Page 1 of Come Back to Me

then

VIOLET |AGE 12

The slam of the front door throws me off balance, practically launching me off the living room sofa.

Ugh, nevermind.

It’s just my idiot brother, Blake. The strange thing is he has a friend with him. Well, he has a lot of friends, but the boys he usually hangs out with don’t look like this.

He has dark brown eyes along with messy, dark brown hair. Oh, and he’s quite lanky.

There’s something about him that makes butterflies swirl around in my belly. I’ve never felt this way about a boy before. I’ve always been disgusted by them.

My brother is the main reason why. He sets the gold standard for being mean and annoying.

Most of the boys I go to school with are like him, but there’s something about the boy standing in front of me that feels different. He’s not like the other boys I’ve met.

I can feel it.

“Are Mom and Dad home?” Blake asks me, staring down at the hardwood floor as he tends to talk to me without looking me directly in the eyes.

It’s his way of talking down to me and exuding all this power he’s convinced that he has over me.

I fold my arms in front of my chest. “Do you see them anywhere?”

“Don’t get smart with me.”

“Shut up, buttbrain.” I roll my eyes.

Blake crosses his arms. “Answer the question, brat.”

“Dad’s upstairs in his office.”

The brown-haired boy observes us bicker, his eyes bouncing back and forth from me to Blake.

“Now, was that so hard?” Blake makes an ugly face at me. “I’m going to go into the kitchen and get some snacks. Violet, you can go into your room. We don’t need you lurking around.”

“You’re such a weenie!” I raise my voice and scrunch my face at Blake, grunting.

He always knows just what to say to get under my skin.

“And you’re a pain in the butt.”

The cute boy interrupts our screaming match by getting in the middle of both of us. “Okay, that’s enough.”

Blake rolls his eyes at me and walks into the kitchen, and I hear him rummaging through the cabinets to find snacks like a bear going through trash cans.

I turn my attention to Blake’s friend. “Sorry about my brother.”

“It’s okay.” He sticks out his hand, sliding it into mine. “I’m Grayson, by the way.”

Sparks of electricity come out of our hands. I see it, but I’m not sure if he does. I mean, how could he?

“I’m Violet,” I say.

“Like the flower, right?”

“I guess so.”