Personally 2 [Complete]

Chapter 8: Beach balls and Flirting

"Weren't you the one who said I needed to get everyone on my side? Why can't I tell them what we're planning?" I couldn't believe how childish Veronica was being. Keeping secrets like elementary school kids.

"You have to trust me on this" She barely made an effort to rebuttal. I was getting annoyed with how aloof and vague she was with me.

"That's not enough. Give me a solid reason why I should keep this a secret"

Finally, she looked at me straight. "You want a good reason? Fine. Not everyone is going to be on board with the way we do things. We use them without them knowing."

***

I sat on Janet's bed as she was touching up her makeup getting ready to go to the mall with friends. I'd usually drive her, but I have to meet up with Veronica at the beach by 3, but Veronica made me swear that I wouldn't tell anyone. It's a dumb rule. Keeping it from people who could possibly help, makes no sense.

"So you're going back home or something?" Janet says swiftly brushing powdery substance over her cheekbones.

"Uhm, not exactly," I say, still keeping my eyes on the brush.

"Where are you going then?"

"The beach."

***

I spotted Veronica near a surfboard shop standing on the sand. She had on a yellow bathing suit that fit her nicely. To be honest, she caught me off guard as her expression was pretty serious and stern. It's strange considering how vague she seemed before.

"How'd you get here?" She asked with her arms folded. "Don't bother lying, I saw you."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Whose car was it that dropped you off here, Hye? You better not say who I think it was."

"Janet's."

"I knew it! Couldn't you have listened to me? I told you to trust me on this, but you couldn't help yourself, could you? Just how big of a crush do you have on this girl anyway?"

"-What! A crush?"

"Yes, a crush, Hye! It's either that or you just can't follow simple directions. I see the way you look at her!"

The way I what? That's it. Veronica's finally gone crazy. "She's my best friend, I do not like Janet, you're being-"

"-Shhhh!" She cut me off. "They're here." I turn my head to follow what Veronica was gazing at. Immediately we knew what had to be done. Without exchanging words, Veronica and I walked side by side up to the surfboard shop. We didn't expect Ms. Abreau and Harry to come at the same time, but it would make the plan go a lot smoother.

"Hye, good to see you..." Ms. Abreau said, naturally, being cautious of the man sitting across from her. We had a small rectangular table. Ms. Abreau and Harry sat at the two ends, while Veronica and I sat in the middle.

"Son, what's this all about?" Harry said in his annoying know-it-all voice.

"Thank you Ms. Abreau for coming. I wanted to introduce my girlfriend to Uhm...Harry. If we're going to be a family. I thought I'd introduce the person I'm seeing." I wanted to puke. "The only issue is she can only speak Spanish. Very little English. I take classes to bridge the barrier but it's not enough to properly translate. So Ms. Abreau, " I use my most charming expression. "Would you mind translating for us?"

She didn't answer right away. For a moment she just stared at us trying to process everything. "Okay".

She won't be easy to fool. Harry, on the other hand, was completely buying it. Luckily, Veronica never spoke around him at the get-together Harry prepared, so there was no reason to suspect anything.

"Es un placer conocerlo, señor." Veronica began.

My eyes followed Ms. Abreau's gaze from Veronica immediately to the wooden table. "She says it's good to meet with you."Ms. Abreau was trying to mask her hesitation and uneasiness with a confident voice but it wasn't quite working.

"Yes, I-it's -the pleasures all mine." Harry was staring at the ground and fixing his tie. The uncomfortable conversation went on for some time. Harry discovered Veronica's favorite sport and Veronica found out what instrument Harry had played in his high school band. The plan was to get them to grow closer, but it seemed only the opposite was happening. I looked at Veronica who was trying her best to stay in character. Then I saw Ms. Abreau and almost felt embarrassed for her. Maybe Veronica was wrong. Love's not that simple.

"Hye, Hye!" She whispered, suddenly nudging at my arm.

"What's wrong with you? You're gonna get us caught." I whispered back.

"Look up, its Cunningham. He's here. He'll ruin the plan if he sees them." Veronica pretty much dashed away in the least subtle way possible. I had to grab their attention by explaining that Veronica's been holding in using the restroom for hours and that she probably couldn't hold it in anymore. For a while, we sat in silence as I glanced over at Cunningham and Veronica from time to time. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but it was obvious what was happening. Cunningham was all over her and she was enjoying every second.

Really Cunningham, does she look that good in a bathing suit, is she seriously that much better than Mindy? He was acting so shy and reserved around her and I couldn't stand it. It made me sick. Mindy made a mistake. She has no idea what she's gotten into. I excused myself and ran over there. I didn't care if we got caught.

"Cunningham, Janet said she needed you."

"What?"

"Call her now. It's an emergency." Even though Cunningham was confused. He went the other direction to take a phone call with Janet.

"What are you doing?" I turned to Veronica. "Is this some kind of game to you? Do you think you could just come here and flirt with someone else's boyfriend, just cause? My mom is out there suffering and you're just playing around!"

"Are you blind?" She hissed. "If I hadn't done anything we would've been discovered! It's not my fault if he's love-struck."

"Oh, hop off your high horse. This plan was a failure to begin with. You're not as smart as you seem."

Veronica folded her arms and grimaced. "Are you sure about that?" She looked dead ahead.

When I followed her gaze I saw Harry and Ms. Abreau. They were talking -no it's more than that. There was laughter and wide smiles. "You know that's not enough, right?" I said with no detectable reaction to what was in front of me.

"I know. I'll take care of everything."