September first, 1998

September 1st 1998

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
Reluctantly, Veronica groaned as she rolled towards her alarm clock, desperate to stop the piercing noises drilling into her skull. Shit. First day back at school. Not for her, obviously, her days of hiding in bathroom stalls and dodging food fights in the cafeteria were long gone. No, in fact, it was the start of term for Veronica's eight year old daughter, Jenna.

As if on cue, Jenna kicked down the door to veronicas room, already dressed, radiating the energy and charisma Veronica was lacking without her morning coffee. How could this girl already be ready to go when it had only just turned seven o'clock, she wondered, propping herself up on her pillow to face her daughter.

She was beautiful, Veronica thought. Of course, she knew she was biased, but Jenna really was a beautiful little girl- the way her chocolate brown hair curled slightly at the ends, the way her long, velvety eyelashes framed her hazel eyes, the way her freckles danced as she grinned from ear to ear, proudly showing the gap in her teeth after she had lost her first tooth two weeks ago falling off her bike. But it was her inner beauty that amazed Veronica. Jenna was known to set up lemonade stands to raise money for different charities, even during rainstorms, and would come in deflated after two hours of sitting in the cold with nothing to show for her time other than the dollars Veronica would donate to keep her daughter happy. Then, they would both sit with hot chocolates, wrapped in hundreds of blankets, and watch Disney films until Jenna would finally cave in from exhaustion, and Veronica could finally put her to bed.

Veronica often wished that JD could see his daughter now. She wished he knew how kind, how caring she had become. She wanted to show him how Jenna had his eyes, his smile, sometimes even his laugh. Sometimes, Veronica would still see Heather, Kurt and Ram - nothing she had tried or taken to get rid of them had worked - but she had never seen JD. He hadn't once come back to see her, even in death, like the other three had to mess with her head. "Lazy shit" she sometimes joked, even if she was thinking of a dead man.

"Mom! Get up! I can't find my hairbrush! We're going to be late!"

"Jesus Christ, Jenna, we don't have to leave for another hour yet" Veronica mumbled, rubbing her eyes while pulling Jenna into a hug.

"Yes but mom, You take ages to get ready so you need to get up now!"
At this point, Jenna has jumped off the bed and  was ripping open the curtains, filling the room with blinding light which forced Veronica to shield her eyes in exhausted agony.

"Okay, fine, I'm coming" she laughed, kicking her feet into her slippers and fumbling around half asleep to find her royal blue dressing gown. She then dragged herself downstairs, simply following the noise of Jenna bounding ahead of her, until she found the kettle, her best friend.

One cup of coffee and a very rushed shower later, Veronica was stood on the front doorstep of their little home, taking pictures Jenna proudly showing off her uniform on the first day of school. She was clutching at the straps of her back pack, smiling from ear to ear.

"Okay, lets go now or you'll be late on the first day back! Come on, in the car."

Once the pair pulled up to school, Jenna's excited persona suddenly dissolved, as she became terrified at the idea of going back, riddled with nerves.

"Hey, hey, look at me" Veronica whispered, taking her daughters hand in hers, "it's gonna be great! Bailey will be there, aren't you excited too see her? And you can show everyone your missing tooth!"
Jenna began to calm down a little, and pulled her mom into a hug.

"Okay, sweetheart, now off you go. I'll be here at 3 o'clock on the dot. Earlier if you want. I won't be late. Okay? Look there's Bailey!"
Veronica pointed at another little girls with curly blond hair waving excitedly at them.
"Okay, see you later, I love you!"