Ain't No Mountain High Enough

"With Or Without You"

By the time we got the place spotless, the sun had set and the only sights out the window were thousands of city lights. I had to admit that it was beautiful, even though I wasn't really a city kind of guy. A quiet, slow environment was much better, in my opinion. But I always knew that wasn't the case for Valerie. Besides, she was probably better off in the city, especially since she was such a good dancer. Surely someday someone would notice her talents in a big place like Boston. It kind of made me sad to think that she might become a professional dancer and abandon the team of video game designers, but I couldn't force her into creating concept art for the rest of her life. Dancing was her true love.

"So you really love it here?" I asked as I sat in front of the large window and stared out of it.

Valerie was fluffing a pillow on the couch behind me, but she stopped to come stand next to me. The prettiest smile was on her face. "Yeah, I do. Even if I came because of Stephen...well, I just really love the university, and the people, and everything."

"I can see why," I said, smiling.

The door opened and Keto, Valerie, and Ms. Harlow came in lugging grocery bags up.

"We're back!" Veronica announced. She plopped the grocery bags she was holding on the kitchen counter and practically bounced over to Valerie. "We brought ice cream!"

"More importantly, we brought sushi," Keto said, beginning to unbag all the groceries.

"Great!" Valerie said. "I wish I had a TV, though. We'll have to entertain ourselves, I guess."

"Nothing wrong with that," Ms. Harlow said with a laugh.

"Ugh, I can tell her about my new ex," Veronica said with a laugh. How was her ex funny? And why hadn't I heard of it?

Valerie raised her eyebrows. "You have an ex?"

"I do now! So now we're even!"

Keto rolled his eyes. "Exes aren't exactly something to be excited about, I thought. Besides, I thought Valerie has two exes now."

Of course Valerie looked at me, and I felt blush rising to my face. I was her first ex. But...did I really qualify to be one?! We dated for only a few months until we just...sorta stopped. I feel like we never even had a proper breakup. Not to mention that it was my mother's fault Valerie didn't want to continue in a relationship! And Keto...hadn't he said something about Valerie still having feelings for me? I had never gotten to ask her about it, but now that Stephen was out of the picture, maybe I could give it another try?

"That's enough about exes," Ms. Harlow said, clearly sensing the new awkwardness of the situation. "Let's get the food ready, then we can catch up."

I was all for that, as long as we didn't catch up on anything embarrassing.

Ms. Harlow got the paper plates ready while Keto opened up the box of Root Beers. We each got a plate of sushi, then went to sit around in the living room on the floor and the couch. Once we were all eating, Veronica went and made things even more awkward.

"Are you going to tell us how the breakup happened?" she asked carefully, with a wary look on her face. "If you want to, of course."

Valerie, sitting on the couch next to Ms. Harlow, shrugged. "Not much happened. I just told him it was over, then I packed my stuff and left."

"Did he try to argue with you?" Keto asked before putting a whole piece of sushi in his mouth.

"Yeah, but I didn't listen," Valerie said, sighing. "He followed me around the apartment while I packed trying to convince me that I was making a giant mistake."

I stared at my plate. "Do...do you feel like you made a mistake?"

We were all quiet for a minute, waiting for an answer. She seemed to think over the question for a moment, then shook her head.

"No...I don't think so. I did love him, but towards the end, he just...became so possessive and controlling of me. It just got worse once we moved here. When Keto told me what he said about you, Randall, I just couldn't deal with him anymore. He was becoming so cruel and self-centered."

Veronica gave Keto a look. "Dude...why did you tell? Arjun said not to!"

Before Keto could defend himself, Valerie shook her head. "No, I'm glad he told me. What if I had married him before realizing he was such a jerk?"

Ms. Harlow nodded. "If you want my opinion, Valerie, I have to say that I wasn't impressed with him when he came to your goodbye party," she said, picking at her sushi with a pair of wooden chopsticks. "I could tell he was controlling over you, and I became a little worried about how he was treating you."

"We were all worried," Keto said. "You definitely didn't deserve him."

"Heck yeah!" Veronica said, grinning. "You can do better than him!" She glanced over at me, and I felt my face heat up and I quickly looked back down at my plate.

Valerie just giggled a little, but I could tell she was still more than a little upset. "Yeah...I guess you're right," she said quietly. "I do want you guys to approve of whoever I'm dating. You're like my family, pretty much."

"Yep!" Veronica said. "Now if only Arjun came along, we could have made a real reunion out of it."

Ms Harlow gave a tsk, and Keto looked bummed out.

I wished he came to, because at least he would be out of Nathan's way. Away from harm. What if something happened to him while we were away? I got out my phone and texted to ask how things were just to quiet my anxiety, and he instantly texted back.

Him: good wbu

Me: Same here. Have you seen Nathan?

The little dots that told me Arjun was typing appeared, and they went on and off for a moment before he finally replied.

Him: don't worry about it i'll handle it

Another pause, then-

Him: just have fun up there

Gee, that was great advice. Have fun while my best friend dealt with drug dealers on his own. Why did he have to be like this? Sighing, I sent him a frowny face emoji, then put the phone beside my leg in my seat just in case he texted again. I tried to focus on the conversation the others were having, but I had a feeling Ms. Harlow knew something was up by the way she kept looking at me with a subtle worry in her eyes.

What could I tell her?

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Listen to U2's 'With Or Without You"!

Peace✌️~ A.J.