After having told Sam what had happened at Mr.Ricci's house,Sam had sobbed the whole night.
She had fallen asleep in my bed as I played with her hair trying to calm her down.
When I had woken up, I had left her in my bed and covered her with a blanket. She needed to take a break from school for a few days but unfortunately I couldn't.
Vera greeted me as I pulled into the parking lot. Her dirty blonde hair was pulled into a messy bun while strands of hair framed her face.
She was easily one of the prettiest girls at the school and could have been the most popular but she chose to be friends with me, a nobody.
Her family owned the biggest mall in our area and were the owners of over a dozen other properties.
When I had first met Vera, she was best friends with Aubrey Williams.
I was new to the prestigious school and didn't know that people apparently had assigned seats created by Aubrey.
I was there on a scholarship because of my perfect grades and I knew I would stick out like a sore thumb.
Her friends and her would sit at the table by the windows while she assigned all the people she deemed losers to the tables by the trashcans.
No one ever stood up to her because they were all afraid of her and her family who were also very wealthy.
Even though back then, in only the sixth grade, she was already a monster.
I remember walking into the lunchroom and sitting at the table by the windows without knowing the mistake I was doing.
As soon as Aubrey had seen me she had dragged me out of the chair, throwing me on the floor.
Her friends laughed as I sat there humiliated and confused on why a total stranger was treating me so horribly.
Then I recall, Vera looking into my eyes and a pang of guilt hitting her.
" Come on Aubrey, she looks new here. She probably didn't know. Just leave her alone," Vera had said as she put a hand on Aubrey's shoulder.
" What the fuck is your problem, Vera? You know how it works around here. I won't make exceptions for anyone not even this bitch," Aubrey looked at me with such disdain that I could feel tears pooling in my eyes.
I still didn't understand at that time what I had done so wrong.
Aubrey and a few others then threw their lunch at me.
"Now you'll finally have some food to eat because we know damn well you can't afford to buy any lunch," Aubrey laughed and the other joined. All of them except Vera.
"You can be such a bitch!" Vera had exclaimed as she grabbed her lunch from the table and extended her hand out to me.
"Come on, we'll find somewhere much better to eat."
I shyly took her hand and we left the cafeteria.
She led me to a room that looked like no one had been in in years.
"Thank you," I had said after we had eaten lunch silently.
" No worries. Now we're bonded for life," Vera smiled and she kept her promise.
Years later we were still best friends.
"What are you thinking about?" Vera asked as I got out of my car.
"About how we became friends."
Vera smiled and kissed my cheek.
"We were destined to be friends for life," I smiled at her words.
She was a breath of fresh air with all the problems I had drowning me.
"I have so much to tell you about what happened last night," and I began to tell her everything that had happened at Mr. Ricci's house.
-------------------------------
" Holy shit!" Vera had her jaw on the floor.
"I can't believe Jonah is related to that hunk of a man," she continued as we walked to my locker.
" I know, I know."
Pulling out my textbook from history, I felt Jackson's locker open next to mine.
Even with all of the problems happening, my love for him took my mind off those things temporarily.
"Hey Jackson," I said shyly as I looked at how breathtaking he looked today.
His dark blue hoodie clung to him accentuating his toned body. His dark brown hair was styled in a way that you would see in magazines.
He was deliciously good looking.
"Hey Reagan," He shot me one of his panty dropping smiles as he took out his own books out of his locker.
My breath caught in my throat. Why did he have to be so beautiful?
"You wouldn't happen to have the English homework. I haven't had time to do it because you know how stuff at home can be..." He trailed off once he saw Vera next to me.
He had explained to me that his living environment was toxic at home but he never really went into details and I didn't want to pry.
I felt honored enough that he would trust me with that kind of information.
"Here you go," I handed him the paper as his hands brushed against mine to take the paper out of my hand.
"You're the absolute best," He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek as his friends called for him and he ran off to catch up with them.
My cheek tingled at the place he had kissed me on. It had been a small friendly kiss but God, it meant so much more to me. And maybe, just maybe, it meant more to him too.
Vera giggled at my lovestruck expression and pulled me by my hand to history class.
Time to see Mr.Ricci.
Ugh.
