The New Kid

Chapter 23- In Unholy Matrimony

I again found myself in Indiana. January had melted into February and now it was time for my sister to be married. I was so anxious to get to Indianapolis, anxious to get to see Valerie walk down the aisle in a flowing white wedding dress. Jessica also came with us. She managed to convince the cheer team and their parents to create a lie to Cameron that the cheerleaders were going on a trip out of state for a competition.

My violin case rattled as we navigated to Valerie's rehearsal. Before we even parked, I was pulling on the seatbelt trying to get inside.

"Scott, settle down," Mom said.

I managed to get the seatbelt off and grabbed my violin. Jessica followed behind. There was a modest crowd of people, some of Valerie's friends I had never seen before. I recognized her best friend, Georgia, though. She bear-hugged me when she saw me. I hadn't seen her since she had left for college about four years ago.

"God, it's been so long. How've you been?" I asked.

"Great! I just graduated college with my bachelor's in interior design," Georgia said.

I told her congratulations and went to find Valerie.

"So, you play the violin?" Jessica asked.

I nodded, "I haven't touched this thing in a year, though."

I suddenly found myself get picked up by someone and get twirled in the air about four times. It was Valerie. She was wearing her favorite Dark Side of The Moon shirt.

"You know little bro, I've been wondering something ever since you reminded me you played violin," Valerie said.

I raised both my eyebrows. Valerie continued, "Can you play "I Feel Pretty" on the violin?"

I took out my violin and played while Valerie hummed the lyrics. I slipped up on shifting to play higher positions, but Valerie didn't notice. After I played, my dad comes up to me. I felt extremely uncomfortable around him.

"Hi Scott!" he said.

"Hi," I replied coldly.

Dad raised an eyebrow, "Are you okay?"

"Yes," I replied. I was blatantly lying to him, but he was just too dumb to notice.

"How've you been?" Dad asked.

"Fine," I replied.

Jessica got an odd look on her face; Valerie held a neutral expression.

"What's with you? You and I used to be so close. What happened?" he asked.

I could barely contain laughter, "You cheated on my mom, dumbass. It's really uncomfortable to talk to you now."

Dad raised his eyebrows and held his head down. He nodded sadly and walked away. I strangely felt no remorse for what I did. Whenever I said something hurtful to my parents, I felt instant remorse. Not with Dad anymore, though. I still loved him, but I could never forgive him for what he did.

"Was that your dad?" Jessica asked.

I nodded. Jessica got a shocked look on her face, "How could you be so cold to your dad?"

"He betrayed us, Jessica. Does a man like that deserve my respect?"

Jessica shook her head, "Do you love him?"

"I'm not a baby. I didn't stop loving him for what he did. I don't respect him, but I still love him."

Jessica nodded; I put my violin back in its case and we sat down at the church pews, listening to Pastor Frank and the wedding planner talk about how things would happen.