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"Damn, you take up a lot of that space." Her eyes go to the window. She watches the night sky for a minute, then her eyes are back on mine. "When I was in high school, I got suspended for telling a teacher to go fuck himself."
"Which teacher?"
"English. I asked him why we didn't read any female authors and he started going off on how they only wrote about women's stories, and I just lost it."
I can see a teenage Violet cursing out a teacher. In fact, I can see twenty-three-year-old Violet doing the same thing.
She continues. "That was fine. I was proud. But my parents had to come from one of Asher's piano recitals. Both of them left, right before he performed. When Asher got home, he told me I was a bitch for screwing up his performance. He looked out and he didn't see Mom and Dad and he missed a bunch of notes, and then he didn't get into the right college. He had to go to Cal State Fullerton. It has a good program but it was his third choice. It was this whole thing and it was my fault."
I pull her closer.
"It was supposed to be us versus our parents. It wasn't that they'd done anything wrong. It was the usual high school why do my parents have rules I have to follow thing. But after that day, it became him versus me. And we never went back to being on the same team." Her eyes go to the floor. "It wasn't just him. It was me, too. I pushed him away. If I hadn't…"
"You couldn't have saved him, Vi."
"Maybe." She lets out a heavy sigh. "I know you're right, but I don't feel it yet."
"You will."
"You promise?"
"I do." I cup the back of her neck and tilt her head so we're eye to eye. "You want to know why we're flying to Los Angeles?"
She nods.
"It's because we can't fly into John Wayne. No arrivals between eleven P.M. and seven A.M."
Her eyes flare with curiosity.
"The night of Asher's funeral, I sat in your bed and I played all the songs he would have liked. You told me he would have hated being stuck in an urn in your parents' living room. You told me he would have wanted to be someplace where he could feel free, like in the Pacific Ocean."
"I did say that."
"You said he'd want to float away from the Huntington Pier."
"Ethan—"
"What do you say, Vi? You game to break the law?"
"Yeah."
"Gonna make you get your parents' blessing first."
"You're no fun."
"I can prove you wrong about that right now."
She smiles and slings her leg over my hips. "Ethan, this is—" She presses her lips to mine in a deep, slow kiss. "This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me."
"It's nothing."
"No, it's everything." She kisses me hard and deep. "Is it fucked up that I'm wet?"
"A little." I slide my hand under her skirt and press my palm against her panties. "But normal for a goth babe."
"Am I goth or am I a Cali girl?"
"You're a goth Cali girl."
