Violet's Outfit

I was sitting in the living room at Ashlynn's house marveling over Carlos's homemade HSM game when Gina and Ricky showed up.

I was a little surprised that they had showed up together, since both of the, had both turned down rides from me. But right now, I wasn't going to approach it. We began the HSM game, with me ending up on the West High Knights team with Ashlynn, Big Red, Ricky, and Gina.

It was super fun, and it was everything that I needed in life. Honestly, Carlos could market that game and sell it and tons of people would probably buy it. Like, if that game we're around when I was in elementary school it would honestly be the only thing that I would have played.

We played the game for about an hour straight, and by the time the tradition game was over we were stuck in a tie.

I left the room to get some food from the kitchen, and Gina followed me in.

"Hey. How was your thanksgiving?", I asked her.

"It was just me and my mom since we don't have any local relatives, but it was still pretty good. The food was really great. What about you?", she asked.

"Meh. We went to my uncles house, and all of my mom's family was there. It was kind of boring, but the food was really good", I said.

"Aw, well that's good. I wish that Ricky had had a better Thanksgiving though, on the way over here he told me that his dad and him just had instant mashed potatoes and chicken wings for dinner", she said.

"Oh cool. So you guys came over together?", I asked.

"Yeah. I wanted to surprise him since he's been a little down lately. Anyways, can I tell you something?", she asked me.

"Um Yeah, of course", I replied.

"I think I like Ricky. He's just super sweet and talented and just really cute. Do you think he likes me back?", she said, blushing.

I'd told her before that I liked him. That I'd liked him since middle school. And she said that she thought he liked me to.

I'd trusted her when I told her that, and I normally wouldn't be mad about something as superficial as this. Feelings are feelings, and I absolutely hate the trope of two girls fighting over this one stupid ass boy. But, I'd had a super horrible Thanksgiving and this just set me over the edge.

"What? Do you think he likes you back? Cause I'm like, totally sure he does, I mean, do you see the way he looks at you? It always looks like all he thinks about is you. I mean, it's not like there's someone who's liked him since she's been twelve. It's not like there's someone out there who's known him forever and have always liked him. I mean, I'm sure there's not some sad girl out there who's counted in him forever. I'm sure that no one out there has such a good relationship with him that she brought him along when she got her braces on and got her braces off. There's no girl out there who was with him when she got her first period, there's no girl out there who had her first kiss with him. I've been through all that shit I just listed with him, he's been there for every important moment in my life and I thought that for sure he'd be there for all of the other important moments, but I'm sure you're the only girl out there who's ever liked Ricky Bowen. I'm sure that you're the only girl who he'll ever totally care about", I said.

Gina looked at me, her eyes wide, and then she left the room. I sat in that kitchen for the rest of the game. I didn't want to be in there with all of them, especially after I said all of that and wasn't even sure if they all had heard it or not.

I could tell by the shouting occurring in there that my team had won.

A few minutes later, Gina stormed into the kitchen and grabbed her coat and cupcake pan. She was visibly upset, and even though I'd just acted like a total dick, I know I had to say something.

"Hey, are you okay?", I asked.

"I have to go, Violet", she said, pushing past me.

"Call ,me tonight, okay?", I said.

"No thanks. I'm clearly being selfish by having feelings for Ricky, since you obviously have dibs on him and have had dibs for five years now. I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I'm moving, so you'll have him all to yourself", she said, pushing past me and slamming the door behind her.

A few minutes later, Ricky came into the kitchen.

"Do you need a ride home?", i asked him.

He shook his head no and walked to the front door.

"Is everything okay?", I asked.

He shrugged.

"You can tell me if it's not", I said.

"Not everything can be fixed by a hug from you and some motivational speech", he replied.

"I know you're going through a lot right now, but I'm here for you. I'm always here for you", I said.

"There's just some stuff that you don't understand", he said.

"What can't I understand? My dad left two years ago and cut ties with my whole family, I have no fucking clue where he is or even if he's still alive. At least you know where your mom is and that she loves you", I said.

"Well, what did you say to Gina that made her so upset? Before the tie round?", he asked.

"Nothing, okay. I was out of line", I said.

"Whatever. You act like you're so understanding, but then you fucking obliterate someone the minute that they say something that you don't like. I don't have time for this right now", he said, leaving.

I sat down on Ashlynn's steps and cried.

"Is everything okay?", Nini asked, sitting next to me.

I shook my head no, still crying.

"What's going on?", she asked.

"I just ruined everything with everyone that I care about. I said some stuff to Gina that was super out of line, because even though I told her a month ago that I like Ricky and I have liked him since middle school, she told me that she likes him too. It's like that conversation we had never happened. And then, Ricky yelled at me because I made Gina upset. I feel like I have no one else in the world. I just completely ruined things with two of the people that I care about the most", I said.

"You like Ricky?", she asked.

"Yeah, please don't be mad at me too. I don't need that right now", I said.

"No, I could tell. It's no big deal. Ricky's reasonable though, I'm sure that if you apologize and tell him than he'll forgive you", she said.

"I just feel like I have no one else. Everyone else that was here tonight was asking me how my Thanksgiving was and how I was doing, and every time I said that it was fine, it was great. But it wasn't. This was the first thanksgiving without my brother. It was horrible. My whole family was there tonight, and no one even mentioned him. It's like he never even existed or something, or they didn't want to bring him up because of the fact that he overdosed. I lost him almost exactly six months ago. And then today, I tried my best to be happy and try to enjoy myself, but I couldn't. When Gina told me that she liked Ricky, everything that I'd bottled up just came out. And then I ruined things with both her and Ricky", I said.

"You have me, though. And besides, they're both understanding people. If you explain that you acted on emotion and tell them what you're going through, they'll have to sympathize and understand. And if they don't, they're loss", she said, getting up.

"Thanks Nini", I said.

"Of course", she replied.

Everything had completely blown up in my face tonight, and while Nini's advice was super logical and it was just overall super nice of her to be so understanding, I still had no clue how I'd approach things with both Gina and Ricky.

I'd ruined things for myself, but I would try my absolute hardest to try and repair both of those relationships.

Author's Note: Hi! I'm super glad that I was able to get this up before all my relatives arrived at my house and the holidays got hectic! I know that this part is kind of intense, but I really just wanted to add in a new storyline for Violet, and to add some drama in this story. I promise that all will end well! The next chapter should come probably next Thursday or Friday (12/26 or 12/27). Thank you all for helping this story get to 24K reads!

Happy Holidays ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Beth