Violet | After
"Who was that?" Scott asks me as we walk into the kitchen.
"A friend," I reply. "Do you want something to eat or drink?"
"I'm fine," he says. "He's an attractive friend."
"He's also recently broken up with a girl I'm told he was crazy about and a total mess," I say bluntly. "Why are you here, Scott?"
"To see you. Isn't that obvious?"
"You haven't called or texted for weeks and you show up here out of the blue," I point out. "And how did you even get the address? I didn't give it to you. I didn't get it myself until I was at school."
"I called your sister. And technically, I'm on a business trip with my dad. Today's my last day and I thought I'd come see you," he says. "Don't be so surprised, Vi. I wanted to call, but I didn't think it was the right time. I wanted to give you space."
Max | BeforeIt doesn't take long for me to stop thinking of her as Grace and start thinking of her as Grace's body.Grace's body is laid out on a long table in the Assembly Hall, flat on her back. She looks exactly as she had on the beach when we had found her about four hours ago. Back when she was Grace and not Grace's body.She had been lying half in the sea and half out. Her hair was swaying in the water as the waves lapped around her. Sand clung to her damp legs, something she would never have allowed. She was always the image of perfection, like a model in a glossy magazine. She was on her front but her head was tilted to one side, her lips tinged an unnatural blue.It had taken me only a second to realise what had happened. She had drowned. Grace, the star swimmer who had taught me to swim when we were five, had drowned.Everyone else who had been there
Max | AfterExactly six weeks and one day ago, Grace Allison Covey died. Exactly six weeks and one day ago, my life fell to pieces. Exactly six weeks and one day ago, Max Enright officially went mad.But thank God (and science) for letting me keep my good looks. For not having me look like the spiralling madman I am. Or— as Carlos would say— mad teenager because I'm not eighteen yet. For now, I still look like Max. Perfect hair, not too perfect uniform, perfectly blank expression. I stand in front of the mirror in our bathroom, examining myself.Outside, rosy streaks have coloured the skies and a pale, watery sun shines through the glass of the window in a traditional English fashion. It's way too early for hardly anyone else to be up. At Rosewood Hall, you learn to cherish every minute of sleep you get. We're not like most boarding schools which keep you so busy you can't get a free minute to be
Max | AfterWe sit in Room Seven, an empty classroom. It's not a room I particularly like to be in. It was our Year Seven and Eight Maths classroom, so immediately associated with bad memories. Usually, I strangely love Maths. But the teacher I had those two years made me want to drive a knife through the subject. I have similar feelings towards Shakespeare. Only, I want to resurrect him with Grace's coven of witchcraft practicing highlighters just to kill him all over again."How did you become friends?" he asks. "If you remember.""Dad thought I was lonely. Her mum thought she was lonely. They brought us together for a play date and we were stuck with each other, I guess.""Just best friends?" Davidson raises an eyebrow."Boys and girls can be friends, you know," I snap. "It's the twenty-first century.""Did she have a boyfrien
Violet | After"What do you think of... Tristan?" Kaci asks as we move through the dining hall in House."Which one's he?" I ask."The dark one with the Edgar Allen Poe." She jerks her head to a boy reading while systematically putting forkfuls of pasta into his mouth."He's cute," I giggle. "Let me guess, he's claimed by some crazy boarding school girl.""Naw, we don't do that," she laughs. "But he is sorta off limits. Anyway, you get to meet Max tonight. He's the one with Fall Out Boy."Sitting at the table I've eaten breakfast and lunch at today is a boy with dark hair and headphones. He's one of the guys who was sitting on the stage with the rest of the important people in assembly this morning. If my memory serves right, he's the youngest prefect in history."How come he wasn't at breakfast or lunch?"
Max | BeforeThey look like us. Mr Kebran, Mr Covey, Mr Fell and Mr Salvatore all sit together and they look like us. I don't know where the women are, Kaci took them off about an hour ago and they are a no-show for lunch. My father is still in Paris, arriving in two days. It's the earliest he could arrange the trip for. I try not to resent the fact that the parents of all my friends got here within twenty-four hours of her death and mine couldn't. His absence is abundantly obvious to me, a gap between Nick Covey and Matteo Salvatore."This is creepy," Tristan says, also staring at the table of fathers. "Is he still carving that headstone?"Matteo Salvatore arrived while carving Grace's details into a slab of stone with a marble angle on the top. Carlos gets the talent with woodwork from him. Mr and Mrs Covey insisted he didn't have to, but he insisted that he did."If I could do this whe
Violet | AfterThe days begin to become more bearable. A routine is established and I follow it like everyone else. Wake up, get ready for school, eat breakfast, go to school, eat lunch, finish school, do homework, do some kind of activity, go to bed, do it all again.So it's a shock when Saturday comes and the alarm stays silent. Kaci is awake too, on her phone in bed. Her dark hair is fanned out across the pillow, black against the white and pink of the pillowcase."Cool," I answer. "Um, I kind of wanted to ask you something.""Shoot." She shuts up and runs a hand through her hair like a comb."Remember that girl you told me about? Your old roommate? Was her name Grace?" The words tumble out quickly."Yeah," she says. "Her name was Grace. Why?""Just wondering. She's very popular online." 
Max | AfterIf I had a pound every single damn time someone's told me to smile over this past week, I would be a goddamn millionaire. Everyone has been saying it. Mr Gilbert, my other teachers, Carlos, Zeph, Kaci, even Margie, one of the the cooks at school. Grief counselling isn't exactly how I'd love to spend my Sunday, but at least it buys me another free day from Viv. Thank God I don't share any lessons with her."Smile, Max," Dr Summers says with a sickening sweet one of her own."I'm guessing you're scared of the dentist, Max," she says."Who wants to look at people's dirty mouths all day for a living?" I mumble. "And I'm not scared of the dentist. He's kind of nice actually, gives me stickers even though I'm almost sixteen."Dr Martha Summers smiles again. It doesn't reach her eyes. Her eyes are pale blue in colour. At first, I'd been painfully remi
Violet | BeforeIt's the first time I've stepped into Jackson High for a month. No one asks where I've been or why I disappeared so suddenly. Everyone heard about Cassie. About the fire. About how we were hanging out when it happened. They must think we were watching a chick flick or something, not contacting her dead boyfriend from beyond the grave.I walk through the cafeteria, head down as I carry my tray to the back of the room. But people are in my way, waiting for me to look up and talk to them."Hi," one of them says.I almost jump out of my skin. All my senses have been sharpened since that night, ghost senses and normal senses. When I walked past the cemetery on my way to school today, my head was filled with voices. And the old man resting on a bench reeked of death, like he's going to die soon. I look up to see Audrey, Bianca and Dana- Cassie's best friends.<
Violet | After "Who was that?" Scott asks me as we walk into the kitchen. "A friend," I reply. "Do you want something to eat or drink?" "I'm fine," he says. "He's an attractive friend." "He's also recently broken up with a girl I'm told he was crazy about and a total mess," I say bluntly. "Why are you here, Scott?" "To see you. Isn't that obvious?" "You haven't called or texted for weeks and you show up here out of the blue," I point out. "And how did you even get the address? I didn't give it to you. I didn't get it myself until I was at school." "I called your sister. And technically, I'm on a business trip with my dad. Today's my last day and I thought I'd come see you," he says. "Don't be so surprised, Vi. I wanted to call, but I didn't think it was the right time. I wanted to give you space."
Max | After My first thought is quite shallow. What the hell does Ace see in him? This is Harvard, the boy who can make her blush without even doing anything. The guy we used as an excuse when she searched Keely's room. The guy who's stopping her from going out with another one. The mere thought of him makes all other guys inferior by comparison. But I just don't see it. The dark reddish brown hair is ordinary. His eyes are a normal green. He isn't particularly memorable. But she isn't blushing now. She looks stunned and quite horrified. He shrugs. "Dad's on a week long business trip, school got shut down because of scorpions and I'm here now. It's my last day and I thought it'd be nice to see you." "Should've stayed at school," I mouth to her. "Well, this just got awkward. If you want to work more on the project, you know where to find me, Ace." "I'll come with you," Nikki
Violet | After I approach the counter after finishing my fries. The guy who owns the place is called Logan as he told me and he's really nice. Asked me where I'm from, where I'm going, if I have my train ticket in order. Caring, like a dad. "Can I have a vanilla milkshake please?" I ask. "To go this time." "Sure," he replies with a smile. "But, kid, I just saw you drink a chocolate shake and too much milkshake ain't good for your health." "I know," I say, pulling out my money. "This is for a friend." When I meet Max back at the station, he gives me a weird look as I try to balance holding the shake and taking my suitcase onto the train. He sighs and takes my case, letting me carry his shake in peace. "What's that, Ace?" he asks as we take our seats. "This is for you." I hand it to him. "It won't get s
Max | After As soon as I'm far enough away from Violet, I pull out my video camera from my backpack. There has to be a church with a graveyard here somewhere. Thank God it isn't a Sunday and people probably won't be going to church. It's the perfect place to shoot the next instalment of my video diary of hell, also known as Max being a lunatic. "Found it," I mutter, seeing the sign informing me that this is the church. And right there is a graveyard. I consider going into the church just to see if a priest is there. Maybe I can go into confession. I sure have committed a lot of sins and admitting them to some guy I don't even know might help. But I shake the idea out of my mind and start walking through the graveyard. The graves near the front are new, not get covered with moss or overgrown grass with still fresh flowers laid on top. The gravestones are new, like Grace's, fr
Violet | AfterMax furiously takes a drink of orange juice, glaring at Carlos who he seems to be having a staring contest with. Things have been tense since breakfast started, the two of them not talking to each other while Zeph, Kaci and I are in the dark about why."Alright, let's stop this childish nonsense," Kaci says. "What happened?""He knows what he did," Max spits."I don't!" Zeph wails. "I want to be in on the secret! You're making me feel left out!"━━━━━━━━Max furiously takes a drink of orange juice, glaring at Carlos who he seems to be having a staring contest with. Things have been tense since breakfast started, the two of them not talking to each other while Zeph, Kaci and I are in the dark about why.Violet | After"Alright, let's stop this childish nonsense,"
Max | After"Come on, Max!" Carlos sighs. "We need to leave now!"He throws a packet of sweets to me as I look up from my laptop. I have a horror film ready to watch on. Netflix, all I have to do is press play and lose myself in a story that doesn't seem nearly as scary as my own life."Do I have to?" I whine. "Vivienne's going to be there and I haven't really talked to her and—""Max, let me stop you right there," he interjects. "Vivienne is not the only girl in the world and you probably won't have to talk to her all night. You are going to find someone who accepts how insane you are and loves you for it and you can't avoid her for the rest of your life.""Max, let me stop you right there," he interjects. "Vivienne is not the only girl in the world and you probably won't have to talk to her all night. You are going to find someone who accepts how insane
Violet | After"How are we going to look through her desk?" Kaci wails, flopping down on her bed.I look up from the email Mom forwarded to me from Everly. It's been almost six months since I've been released to civilisation and they think it'll be good if I talk to someone about how I'm doing. I'm to see Dr Summers next week. How lovely for me, right?"I think my mom just solved the problem," I say. "She wants me to have a session with Dr Summers next week. I can have a look then.""I have an idea to get her out of the room." She picks up her phone. "Tanya and Lexie, they'll do Max a favour, right? They can distract get with something while you look for anything on—"There's a brisk knock on our door, cutting her off."Who is it?" I call."Police!" a female voice responds. "We need to searc
Max | After"Excuse me?" My voice is shaky as Tristan gestures for me to sit down next to him. "What do you mean, Rosewood legacy?""Your grandmother's mother was actually one of the first girls to attend this school," Benedict Trudale replies coolly. "One of the first students, in fact. Your grandmother attended this school and then your father and now you. You're a legacy.""And what are you two doing? Did you put those notes all around school?""You're an absolute idiot," I tell him. "You terrified the shit out of most of the school and if Elliot finds out, she will murder you. And then your parents will murder you for it. So you'll be dead twice.""Three times because Vivienne will kill me too.""But you have done very well," Benedict adds. "The Rosewood Alliance has surpassed the Raven's Guild on this occasion." 
Grace | Before"You think it looks okay?" I ask Mum as she twists part of my hair into a slim plait."It does," she replies. "You're going to steal all the boys' hearts tonight.""Is Max here yet? Or Carlos and Zeph?""Max and Carlos are," she says. "They're helping with the tables. So sweet, those two."I smile. Carlos? Yes. Max? Carlos probably guilted him into pushing tables around. He doesn't like pushing tables around, he prefers to watch with his feet up on one."Your dad's here too," she adds. "He's fixing himself a sandwich before the party since he missed dinner. Did you miss him?"I'm frozen. If Dad is here, he'll want to talk. He knows that I've met the rep from the Raven's Guild. He'll want to ask me what I think of it. He'll ask me how I feel about the sixteenth of July.