Chapter 20: Just One Night
"Ugh!" Veronica said. She looked disgusted as she looked at my reflection in the mirror.
"What?" Nai'a asked defensively. The two of them at been sniping at each other the whole time we'd been at the mall.
"It's just...no!" V asserted picking at the fabric of the dress. I admit, I didn't much like it myself but had tried it on to please Nai'a.
"I like the style of the dress...but not the color." I said trying to sound neutral. "Did they have it in other colors?"
"The style is all wrong for Prom! This isn't the eighth grade dance or something...it's PROM!" Veronica said. "You should wear something long..."
"She can wear whatever she likes!" Nai'a snapped at V. She looked at my reflection and grimaced a bit. "You're right though, the color is all wrong. I think they had it in a few other colors though. I'll go see."
"Oh don't bother, I'll go find you something Gin!" Veronica said following Nai'a out of the dressing room. They glared at each other the whole way.
Veronica returned first with a not just a dress but a whole ensemble. By the time I had it on, Nai'a had returned with a couple other color choices and another dress. "Eww" Nai'a said, dropping her selections on the chair.
"I have to agree...I like the length and sort of the color...but not the corset...or the necklace...or the gloves. It's just too much..." I said, looking at Veronica apologetically.
"Meh, I guess you're right." she muttered. Even with taking off the gloves and necklace, the dress just wasn't my style. Nai'a looked triumphant for a moment which made Veronica sneer at her.
"Guys come on...just smile and play nice for another hour? Please?" I asked, trying on another dress.
They didn't smile at each other but they stopped fighting anyway. "How's Tim?" Veronica asked as she helped zip the back of the dress for me. "What happened the other night at the award's ceremony?"
"Oh, his dad had a stroke! The nurse was calling which is why they left in such a hurry," I said frowning.
"Is he alright?" Veronica asked. "His dad I mean?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. He's breathing on his own and there doesn't seem to be any major effects but he's not any better than before. They're moving him to an assisted living home soon I think."
We were all silent for a few minutes as I looked over the dress in the mirror and thought about Tim's situation.
"I like this one." I said with a small smile. "I love the color and the cut..."
"You look beautiful Ginny." Nai'a said. "What are you going to do with your hair?"
"I don't know yet...probably pull it up somehow." I twisted and turned on the little step, looking at all angles. "What are you wearing Veronica?"
"Oh I already have a dress." Veronica said. "Assuming my aunt let's me out of the house." she said quietly.
I stepped off the platform and changed back into my normal clothes, delicately hanging the dress back up. "How is that going? Have you heard from your parents at all?"
She shook her head. "My aunt chewed Jim...our accountant...a new one on the phone and he swears he'll apprise them of the situation the next time he talks to them. Apparently my dad video conferences with members of the board and execs at least once a week....nice huh?"
"What?" Nai'a asked, confused.
"That he can bother to video conference so often with them but can't even email me..." Veronica shrugged, trying to look like she didn't really care about such things but I knew she was hurting. "Whatever. Anyway my aunt keeps talking about custody but we'll see..."
------
I didn't get to see much of Erik in the weeks before Prom because his new band was practicing constantly to be ready but I stopped by at least once a week just to watch them practice. He offered to rent a limo but I assured him I'd much rather have a limo at senior prom when all our friends were going so he and Veronica met at my house and we drove there together.
Prom was being hosted at a fancy hotel in town. We arrived earlier than most because the band needed to do some set up and warm up before the rest of the attendees showed up. "I need to go set up, I think the ballroom is on the second floor..." Erik said.
"Okay, I'll be right up," I said with a smile. "Going to look around, this place is nice." He nodded and pulled me into a long kiss, I'm sure Veronica was rolling her eyes at us.
When we finally broke apart, Veronica cleared her throat. "I'll be up in a minute." she said when Erik looked at her expectantly. He nodded and headed for the elevator bank.
I strolled around the fountain, trying to be casual and waiting for Veronica to leave but she just followed me. "What's up V?" I asked finally.
"I could ask you the same thing, but I think I know." she said holding out a small box to me. I looked at it and my eyes grew wide. "Better safe than sorry." she said with a small smile. Then she left me in the lobby. I stuffed the box into my purse quickly and then approached the front desk.
------
I saw several seniors making their way upstairs and by the time I got up there, the party was really getting going. Erik looked awesome up on stage and Veronica was practically glowing with excitement; it was a look I hadn't seen on her face in a long time.
Tessa and I were a couple of fan girls, with our boyfriends in the band. We found each other in the crowd since we were some of the only juniors in attendance and we didn't have dancing partners. "Alex looks great up there!" I said over the din of noise.
"Yeah, so does Erik!" she replied as Alex spun his drum sticks and continued playing. She laughed, "How long has Erik been playing? He's really good!"
"As long as I've known him, what about Alex?" I asked watching the drummer, he certainly had a flare to him.
"He started playing a couple years ago...mostly just solo in his garage ya know?" Tessa said. I nodded, dancing to the flow of music.
Eventually Tessa and I were both out of breath and agreed to stop and grab a couple drinks. The school had hired a bartender to serve all alcohol-free drinks - Ms. Moore had said it was harder for someone to spike the drinks this way.
"Surprise me." I told the bartender, my cheeks were warm from all the dancing and heavy crowd.
He grinned and started a flurry of activity, tossing mixers and fruit into the air and catching them flawlessly. He juggled some fruit for me as well and I couldn't help but laugh. He placed a pink concoction before me and with perfect aim, flicked a heart shaped pick into the glass.
"Thanks." I said, looking at the heart a little warily. "What's in it?" I asked.
"Well that would be the surprise part." he said with a wink.
I turned in my chair to watch the band and dance floor while I drank. It was really good! I'm not sure what the heart had to do with anything of if it just complimented the color of the drink.
I barely finished the drink when the music stopped and for the first time another song did not start up again. "We're going to take a little break, we have Jake on DJ duty so I'm sure he'll keep you dancing while we grab some drinks and a moment or two with our dates." Erik said with a wink. The crowd cheered as they waved their way off the stage. He saw me across the floor and made his way to my side.
After he'd had a drink, Erik smiled, "Care to dance?"
"Sure." I said putting my glass back on the bar and let him lead me onto the dance floor.
Alex and Tessa also joined us on the floor a few minutes later, I saw Veronica hanging out with the keyboardist off to the side, they seemed to be enjoying each others' company though.
The only took a break for a few songs before returning to the stage with a burst of cheers from the crowd. After awhile, the crowd started to thin; some of them were leaving for after parties and some had grabbed food from the buffet tables and gone over to the room next door that was set up with tables and couches.
Tessa sought me out again, easier now that the floor was less packed. "There's a party upstairs in one of the suites, you guys wanna come?" she asked. "Once the guys are done of course?"
"Um..." I thought about it for a moment and shrugged. "Maybe..." I thought back to the little box and card key in my purse and then considered a group party.
"Think about it!" Tessa called as she walked over to the buffet table and picked at some of the hot wings.
When the band finally stopped playing, there were only a handful of couple left in the room and I was lounging on one of the couches, completely danced out. My shoes had been kicked off already as well. "Gin..." Erik said, picking up my legs so he could sit down. He put my legs back over his lap and smiled. "You look exhausted - ready to go home?"
"Home?" I asked. "No. There's an after party upstairs if you're interested."
"Eh, I don't know..." Erik wasn't one for large crowds really.
"Come on, Tessa and Alex are going, we can just stay for a bit..." I said swinging my legs off his lap and slipping back into my shoes. When we got to the elevator bank, a handful of others were waiting, including Alex and Tessa. There was room enough for all of us in the elevator but I held Erik back. "We'll take the next one." I said to the others with a smile.
The next elevator came quickly enough and this time Erik and I were the only passengers. I curled against him, slipping my fingers into his and laying my head against his shoulder.
Erik turned toward me after pushing the button for the floor and put his arms around me. "I don't think I had a chance to tell you how beautiful you look tonight." he said.
"Not in the last ten minutes anyway." I said with a grin. "You've told me a few times..."
"Well it merits being said again." he said with a smile.
The after-party was being held in a suite on the fourth floor and wasn't as crowded as I'd expected. Erik and I made the rounds, saying hi to people as we went. "I'm so glad you came!" Tessa said, hugging me.
"Wow man! You guys were great!" one of the seniors I vaguely recognized clapped Alex and Erik on the back. Alex was lurched forward by it and his drink spilled forward all over the front of my dress!
"Oh no!" Tessa and I said at the same time. Alex grimaced, "Sorry Ginny!" he stammered, looking around for a towel or something.
I looked around and spotted a thrown open mini-fridge but there was no water or club soda in it. I chewed on my lip for a moment. "I'm gonna go try to clean up a bit." I said.
The suite had an adjoining room and I hoped the fridge in there had not been raided in the same way, I pushed my way through the people and when I got to the adjoining room, the lights were mostly out and it was empty thankfully. The fridge was stocked so I was able to dab at the stain.
"Gin?" Erik poked his head around the door. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." I said, I motioned to the stain "Got it mostly out I think..."
"Good..." he came fully into the room and let the door close behind him so we were alone in the semi-darkness.
I lingered a moment, thinking of my previous plans and then close the gap between us. He moved toward me, as if to envelope me in an embrace but I stepped to the door and clicked the lock into place. When I turned back toward him he looked confused. "I love you Erik"
"I love you too Gin..." he said slowly, as if assessing the situation and proceeding with caution.
I reached up and pulled the flower pins from my hair, letting them drop to the floor, my hair fell from it's bind. Then I gingerly fingered the end of his bow tie, with one slow tug it fell as well. "I want you to..." I said as I started pulling back his jacket.
His fingers were on my back, tugging at the strings of the dress. He knew exactly what I wanted. And he wanted it too.
------
I woke up to the sound of my phone buzzing in my nearly forgotten purse. One glance at the clock told me it was after three in the morning..."Oh no." I muttered thinking about the inquisition I was going to be facing at home.
But when I looked back at Erik's still sleeping form, I couldn't help but smile a bit. At least until my phone buzzed annoyingly again.
End Chapter
End Junior Year
Chapter 19: Must Come Down
"We'd like to thank you all for volunteering to help with prom preparations. It's a tradition for the Juniors to help out with Senior prom, and next yet it will pay off for your prom as well." Ms. Moore was explaining while Timothy stood by her side.
It had been a week since Veronica's little police incident; she was still living at my house as her parents couldn't be reached and her great Aunt was in Europe for some conference. My Dad had confirmed through their accountant that V's parents were alive and well, merely unavailable. With each passing day, it became more and more apparent just how crappy her parents were.
Ms. Moore was still talking about tradition and all that when Nai'a leaned over to me and whispered, "Are we friends with her now?" she pointed across the table to Veronica. Veronica had volunteered for this mostly because I was and she needed me to drive her back to the house.
I shrugged to Nai'a. "It's a work in progress." I whispered.
Nai'a was confused but didn't have a chance to pursue the topic because Ms. Moore was wrapping up her school spirit speech. "Alright, we will be trying out a few bands over there..." she pointed to where instruments had been brought in from the music room, "I'd also like a few people to sort through some CDs of back up music for when the band needs a break and then we need a group on decorations. We have a hundred or more balloons that need blowing up and arranging..." she pointed out the various areas and the group of volunteers scattered.
Erik and I spent the time sorting through the CDs and had a long discussion about what was or wasn't good music. Most of the bands that tried out were terrible and I could see Ms. Moore looking distressed. They could always resort to a DJ of some sort but live music was preferable. "You should try out." I said to Erik as the second to last group walked away.
"What?" Erik asked, looking up from a pile of CDs. "I don't have a band...I have me..."
"Well Veronica is here and she can sing...and I know Alex plays the drums..." I watched as an awkward looking group took their places at the instruments. "And Wesley plays the keyboard I think...although I don't know if he's any good." As the first chords of the final group echoed painfully around the room I grimaced. "It's gotta be better than this..." I smiled at him encouragingly and within moments all protests died on his lips.
For a thrown together within moments ensemble, they played pretty well - better than the others to be sure! Okay, to be fair Wes wasn't very good but with a grand total of two minutes to prepare, they were great. And Erik looked so good...
"The gig is yours if you want it" Ms Moore said after consulting with Tim and a senior who had come in.
"This was fun but Liz and I are already going to prom and if I tell her I'm gonna be in the band all night, she'll kill me..." Wes said with a frown. "Besides, I wasn't that great..."
"You were so good man!" Alex protested. "We'd need someone on keyboard for sure..."
Erik looked between them, considering. "I know a guy...does he have to be a student?" he asked. Ms. Moore shook her head. "Then, I'm in...you?" he looked to Alex who nodded excitedly. Tessa was a few feet behind me and squealed in happiness. "V? You wanna sing with us?"
"Um...." she frowned and looked in my direction, though whether she wanted my opinion or my permission was unclear. I smiled encouragingly and she nodded. "Sure."
"Then we have our band!" Ms. Moore, who had been pensive moments before, smiled.
------
Veronica's great aunt arrived as we were leaving the house Friday morning. She and V barely had time to exchange pleasantries before we had to get to school but she went on inside to talk to my dad. Veronica was tense most of the day, somehow the whole being arrested thing had been kept under wraps after we let Todd and Erik in on the secret. However much V has control of the gossip ring at school, she couldn't keep my dad from telling her aunt.
There wasn't any time for dramatics though after school because the annual awards ceremony was taking place that night and we had to get changed and right back to school for it. Liz, a senior, was the valedictorian this year and Todd, Tim and Nai'a were all receiving awards along with a handful of other students.
Across the aisle from me, my dad was sitting with Veronica and her aunt. Veronica looked anxious, annoyed and sad all at once. Mei-Ling was sitting behind them next to Tim's uncle Stephen. He had made a lot of arrangements for the care of his brother over the last couple weeks and Tim no longer looked like a haggard adult. Dorian Kline, Tim's dad, was likely going to be in an assisted living facility soon, at least for awhile which would be good for him; Tim still wasn't sure what that would mean for him though - he couldn't live on his own and Stephen might very well go back to Egypt at some point to continue his work.
"Timothy Kline is one of the best academic students in the Junior class." Principal Watts said, pulling me out of my thoughts, "He is also our Junior class vice president and has shown promise in science, mathematics and drama - he has been chosen, from all the students at Carson High School, to receive our annual Science Award of Excellence." Timothy stood up just as Stephen's phone jingled softly. I looked back and saw Stephen making a hasty retreat from the auditorium so he didn't disturb the ceremony any further.
Timothy watched his retreat as well, even as he was shaking the principal's hand and accepting his reward. Instead of sitting down like he was supposed to, he made a silent exit off the stage to seek out his uncle. I glance back at them toward the rear of the theater and saw them both looking upset as they conversed.
Shortly after Stephen had left his seat by Mei-Ling, another person had slid into it. I recognized him from the university and elbowed Erik. "That's her fiance..." I whispered.
"It's time you come home Mei-Ling" he said, not trying to keep his voice down even as Principal Watts started praising Todd's athletic skills. "You have obligations, promises to be kept."
"I made no such promise!" she hissed back at him. "I won't come back to China and I won't marry you!"
A few heads turned in their directions and shushed them, Todd seemed to be watching them out of the corner of his eye as he was given his award as well.
"Your parents may have something to say on the subject." Ning said, his eyes narrowing and his mouth creasing in triumph.
"My parents?" Mei-Ling glanced around the auditorium anxiously, as if expecting them to materialize as well.
"Todd, Coach Reed would like to say a few words as well." Principal Watts said with a smile. He looked back at the audience, I'd like to introduce our football coach, Tyson Reed."
Mei-Ling's attention was back on the stage after assuring herself that her parents were not in the building and with any luck, not in the country. "Todd, the other coaches and I have been talking and we'd like for you to be Captain of the football team next year." he said it as a statement - there was no doubt in his mind that Todd would accept. He held out a jersey to Todd, it was symbolic but had a large "C" stitched onto it as well as Todd's name and number.
We all cheered loudly - Mei-Ling probably the loudest of all - as Todd took his award and the jersey. "Thanks Coach." he said. He too should have sat down on the stage but he took the same exit route as Tim did, probably hoping to get Mei-Ling away from Ning. She watched him exit stage right and slipped out of the row to follow; Ning followed her.
My neck was straining from trying to follow everything going on around me and Erik chuckled, returning my attention to the stage as Nai'a received her award as well. I barely got to see her shake the principal's hand when I heard a strangled gasp across the aisle from me.
"You were arrested?!" I grimaced as I looked from Veronica's great aunt to Veronica to my dad and back through them again. The aunt was angry and probably disappointed, Veronica looked embarrassed and my dad looked mildly anxious.
Clearly I wasn't the only one that had heard the little outburst as Principal Watts stopped mid-sentence for a fraction of a second and the people int he first few rows all turned toward Veronica. The room was instantly a buzz with whispers.
"Perhaps we should take this to the hall." my dad suggested. Veronica was relieved to get away from the looks and whispers but nervous to be alone with her aunt from the look of it. They quietly filed out of the auditorium and almost everyone watched them go. I turned back to the stage in time to see Nai'a smirking at the general disruption to the ceremony.
I thought that all the drama had died out and gave all my attention to the next few awards - the only one I actually knew fairly well was Liz though. Shouting from the back right off the auditorium disturbed the ceremony once again. I looked back in time to see Meghan and Mrs. Anderson hurrying toward the source - I knew Todd, Mei-Ling and Ning had left in that direction and strained to make out the words of the shouts.
"Keep your hands off my girlfriend!" Todd said loudly, I watched Ning stumbled briefly into view as if he'd been shoved backwards.
"I could say the same to you - except she is my fiance..." he replied with a fierce glare.
"Why don't we..." Mrs. Anderson started to say calmly but her words were cut off by more angry shouts.
"She doesn't even like you, she barely KNOWS you!" Todd said, placing himself protectively in front of Mei-Ling.
"Enough!" Mrs. Anderson's voice echoed around the auditorium and she blushed quickly, glancing back at those who ought to still be watching the ceremony. "Outside, all of you!" she said, still loud enough for everyone to hear. The Andersons, Ning and Mei-Ling all stomped out of the auditorium where the shouting more than likely resumed.
"Well..." Principal Watts said once order seemed to have been restored, "Let's continue..." he flipped through the notes at the podium, clearly having lost his place in the whole ceremony. Liz stood up to help him and the audience was buzzing about all the drama while they found the next award.
"I wasn't arrested!" Veronica's voice carried though they were in the back. She sounded exasperated and desperate to explain. "Not exactly anyway..."
"Not exactly? Then what was it exactly?" he aunt's voice was strong and loud as well, or maybe the auditorium just had very good acoustics.
"She was detained...but the charges were all dropped after she returned the goods." my dad's voice was calm but loud enough to break through the small shouting match brewing. "She's been very well behaved since then."
"I should hope so!" her aunt let out a large sigh but was silent, maybe it was over or maybe she was thinking. Without warning, she reached out and pulled Veronica into a loving embrace, Veronica all but fell into her aunt's arms, grateful for a loving and familiar touch.
"I'll be better, I swear I will." she said into her aunt's shoulder.
They must have disappeared outside then because none of them returned to their seats. The final few awards were presented with no drama at all and somewhat awkwardly. "Well, that was an interesting evening. I'd like to thank you all for coming and congratulations to our award recipients.." he looked toward the stage where there were now a few empty seats thanks to the departures. "Those that are still here anyway." he began clapping, followed by the rest of the audience clapping.
Wes thundered past us and scooped Liz into his arms, planting a big kiss on her lips in front of everyone as the audience began to file out of the building. "That was...interesting." Erik said squeezing my hand.
"Yeah...that it was." I looked toward both exits wondering about Tim and why he'd left; wondering about V and her aunt; wondering what had happened with Todd and Ning...
"You want to go find them all don't you?" Erik said chuckling.
"Er...sort of." I said with a blush. "I just want to know that everyone is okay."
"Why don't you let them sort their own problems just for tonight." he suggested, pulling me into his arms. "We have a date to go on."
"You know what, you're right Erik." I said with a smile. "You have my undivided attention."
"For tonight anyway." he said with a grin. "But I'll take what I can get. How would you like to go to prom with me? As a member of the band I can bring a date..."
"Sounds wonderful, always wanted to date a member of the band." I teased.
"Are we dating? Officially and all that?" he asked looking hopeful.
"Absolutely." I said before kissing him.
End Chapter
Chapter 18: What Goes Up
"Veronica, where are your parents?" Dad asked first.
"I don't know." Veronica replied. He must have looked skeptical because she continued. "I swear I don't. They've been gone since like October. They used to call or email so I knew where they were but the calls stopped and then the emails stopped..." she tried to look uncaring as she shrugged but I could see the torrent of emotion in her eyes.
"What about the bills, food, allowance?" Dad continued.
"We have an accountant who takes care of all that." V explained.
"I'll need his name and number if possible." Dad said. "Do you have any other family nearby that I can call?"
"Um...." I wasn't sure if she was thinking of a lie or actually having to think if she had family nearby.
"She has an aunt that owns a winery...she spent the summer there a couple years ago." I chimed in after a moment of silence. Veronica turned toward me and I expected some sort of hateful glare but she actually looked calm...maybe thankful? I couldn't be sure.
"She's right, she's my great aunt actually. I have a couple other uncles but I haven't seen them since I was two or three years old." Veronica confirmed and then had to stifle a big yawn.
"Okay - I need some names and any contact information you have." Yawns are contagious, especially when it was four in the morning and no one had really slept, so soon we were all yawning. "Let's get something to wake us up a bit."
We relocated the little meeting to the kitchen and dad started making some coffee. "Veronica...Ginny is right, I took guardianship of you until such time as your parents get back or another family member comes. So you'll be staying here. I expect you home everyday after school and if you go out on the weekends it will be with Ginny..."
"Dad!" I protested as the same time Veronica said "Whatever..."
My dad held up his hand to silence us. "It should only be for a week or so. No parties, no drinking, no stealing, no breaking curfew and no sneaking out am I understood?"
"Yeah." Veronica was staring into her coffee cup as she said it.
I wanted to protest more - the last thing I wanted was to be babysitting Veronica for a week or possibly longer but I could tell from the look on my dad's face that this was one of those 'suck it up' moments.
------
In all the drama of the night, I'd forgotten about my promise to Tim to escort some of the incoming Freshman on a tour of the high school. When I got to school that morning, Erik was at my locker. "Ready?"
"For?" I asked confused.
"Dealing with a gaggle of freshmen for a few hours." he pointed out the window to the football field where Tim and other student council members were trying to herd the eighth graders into some sort of order. Todd, another volunteer, was surrounded by a group already.
"Oh man, is that today?" I asked, followed by a large yawn. "Not enough caffeine in the 'verse." I muttered.
"You okay?" Erik asked concerned.
"Long...long night." I answered. I plastered a fake smile on my face. "Okay...show me to the fish..." I said with a smirk.
We were scheduled to spend the first two periods of the school day with them and were supposed to show them around the school, answer their questions and generally give them High School 101. My group consisted of a couple girls and one guy. One of the girls asked a lot of questions while the others were silent and mostly bored. I ran into Todd, Tim, Erik and Nai'a with their groups occasionally and the two bored looking ones would get more animated when they encountered friends.
Between first and second period, Veronica found me in the hall and placed her hand on my arm, trying to steer me away from my group. "Hey Gin...um can we talk a moment..."
"I'm kind of busy..." I said pointing to the students who were now watching us intently.
"Who are they?" Veronica asked while a look of mild annoyance and disgust passed over her face.
"They'll be Freshmen next year, we're showing them around campus." I said and was going to introduce them by name but I knew Veronica really wouldn't care. "So, I don't really have time right now..."
"Fine...whatever...can you just not tell anyone? About the police and all?" V asked. "Please?" she added; it almost sounded sincere!
"Sure." I shrugged, I wasn't in the mood to talk about Veronica anyway. "But it will get out ya know? Todd lives next door...he's gonna start to wonder..."
"Just don't say anything...I gotta go." And she was off again.
I turned back to my group and they were grinning. "Was she arrested?" one of them asked while another asked "What for?"
"She was...ya know what, it's not really your business." I said with a laugh. "Come on...onward!" They started whispering their theories about Veronica between each other while we walked. "This is the Home Ec room," I said as I opened the door. I was surprised to find another group there already. "Oh! Erik! Sorry, we'll let you guys finish first."
"No it's fine. We're just about done here." he said with a smile.
He ushered his students out into the hall and then turned back, holding the door open. "Hey, you busy next Friday?"
"Um...well there's the awards ceremony - I said I'd go for Todd and Tim..." I said, suddenly feeling a flurry of butterflies in my stomach.
"Right....well how about after?" he persisted.
"Nothing that I know of why?" I could feel my noisy charges staring again, ready to start peppering me with questions.
"Wanna go on a date? Ya know we haven't gone on a real, official one yet..." Erik said with a smile.
"Sure, sounds great." I smiled and was about to lean in for a quick kiss when we both felt the presence of our little groups around us. I glance back at them and they all looked in different directions. "I'll see you later." I said as my cheeks flushed a bit.
Before the door closed behind him, my groups burst with questions. "Is he your boyfriend!?"
Outside in the hall, one of the girls from Erik's group was asking a similar question "Is she your girlfriend?"
"Moving right along!" I said after a moment. We lingered in the Home Ec room for a few minutes so I knew Erik's group would have moved on by the time we came out.
We were on our way to the gym, the little freshmen-to-be were buzzing about Erik and Veronica the whole way. Todd and his group fell into step with us and the buzz got louder as the two groups exchanged chatter about their mornings so far.
"I'm worried about Mei-Ling" Todd announced suddenly.
"Who's Mei-Ling?" one of the others asked.
I rolled my eyes and wasn't going to respond by Todd stopped and turned toward them. "She's my girlfriend, she goes to CSU." the fact that he was dating a college student earned him a round of 'oooohs' from the group.
"Is that Erik guy her boyfriend?" one of mine asked.
"Yeah I guess..." Todd looked at my questioningly. "Well, I don't know actually - he was once and they broke up but now..."
"Why was Veronica arrested?" another asked.
"Veronica was arrested?!" Todd asked looking at me in surprise.
"No! Enough! Why are you worried about Mei-Ling?" I asked, trying to tune out the cluster around us.
"Oh, well she's just gotten distant...I don't know, I think this whole fiance thing is more of a problem than she's letting on." Todd said, looking down.
"Your girlfriend is engaged?!" one of the group asked. "And not to you?!"
Todd looked at them like he'd forgotten they were there. "Um..."
I just shook my head and tried not to laugh. "Well, I would imagine having a fiance...whether arranged or not...would be a small problem but she doesn't even seem to like the guy Todd."
"I guess..." he said, turning away from our audience again.
"We'll talk about it later okay?" I motioned to the others. He nodded and led his own group away just in time for Nai'a to show up. Our two groups walked together to the gym and then we released the students to join their friends. All the groups were ending here so they could be returned to their own school.
"Can you meet me after school?" Nai'a asked.
"I have to drive V home.." I said, she looked at me curiously but I decided not to try and explain.
"It will only take a few minutes, there's someone I want you to meet." she said.
------
"Ginny, this is Mr. Falkman; he's the teacher in charge of the newspaper...." Nai'a said. I'd agreed to meet with her for a few minutes after making sure Veronica was accounted for and would be waiting.
"One moment please." he said as he typed quickly on the computer. I could see that he was in the process of saving his work. He stood a moment later and turned toward us. "You must be Genevieve Bartlett...the articles you've submitted were wonderful."
"Well..thank you." I said. "It was fun to do."
"I was hoping you'd consider joining us full time next year? I know you've probably already started picking out your classes for next year but I'd love to have you on the staff next year." he said and started explaining the extent of work, the journalism electives and a lot of other information that was a bit too much to take in.
"Well, I'll certainly think about." I said. "I really hadn't settled on any electives yet..."
"Good good, I'll leave it to Nai'a to convince you." he said with a smile. "It was nice to meet you."
Nai'a was grinning as we left the classroom. "That was....odd." I said.
"What's so odd about it? You're a great writer and it would look awesome on your college apps. Come on Ginny, just think about it! Could be a lot of fun."
"I was serious when I said I'd think about it - I will I promise." I said. Veronica was looking mildly annoyed as she waited by her locker. "Well, I better go. Thanks." I waved to her and approached V. She didn't say anything the whole car ride back to the house or while we did our homework at the table together.
Later that night, I heard a faint knock on my door. "Come in." I called barely looking up from my book. Veronica stood in the doorway holding a familiar looking teddy bear.
"Gin..." she said, hesitating by the door. "I wanted to return this to you..." she said, looking at the bear.
"I remember that bear!" I said with a small chuckle. "I thought I lost it..."
"Well...I sort of took it and I'm really sorry about that..." she said as her cheeks flushed in embarrassment.
"I think I remember, you spent the night right? And were feeling homesick..." I tried to remember back to that night - it was before my mom had died. "My mom suggested I let you sleep with something of mine, something comforting..."
"And you gave me the bear..." Veronica said. "And then I took it home with me and didn't tell you."
"Yeah..."
She held the bear out to me and I took it, looking over the worn patches around the eyes and in other areas. "Thanks." I said. "This was my mom's bear when she was a girl..."
"Oh man, that makes me feel about a thousand times worse!" Veronica looked away from me. "I'm really sorry Gin...not just for the bear but for everything..."
I didn't know what to say or how to respond really. She really did look sorry and seemed to be struggling with her emotions - which was odd for Veronica.
After a few minutes of silence, I just nodded. "Okay..." It was awkward between us at first, for awhile we just sort of stood there looking at each other. I wanted to believe her, I wanted to believe she was sorry and all but she'd said the same lines before...many times before.
But when my dad came in to check on us, we were sitting comfortably on the bed just talking about little stuff - nothing important really - but just talking was a step in the right direction I think. My dad watched us for a moment and smiled.
End Chapter
Credits: Simselves from Tippie, Terra, Kitty, Berry, Jake, Grace and Laura appeared in this chapter as the "Fish"
Chapter 17: When it Rains, It Pours
"I can't stop thinking about him, about what might have been if I'd..." Timothy trailed off and I put a hand on his shoulder.
"You could spend forever thinking about the what ifs Tim, he'll get help now and you can have help now." I said with a reassuring smile.
"I know," he said, looking at his hands. "Your dad has hired some help to look in on him and everything until my uncle can come and make...decisions I guess."
"I'm sure everything is going to be fine Tim." I said. "Come on, you can look over my notes from history - we have that test tomorrow."
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The rest of the week went by with relative calm. Timothy was back at school every day and catching up quickly. Of course there was a lot of talk but none of it was bad - a lot of people came up to offer their support to him. I saw Veronica hanging back, looking conflicted more than once. Every time one of her gaggle of gossips would get her attention again though and she would turn away from us.
Apparently getting from a remote dig site in Egypt back to the States took some time and effort because Tim's uncle still hadn't arrived by the weekend. My dad reassured Tim every day that his uncle was on his way.
By Saturday, Tim was pacing the house, clearly having expected his uncle to have arrived by then. Erik was at the house hanging out and we exchanged a couple looks as Tim jumped to look out the window when another car door shut.
"Okay - let's go!" my dad announced suddenly. "We're going to the beach!" Tim started to protest but eventually we got him out of the house and swung by Erik's house so he could get changed. Almost as soon as we hit the beach, Tim found ample distractions to keep his thoughts of his family and he was smiling and laughing with the rest of us.
Tim was playing a game with a couple other people when I heard my dad's cell phone jingle faintly. He turned away from us and spoke in hushed tones before hanging up. When he turned back toward me, he caught my eye and smiled.
Stephen Kline certainly stood out on the beach; he looked like he hadn't slept or shaved in days but had done his best to pull his long hair back. We saw him before he saw us and I didn't need Tim to confirm who he was.
"Uncle!" Tim called when he spotted him. Stephen turned toward Timothy's voice and then two walked toward each other. They looked like they were about to hug but both bulled back somewhat awkwardly at the last moment and settled on a hand shake.
"Tim, it's good to see you boy!" Stephen shook Tim's hand roughly as Timothy tried a quick round of introductions.
Dad waited behind us until Timothy and his uncle had time to reconnect and Stephan could meet Tim's friends. One by one, the rest of us dissolved, leaving Tim, his uncle and my dad standing together to talk.
"Tim, do you think Mr. Bartlett and I could have a moment?" Stephan said.
"Sure!" Timothy was relieved to get away from the grown up talk. Even at seventeen, he'd had enough of adulthood to last him through what was left of high school if he could help it.
Stephan and Timothy stayed with us that night but the next day, Timothy left to go back to his own house this his uncle. Dad offered to help them in any way he could and Stephan assured him he would be in touch.
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"Ginny..." I vaguely recognized my dad's voice through the sleepy haze and groaned, pulling a pillow over my head. It couldn't be time for school already! "Come on Kiddo, you need to wake up." my dad persisted, gently shaking my shoulder and tugging at the pillow.
I clutched the pillow firmly, not willing to let go of my only shield but it was clear he wasn't going to let up. I finally let him pull the pillow from my face and blinked at the digital clock. It was almost two in the morning! "What's wrong?" I asked groggily.
Dad didn't give me any real details, just asked me to get dressed and come along. My head drooped against the car window more than once on the short trip from our house to the police station. Of course when I realized we were at the police station my head instantly cleared and the sleepiness that had been threatening me disappeared. "Dad? What's going on?"
"I'm not really sure." he said honestly. "But I think you'll be able to help figure it out."
I stared at him blankly as he put his arm around my shoulders and led me inside. Sitting on a cold, metal bench was Veronica. She looked more put out than normal as she watched us come in. My dad looked at her and then to me and back to her as if trying to assess the situation. Then he nudged me in her direction while he stepped over to the desk where a bored looking cop was filling out paperwork.
I watched my dad's back. I watched the clock slowly tick above the desk. I watched the occasional bubbles release in water cooler nearby. What I didn't do was look at Veronica.
Veronica seemed to be making a similar point to be avoiding my eye as well so we passed several minutes in silence. I would have been happy to continue like this if my dad hadn't looked back at me and made several twitching movements with his head as if telling me something.
I sighed as the full meaning of his signal hit me. "Why am I here?" I asked Veronica. "Better question, why are YOU here?" Veronica rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared into the back of my dad's head. "Okay then, I'm sure my dad is finding out now." I crossed my own arms over my chest and leaned back.
For several more minutes, neither of us said anything. I caught a few words here and there between my dad and the cop but couldn't put any of it together. "Shoplifting." Veronica said quietly and out of the blue. "I was caught shoplifting. Well that and curfew..."
I knew money wasn't an issue in Veronica's house so I'm sure there was confusion on my face. As much as I wanted to press the issue of the shoplifting, I had a more urgent question in mind. "Well why call us?" For a second I know hurt flashed across her face but I couldn't even imagine why. She returned to her stony silence and we waited. I watched as my dad signed about a dozen papers and everything was copied over in triplicate it seemed. Nothing else was said between us until my dad turned back towards us and motioned it was time for us to go.
Veronica looked sad; I don't think I'd ever seen her look so sad as she walked out of that police station. The part of me that still held out hope that the old Veronica was in there wanted to reach out and hug her. But the rest of me, the parts that had been burned and trodden on so many times, won out in the end and I stayed beside my dad.
"You're staying at our house until we can get a hold of your parents." Dad explained as we drove back to the house. "The officer said no one answered at your house, are they out tonight?"
"You could say that." Veronica muttered. I barely heard her and wasn't sure my dad did. He was eying her through the rear view mirror but decided not to push.
He looked over at me expectantly, as if I was supposed to have all the explanations to Veronica's behavior - I didn't understand the way she was when she was normal - and this was far from normal. I shrugged and stared out the window as we passed house after house.
Once again I made up the guest room and I found an old pair of pajamas that Veronica must have left behind ages ago. I put them on the bed for her and turned to leave. "Gin." she said, stopping me in my tracks. Slowly I turned back and saw she was already changing.
"My parents are out of town...." she said with a wavering voice. "They have been for months actually." Her voice actually cracked as she spoke.
"Well where are they?" I asked, I was sure my dad would need to know this much anyway.
"Ya know I have no idea." she said with a sad little laugh. "Last time I spoke to them, they were in Tuscany...and that was a month ago."
"They don't call? Give you a number or hotel name?" I was dumbfounded.
Veronica shrugged halfheartedly. "I called the last hotel I knew a couple weeks ago...they had checked out the week before; no forwarding information." I knew there was something I should say, something to comfort her or reassure her but I was in shock. "I just....thought you should know...ya know, tell your dad..." she said before crawling into bed and turning off the bedside light.
I blinked a couple times, standing there in surprise at my sudden dismissal and then went back to my room and changed back into my PJs. It was now nearly four and we had to be up in a few hours for school. I crawled into bed and hoped for sleep to take me soon. With any luck, I'd wake up in the morning and this would all be a bizarre dream.
Unfortunately, I heard noise in the hall before sleep overtook my body. I crept to the door and peeked into the hall in time to see a fully dressed Veronica quietly descending the stairs. I waited until she was at the bottom before following her outside onto the porch. "You really are unbelievably selfish aren't you?" I said shaking my head. I'd actually felt sorry for her...
"What?" she sputtered, turning to face me. The make up she hadn't washed off before bed was streaking down her cheeks where she'd been crying; though now her eyes were dry. "I don't want to be a bother....to you or your dad..."
"Don't you get it? He signed papers for you! Taking responsibility for you in the mean time....so if you get busted for shoplifting or curfew again it's him they're gonna blame this time!" I wanted to smack her again. I wanted to throw her back inside and lock the door...I wanted her to understand.
"They wouldn't, it wouldn't effect him....besides I'm not going to get caught doing anything again anyway!" Veronica's face was contorting from sadness to anger and through every other emotion in between as she stared at me.
"They would! Your actions don't just effect you V! They effect everyone around you for better or worse! You want to get your parents' attention by stealing or hanging out with the wrong crowd - fine, whatever but do it somewhere else. This is my home and whether I like it or not my dad agreed to take temporary guardianship of you which means you have to live by our rules! I won't have you screwing up MY family!"
I heard the door slide open behind me before Veronica could begin to formulate a response. "Inside, both of you. Seems no one is getting much sleep tonight..." my dad said. When I turned back, he was standing there in his robe and holding the door open for us. I looked back at Veronica and waited for her to start inside before following her. "Sit!" he said, pointing us both to the couches. We both sat. And then we talked.
End Chapter
