Chapter 415: Her Safe Place

The two friends went downstairs to check what kind of beverages were available and found coffee, tea, and a bottle of coke. Perfect. The experiment called for three different types of colored drinks anyway.

historical

Violet brewed the coffee and tea as Noah carefully followed instructions he found online to suck the egg out of an eggshell without breaking it. The experiment specifically called for eggshells only.

They took three cups up to his room to keep them safe from the dog and set them on his desk. She poured one drink into each cup and then dropped one hollowed out eggshell into each one.

"It's about 5:30 so make sure you check them the same time every day from here on out," Violet instructed. "Make a chart for each day and cup and watch the results for a week. Super simple. I can help you put together your poster board for the fair after that."

"You're an angel, Vi," Noah said fervently. "I never would have been able to come up with something like this."

"That's what the internet is for, dummy," she replied with a smile. "But I'm always happy to help."

Noah was practically one of her brothers. He had been a vital part of her life for longer than she could remember. She couldn't think of anything she wouldn't do for him.

But unlike her brothers, he never gave her a hard time about anything. They were kindred spirits; always on the same page. It was kind of funny since their hobbies were so different.

Kaleb had different hobbies than Violet did too and he seemed a million miles away from her these days. When he was around all he did was mess with her. She missed the way things used to be.

Sometimes when she was particularly put out she wondered why Noah couldn't have been her twin instead. Despite their differences in pastimes, their personalities were compatible. The older they got the more Kaleb and Violet seemed like oil and water.

"I wish I could do more for you," Noah said a bit dejectedly. "I can't help you with your homework or drive you places or make people at school stop being mean to you. You're always helping me out but I can't do the same."

She was surprised he thought that way. Violet never thought their relationship was unequal.

Sure, she helped him with his homework a lot but that was largely because it gave her an excuse to see him. Sixth grade homework was a piece of cake so they always finished quickly and could hang out afterwards.

Noah didn't do much for her in terms of physical things like the ones he mentioned but that was because he was younger than her. He helped her in other ways. He was sort of like her safe place.

As much as Violet loved her family, she couldn't always relate to them. They were always supportive and she knew they cared about her deeply but they didn't get where she was coming from.

Somehow, Noah always did. He understood what she wanted before she even said anything. He knew when to talk and when to let her sit and stew in silence and always had the right thing to say to cheer her up.

She had never felt the need to be anybody but herself as she was in that moment with him. It was a bit hard to explain but Violet's personality shifted from time to time. It was as if her family expected her to always be the same way she usually was.

Noah simply rolled with the punches. He didn't care which version of Violet was present that day. He understood them all.

"That's not true!" Violet blurted more forcefully than she meant to.

"Yeah it is," he sighed. "Thanks for saying so though. I wish I was older. If we were in the same grade I would never let anybody mess with you. We could sit at the same lunch table and do our homework together. And I would totally punch that guy who keeps throwing pencils at you in the face."

She snickered at the thought. Noah could throw a mean punch. He wasn't a black belt for nothing.

"That does sound nice but I like you the way you are, Noah. You can't magically make yourself older."

"It would be cool if I could though, wouldn't it?" he asked with a small, rueful smile on his face.

He was still clearly bothered by what he had said earlier. But what could Violet say to make him feel better? She had never been all that great at cheering people up.

"You're my emotional support! Like..um.." she wasn't sure how to describe her thoughts from earlier.

Noah raised an eyebrow. "Like those emotional support dogs?"

"No! You're not my pet, stupid! You're my safe place."

"How exactly is that better than being a pet? In either scenario I lost my humanity," he said with a slight laugh.

She scowled at him. He knew what she meant; she could see it in his eyes. Her wrongly worded explanation had actually made him feel better.

"Noah," Violet whined. "Don't be like Kaleb. I like spending time with you because you aren't like him."

That sobered him instantly. "Is he being mean to you again?"

Not mean exactly. But there was definitely a divide between them that wasn't there before middle school. He had long stopped inviting her to sit with his friends. It was the main reason she even bothered trying to sit with the choir or orchestra kids.

Violet wanted to prove to her brother that she could take care of herself. She had sensed his resentment at having to look out for her at school since upper elementary. She carried on with it once he saw she was fine because she was sick of being isolated and wanted a chance to date like everyone else.

Kaleb wasn't mean per se but he did tease her a lot more than he used to. And he hardly spent any time with her outside of family activities either. If the younger boys were playing a board game and invited them both he would play but he wouldn't play cards with her on his own most of the time.

Why? What had she done to make the person she loved most in this world want to throw her away? Was it really only because she had been too clingy when she was younger? She was trying so hard to be better.

"He doesn't seem to want much to do with me these days," she said sadly. "I miss him. I miss the way things used to be."