the middle and cheese balls exploded all over the living room. We all burst out laughing at our cheese wonderland we had created.
"Believe it or not, that's not the first time we've fought over balls." Rose laughed. Lizzie snorted.
"And it probably wont be the last." Lizzie added with a shrug. Rose loved playing the dating game at camp. She was beautiful and it was noticeable how every head turned when she walked into a room with her naturally curly hair and the dimples on her cheeks. She was eccentric, had a darker aesthetic.
"You guys are cleaning that up," I chuckled sitting down on the only empty spot left. Rose shot me a smile as she leaned over, stuck her tongue out and ate a cheese ball.
Lizzie made vomit sounds and watched with wide eyes. When all the cheese balls were eaten she sat back down on the couch with a hand over her stomach.
"Let's play a game," Rose said once the credits rolled in.
"It better not be spin the bottle, I'm not kissing any of you." I joked.
"No, let's play truth or dare." She nodded, Lizzie agreed to the game. I've played this game before with my old friends. I'll never forget when I had to confess my biggest crush on Liam. I should have known that my friends would make me do something embarrassing when I chose dare after confessing that secret. When I chose dare my next turn, Rachel dared me to post my crush on Facebook. Just his name as my most recent status.
I deleted my Facebook after numerous comments on why I posted the head cheerleaders boyfriends name as my status. He thought it was funny at least.
They glanced at me expectantly. "Fine" I groaned, "But we're playing it in my room so my aunt doesn't eavesdrop." The last thing I wanted was for them to ask something embarrassing and Aunt Cherry walk-in at the exact same time. I led them up the stairs to my blue bedroom.
"Nice room, you have a balcony?" Rose giggled looking out at the neighbor's house. My nerves crept up at the fact they could see Austin and recognize him. I quickly shut the curtain blocking the view.
"The sun gets really bright in the morning." I made a fast excuse. The girls seemed to buy it with a simple nod. My hair was still drenched leaving an uncomfortable wet mark all down my back.
"Rose is first!" Lizzie screeched. Rose rolled her eyes playfully but sat criss cross on the bed anyway.
"Truth or Dare?" Lizzie asked.
"I'll start off with truth." Rose said earning herself a round of vulgar names from Liz.
"If you had to sleep with one teacher in our school, who would you pick?" Lizzie chuckled. I held a hand over my mouth waiting for her response. The teachers at the school were mostly old and missing hair.
"Easy, Mr. Thomas." She announced like it was obvious. They laughed glancing at me when they noticed my quietness.
"Oh Violet doesn't know who that is. Hes a substitute, not super hot but hes too cute to be a teacher." Lizzie explained.
"Violet, truth or dare?" Rose asked eyeing me down. There was a lot we hadn't caught up with yet. Including my parents. I prayed no one asked why I didn't live with my parents. Hopefully it was such an awkward subject they didn't want to ask.
"Dare" I said. If I can avoid any kind of truth that would be ideal.
"I dare you to crack an egg on your forehead." She tumbled over laughing.
"Gross, I'll get the egg." Lizzie laughed running to grab an egg from the fridge.
Rose gagged but remained watching intently. This couldn't be too bad right? It's just an egg.
I knew I would regret choosing dare. I mentally prepared myself before quickly grabbing the egg and cracking it on my forehead. I gasped when the egg juices dripped down my forehead. A laugh erupts from my mouth and I quickly cover it hoping I didn't draw the attention of a certain neighbor.
I went to the bathroom to scrub the egg off my forehead and dipped my yolk hair in water until it rinsed out.
"Lizzie, truth or dare?" I called from the bathroom.
"That was your last egg so I'm going to pick truth." She chuckled.
"What happened between you and Camden?" I asked genuinely curious. Maybe her hatred to him stemmed off something stupid he said.
She groaned loudly shoving her face into a pillow to scream.
"It wasn't anything bad really. I've had boyfriends before but I've never...you know...before then. I wanted my first time to be special. I know it sounds stupid." She admitted, a slight blush crept up her cheeks.
"Then I caught the attention of Cam. He made me smile, he's funny and obnoxiously hot. After weeks of him asking to hang out with me I finally agreed. We hung out and one thing led to another and suddenly I wasn't a prude anymore." She sighed.
"After that it was like I didn't exist to him. His sudden attraction in me ended as soon as I gave in to him. I wanted my first time to special, with someone who loved me and he ruined that." She continued.
"What a dick." I said before adjusting my choice of words.
"He was out for my V card and that was it. So don't let him fool you Violet. Camden Taylor is incapable of love." She said harshly.
"I don't have a feelings for him and I don't plan on ever having any. We're just friends, not even, more like friendly acquaintances." I said. Lizzie rolled her eyes in response.
"Do you think I wanted to catch feelings?" She asked but it was more of a statement than a question.
"Okay, Violet. Truth or dare?" Lizzie asked a mischievous spark in her eye. It was only fair I gave her a truth in return for her own.
"Truth" I sighed.
"Why were you asking about Austin Hayes?" She asked her eyes never leaving mine. My heart dropped to my stomach at the mention of his name. The thoughts from earlier flood back into my mind. Why didn't I run?
"I met him at the garage shop one day," I said "I asked about him because hes cute" I laughed. The girls nodded in agreement.
"Did you talk to him?" Rose asked. She sat cross-legged in front of me in her pink pajamas hugging a pillow. I nodded. Little did anyone know I had his clothes in my hamper and he had mine in his dryer. I blushed cursing myself when I realized my underwear was still at his house.
"Oh get this. He's my neighbor." I hesitated and her small jaw dropped.
"He's your neighbor?" Rose squealed jumping out of my bed to look out the balcony door dreamily. I nodded and her eyes grew wide as she stared out my balcony.
"You couldn't have said that before, I would have adjusted my dares appropriately or maybe inappropriately." Lizzie said.
"I would have brought hotter pajamas." Rose said as she looked down at her pajama pants.
"Rose your turn, truth or dare?" I grinned. I silently hoped she picked truth so I could ask her the one question I've been dying to know. She sat back down on the bed and chose dare.
"I dare you to go out on the balcony and do the chicken dance for two whole minutes." I said.
"Easy." She laughed. Rose got off the bed and strut her ass to the balcony. The chicken dance began playing off Lizzie's phone as Rose did the notorious moves adding in her own flare.
Two minutes passed and there was no sign of life from Austins house. He must be at the shop still. Part of me wondered if he was being jumped again.
"Violet, truth or dare." Rose asked when she came back inside.
"Dare." I said but instantly regretted it by the look on her face.
"Since Austin isn't home I will have to resort to a classic. Give us your phone and let us send one text to any person we want." She said. Panic settled in my chest, I had Camden in my messages currently. It was too late to back out now.
I tossed my phone over at them waiting for the inevitable. As if on cue they both looked up at me with their mouths in an 'o'.
"Acquaintances huh?" Rose teased.
"I said friendly acquaintances." I smiled.
"You seemed to forget the part where you kissed him." Lizzie sighed, "I warned you too late." She laid back on the bed and sighed dramatically.
"I didn't kiss him." I admitted. Their raised eyebrows pushed me further into explanation. I told them about the bet and how I had "won". She laughed when I brought up how I faked surveys.
"That was actually really clever." Rose said in approval.
A loud bang erupted from the kitchen drawing our attention.
"What was that?" Rose asked in a whisper.
"I'm not sure," I whispered back. Another loud bang sounded through the home, except this time it was pots and pans that fell.
"Its probably just my Aunt." I assured them.
"Maybe you should go check..." Lizzie said watching the door of my bedroom carefully. I was positive it was Cherry but my friends sudden change in behavior made my nerves creep up. Thoughts of my mother popped into my brain and I pushed them away.
I left my room hesitantly, the hallways were dark. With every creek the house made I jumped a mile.
It seemed as though my senses heightened as I could still see through the darkness and could faintly hear the cabinets being ripped open. My heart was pounding against my chest as I could see a faint shadow from the kitchen.
Aunt Cherry's house had an inside balcony making it open-space. I could see the entire downstairs, besides past the kitchen where a wall blocked it off. I stepped down the creaking stairs trying to make the least amount of noise possible.
I reached the last step, the noises became louder as I neared the kitchen entryway. I gulped for the last time before entering the kitchen on wobbly legs.
Of course, the last person I had expected to sneak into my temporary home had to be the person that actually did. I almost laughed at the scene before me.
His back faced me as he dug through the cabinets putting whatever food we had on the counter.
"What are you doing?" I whisper yelled. I was slightly satisfied when he nearly jumped out of his skin. It was dark in here but I could still make out his image.
"I'm high as fuck and you owe me," Austin said as he continued to look through the cabinets. Yeah, that's right, the Austin Hayes had snuck into my house. Did he really just invite himself in to steal our food?
How did he get past the security alarm? But the last thing I had expected was for Austin to even speak to me after yesterday and now here he was rummaging through my kitchen, higher than a kite.
His red eyes burned into mine and I found myself giving in to the bad boy with tattoos. He opened the fridge, the light had shown his outfit clearly. He was wearing a black T-shirt with jeans, always simple. But the shirt looked so tight and you could see his every move.
He dropped a few apples and they came tumbling to the floor. They rolled around and I bent over to pick them up. He was laughing like a mad scientist and it brought a smile to my lips hearing such a genuine laugh.
"Could you possibly be any quieter?" I whispered. Although I couldn't help but chuckle silently at his actions.
"Sorry." He frowned. "I'm starving." He groaned quietly. If Aunt Cherry woke up and saw him we'd be dead, well, mostly him because I wouldn't hesitate to blame it all on him. I definitely didn't want to see him being carried away in handcuffs tonight.
"Violet is that you?" a familiar voice grunted from the doorway. Austin turned around with his red eyes widened. I quickly pushed at his shoulders hiding him behind the island.
"Y-yeah." I stuttered. My heart was racing, I was praying she wouldn't find the boy hiding behind the counter.
"What are you doing?" She asked exasperated. I heard Austin snicker and I kicked him from under the counter. There is no way a lanky girl like me could ever physically hurt a muscular boy like him.
"Just getting...a midnight snack." I struggled for an excuse quickly picking up the nearest item. I held up the bag of tortilla chips scooping a few out to munch on them. This kid owed me big time.
"Well keep the noise down will ya? I'm going back to bed, try to be quiet." She yawned half asleep as she stumbled back up the stairs. Once she was gone, I let out the breath I didn't realize I had been holding. Austin stood back up with his eyes narrowed.
"Did you have to kick me so hard?" He asked rubbing his stomach.
"Oh come on it couldn't hurt that bad. Did you want her to call the cops?" I asked.
"Wouldn't be the first time" He shoved some chips down his throat munching on them very loudly.
"I'm sure they do," I muttered but then I remembered what I needed to ask.
"How'd you get past the locks and the alarm?" I wondered.
"Easily." He shrugged smiling proudly. I rolled my eyes at his arrogance eating some chips myself.
"Holy shit! Is that Austin?" Lizzie gasped staring wide-eyed at the high bad boy from the doorway. I nodded biting my lip, watching his eyebrows scrunch up in confusion.
"Oh I almost forgot, you left your clothes at my house." He said.
Cover jacket by GO4BANANAS