Page 4 of Come Back to Me

He looks at me, but in a way that any normal person would. “I should make my way back to Blake’s room. He’d probably freak out if he saw me talking to you, right?” he asks, shrugging as his features fall flat.

“His brain might short circuit. I’m convinced he wasn’t wired right when he was born.”

He laughs, making the number of butterflies in my belly multiply. They’re starting to hurt, but it’s a good kind of hurt. At least, I hope it is.

“He’d probably beat you up if he heard you say that,” he assumes.

“Yeah, I’m used to it though.”

“Does he hurt you?”

I shake my head. “No, just your average brother and sister fighting. That’s all it is.”

“You go to Sunset Cove Middle School, don’t you?”

I lower my eyebrows. “Yeah, why?”

“Are the kids nice to you there?”

“Some of them are nice. The boys aren’t though.”

“What do you mean?”

“They say mean things to me.”

“What kind of mean things?” Grayson presses, his chest rising and falling.

“They say that I’m ugly and disgusting because I’m a girl.”

He crosses his arms, rolling his eyes and letting out a loose breath. “Don’t listen to them. You’renotugly, and you’renotdisgusting. They’re ugly and disgusting for saying those things to you.”

Tears sting my eyes as I look away. I don’t want him to see me cry.

The teasing at school has gotten so bad thatI eat lunch by myself in one of my teacher’s rooms. I can’t risk running into those boys. The girls are just as bad, if not worse. I hate when I’m at school, and I hate when I’m home.

The only place I’m happy is my bedroom because I have books I can escape to. Reading is one of those things I’ve always been good at. Books are my happy place and my safe space.

Grayson walks back towards the edge of my bed, putting a hand on the top of my shoulder. “If any of those boys say something mean to you, you tell me. I’ll teach them a lesson. Nobody should treat a girl like that, especially when that girl is you. Okay, Vi?”

Ah, he just gave me a nickname! Breathe, Violet. Don’t show him how excited you are. It could scare him away.

I take a deep gulp. “Okay, Gray.”

“Remember what I told you. You’re special, Violet. They’re jealous of you.”

“Why would they be jealous of me?”

“Because you’re a better person than they are.”

I hear the sound of a door slamming shut and feet shuffling against our hardwood floors.

Blake’s home.

“You need to go before my brother finds you in here.”

“I can handle your brother. I’ve handled things much worse than him.” He pauses before he walks out the door. “I want you to know I’m always here for you, Vi.”

How is it that it doesn’t feel like I just met this boy? It feels like I’ve known him my entire life. I’ve never felt like this about anybody before.