Life Can Be Beautiful

Sunlight and Storms

December 22, 1997

Veronica's POV

Alyssa and I land in Columbus. As we walk through the airport, we're so tired. Alyssa hates flying but I love it. My dad is at work so Hank and Jill agreed to pick us up. JD and Eva drove and would probably be in Sherwood tonight. "So if you don't mind me asking... How have you guys been since the whole cheating accusation thing?" I ask on the drive to Sherwood. "We've been good. I trust him. If he says nothing happened, I believe him." Jill says. "And I'm grateful for that trust." Hank kissed her hand. "You guys are so sweet." I smile.

Alyssa is passed out next to me. I let her sleep until we get to my dad's. She is not happy when I wake her up. "Baby come on." I laugh as she whines. She finally gets up and we get out of the car. "Thanks again, guys!" I wave at Hank and Jill. We go inside and put our stuff upstairs. "So don't be mad," Alyssa starts. "Uh oh." I start to unpack. "I may have accepted my mom's invitation for us to come over." Alyssa sits on the bed. "Okay... When is that?" I'm definitely not mad. But I'm not exactly happy about it. "Shes coming to get us at five." She says. I look at the clock. It's twelve o'clock. "Okay. That's fine." I continue taking stuff out of my luggage. "You're okay with that?" She seems like she was hoping I'd be mad so we didn't have to go. "Yeah. It's fine." I shrug. "Okay." She pays the spot next to her. "Okay." I sit in that spot.

At five, Ms. Greene picks us up. "Hey Veronica. How are you?" She doesn't even look at me. "I'm good. How are you?" I get in the back seat. "I'm fine, thank you." She smiles in a way that feels fake. We get to her house and go inside. "Make yourself at home, Veronica." She says as she makes her way to the kitchen. "I'm sorry." Alyssa whispers. "It's okay." I kiss her. Ms. Greene walks out and sees us kiss. She looks mad but like she doesn't want us to know that. "Well. How have you guys been?" She's carrying a plate of pâté. Not the "pâté" my mother would offer guests but actual pâté. "We've been good. I've been busy teaching and Veronica has her band." Alyssa tells her. "Oh yes. The band." She nods. "Yeah. We had our two year break, but now we're back." I say. "Right. You and Jason weren't talking." She offers us some of the pâté. "Oh thank you." I take one. "Yeah, but we're friends again and happier than ever. I don't know if you heard but he's getting married in four months." The wedding is happening in Boston because of how many friends and family that are coming that live in Boston. "That's great. It must be so unfortunate that you're in a relationship where you can't get married." Alyssa mumbles "oh God" and puts her head in her hands. "Well it is sad, but this country's not there yet. But we hope it will be there one day." I take Alyssa's hand away from her head and hold it in my hands. "We'll see." Ms. Greene fake smiles again. "I need some air." Alyssa gets up and goes outside.

I close the door behind me. "Hey." I sit on the stairs next to Alyssa. "God. Why is my mom so... hateful." Alyssa groans. "It's the way she is, babe. It'll take some time for her to change her feelings about us." I hold her close. "JD and Eva should be getting into town soon. We could call and see if they'll pick us up." I suggest. "Please." Alyssa looks at me. "Okay." I take out my phone.

JD's POV

"Thanks for picking us up." Veronica touches my shoulder from the backseat. I slightly shudder. Eva gives me a look. "What was that?" Veronica laughs. "Nothing. You just scared me." I lie. "Well just get us home. I can't be around that woman another minute." Alyssa sighs. "Okay." I say, driving away from the Greene household. "So how was your tour of the venue yesterday?" Alyssa asks. "It was great. We're going to do it. It's gorgeous." Eva gushes. "I'm excited to see it." Alyssa says.

We drop Alyssa and Veronica off and Eva immediately turns to me. "Can you not do that, please?" She asks. "Do what?" I look at her. "You totally got weird when Veronica touched you." She crosses her arms. "I did not!" I definitely did. "Yeah you did. You jumped." She mimics what I did. "I just wasn't expecting her to touch my shoulder. She just scared me. That's it." I say a little too sternly. "Okay. Sorry." Eva looks out the window. "No I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said it like that." I reach for her hand. She pulls away at first but then lets me interlace my fingers with hers.