Awkward silence filled the air as both of them stared at each other.
Matt was visibly nervous, while Violet was just being her cute, oblivious self. She looked so utterly lost about the whole thing, causing Matt's face to turn beet red. It felt like he had just done something unnecessary and practically embarrassed himself.
"Well, thank you, Matt. Wow, this name really does sound better than Martin." She gave a short laugh. She had an infectious laugh, so he laughed as well.
"Y-yeah! Exactly! That wasn't so hard, was it?"
"Hmm, weeeeellll…"
"Don't you do it!" Matt suspected Violet was going to do something silly again.
"Haha! I'm just messing around with you. Come on, sit."
Fortunately, he was wrong.
He had been wrong about a lot of things lately. He realized he didn't know as much as he thought he did—or as much as he could. It was a truly humbling experience.
"So, I see you're not wearing your pink wig anymore. You almost fooled me with that, you know?" Matt chuckled, finally taking Violet's offer of a seat.
"You thought it was my real hair, right? Haha! I knew it! The moment I knew you were in this college, I figured I had to surprise you somehow. Looks like it worked."
Matt sighed and shook his head at the girl's words. How could she do all of that for such a petty reason?
He assumed her weird Chuuni manner of speech also served the same purpose back then.
'Hold on a sec.' Matt's eyes widened as he pinpointed something critical in what Violet just said.
"How did you know I was in this college?"
Perhaps Matt was overthinking things a little, but he wasn't sure how someone he hadn't met in ages would be able to so easily recognize him—let alone figure out which college he attended. His name, physique, and personality were all different from back then.
So how in the world did she find out?
"Well, that's a secret. Tehee!" Winking and sticking her tongue out in a cute, yet weird, fashion, Violet gave her answer.
Matt started to freak out as he considered the possibilities, but he quickly killed the thought. There was no way he wanted to go down a rabbit hole he wouldn't be able to get out of.
'Let's not dwell on this! Let's not dwell on this!! Let's not dwell on this!!!'
Seeing how Violet smiled at him though, he couldn't really think of any malevolent reason behind it. From where he was sitting, she merely seemed like a pretty, normal girl. She was nice, pretty, and so cheerful that she seemed to light up wherever she was.
Matt couldn't keep his eyes off her.
"W-why did you become a… I mean, sorry, how did you become an Exposed? When did you become Enlightened? I'm so curious?"
According to the Society, those were two different things. Matt started out as an Enlightened, but it was possible that Violet started out as an Exposed.
"W-well, the truth is, I became like this because of you, Matt."
Those words were enough to shut his brain down.
He had most definitely not been expecting that sort of answer—especially not from the same girl who ran out on him during his confession.
"H-hold on, I don't understand. You didn't even accept the gift I gave you back then. How could I have—?"
"I remember that moment quite well. Haha! It really was too much for me, so I ran away. But, what you probably don't know is that I fished your gift from the trash where you threw it."
"Wait, for real?"
"Yes. I'm surprised you still haven't figured it out by now. Didn't you know what was inside the box?"
"W-well… haha…"
The honest truth was that Matt—no, Martins at the time—had asked his sister to help him get a present that girls would like. He didn't know much about them, so he had to rely on his sister's girly intuition.
It was already wrapped beautifully, and he didn't want to damage the present by opening it. He was also in too much of a hurry, so his excitement didn't allow him to remember to ask his sister what exactly was in the gift, before he took it with him.
Perhaps he would have asked later on, if he hadn't encountered so much trauma when he finally confessed. However, after that incident, he decided to put the past behind him.
And the past included the present.
"Unbelievable. So you didn't know? It's no wonder. Even though I tried to give you a hint by adding Tee to my dress accessories, you still didn't figure it out." Violet nearly sighed in exasperation.
"W-whoah! So you mean—"
"Yes, you dum-dum. Tee was the one in the present."
Matt didn't know what to say at this point. Where should he even begin?
The fact that Violet had fished out his gift from the trash, or that she had kept the gift he gave her after all those years. It felt so touching that he thought he would die from how warm his chest was getting.
"But, that doesn't explain how I was the cause behind you becoming Enlightened, or was it Exposed? This stuff is a bit complicated."
"It's not really complicated, though." She said brightly.
'Easy for you to say, you've had a whole year to figure this out.' This what Matt wanted to say, however on second thought, he decided to keep that thought to himself.
"The thing is, when I was going through some dark times, and I needed strength the most, I recalled your fearlessness and resolve back then in my mind. I had Tee with me, and he helped me out in that desperate moment of need."
Matt didn't get the full picture, since she spoke vaguely, but he didn't want to interrupt.
"It's because of you that I became exposed to this world. You left Tee with me, as well as the memories of your daring days." She laughed some more, causing Matt's heart to skip a beat.
He simply could not understand how his previous, weird personality could have given someone strength in their tough times.
Still, that didn't stop him from being happy to hear it.
'Thank you, Violet.'