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Violet and Dieter returned to the school just minutes before the final bell rang at the high school, in order for them to blend in with the after school crowd. One with a red uniform--crimson red blazer, and pants to match, with a soft pink button down shirt underneath and a red tie. All to match with his perfect crimson red hair, a picture of perfection in their little town. Red was the color of blood, and the color of power. A warm color to display who was more important in their province. Violet's was the contrast with a deep purple dress with a frilly lavender blouse underneath that made her skin itch. But the difference of colors was to tell them apart from each other. Even in the poorest province of Vesperia, everyone was not equal. The violets were the cool to the reds' heat.

The reds and the violets lived there, the last rung of the societal class. But even then, the reds were slightly superior. In the eyes of the outside provinces, they were both low level trash. The same in every way. But in their own province, the reds were the high class. They enjoyed the few and little privileges that could be enjoyed there. 

Violet had been surprised that Dieter was even her friend, being a red himself, and coming from a purely red family who lived in the nicer side of town. But he wasn't like them, wasn't like his family at all. 

As the two jogged up to the front gates, they heard the final bell ring across the campus. It was their routine whenever they skipped school together, which was much more often than they wanted to think. People never questioned Violet, as she was a violet and dropping out of school was common for them. But Dieter was always questioned by the school administration. His parents had even gotten involved, but that didn't matter to him. He would not abandon Violet and continued skipping school despite any consequences.

Violet had to wait for her sister Ruby, so that they could walk home together. Dieter, in turn, had to wait for his two younger siblings--Lena and Maximillian. He had been standing there with Violet for the total of one minute when someone grabbed him the the ear and twisted it painfully, making the seventeen year old wince. Both teens turned to see Dieter's ninteen year old brother Finn scolding him, and sending a glare in Violet's direction. "You know mom and dad don't want you hanging around with her." He said. If his family didn't already dislike her because she was a violet and they felt superior to her and the others, they disliked her even more because they felt like she was the one coercing their precious red son into causing trouble.

"I don't care." Dieter tried to swat his hand away. "I do what I want."

Violet forced a fake smile onto her lips. "Stop fighting and just go with your brother. I'll see you tomorrow Deet." She said with a small wave and stepped off to the side, away from them as they waited for the rest of the Park siblings. 

Violet couldn't help but think that Finnegan Park would have been picking up his teeth on the street if her brother were there. Indigo would have defended her so quickly. But alas, he was doing his mandatory three years in the Vesperian Army, as was the norm for the lowest class citizens in their country. Everyone else was allowed to volunteer if they wanted too--the reds, the greens, the oranges, the blondes, the brunettes. But the violets were forced. Violet would be turning eighteen in the next six months and would be required to go as well. Dieter had already promised to go with her, even though she had insisted for him not to.

Finn Park was one of the lucky ones who had a choice because of his red hair and the crimson hue in his eyes. He had decided to skip military service and had gotten a job at his parents' company. Preparing for the day in which he would be taking over one day. He had been allowed to leave momentarily to pick up his siblings from school and make sure Dieter wasn't being swayed by the snake, as his parents liked to put it.

The other two Park kids emerged from the front gates, the twins Max and Lena who were only fourteen years old. The four of them a picture of pure red perfection. Unlike Violet and her siblings. People always stared at them whenever they were together because they were an oddity. A mix of red and violet--a privileged red daughter who fell in love with a violet boy from the wrong side of town. They ran away together and got married, had three children. It was something that had never happened before in their town. 

Ruby and Violet's mother Scarlet were the only two reds in their neighborhood. They were known as the queen and the princess of the slums. 

The youngest of the Raine siblings emerged from the school in her nicely pressed red and pink uniform, and she walked over to her sister's side, her eyebrows furrowing with concern. "Did you skip school again?" She asked, but she already knew the answer.

Violet gave a shrug of her shoulders. "They don't care about us violet's dipping. The sooner they're rid of us, the better."

Even in the school there was separation. The school had two buildings for classes, two for physical education, and one for administration. The reds had their own building with their own new books, well kept classrooms, and red teachers who were well educated for living in the worst province in Vesperia. The violets had the same, but downgraded. Run down classrooms, old books, tired violet teachers who were done trying to educate a bunch of violet delinquents. There was no integration in any of the classes. 

The two sisters walked home together and ruby started making conversation. "Where did you and Dieter head off to today?"

Ruby Raine had always been interested to know about her sister's adventures. But lately, she appeared most interested to know what her sister and Dieter Park were doing. Violet sensed that she might have a crush on him, as she had met him before Violet. Beings both reds, they had some classes together in the red school building and Ruby had brought him home to work on a project for school. Violet remembered that day perfectly. Their mother Scarlet had cleaned the entire house head to toe in order to impress him, not exactly to make a good impression, but because she knew how judgmental reds could be and she didn't want Ruby to be bullied at school more than she already was for being half violet.

Though she never complained about it, her siblings and parents knew that her classmates always treated her as less than them because her father was a violet. Many times, when Indigo was still in school, he had gotten in trouble because he beat up other kids to defend his little sister. 

But Dieter wasn't like that, wasn't judgmental and the Raine family quickly figured that out. He was friendly and polite in their home, despite it being far less than what he was used to. But he and Violet were the ones who became especially close, and he continued to visit afterwards. Now he was usually a regular at their house, and sometimes even stayed until it was very late at night and his older brother Finn came to look for him. 

Violet always thought Dieter and Ruby were perfect for each other though. Dieter was a good boy, and Ruby deserved better. Perhaps they would fall in love and he would take her away. Out of the filthy violet slums where she could truly reach her full potential as the red that she was. The problem was that the reds weren't so forgiving. If the violets treated her like royalty for her looks and appearance, the reds looked down on her for what they knew about her lineage. She was red, but she was also violet, and that was not enough for them. She had to be full red or nothing. 

"We went to the docks, where its secluded though." Violet explained with a sigh. 

The docks were usually always busy, especially in the early mornings because of the fishermen trying to gather enough to sell for the day. But by noon they were usually gone, off to the markets to try and make some money. Still there was a section of the docks that was always empty, and it was the spot she and Dieter had claimed as their own. Sometimes, people in town would see them coming back from there together and started to spread rumors. How little Violet Raine was spreading her legs for a red boy from the nice side of town. Others murmured that she was working hard to get out of the slums. But Violet didn't care. She knew she wasn't doing anything wrong, and didn't owe anyone any explanations.

Violet saw her sister's cheeks tint in a red that matched her hair and her school uniform. She had no doubt heard the rumors about her sister.

Violet swatted at her sister's shoulder in a scolding way, able to tell by Ruby's face exactly what came to her mind in that moment. "Oh my vespers. Its not like that. Don't believe everything you hear at school, Roo." Roo was the nickname she had given her sister since they were kids. Ruby was Roo, Violet was Vi, and Indigo was Indy.

"I didn't say anything." Ruby defended herself.

"But you thought it." Violet pointed out.

"But I mean," Her younger sister started innocently, trying to get the information out of her sister. "Even mom and dad think you're dating Dieter. They might not believe the rumors, but they definitely think there's something there. Mom says Dieter is a good boy, not like the other reds she knew when she was growing up in the nice part of town."

Violet couldn't help but roll her lavender colored eyes. "Just because we're friends does not mean we're fucking." 

Her sister turned an even deeper shade of red. 

Their walk home lasted fifteen minutes, and they walked up the tiny path that led up to the front door. In their neighborhood, all the houses looked the same. All built with cheap materials by the government in order to house their violet population. They were not given a choice. They had to live in the slums. Nearby on neighboring streets were industrial factories where most of the violets worked. It was three years of military service first and then spending the rest of their lives in some factory. If the fumes didn't kill them or cause heavy disease, they were lucky. But most people in Porpra weren't so lucky, not the violets at least.

It was why she and Dieter had created a slogan for their little town, on an afternoon of worry free fun down by the docks, looking out at the ocean. "Porpra, where the poor live."

As the two girls entered the house, and past the living room, they saw two plates of food waiting for them. They had been covered up with plastic wrap, to keep them safe from flies. On their fifteen year old fridge that was still running out of pure luck was a post it note to inform them that they were not in the house. 

At book club. Be back in three hours. -mom & dad.

Both girls knew what that meant, but they said nothing of it, out of fear that there would be cameras watching them. Under the ruse of a book club, their parents held secret meetings at an underground location where they planned for a rebellion to overthrow the current government. Violet only knew the vague details, as she didn't want to get involved. She didn't believe in the movement, didn't think it would work out, and she thought it would only make things worse for everyone in the long run. But she thought it was admirable of her parents to try.  

She instead grabbed her plate of food off the table and headed straight for her room. As she closed the door, she muttered to herself, "At least dad made enough money at the factory to get us some actual food." She was thankful for having food to put in her mouth, even if it was a tiny amount of it. Other times, she and her family had to survive off food supplements that while made her full and did the trick, it was nothing compared to actually savoring food.

Violet had just finished her plate of food within minutes and took the dirty dishes to the sink. When she returned, she cocked an eyebrow at her closet. The door was hanging open when she could have sworn it was closed when she left the room. She walked towards it and her hand ran slowly over the chipped wooden material painted lavender when she was a little girl with dreams and aspirations. Those days were long gone. 

"Roo!" She called out the door and down the hallway. There were two rooms in the house. 

When their brother still lived with them, one of them used to be his and the other was for both Ruby and Violet to share. Their parents slept in the living room on the old couch that pulled out into a bed. When Indigo left for the army, Ruby moved into his room.

"What is it?" Her sister called softly from across the hall.

"Did you come into my room while I was in the kitchen?" She asked, not thinking more of it. Maybe Ruby wanted to borrow one of her mangy old sweaters for some reason. It was what sisters did. They borrowed each other's clothes. Except Ruby always looked better in Violet's clothes than Violet did in them.

"No." Ruby replied simply, and Violet was going to investigate further. But she was distracted by the light tapping of pebbled at her window. 

She pulled her attention away from the closet and walked over, opening her window to find Dieter standing there, a mischievous smile on his face. He had changed out of his uniform and wore a cap to conceal his vibrant crimson locks. People still knew it was him, but he claimed he didn't like to draw attention to himself. 

"What are you doing here?" Violet raised an eyebrow at him.

He gave a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. "My parents were scolding me for skipping school again, and I was tired of it. So they sent me to my room, and I escaped out the window."

Violet heaved a sigh. Yet another thing they would blame her for later on.

"Let's hang out." He offered, sticking his hand out for her to take.

Violet couldn't help the smile that spread across her lips. She looked at his hand for a moment before swatting it out of the way and jumping out her bedroom window to join him outside in her back yard.

-

so i changed the entire first chapter because i felt that we needed a bit of an introduction to our characters instead of just throwing everyone into chaos in the first chapter as i did initially. 

the one that used to be the first chapter is saved in my drafts and i will use it as the second chapter. so don't worry, everyone.

anyway, i hope you enjoy the rewrite. 

i am working hard to make this more exciting and better than it was the first and second times i wrote it. its just that i want to make this a book that will make you all wow and make you all shook with how good it is. and i just didn't feel that with the previous version of it.

but now i will rest a little bit and maybe write one more chapter. i have to work tonight at eight. so im not looking forward to that.

-clary