All The Pieces

“Viola!” My mother called. I went back to reading.

“Viola Pierce!” She said again, this time her voice was closer.

“Viola, why have you not answered me young lady,” My mother said as she stood in the doorway to my room. She had aged well, in her early forties. But she always dressed like she was going somewhere important. I guess that is what you do when you are a Pierce.

“Sorry Mother,” I said quietly as I set my book down on my lap.

“Viola? Why have you not left this room yet this summer?” She asked as she folded her hands lightly in her lap.

“I,” was all I said before she began to speak again.

“Is it because of those girls you used to be friends with?” she asked.

“Well,” I began.

But she started to talk again as she walked into my room, and she sat gently on the edge of my bright floral bed spread. “I know those girls meant the world to you. I know you thought you all were friends,” she said.

But now it was my turn to interrupt. “Mom, we were friends. I don’t… I don’t know what happened.”

“Well, it is nothing you did. They are just nasty girls,” she said. “Just plain bitches. I am sorry Viola, but there is no other way to say it.”

Now I giggled, my mother rarely ever cursed. “I couldn’t agree more,” I said. “But I don’t mind sitting at home. And I do leave my room. I go to the kitchen and I run by the lake sometimes.”

“Yes, but you only run in front of the house. It wouldn’t hurt to run down the beach, maybe go into town or something,” she said with a small smile.

“But Mom,” I said.

“No, I don’t want to hear another word. I want you showered and out of this house in forty minutes. I even got you a new bike,” she smiled brightly as she got up to leave.

“When will you get me a car. I am sixteen,” I said.

“You don’t need one, now get up,” she said as she left and closed my door behind her.

-+-+-+-+

I take about ten minutes to get ready. Throwing on a loose tank top and shorts. I get to the
bottom of the steps and grab my flip flops.

“Viola Pierce! How will you make new friends when you look like that?” she asked me.

I ran my hands through my light brown hair. “I am comfortable. I have friends. And you are
lucky that I am leavening at all,” I said quickly as I stormed out the front door with my tiny
purse.

I walked down the front lawn, not taking the side walk, cause that took longer. Especially
with the size of our house. If you could even call it that, the thing had eight bed rooms. Which
is good I guess, since I have four siblings.

I walked faster and finally made it out the front gates and to the sidewalk. A few moments
later I heard someone yell.

I turned around to see my older brother Vaughn speeding towards me on a teal bike, he was only fourteen months older than me.

“Hey Vi! You forgot something!” He hollered as he rode up alongside me. I kept walking and
slowed to my pace.

“What are you ignoring me now too?” He asked, I looked at him in my peripheral. He and I had the same color hair, and the same color eyes, bright green. Unlike our other two
siblings, Vivian the oldest and Vincent and Victoria the youngest, who both had dark brown hair and blue eyes.

“Come on Vivi, I am your favorite brother,” He said as he smiled at me. “I know you hate people now, but you can’t hate me.”

I now looked at him, and he was smiling brightly. I smiled a little bit too. “Now that is something I have not seen in a while,” he said so I stuck my tongue out at him. “Now that is something I would prefer not to see.”

“Whatever,” I said as I continued to walk.

“It speeks!” He hollered and looked around then he stopped. “Come on Vi, stop for a second.”

“What?” I said as I crossed my arms over my chest, but I smiled.

“Take the bike. And go have fun, not everone is out to get you,” he said as he got off the bike and pushed it in my direction.

“I know,” I said quietly.

“Look at me Vivi,” he said, so I looked up. “We are family, and you cant shut us all out. We
love you. I know those girls hurt you, but you have to move on.”

“I know,” I said quietly.

He looked down at me, since he was rather tall. And well, I was not. “You go into town, you get an ice cream and have fun,” he smiled.

“Okay, you want to come?” I asked.

“No, you need to get back in there on your own. Cant keep relying on your popular brother to get you friends,” he laughed and nudged my arm. And I found myself laughing too, which is defiantly something I was not used to doing.

“There, a glimpse of the old Vi,” he said as I got on the nice bike. “We all want her back.”

“I know,” I said as I began to ride away. “But she is lost, and never coming back,” I said once
I was far enough away from Vaughn.

I made it into town, and got myself an ice cream cone at We Scream the local ice cream place. The palce was packed, as it was a hot early June day.

“Two scoops of chocolate in a regular cone,” I told the girl behind the counter. She was in my Chemistry class, I think her name is Caroline?

“Okay Viola,” she said. I didn’t like how everyone knew my name these days.

“How boring,” someone said from beside me. I turned to see a somewhat tall guy with brown hair beside me.

I ignored him.

“I mean, look,” he said and gestured to the menu board. “They have twenty seven flavors, and you get chocolate.”

“Do I know you?” I asked finally, but still not looking directly at him.

“No, but I was hoping we could get to know each other,” he said to me. “Oh and change the chocolate to a pomegranate with chocolate chips,” he told the girl behind the counter. She looked at me, then threw my ice cream away before I could protest.

“What the hell?” I asked him, but now I looked at him. And I was a bit taken aback, he had piercing blue eyes, and his hair wasn’t brown but a sandy blonde and his face was chiseled. As his abs probably were too. But I am not going there since this idiot just changed my ice cream order.

“Excuse me?” He smirked. “Are you allergic to pomegranate or chocolate?” he asked.

I shook my head, unable to formulate an intelligent answer.

“Well, then I don’t see a problem,” He shrugged as the girl handed him two ice cream cones. “Just put it on the Herrick tab,” he told Caroline the ice cream girl.

“Okay, you two have a great day. And nice to see you Viola,” She said as we walked out the door.

“So your name is Viola?” he asked as he fallowed me to my bike, which was leaned up against the side of the building.

“And your last name is Herrick what is your point?” I asked and I raised one eyebrow.

“Well, I was hoping to for some sort of friendship. And a key ingredient to that is knowing the other person’s name among many other important facts,” he said. I just stood there in silence licking my ice cream, which turned out to be very good, not that I would tell this Herrick boy this.

“Okay,” He ran his hand through his hair. “I will go first then. My name is Nathanial Herrick, I am originally from New York, but we recently moved to this quaint little sea side town in southern Connecticut. I have two younger brothers, making me the Wise older one. I am going to be a senior at Wellington Prep in the fall,” He then smiled like he was the most brilliant boy on the planet.

“My name is Viola Pierce, and you are blocking my bike,” I said.

“Oh, sorry,” He said as he stepped out of the way. “That would have been smart. I mean I
walked all the way down here from the hill, you know the big one on the north side of town.

And a bike would have been smart. You are smart there Miss Vi,” he smiled.

“You live on the hill?” I asked as I pulled my bike out of the rack.

“Yes, I live in the big white house, the gate currently has the letters G on it from the last owners. But my parents are fixing that quickly,” He said and ate more of his ice cream.

“Grier,” I said quietly.

“What?” he asked.

“The G, on your gates. It stand for Grier, the name of those people that lived there before
you,” I told him as I got on my bike and began to ride slowly away.

“How do you know that?” he asked, suddenly the one who was at a loss for words.

“Because we are neighbors,” I said a sigh, as I suddenly realized I would soon be living next door to this insufferable creature. But at least the homes on the hill are good distance away
from one another.

“Well, then I guess I will be seeing you Miss Viola,” He hollered after me and with that I
about fell of my bike.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-

“So did you have a nice time?” Vaughn asked. I looked up from my computer and spun around in my chair.

“Yah, I got some pomegranate ice cream,” I shrugged.

Vaughn’s eyes got wide. “You haven’t eaten that stuff in ages,” he said.

“I know, it wasn’t as good as grandma’s,” I shrugged and crossed my legs under me.

“SO you meet anyone new?” he asked and wiggled his eyebrows.

I scoffed. “I am so done with boys,” I said.

“It was just that one thing, Vi. You have to let it go,” he said.

“I will not let it go. You didn’t have people who hated you enough to hurt you, like I was hurt,” I
said a bit too loudly.

“I know, but you have to, have to, have to, not let it bring you down. You cant let it ruin your
life,” he said.

“But it felt so real, and in the end it was all one big lie. And they did it to me, it was my friends
idea. My friends. How am I ever supposed to trust anyone ever again Vaughn?” I asked.

“I don’t know Vi,” he shook his head. “But you will never make friends again, if you don’t put yourself out there. I have your back Vi,” he smiled.

“I know,” I looked down at the ground. “Oh, I met our new neighbors.”

“You did?” he asked waiting to hear more. “Are they as boring as the old Grier family. I mean
did you ever see their daughter, her skirts went down past her knees, almost to her ankles!!

What is the point of a skirt if you could just wear pants,” he shook his head in disbelief.

“I know, right,” I laughed harder than I had in a while. “But in all fairness, she was nice and
had great shoes.”

And with that we were laughing hard, and for really no reason at all. But it felt good to laugh a bit again.

“So now tell me about the new family. “Okay, so their last name is Herrick. And they have three sons. The one that I met, Nathanial is in your grade and he is annoying.”

“Oh, seriously?” he asked. “It will be nice, maybe he plays soccer.”

“Your not gonna be friends with him are you?” I asked.

He squinted at me. “Uh, yeah why not?”

“Uh, I don’t know Vaughn,” I shrugged. “Maybe because they boy is the most annoying thing on the planet.”

“Oh your just being dramatic,” he laughed as he walked out of my room. I turned back to my computer.

“Oh,” he said and popped his head back in. “Tomorrow you can go over there with me and take them some cookies or something, isn’t that what nice neighbors do?”