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Violet avoids my eyes and nods, reaching for her purse again which fell to the ground at some point during our encounter.
Then, without a last glance in her direction, I head back to help Jerry clean up.
CHAPTER 8
VIOLET
My heart pounds as I arrive at Hannah’s apartment on the north end of Maplewood. I haven’t been here before, because the last time I saw Hannah, she was still living with her parents and trying to find a job. Now, she’s not only found a job, she’s found a boyfriend and moved in with him.
Hannah opens the door and squeals. “Violet! Ohmygod! It’s you!” She throws her arms around me. Her overwhelming energy is contagious, and I find myself laughing alongside her.
After a moment, Hannah steps back and admires me like she’s never seen me before. “Wow. Violet. I don’t know what it is, but you look so… adult-like now.”
“I’m not that far away from thirty. I hope I look like an adult now.”
“Oh, don’t talk about the big three-oh. That’s not allowed to be mentioned here. We’re still in our twenties. Doesn’t that sound so much better?”
Hannah grabs my wrist and tugs me into the apartment. It’s small, like postage-stamp small. But it’s very cute. Everything is carefully organized. Pictures of Hannah and her boyfriend, Charlie, cover the walls, and I lean forward to check out a few of them.
“That was us when we went to Florida. We road tripped it all the way down there. Almost fourteen hours by the time we stopped, but it was a great trip. Right, babe?”
I hear a voice call out from behind a closed door off the living room. “Right!”
My eyes widen. “He’s here?”
“He works from home, and I like to annoy him when I’m home. It’s not like he’s listening to us, though.”
“He’s not listening, but he heard you just now.”
My gaze skitters across the living room that has some couches that look like they went out of style thirty years ago and to the closed door that must lead to their bedroom. There’s a sliding glass door further into the living room that leads out onto a porch.
Hannah guides me there, and I settle into the swing next to her. “This is my favorite space. And I promise, he really can’t hear us out here.”
Hannah gently sways us back and forth with her foot, and I look out across her view. It’s actually quite gorgeous. The woods are in the distance, but a clean lawn with doggy area signs is spread out before that.
“Nice place.”
“I was dying to move out of my mom’s place, but it’s so hard here.”
“Have you found a steady job? I feel like we haven’t talked in forever.”
“It’s because we haven’t talked in forever. You’re a terrible texter.”
I hang my head and accept her jab as the truth. My mom complains about the same thing.
“Yeah, I finally landed a steady job. I’m working at the Maplewood Community Center now. It’s not glamorous, but it pays the bills."
I smile, genuinely happy for her. "That’s great, Hannah. What are you doing there?"
Hannah makes a face. “I help people reserve rooms for boring meetings, and help people sign up for the community gym. I also answer a lot of dumb questions like where the bathrooms are. It’s really exciting.” She finishes with a dry laugh.
I laugh and lean back in the swing. It’s been a while since I have felt this relaxed. Being with Hannah takes me back to our high school days.
Hannah places a hand on my arm, her eyes twinkling. "So, what about you, Violet? What’s going on with you? You’re back in Maplewood because…"
“Depends. Do you want the answer I’m giving everyone or the real answer?”
“The real answer, of course. Oh my god, I hope you wouldn’t dare be giving me rehearsed answers.”
