Happier

Chapter 20

Roosevelt High needed a month before settling back to their normal behavior after the shooting. It's weird how such a small thing can change so many things. The Unholy Trinity is united again, Archie and Cole are friends again, and everyone in school is suddenly nicer to one another. The jocks have subdued, the cheerleaders are kind to the kids in the show choir. Everything is weird, and nice. Not that Lacey is complaining. She has her boyfriend and her three best friends all together, all the time. Nothing ever makes her happier than that. Besides her sister.

It's Friday when everyone is at the Goldberg's. Lacey has invited them over for dinner and a couple of movies. Neither of them could decline that. Movies at the Goldberg's are always the best. They don't use it that often, but up in the attic, they have a whole cinema room. With the gigantic canvas on the wall and one enormous sofa, it makes your cinema experience even better than it does in the actual cinema. Plus, their snacks are always the best.
"Hey, kids," daddy Goldberg greets as he walks in through the backdoor. Everyone stares at the man from their spot at the breakfast counter. Even Lacey has a confused look on her face.
"Dad," Lacey starts, standing up straight, "What are you doing home?" The worst-case scenario races through her mind. He's fired. He lost his job. His car got stolen. He's sick.
"It's Friday and there wasn't any work left," he explains, putting down his briefcase and his jacket on the back of a stool, "Plus, I wanted to be home for my daughters." He presses a kiss to the side of Lacey's head, then looks at her friends, "but something tells me one of them already has some visitors," he states with a smile. For some reason, Lacey is still freaked out about all of this. He's never home. Not on Fridays, that is. On Fridays, he'd work until midnight. It's only 5pm.
"Yeah, is it okay if they stay over for dinner and some movies?" she then asks for his permission, even though the date is already settled.
"Yeah, sure. I was planning on cooking anyway. I can make a few more portions," Cole and Lacey give one another a look, both thinking the same thing and knowing they're thinking the same thing.
"Y-You're cooking?" Lacey stammers, not believing what she's hearing from her dad. Her workaholic-I-don't-give-a-damn-about-my-children-anymore dad.
"Yeah, I am," he says as he grabs a glass and fills it up with water. Lacey meets Cole's eyes again and he can tell she's confused, and worried. "I'm going to the grocery store right now. Do you need anything?" he asks, putting his now empty glass down and grabs his jacket.
"Eh, no thank you," she replies and watches him leave the house again.
"Lace, you okay?" Violet asks when she notices the girl's state. Lacey turns around to face her friends, face struck with confusion.
"Did my dad just say he's going to cook for us and that he just left for running errands?" she asks them for reassurance. To calm her mind down. Cole gets up from the stool he sat on and walks over to his girlfriend. It comforts her, relaxes her mind. Even more so when he puts an arm around her.
"Yeah, he did," Melanie replies absentmindedly, taking a grape from the fruit bowl in front of her. She's been picking grapes the whole time they were there, not really paying attention to anything that was happening until mister Goldberg walked in. Her mind was a little too busy. Her eyes too. Violet gives the girl a glance, the blondie looking up too. They're lucky no one can tell what's going on between them.
"Did I just hear daddy's voice?" Stacey asks as she walks in.
"Yeah," Lacey replies, a sarcastic chuckle coming out her mouth, "He's running errands, he's cooking tonight," her voice is thick with confusion. She's still trying to figure out whether all of this is real.
"He's what?" Stacey's eyes are wide, equally as confused as her big sister.
"Yeah, I know," Lacey says. Archie is silent, just watching what's happening. Melanie and Violet are too busy in their own world that they don't even bother to react anymore. That's until a bing-sound fills up the room, signaling someone receiving a text. First, everyone checks their own phone, but when the youngest Goldberg takes her phone out of her pocket, everyone's head turns. The girl has a smirk on her face, then bites her lip. Lacey opens her mouth for a second, a smirk also forming upon her face. She steps a little closer to her sister, approaching her carefully.
"Who is it, Stace?" she tries, but when Stacey looks up, she shields her phone away from her sister.
"No one," the girl replies shyly and going back to her screen.
"Sammy Evans," Violet teases from her seat. The red on Stacey's cheeks becomes brighter.
"Is it that cute senior boy?" Lacey tries again, raising her eyebrows. Stacey bites her lip, trying to keep herself from screaming it from the rooftops.
"He kind of, might have, asked me to prom," she mumbles, hoping her sister wouldn't have heard it. But she did. Her eyes grow wider and her mouth drops in surprise. Both Violet and Melanie get up from their seat to rush to mini Goldberg to give her a hug.
"Oh my God, how did he do it?" Melanie questions, wanting to know every detail.
"Who did what?" their dad's voice sounds from behind them. The girls look up, their excitement leaving their bodies slightly.
"Weren't you running errands?" Violet asks, confused on how he's home so fast.
"Yeah, I forgot my wallet. We'll be ordering pizza tonight," he explains, making everyone laugh a little, "who are we gossiping about, ladies?" he wants to know. It scares the girls a little. That's something their mother would've done.
"Stacey's boyfriend," Melanie blurts out teasingly. Daddy Goldberg's face grows serious again, as if he's actually going to act all tough about his youngest having a boyfriend.
"Who's this boy?" he asks sternly, scaring Stacey only a little.
"Sam... Evans..." she replies carefully, not daring to look him in the eye.
"Oh, Aiden Evans' son," his face relaxes at the mention of this last name, "I went to school with him," the sisters give each other a quizzical look, not sure how to reply to it. "How long have you guys been together?" he asks, walking over to the sofa to sit down.
"Not long, a couple weeks, I think," Stacey tells him honestly, "h-he asked me to prom," she stammers a little, still confused at the sudden change of attitude.
"Oh, that's great, honey! Come here," the girl walks over to him and sits down next to him, "I'm happy for you, kiddo," he whispers, wrapping an arm around his daughter. "Who are you guys taking to prom?" he asks the rest. Lacey looks at her friends, then smiles and motions for them to follow her to the sofa. All of them sit down, ready for a conversation with daddy Goldberg.
"Us three are going together," Archie tells him with a smile, pointing to Violet and Melanie. The girls don't even dare to give each other a glance. Not even one look. There's a strange tension between them and yet, no one notices.
"And we're going together, obviously," Cole tells William, "but I need to find a proper way to ask her. Something epic. Something special, because that's what she deserves," he explains, his eyes on her, dreamily. William chuckles a little.
"Maybe I can help you with that," he gets up and walks over to the cupboard next to the TV, "I never told you kids the story about how I asked my wife, Alice, out," he squats down and browses the cupboard filled with old VHS cassettes and DVDs. The kids watch him take out one of the DVDs. He puts it into the DVD player and turns on the TV. Lacey and Stacey smile at the mention of their mom. They're happy he still refers to her as 'wife'.
"When we were in high school, we joined the show choir. Your mom and I," he tells and presses the play button. He sits down again with a sigh. "I was so in love with her, but she was a cheerleader. A self-centered cheerleader and I was a weirdo. I liked weird things like astronomy and math, but when we sang together, sparks flew all around the room and everyone could see it, except for her. And this one time, our coach threw a party because we won regionals and at that party, we sang a duet together. Aiden, Sam's dad, he taped it and showed it at our wedding," everyone listens intently to what he has to say until the music on the TV starts to play. On the screen is a young William Goldberg and Alice Morrison.
"Wow, Lace," Cole breathes out, "you're the spitting image of your mother." The young Alice has short, blonde hair, her infamous brown eyes sparkling.
"She looks great with the bob-haircut," Stacey compliments, a smile on her face, but tears in her eyes. Everyone shuts up when Alice Morrison starts singing. Her voice is enchanting, sending chills through everyone's spines.
"I hear the ticking of the clock
I'm lying here the room's pitch dark
I wonder where you are tonight
No answer on the telephone
And the night goes by so very slow
Oh I hope that it won't end though
Alone..."
It's at the chorus when the Goldbergs lose it. Her voice sounds so powerful, so beautiful. It makes them miss her even more. She was so angelic. So perfect. Tears rush down Lacey's cheeks, but Cole is fast enough to wipe them away and press her closer to his body. When young William and Alice sing the chorus together a little further in the song, Melanie and Violet lose it too. Even they start bawling their eyes out. Their voices mix so well together.
"Till now I always got by on my own
I never really cared until I met you
And now it chills me to the bone
How do I get you alone
How do I get you alone"
The girls wipe their tears away at the end of the performance. Sniffles and sobs coming from each of them. Cole and Archie give them a smile. All four of them. Maybe it'll comfort them a little.
"Do you have more of these?" Stacey asks, voice quavering a little.
"Yeah, we recorded pretty much every competition," William replies, wiping his nose with the back of his hand before getting up and grabbing another DVD. He pops it in and presses play.

"This is one of the only ones we actually had a duet in," he tells them and a young Alice and William appear on the screen again. This time, Alice has her long hair, making Lacey look even more like her mom. The kids look at the taping of the competition in awe. It's crazy how great they were. It's crazy how perfect they were and are. And always will be.
"She was so beautiful," Cole whispers to Lacey, giving her a compliment in the mean while.
"I know, she really was," she whispers back, a smile upon her face. At least now Cole knows what he's got to do for his promposal. Watching the DVDs gives him some inspiration of what to do. He'll only need the help of the rest, that's all.

"Can you tell us again how your first date went?" Stacey asks her dad at the dinner table. William chuckles, getting reminded of the day.
"I remember it as clear as day," he starts, putting down the piece of peperoni pizza, "it was a Friday night when I took her to the karaoke bar. We sang Don't go breaking my heart by Elton John. Twice. Everyone loved us that we kept on singing. She was such a star. Then we went for some pizza and I was so nervous that I dropped pineapple on her dress. Then, at the end of the night, I walked her home and we kissed," he tells them quickly, not wanting to go into too much detail. The kids talk about their first dates, even about Cole and Lacey's.
"So, Stacey," Violet starts, turning towards the mini Goldberg, "when's your first date with Sam?" the girl looks down to her hands, nervous to answer that question. Nervous for the answer she's going to give.
"Tomorrow," she mumbles, biting down on her lip. Everyone stops and stares. "He asked me out today before he asked me out for prom," she explains, a small smile appearing on her face. Everyone gets tangled up in a conversation about Stacey and her new lover boy. Only Cole doesn't engage. His mind drifts of to the perfect promposal he's preparing in his head. It has to be perfect. For her. Because she is perfect and she deserves the world. More. She deserves the whole universe. She deserves everything he can't give her.

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