Disconnected

*Violet's POV*

After the strange encounter with Kane, we head back to the dorm and Stella tells me she’s going to have a nap so I decide I should probably take this chance to make some phone calls. I bring my laptop outside and sit underneath a shady tree and put my headphones in. I facetime Rebecca first.

She answers right away and I can see that she’s sitting in her room. Her red hair is up in a bun and she’s got her glasses on.

“Hey Vi, what’s up?”

“You will never believe who is here.”

“Who?”

“Kane.”

Her mouth drops open. “Kane as in your step-brother Kane?”

“The one and only,” I reply with a fake smile.

“Why? How did you even find out about this?”

I explain the whole story at the frat party and she takes a few seconds to process this.

“I can’t believe she didn’t tell you. Also I can’t believe you voluntarily went to a frat party. I thought you hated it when Jace brought you to one last year.”

“I did, but my new roommate Stella can be very convincing. She’s super outgoing and confident and I think she’s already a good influence on me.”

“That’s really great Vi. I’m glad to hear your doing well.”

“Thanks Becca. How about you? Anything new?”

“Since I saw you Saturday? No,” she says with a chuckle. “We don’t start classes until next week. But I’ll be sure to keep you updated.”

“Alright, well, I should call my Dad and tell him about the whole Mom thing but we’ll talk soon?”

“Yeah, of course. Good luck with your Dad.”

“Thanks Becca. Talk to you soon,” I say and then blow her a kiss through the camera.

I hang up and then dial my Dad. I decide on the ‘vegetables before dessert’ approach. When he answers, I can see that he’s at the office.

“Hey kiddo.”

“Hey Dad. Are you busy? I can call back later.”

“I‘m never too busy for you. What’s up?”

“Uh, well there’s a couple things. First, did you know Mom was back in the states?”

“What? She is? Since when?”

“Yeah, apparently she and Harper moved to New York this summer. I didn’t know until I ran into Kane yesterday on campus.”

“He’s at Harvard?”

“Apparently, yeah.”

“If he gives you any trouble, you let me know, okay?”

“He’s actually been fine, Dad. But I will. I’m actually more upset that Mom didn’t tell us that she was moving here.”

“Unfortunately, nothing your mother does surprises me anymore. I wouldn’t worry too much about it kiddo. It’s nothing to do with you okay? It’s just kind of your mother’s MO.”

“I know that. Anyway, on a more positive note, my roommate is really great. Her name is Stella and she’s into fashion design and she’s super outgoing and friendly. She’s basically my opposite but we get along well.”

“It makes me so happy to hear that Vi.”

“We had orientation today and they showed us all around campus. It’s so incredible.”

“Sounds like everything is going well. Look, I don’t mean to cut this short, but I have a client meeting coming up so I have to go. Talk soon?”

“Of course. Love you Dad.”

“Love you kiddo.” I hang up and dial Jace, the next person on my list. He picks up after a few rings and I see him walking into his room in the frat house and shutting the door.

“Hey Vi, What’s up?”

“Well, apparently my mother is in New York.”

“What do you mean? Like for a visit?”

“No they moved to Manhattan. And she didn’t even tell me.”

“Then how do you know she’s here?”

“Well yesterday Stella and I went to this party at Alpha Psi and-”

“Wait what? You went to a frat party? Since when do you do that?” He sounds really upset about this. I furrow my eyebrows together. Why would that upset him?

“Yeah, I did. Sorry am I missing something? I thought you wanted me to be more, like, outgoing or whatever?”

“No, you’re right, I do. It’s just when I brought you to a frat party you hated it.”

“I didn’t hate it...I just wasn’t a big fan. But you didn’t let me finish. I wasn’t a big fan last night either. I was only there for like 10 minutes when I ran into Kane.”

“Kane?!”

“Yeah, that’s how I found out about my mother.”

“What the fuck? Was he mean to you? I swear, I’m gonna come down there and kick that guys ass if he did anything to you.”

“No, no, he didn’t, it’s fine, Jace. He just told me about Mom moving here. He thought I already knew, which is a fair assumption and I was upset about my Mom so I left the party.”

I gloss over Kane's other comments and leave out our interaction at the pub today. I hear a knock on a door in the background of the video chat and he says, “I gotta go Vi but I’ll call you soon okay?”

“Yeah o-” He ends the chat before I can finish my sentence. I’m left sitting here confused by that whole conversation. Why was he so upset that I went to a party? He’s probably just concerned about my safety. That must be it. And why did he hang up on me so quickly at the end? Maybe they have an event at the house or something. I don’t know. It’s probably nothing anyway and I have bigger things to worry about right now.

Now it’s time for me to make my final phone call; the one I don’t want to make. I decide to just call from my cell phone. I don’t really want her to see my face for this.

I dial my mom and I get an automated message saying her number has been disconnected. Of course. She must have switched to a US number now. Great. So I have no way of contacting my own mother.

I could ask Kane. But that would mean actually seeing him in person because I don’t have his number either. I lean my head back against the tree and decide to just go back into the room and watch a movie in bed while Stella finishes her nap.

When Stella wakes up, we go to the cafeteria for dinner and then head back to our room and sit on my bed together and marathon rom coms until we decide to call it a night.