Abby and Violet (Yuri Light Novel)

Thank goodness I listened to Abby because, after we got home, I ended up spending more than two hours in our bedroom after setting it up as some sort of sensory deprivation chamber. The curtains were shut to deprive the room of as much light as possible, I borrowed Abby’s earplugs to further isolate myself from noise, and I laid in bed on my back, unable to think much, only existing in that small place. And of course, Abby was with me, her weight partially on me, anchoring me with the comfort her presence brought along. She was also the reason why I “only” spent two hours lying around in bed, otherwise I’d have forgone lunch and stayed there for even longer.

The rest of the day, I spent it being a bit listless, slowly returning to some semblance of normalcy with each passing hour. With it came that internal voice, always the critic, but I couldn’t help but find myself agreeing with it. “Isn’t that normal for you?” one might ask. In a way, yeah, but with the time I spent with Abby, I had gotten better at ignoring it, or at least not taking it too seriously.

That all came bubbling up during family dinner.

“So, girls, how was school today?” William asked, innocently enough, but making my chest clench. I gave Abby a quick look before answering.

“Dad, William, I’m sorry, but… we skipped most of the day,” I admitted to them.

Dad and William shared a look, their posture shifting a bit. Abby and I were in for a scolding, but it seemed like they’d listen to us first.

“Can you tell us why?” my Dad asked, his voice serious.

“…I… I got a bit… overwhelmed when our classmates found out Abby and I are married. Abby took the brunt of it, but… We left after the second period.”

They exchanged a look again before looking back at us. I braced for what was to come.

“We already expected something like that to happen,” my Dad said. “We understand that it can be very draining for you to be the centre of attention. However, when you two got married, you also became recognised as adults in the eyes of the law. We don’t expect you two to suddenly act as adults, not when you’re still under our roofs and seventeen anyway, but this is your last year of high school, so you two need to start acting more like adults. You can’t just skip school anytime you’re stressed out the same way you can’t skip work in the future. You need to learn to deal with that.”

“But Papa Stan, Violet was really hanging by a thread!” Abby jumped in. “And it was me who insisted on her skipping because of how tired she was!”

“I believe you, and I don’t mean for her to over-exert herself in uncomfortable situations, however, I wish for her to try and find a balance between protecting herself and being a responsible adult. Do you two understand that?”

“Yes, Dad, we do,” I said, putting a hand over Abby’s before she could say anything else that wasn’t taking accountability. “We promise to do better in the future. Not that I think there’ll be another event as stressful as today… I hope.”

My dad nodded and looked at William, who had been waiting for his turn.

“As for you, Abby,” he began, leaning a bit forward. While my Dad sounded firm but soft, William sounded a bit hesitant in what tone to use. “We understand that you’re a safe harbour for each other, which is really good to see, since you’re married, but… like Stan said, you two need to start acting as adults, and that means that, if for some reason Violet has to skip classes, that doesn’t mean you skip classes too.”

“But Dad, I—”

I’m not setting it as a hard rule,” he said, raising a hand to let her know he wasn’t done talking. Seeing her settle back, he continued. “What I mean is, instead of immediately tagging along because Violet needs to go home for some reason, being stressed, having severe discomfort during her period, or anything else, you should try to stay back to do your responsibilities. I understand you might hate it—you two, I mean, but once you’re in university or working, you really can’t be missing days to take care of Violet all the time. It simply won’t be possible, do you understand?”

“…Yes, I understand,” Abby said with a sulk. “If I skip days, my grades might go down, or my pay might get cut, and that will hurt us more in the long run, right?”

He smiled at her and gave her an approving nod.

Abby and I glanced at each other with an understanding look that spared any need for a talk later.

Everything they told us, I had already told myself a thousand times until then. They just further confirmed and solidified it in my mind.

Abby and I need to step up…

Before Abby and I signed the wedding certificate, we were explained what that meant: from the moment Abby and I were married, we were also emancipated from our parents, meaning that, in the eyes of the law, Abby and I were now adults despite still being seventeen. I was responsible for Abby, and Abby was responsible for me. Dad and William also technically weren’t our registered tutors in the school registry as a result of that, although we all had an unspoken agreement that they still held the bigger say in things about our high school education.

To sum it all up, Abby and I were now in this strange limbo where we were both adults and still kids under our parents’ guard. It was hard, but… I also felt lucky, you know? Abby and I could mess up a bit while trying to figure out how to be adults, but we had them right by to help us out and give us their guidance. Had Abby and I gotten married only after graduating and/or moving away, then we’d have to figure it all out by ourselves, or at best, with our Dads far away. We had a lot of pressure on our shoulders, but we also had a great safety net.

“We are sorry to you too, Sophie,” I said, addressing the one person who had been observing the conversation on the sidelines.

“To me? Why?” she asked, confused by being addressed in a conversation she thought she wouldn’t get involved in.

“You were the one who supported the idea of Abby and me marrying, so I’m sorry that we are already messing things up.”

Her expression softened, touched by my worrying about disappointing her and making her look bad.

“It’s fine if you two commit some mistakes, dear,” she told me. “Just make sure you learn from them and don’t end up repeating them, ok?”

The rest of the dinner was a bit more cheerful, but I still spent most of the time wishing for my bed and pulling Abby so tightly that I could feel her heartbeat against mine. And when I finally could do that, I also spent a good amount of time giving Abby’s face tiny, soft smooches.

Between them, Abby asked if I wanted a massage to decompress, but I told her that I’d rather keep on smooching and squeezing her. She then asked if I wanted to talk about what was on my mind, but I refused that too. I was tired of thinking, so I just wanted to feel.

Sleep didn’t come easy, and when I woke up, it felt like I had just blinked.

I rolled on my back and raised in the air my left hand, looking at the ring. It wasn’t long before Abby began to stretch her body with a moany sigh, and her left hand slid over my left arm until our hands met and intertwined with one another.

“Hi there, wifey,” she said with a lazy smile. “Feeling better?”

“…I think so,” I told her. “A bit… hollow, I guess.”

She let out a long hum before asking if she should start our morning by filling up that hollowness with her love, making me laugh and almost immediately forget about that empty feeling well into the day. That feeling partially came back while we were having lunch with our friends in the school cafeteria. It had transformed a bit though, from a hollowness that left me listless to one that left me feeling restless instead. The thoughts of last night came back, but instead of feeling overwhelmed, I felt like I’d tackle them head-on. There has to be something I could do now that’d influence my future me.

“Oh! Babe, look!” Abby said, excitedly tugging at my sleeve. She was pointing at a billboard by the entrance of the cafeteria. I followed her finger with my eyes, my gaze landing on a piece of paper with hand-drawn books decorating the corners. The Library Committee had openings for new members, and it didn’t take even a second of thinking before I understood what Abby was aiming at.

Last year, around this time, I saw a very similar paper, but at the time, I didn’t go for it and regretted it afterwards. Then, during the summer, there had been that part-time job at the library that I couldn’t apply for because they wanted someone eighteen or older. This time, fate had presented a third chance, and this time, I’d take it.

“Thanks, honey,” I affectionately said as I leaned down to give Abby a kiss. It was only on the cheek since we were in public, but it still sent her into a giggling fit. “I’ll go talk with them right now.”

I had planned to go alone, but Abby, in her fit, clung to my arm, so I ended up dragging her giggling self along the way. I felt like this year would be a big one, full of change, but it also looked like there were things that’d stay the same.