Prequel Snippy

Violet frowned at the computer screen where her unfinished article for the school newspaper was laid out in incomplete paragraphs. She’d been sitting here for at least twenty minutes and hadn’t changed one word. She was staring at the screen, but her mind was far away. The steady clicking of her pen gave away her agitation.

Someone stuck their head into the empty classroom, capturing Violet’s attention. She sat up, a smile breaking across her face as the boy entered and came toward her.

“What are you doing here?” she asked her boyfriend as he stopped beside her.

“Looking for you.” Tucker leaned down to give her a swift kiss. “Let’s get out of here.”

She didn’t hesitate. She saved her work, shouldered her backpack, and felt her stomach flutter when he wrapped an arm around her waist.

“Jesse has practice, so I knew you’d be around here somewhere,” Tucker said. “It took me a while to find you. Since when do you hide out in Mr. Halstead’s classroom?”

“How’d you know I was hiding?”

He cocked his head as he looked down at her. “I was kidding.”

“I wasn’t,” she said sourly. “Is there something on my face?”

Her boyfriend’s brows shot up. “I’m sorry?”

“I swear, people have been staring at me funny all day. It’s been getting on my nerves.”

She blew out a breath as they left the building and headed toward the deserted parking lot. When she started her junior year with Tucker as her boyfriend—senior and lead singer of his band with a notorious reputation, she’d received quite a bit of attention. She ignored the speculation, gossip, and sidelong looks. Tucker may be known as a bad boy, but around her, he was sweet and attentive. After a month, people were finally getting used to seeing them together, but today started to feel like day one all over again. She couldn’t make sense of it.