Planning Your Future

You Matter To Me (Part 1)

December 31, 1991

Veronica's POV

Christmas was extremely uneventful. Basically nothing happened. I think I kind of shut down after JD said what he said to me. He was right. Henry could cause a lot of trouble if I keep fighting with him. The phone rings so I answer it. "Hello?" Please don't be Jill. "Hey Veronica! It's Jill!" Dammit. "Hi Jill! What's up?" It's another fucking event, isn't it? "Are you still coming to the New Years Eve party?" She asks. Shit. "Um... yeah. Is it okay if I bring a friend? She doesn't have anyone to spend New Years with." In actuality, I just want to bring her as a date. "Yes! The more the merrier. I'll see you there."

When Alyssa comes over, I tell her about it. "I won't know anyone there." She frowns. "That's not true. Heather and JD will be there. And James might come too." She thinks about it, "I guess. But I don't think I have anything to wear." I smirk and drag her upstairs. "I'm pretty sure I have something you could wear. I pull out some of the dresses that are close to her size. She picks a light purple dress.

She goes home and brings back her makeup. We both get ready, then go over to Heather's. Jill greets us at the door. "Hi Veronica!" She hugs me before looking at Alyssa. "Oh this is Alyssa. I met her when JD and I worked at the camp last summer." Alyssa sticks her hand out. "Nice to meet you." Jill shakes her hand. "I'm Jill. Nice to meet you, too."

Heather sees us and comes over. "Alyssa you look so good! Is this dress yours?" She hugs her. "No it's Veronica's." Heather then looks at me, "Veronica you also look great." As she hugs me, I see JD talking to James. We exchange a glance but then he looks at the door with a concerned look. I let go of Heather and turn around. Fuck. It's Henry. I grab Alyssa and go over to JD. "What the hell is he doing here?" I ask. "Hank is friends with the Baldwin's. He probably doesn't know about the shit he's done." James says. I want so badly to go make him leave. I guess JD senses this because he grabs my arm and pulls me close to him. "Don't forget what I told you." He whispers in my ear. I take my hand out of his firm grip.

Heather scoffs when she sees him. She aggressively hands James her drink, then storms over to Henry. James smirks, "I think that's the first time she's acknowledged me since the breakup." I laugh. Then I realize I never said hi to him. "Oh! Hi James!" We hug. "And I believe you've met Alyssa." James gasps, "Alyssa? I missed you! I wish I could've gone to camp last summer. Who won the Gaga tournament this year?" He asks her. "Well counselors obviously won the game against the kids. And Veronica's cabin actually won." James looks at me, shocked. "It was all the kids. I didn't do shit." I really didn't.

We hear a loud slap noise. Heather had slapped Henry. Henry gave her a disgusted look before walking out. Yes! And I didn't have to do shit. When Heather comes back, we all clap. "Why'd you slap him?" JD asks. "He had some less than kind words to say about Veronica and Heather. So I slapped him. It seemed to have done the trick." She shrugs.

As the night continues, Alyssa and I sit in the corner for most of the night. Nobody seemed to be up for games like they were last year. JD looks over at me every now and then. Finally Alyssa says something about it, "I think you should talk to him." She's right. I should talk to him. I get up and make my way over. "Hey." I stand awkwardly beside him at the drink table. "Hey. You having fun?" He doesn't even look at me. "Not really. There's not much to do." I say. "Yeah." He still won't. "Okay can we stop? Please?" I just want him to look me in the eyes. "Stop what?" He acts oblivious when he knows damn well what I'm talking about. "This weird thing between us. I know I hurt you and I am really sorry for that. But I am giving you permission to find a girlfriend." Can't take that back now. "I can't." He's back to not looking at me. "Why not?" I did. Why can't he? "Because I still love you! I don't want to be in a new relationship if I'm not over you. You may have moved on, but I haven't." He walks away.