TURNING VIOLET

an outer banks story

by -spacecadet

CHAPTER THREE: BOYFRIEND

By the time the band had finished their set, Violet was buzzing. She'd been sneaking sips from a heavy-handed rum and Coke throughout the entire night, and her boyfriend had given her a mystery pill before she took the stage. She was glad their last song was over, because her fingers were shaking so badly she was worried she'd mess up the notes on her guitar.

Some musicians claimed that their various vices helped them achieve stardom and perfect their talent. Violet's abuse of various substances didn't work that way.

She carefully slipped her guitar into its case before setting off into the crowd in search of her boyfriend. His locked pickup truck was just about the only place she trusted the instrument, which was her most valued possession. It was a deep purple Fender Stratocaster, engraved with her name on it. It had been a graduation gift from her brother, after she'd finished high school. Their parents wanted her to go to college, and weren't thrilled with her music career, but Cade was the best, and he'd always been supportive.

She spotted her boyfriend's familiar dirty blond head sticking out amongst a group of their friends, children of the wealthiest people on the island. He was holding a beer, and she could tell by the dilation of his blue eyes that he'd already snuck off to snort a line without her.

"Rafe," she called out, waving to him.

A smile broke out on his usually stony face and he nodded at her, pushing aside a girl that was trying to flirt with him to make way for Violet. It was hard to get Rafe Cameron to break a smile, unless you were Violet.

"Can I put this in your truck?" Violet asked, gesturing to her guitar case.

The case was covered with stickers of places Turning Violet had booked concerts. They really hadn't booked many concerts outside of the Outer Banks, so there were only three stickers: a large one with "OBX" on it, one from Charleston, and one from Atlanta, where they'd opened for another unknown indie punk band at a small festival.

Rafe tossed her his keys without another word, and she caught them, before heading out to the parking area. Neither of them would be driving home tonight, but at least she could trust no one to mess with her guitar in Rafe's truck.

Everyone was scared of him.

She wasn't.

Violet wasn't scared of anything.

She headed back into the party, recognizing a newly familiar face, one she'd seen earlier that afternoon. Violet was certain she must look different, with her hair combed back and makeup plastered on her face, dressed like the emo kids everyone made fun of at her high school. It was a far cry from the robe she'd been wearing commando when he'd delivered her groceries.

She approached him from behind, smirking as one of his friends, a blond boy in a cutoff t-shirt, noticed her, his eyes widening as he realized she was coming towards them. She recognized her own name on his lips, first and last, before the grocery boy turned around, meeting her eyes.

"Pope Heyward." Violet stood with her arms crossed over her chest, a confident smirk on her face. "You came."

"So he wasn't lying to us," the blond boy interjected before Pope could get a word out edgewise. "He does know you."

"Well, of course," Violet replied coolly. "Who isn't on a first-name basis with their grocery deliverer?"

"Those of us that don't have a grocery deliverer," a boy dressed in a patterned button-down, with shaggy brown hair, said. He looked familiar, though Violet couldn't place his face.

"Did you enjoy the set?" Violet asked, her attention on Pope, who had yet to say anything to her.

"Yes," Pope stuttered out, glancing down at his shoes before looking back at Violet. "It was great. You guys are really good."

Violet smirked. "I know. But thank you nonetheless."

"Vi, there you are," a voice interrupted from behind them, as a tanned, muscular arm wrapped around her shoulders. "Why are you talking to these people?" Rafe murmured into her ear, low enough that the others couldn't hear him over the dull roar of the crowd.

She watched as Pope's face dropped, as did those of his friends. They all looked suddenly uncomfortable, and Pope, a bit shocked. She looked up at Rafe, who was watching them with a characteristic cold sneer.

"Rafe, this is Pope Heyward," Violet said, gesturing to the Heyward boy. "He delivers my parents' groceries."

"We've met," Rafe replied, his eyes bouncing between the rest of the group, before landing on the boy with the shaggy hair. "You work for my dad, don't you? Routledge?"

"Yeah," the boy replied, and Violet realized she'd been correct in recognizing him. John B Routledge. He did work for Rafe's dad.

She studied the rest of the group now, recognizing the girl as Kiara Carrera, who'd briefly attended Violet's old high school, and the blond boy as JJ Maybank, who she was fairly certain she'd watched get his ass kicked by Rafe the previous summer.

"I'll meet up with you later," Violet said, turning to Rafe with a smile. "Save me some, okay?" she said, knowing there was a bag of cocaine in his pocket, and by this point in the night, it was probably running low.

Rafe nodded and pressed a kiss to her lips, more likely a sign of ownership than affection, before heading back towards his friends.

"So, you're dating Rafe Cameron?" Pope finally said after an awkward moment where the group of friends just stared at her in disbelief.

Violet nodded as if it was old news, because it was. "Yeah, we've been together since high school."

She watched the girl, who was standing behind Pope, roll her eyes and turn to the blond boy, whispering something in his ear. JJ let out a slight laugh and turned to Kiara with a smirk.

"Well, thanks for coming, y'all," Violet said, nodding at the four of them. "But, there's a cigarette somewhere with my name on it, so ..." she trailed off and nodded at Pope before retreating for Rafe.

He handed her a freshly topped off rum and Coke as she approached and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her to his chest. She understood that some people didn't like Rafe, but honestly, she didn't care. She liked him. No, she loved him. He was familiar to her, and as her world was beginning to change, he felt safe.

"Great show," he said quietly, just loud enough that they were the only ones who could hear.

"Do you have any cigs?" Violet asked, reaching behind her to slip her hand into the back pocket of his shorts, where she was almost certain he'd have a box of Marlboros.

"Nah, told you I'm quitting that stuff," he said, clearing his throat. "Don't like how it makes my lungs feel."

Violet rolled her eyes as her hands instead settled on his wallet, which felt light, as he'd probably spent all the money he could smooch off his father on the party drugs he'd been doing throughout the night.

"Well, do you at least have any coke?" Violet's voice filled with the faintest hint of annoyance as she pulled out of his arms and turned to look at him, her jaw clenched.

A flash of guilt crossed Rafe's face. "Kelce took the last of it."

Violet rolled her eyes and turned to glare at Rafe's friend, Kelce, who was attempting to flirt with a poor tourist girl.

"Well, what about that pill you gave me?" She said, feeling more irritated. The high from the initial hit was starting to wear off, and there was no way she was going to socially survive such a night with only alcohol.

"I only had two. Sorry, Vi," Rafe replied, rubbing her shoulder gently before turning his attention back to his friends.

Violet frowned down into the dark liquid of her drink, mentally calling Rafe a string of very unkind names.

Rafe's friend, Topper, an annoying boy with ugly frosted tips and the worst plaid button downs, was loudly telling a story in an attempt to make himself seem cool, and Violet knew that as her high wore down, there was no way she'd be able to tolerate Topper's voice for much longer. For some unknown reason, Rafe's younger sister, Sarah, was dating Topper, and the two of them together, in all of their supposed perfection, made her almost sick.

"I'm going for a walk," Violet announced loudly, hooking her fingers through Rafe's belt loop. "If anyone would like to join me."

Before anyone could answer, Violet stalked off towards the beach, pulling Rafe along with her through her hold on his belt loop.

"Sometimes she's so fucking weird," she heard one of the other kook girls say as she and Rafe left the beach, and Violet couldn't help but smile. It was about time someone noticed.

"Hey hey hey, slow down," Rafe said, sliding her fingers out of his belt loop and securing her hand in his.

"Sorry, I had to get away from them," Violet mumbled into her cup as she took a sip of her drink. "Topper really gets on my nerves."

Rafe chuckled. "Me too. And when he's with my sister? Practically unbearable."

Maybe in their younger years, Rafe and Sarah Cameron had been good siblings. They'd gotten along. Been friendly. But for as long as the Camerons had been in Violet's life -- going on almost four years, now -- they hadn't. Ward, their father, had a clear favorite, and it wasn't Rafe or their younger sister, Wheezie. Sarah, for some reason, was the golden child, to her father and just about everyone else on the island. Violet knew it bothered Rafe more than he let on.

"Are you sure you don't have anything else?" Violet asked, tilting her head up at Rafe with her best attempt at puppy dog eyes.

Rafe let out an annoyed sigh and rolled his eyes. "No, Vi. I told you that. My funding is running a little low."

His funding. By that, he meant his allowance from Ward. Rafe technically worked for his father at Cameron Development, the Outer Banks' premiere real estate development company, but Violet knew Rafe seldom made an appearance at the office. His position and title were a way for the Camerons to save face, and for Ward to get another write-off on his taxes.

Ward Cameron wasn't what Violet would describe as a patient man, and he'd been waiting for Rafe to get his shit together since he graduated high school a year ago. Violet had known it would only be a matter of time before he'd slowly cut Rafe off.

Not that Violet was much better. Even though the band was gaining popularity, they weren't making money off of it. Her parents were not thrilled, but at least they were a little more kind than Ward.

That, and maybe they secretly believed Violet could make it big, and they were holding out hope that she'd bring the family home a fortune with her talent.

"Do you want to go back to my place?" Rafe asked, dumping the contents of his cup out onto the sand. "This party kind of blows now that your set is over."

Violet smirked. Sometimes, Rafe knew just what to say to make her happy. Other times, he could be extremely obtuse.

"You read my mind." 

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ author's note ✫・゜・。.

boyfriend reveal !!! were you surprised, or did you figure it out from my cast chapter?

violet and rafe may be chaotic and troublesome, however i can't help but find them extremely amusing. 

thanks for reading, and please let me know what you thought!

xx,

madi

ps - i just published a new jj maybank fic called HOPELESSLY DEVOTED, go check it out :)