PROLOGUE
4 Years Ago . ..
Deep breath, Violet.
You can do this.
Deep, cleansing breath.
The brown door in front of me is plain and nondescript, exactly like every other door lining this long hallway, except for the numbers 2-1-2 stenciled in black, smack dab in the center. I check the number again on my room assignment just to be sure I’m in the right place. The only thing scarier than walking into this room and meeting the girl who will be my roommate for the next year would be walking into the wrong dorm room altogether. The embarrassment would be beyond painful.
I tuck the paper with my room assignment and class schedule back into my pocket and grip the handle of the suitcase at my side. Placing my other hand on the doorknob, I take one more deep breath to steady my frayed nerves and then push the door open.
The room in front of me is almost painfully empty with its white cinderblock walls, plain pine furniture, and bare mattresses. The only thing with any color at all is the girl at the far end, pulling bright yellow sheets from a box labeled bedding.
Her head jerks up at my arrival and her deep brown eyes grow large. My first thought is that this girl is tall. At least taller than my five feet, two inches, she must have a good six inches on me at least. Her skin is tinted a light brown that’s leaning toward olive and looks absolutely flawless, which just makes me that much more aware of the pimple that popped up on my chin this morning. I fight the urge to lift my hand to hide the glaring red blemish. I knew I should have thrown some makeup on this morning, but I just figured I would sweat it off with all the boxes I’m going to have to haul up the stairs to get unpacked.
A smile stretches across the girl’s face as she drops the sheet she was untangling back into the box and moves toward me.
“Hi, I’m Bianca Moreno but my friend’s all call me B. You must be my new roommate?”
“Y-yes, hi. I’m Violet Daniels. It’s nice to meet you.” I extend my hand to her but before I can blink, she has me swept up in a bear hug causing me to let out a little squeak.
“It’s so good to meet you. We’re going to have so much fun this year.” Thankfully, she lets me out of her embrace before her enthusiasm cracks one of my ribs. “I’m so excited! So, tell me about yourself. Where are you from? What’s your major? Have you gotten your classes yet? I hope you don’t mind; I was going to take the bed next to the window, but we can totally switch if you want.”
The questions are being lobbed at me so quickly I can’t keep track. “Um, there’s not much to tell. I’m from Seattle, I’ll probably major in some kind of English specialty, yes, I got my classes with my room assignment, and um, no problem, I don’t care which bed is mine. The one against the wall is great.”
Bianca lets out a loud laugh. “Okay, you’re good. If you can keep up with me, we’re definitely going to have fun this year.”
I shoot her a smile and pull my suitcase over to the bed that’s not currently housing Bianca’s boxes and set it down. Just as I’m about to head back downstairs to my car to get another box, I hear the door behind me crash open, causing me to swing around in fright.
Standing in the doorway is a large man holding onto a bulging cardboard box that looks like the bottom’s about to fall out. I’m not quite sure how he fit through the door with it. His shoulders are so wide it seems like he has to squeeze them through the frame. I stand there, still as a statue, in my shock and mild panic that a man’s just walked into our room without so much as a knock.
“What do you have in this box? Rocks?” His voice comes out in a low gravelly tone that I find unexpectedly pleasing. I wonder if I handed him one of my books if he would read out loud to me. I shake my head to clear myself of that silly idea as he continues, “Where do you want this, pumpkin?”
“Those are just art supplies,” she answers before indicating that he should put the box down in the corner. He grunts while settling it into its new home, and I realize that this must be Bianca’s father. They have the same coloring, same rich-brown hair and eyes. Eyes that are suddenly studying me when he turns back around.
“Hi, I’m Bianca’s dad, Dante Moreno.” He sticks out his hand and I hesitantly shake it, hoping he can’t tell my palms have been nervously sweating since I pulled my car into the parking lot downstairs. This man looks nothing like my own father. Dante Moreno has to be at least fifteen years younger than Robert Daniels and let’s face it, a whole lot better looking. His jaw is squared with just a hint of stubble on his chin and cheeks. There’s not even a hint of gray in his short-trimmed hair to give away his age. How old could he possibly be?
“Hi, I’m Violet. It’s nice to meet you.” The presence of these two attractive people in the small dorm room is enough to make it painfully obvious that I’m, well... not. My skin is so fair that it feels like it burns the moment I step out into the sun. You can forget about laying out and getting a tan. My black hair is long and pin straight. No matter how much product I use or how long I spend with the curling iron, any volume I achieve falls right out within the hour. I would say I was mousy if it wasn’t for my large blue eyes that I got from my father. I’ve been told on more than one occasion that they’re my best feature.
Before my thoughts can make me feel any more insecure than I already do, I decide I better get a move on if I’m going to be done unpacking before nightfall. “I’m just going to head downstairs and grab some more of my stuff, I’ll be right back.”
“Are your parents here?” Mr. Moreno asks me, looking over my shoulder to the door of our room.
“Nope, it’s just me. They had a previous engagement.” I try to brush off the fact that they aren’t here by telling myself it’s for the best, and truthfully, it probably is. No matter how much I’d love to have parents here to help me move in, with mine, it would most likely have been a disaster. They would be nothing but critical and would probably say something to offend my new roommate and her father. The Danielses tend to look down on anyone that doesn’t run in their same social circle and I really don’t need to start off on the wrong foot with Bianca. She’s stuck with me for the entire year after all.
“There’s no one here to help you?” Mr. Moreno presses. There’s a little frown of concern on his face and a crease in his brow that’s more attractive than it should be.
“My dad had a business commitment and needed my mom with him. It’s fine, I’m used to doing things on my own.” I paste a smile on my face to show him I really don’t mind but that only seems to make the little crease on his forehead deepen. If I’m being completely truthful, my dad knew about move-in day months ago and could have avoided scheduling anything today but something like this just doesn’t rank high on his list of priorities against his high-paying clients. My father is a well-known corporate attorney and my mom is the socialite he married who seems to have a martini surgically affixed to her right hand. I rarely see her without it nowadays. I doubt she would even be able to set it down to help me lift a box.
“I’ll go down with you and help,” he says.
“You really don’t need to do that.” I hate causing other people trouble but I have a feeling that he won’t let this go.
“If you do it by yourself it’s going to take you all night, besides I really don’t mind. I’m sure I can do with the exercise.” He gives me a gentle, reassuring smile like he can sense that I don’t want to put him out.
“That would be great, Dad, thank you so much,” Bianca chimes in. Holy hell, I had forgotten she was even in the room with us for a second. “The faster Violet’s stuff gets up here, the faster we can arrange our room and then find out where the parties are tonight.”