I am Veronica (bwwm)

The pre-date (5)

Chapter five: The pre-date:

"I'm going on a date with Chris."

"You're going where?" I said, purely to annoy her. "I didn't quite catch that."

"I. am. Going. On. A. Date. With. Chris." She said slowly, pronouncing each word clearly. "I know you don't want me to go but, I was wondering if you would help me get ready for tonight...If you're not busy." I sighed. What was I doing to night? I had finished all my homework an hour ago and the most exciting thing I was going to do was read. I didn't want to aid Chanel in her quest to get hurt but what else was I doing tonight anyway? I mulled it over. Maybe they would break it off before things got too serious. It was unlikely, but, it was a possibility. Neither of them were big on commitment.

"Uh, Yeah, what time is your date?" I said with a sigh. I stood up and went to hunt down my makeup bag and my shoes. "What time do I need to be at your place?" I couldn't believe I was doing this.

"In two hours, you can come in half an hour." She said, and then added sheepishly. "I need to clean my room." I laughed, Chanel always said that, but she never did.

"Alright, see you then. Bye." I hung up. I quickly tied my sneakers and stuffed my phone on my pocket. I never would have thought I'd ever being doing something like helping Chanel get ready for a date with a guy like Chris.

"MOOOM?" I called as I ran down the stairs. "I'm going to Chanel's house, I'll be back later."

"Stop running down the stairs, Veronica. What time is later?" My mother responded. Oddly enough, even though she was in her room she still knew I was running down the stairs. I can't get anything past her; she has ears like a freaking hawk. No, better then a hawk. "Uh...When I text you?"

I could practically see her rolling her eyes as I grabbed the keys out of the draw and prepared to leave."NO!" A bloodcurdling shriek stopped me dead in my tracks. I spun around and was almost immediately engulfed in a sea of of Claire. "Oomph!"

I said as she began squeezing the life out of me with her arms. "Claire...You n-need to let me g-go." I wheezed. "I have to go!"

"NO!" She wailed as I carefully extracted her arms from around my midsection. Thank you, sweet air spirits for allowing me to breath you in. "You can't go, Mr. Turquoise and me are going to have a dance party!" Mr. Turquoise was her stuffed turtle. He'd had so many name changes I often didn't know what to call him. The previous week he was just Mr. T.

"Well why don't you as Kevin to play with you?" I suggested, trying to get her short attention span fixated somewhere else. It worked, her face brightened instantly, and the tears stopped flowing. "Okay!" She chirped. She skipped off to go bother Kevin.

I exited the house and got into to the car. I started the vehicle and pulled out of my driveway, driving out of my neighborhood. Chanel's house was on the other side of town so it would take me a bit of time to get there. I had some old albums saved to the car's system, so I sang a long to some old Amy Winehouse and Adele, as I watched the countryside blur along.

l was singing along to Just Friends when a crisp robotic voice said, "Incoming. Call. From. Chris. Devito. Accept or decline?" I felt my eye twitch. What could he possibly want?

"Accept. Hello?" I said warily. "Whatever you want, state it quickly." I was nearly to Chanel's house.

"I just wanted to say..." I felt my stomach tighten. What could he possibly have to say to me? "Well. I need to talk to you." He sounded uncomfortable. Good.

I turned into Chanel's neighborhood, I was tempted to just hang up him but, that was rude. Even if he was irritating. "You're talking to me now."

"No, I mean like, in person. At my house -- so we can work on the project." He added hastily. It sounded more like an afterthought.

"Really? And blow off your date?" I was coming up to Chanel's house as I said that.

"How do you know about my date?" He sounded genuinely surprised.

"I have my sources." I said mysteriously. "Whatever you have to say can wait until tomorrow." I pulled into her driveway, parking. I didn't wait for his response; I ended the call and grabbed my makeup bag in the passenger seat. I exit the car and strode up the driveway and to Chanel's front door. I rung the doorway and waited a second or two until Chanel flung open the door, wrapped in a towel, her hair dripping.

Before I could utter any greeting she grabbed me by my arm and jerked me inside. "Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Hyde!" I called to Chanel's parents as she dragged me to her room. "Your room's actually clean!" I exclaimed. Her floor was cleared of random objects and her bed didn't have small mountains clothes of clothes on it. She did, however, have a couple of outfits lying on her bed. "That's a first."

She opened one of her closets, quickly contradicting my statement. Her closet was overflowing with clothes and papers. "Jesus, Chanel," I peered inside the closet. "You might just find my hopes and dreams in there." She snorted then shut the closet. "Put on some undergarments and be classy for your date please. "

She flipped me the bird. "Maybe I want to go like this, all natural." She dropped towel and under it she was clad in a strapless bra and boy shorts.

I laughed. "Whatever, Chanel. What do you even want me to help you with?"

"Well I can't do makeup for shit and as you know I have just mastered flat twists recently....I'm not very good at dressing myself either. I can set up outfits pretty well for others but as for me?" She shook her head. "Nope."

"Well," I eased down on the edge of her bed. "what do you want me to do with your hair?"

"Um...well...It depends on what I'm going to wear."

"Well what are you going to wear?" She shrugged. I gave her a look before glancing at the outfits she'd chosen. There was a tiny pink dress, ripped up skinny jeans with a band name I'd never heard of, and a crop top paired with high waisted shorts. "What are you guys doing?"

"We're going to see a shitty rom-com and get some ice cream after."

"I'd wear the skinny jeans. After you get dressed come on so I can do something with your hair before it dries."

A few moments later as I brushed Chanel's hair out, I felt like I was doing something wrong and I didn't know why. I pushed it down and focused on her. "How are things with you and Tony?" She said suddenly.

I felt my heart jolt at the sound of his name. I sighed as I brushed the left side of her hair out. "Honestly? I don't know. We haven't talked in a while and last time we talked he seemed...off." I set the brush down and pulled her hair into a tight bun. Then I grabbed my makeup bag. I took out my supplies and began priming her face.

"How off? Like he wasn't paying attention, being sneaky off?" Chanel said as I applied foundation.

"I don't know about being sneaky but, he was definitely not paying attention. Don't blink," I said as I took my black liquid liner and began to line her eyes with it, flicking the ends up.

"I'd keep an eye on him. Not to jump the gun but maybe he's cheating."

"What?"

The idea was so preposterous, so silly, so stupid, and so crazy that I dropped the lip stain I was holding. I quickly bent down to pick it up, muttering obscenities under my breath as I went. Tony? Tony cheating? On me? He would never. I would strangle him if he ever dared to do that, after all we'd been though. He knew that.

Chanel had to be out of her mind. I pushed the thought out of my head. I loved him and he loved me, it was that simple.

"Sweetie, are you smoking on something?" I asked as I added a burgundy pigment to her lips. "Wait, don't answer that, 'cause I know you are." Chanel grinned when I showed her her reflection.

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome, Chanel." I gave her a small smile trying to ignore the negative thoughts worming their way into my head about Tony. "Have fun on your date tonight," I added, though I felt sick to my stomach as I said it.

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