Planning Your Future

Someone Gets Hurt

September 17, 1991

Veronica's POV

Aaron and I hadn't spoken since that party. Not that I want to talk to him. He's such a conceded dick. But now, he stands in front of my desk. "What?" I don't even bother looking up. "We need to talk." He demands. Why did it have to be today? Today is Heather Chandler's birthday and it's a lot to deal with. It was on the radio this morning for some reason. She's been dead for over a year and people are still mourning her. It's not that I don't understand grief, but at some point it has to stop. Especially since everyone hated her. Even her parents didn't seem to be extremely devastated by her death. "Fine. Meet me in the hall after class."

After class is over, Aaron forcefully grabs me and pulls me into the hallway. "What is so damn important that you had to do that?" I didn't even get to pack up. My stuff was still in the classroom. "I had to see you. We hadn't talked for a while until the party and then we didn't talk after the party." He explains. "Because I don't like you and I don't want to talk to you." I cross my arms. "But you have no reason to not like me." He says, clearly oblivious. "Are you kidding me?" I scoff, "Aaron, you were a narcissist while we were dating and then after we broke up, you were annoying and bitter." He gives me a face that shows he doesn't believe he was any of those things. "Aaron you were terrible. And if you can't admit that you were even a little bit at fault, you really are an asshole." I start to walk away but I stop, realizing something. "You know, you remind me of a guy I went to High School with. He was also conceded and pretentious. He was a douchebag. But I was actually starting to become friends with him, then he proved to be bigoted and just as horrible as I thought he was." Now I actually leave.

JD is already in my dorm room. "Hey!" He was reading on my bed. "Hey." I throw my bag down and flop onto the bed. "What happened?" He always knows when something's wrong. "Aaron's still trying to talk to me. I told him off, compared him to Henry, and left." I explain as simply as I could. "He probably has the same beliefs as Henry." JD pulls me closer to him, putting my head in his lap. "I wouldn't doubt it." I sigh. "Just ignore him. He's just a dick." He tells me. "I'll try." I sit up to kiss his cheek.

Erika gets back from her class and we get ready to go on a run. Erika had decided she needed to start working out more and I decided to join. We take our usual route around the school, which is very nice. Harvard has a pretty campus. On our run, I see Aaron sitting on a bench, watching me pass. Erika clearly doesn't notice him so I don't say anything. I peek over my shoulder to see him start running behind us. This keeps up until we're back at the dorms. "I'm gonna go meet up with a classmate." I lie. She nods and goes inside.

I turn around and stare at Aaron, who's standing a few feet away. "Why are you following me?" I get closer. "What? I'm not. I'm just running at the same time as you. You're not the only one working out." I look at his attire. "Then how come you're not even dressed to work out?" He's wearing the same thing he went to class in. He's silent. "If you don't leave me alone, I will hurt you." I threaten. "You don't scare me, Veronica. You can't possibly do anything to me." He laughs. "Why? Because I'm a girl?" I cross my arms. He doesn't say anything. He knows I'm right. He's a misogynistic asshole just like Henry. "We both know you'll send your boyfriend after me." He smirks. "I don't need him to fight my battles. Because I could hurt you just as much as he could." I clenched my fist. "Well you've already hurt me." He says. "What?" How the hell have I hurt him? "It's fine when you want me. But when I do it it's not okay. With you, someone gets hurt in the end every time." He shrugs. "Oh you're trying to manipulate me." I scoff, "Well I'm not falling for it. You can't guilt people into getting back with you. So stop with the whole "victim" act."

He grabs my arm. "Let go." I demand. "If I have to use force to get what I want, I will." He tightens his grip. "What do you want?" I ask. "What do you think?" Of course. I have to date him. Well the answer is easy. "Fine." He lets go. "Great. I'll see you at Lulu's Diner tomorrow at 6." He walks away.

I go back inside. As if I'd actually date him. He can't make me go. There's nothing he can do to force me. I go into the dorm. "Guess who just tried to make me go on a date with him." I sit on my bed. "Ew! Aaron? You said no, right?" Erika fake gagged. "I said yes but I'm not actually going." I rub my arm which had a red mark where his hand had been. "Oh my God! Did he do that?" She takes my arm and looks at the mark. "Yeah. He's an asshole." I sigh. "This needs to be reported." She stands. "No. Don't tell anyone. He thinks I can't handle myself. I don't want to give him that satisfaction. And definitely don't tell JD. He's murder him. And that'll only make it worse." JD already hates Aaron and if he hears about this, he'll end up in jail.

JD knocks on the door and I run to my wardrobe. I put on a cardigan to cover the mark. "Hey." He pokes his head in. He sees the cardigan, "Ronnie, are you cold?" I simply nod. He walks through the door, holding the takeout. Kyle follows behind him. We all sit on the floor and eat.