Planning Your Future

For Good

October 21, 1992

Veronica's POV

I was up all night, thinking about what Owen said to me. Has our relationship been unhealthy this whole time? No. Owen is wrong. We made it this long. It is healthy.

I put my stuff down in the studio. As usual can I'm the first person to arrive. "Hey." JD comes in. "Hi." I look at my feet. "Listen, I'm sorry if I overstepped. I should've respected that you didn't want to talk to me about it." He puts his hands in his pockets. "No. Don't apologize. I shouldn't have yelled at you. You were just trying to help." I shake my head. "So do you want to talk about it?" He asks. I nod. "Alyssa came in here. She was trying to talk to me and I didn't want to. Then she dropped a bomb that she still loved me." I sit on the bench. "Do you?" He sits beside me. "I don't know. I told her no, but I'm not sure that's the truth." I think I just wanted to hurt her the way she hurt me. "Why couldn't you tell me this before?" He looks away. "It's just really hard to tell you things. I'm just scared you'll get mad or you might judge me. I don't know." It feels stupid. "I had no idea you felt that way. I knew you had a hard time telling me things, but I'm sorry you thought that you couldn't tell me this." He looks at me. "I should have told you." I tap my hand on my leg. "It's okay."

"Hey. You guys ready to go?" Miles comes in, clearly in a good mood. Owen and Sam follow behind him. "Yeah." I stand up. "I promise to be there for at least an hour. I can't promise I'll stay the whole time." I'd be surprised if he did stay the entire time. That is a long time to stay for one client when you have other ones to care for. "But I'll let you rehearse. I'll see you later." He walks out.

"Alright. Let's do this." I clear my throat. We choose a few songs to work on. We get a base on those and then return to the ones we worked on before. The practice is a pretty big success in terms of how much we get done. "I'm proud of you guys." I say as we go to the parking lot. "I'll see you Friday." Sam gets in his car. JD kisses me and gets into his. Owen gets in the passenger seat. Apparently his car was no longer working, so JD agreed to drive him. Someone grabs my shoulder, making me jump. "Jesus. I didn't mean to scare you." Miles laughs. "Sorry but putting your hand on someone's shoulder so suddenly, when they don't even know you're there, is a little scary." I hit his arm. "Alyssa told me. I'm sorry." He says. "Yeah it's fine." I shrug. "Just know I'm here to talk if you even need me." He gives me a parting smile as he gets into his car.

I can hear Erika singing from the end of the hallway. I walk in, clapping. "Bravo!" I smirk. She grabs one of the pillows on her bed and throws it at me. "You were good! Are you getting ready for an audition?" I ask. "Yeah." She sighs, flopping onto her bed. "Well I look forward to seeing the show on opening night." I toss the pillow back to her. "I am looking forward to it. And I'll be in the front row of your first show." I'm excited to have a first show.

October 30, 1992

Tomorrow is the party. The band sat on the floor of the studio, debating on Halloween costumes. "Sam, if we did Ghostbusters, they would definitely boo us off the stage. There will probably be so many people doing that." Owen says. "Then let's just do individual costumes. Or JD and Veronica can do couples and we do individual." Sam shrugs. "Yeah, Halloween costumes aren't my thing." Of course JD doesn't do Halloween costumes. "Why?" I ask. "It's just lame. I never liked Halloween. It's just an excuse for candy companies to hike up the prices of candy." So he's one of those people. Oh God. I'm dating one of those people. "So I guess we should just put on something nice." I suggest. I've known this guy for years and I never knew he hated Halloween. At least I know he's not a Valentine's Day hater.

October 31, 1992

"Hi! The stage is right there." Michelle greets us. We put our stuff on the stage. The party doesn't stop for another half an hour. We do a sound check to make sure everything is in working order. "We have food over there so help yourself." Michelle smiles. We ate before coming so we weren't that hungry.

When the kids start arriving, we start playing one of the songs we rehearsed. We play a few before playing our originals. We play "Edge of Great" first. They all seem to enjoy it. We play from the song list, singing our songs after every three songs from the list. We get a break while they bring out her cake. "My hands already hurt." Sam says. "Hey guys. I'm going to go. You guys are doing great." Miles tells us. "Bye!" We all say. He leaves us.

They finish cake, so we have to start playing again. It's quite exhausting and my voice is so tired. When they do presents, we're relieved because that usually takes a while. "Here." JD hands me a water bottle. I take it and drink it. "Thanks. My voice is so tired. I'm going to pass out." I take a deep breath. I hear a loud scream and jerk my head in the direction. Sara, the birthday girl, stands in front of a car. Her parents got her a car for her birthday, I guess. "Jesus Christ, that scared the shit out of me." Sam is clutching his heart. "Same. Teenage girls are so dramatic." Owen leans against the back of the stage.

We play a few more songs as the kids start leaving. I am so happy when the last person leaves. Michelle hands us a check. "Here's your payment. You guys were great. Do you have any business cards for your talent agent? I had some parents ask." Fuck yes! JD pulls a stack of cards from his bag. Miles gave them to us for this reason. "Perfect. You guys have a great night." She smiles.

I lie with my head in JD's lap back at his dorm. "So I didn't know you were a Halloween hater." I say. "It's just stupid. I also just have a bad history with it. My mom always tried to get me to go trick-or-treating but my dad hated the idea and it caused a fight every single time. Then I'd end up in my room, listening to the sounds of my dad hitting her with a belt and her screaming." I had no idea. I knew his father was an abusive prick, but I didn't know he did that. "I'm so sorry. That's awful." I sit up. "It's okay. I'm just glad he's gone and my mom can be with a man who really cares about her." It's heartbreaking to think of what they had to go through.

"Hey, listen. I know our relationship wasn't always the healthiest, but I love you." JD brushes a strand of hair out my face. "I love you too. And even if we end up breaking up or if we stay together, because I met you, I've been change for good. I have been changed the better." I kiss him. "How philosophical of you." He smiles. I laugh and kiss him again. I push him a little so he's lying down. I start tearing his shirt off. "Wow." He smirks. "Shut up." I slam my lips against his. He puts his hands on my waist.

"Hey, how was your- Oh shit. Sorry." I look behind me and Kyle has his hand over his eyes. "Sorry. I'll go to Erika's." He backs out and closes the door, his hand still over his eyes. "Where were we?" I whisper with a smile on my face.