Chapter 8

Vera's POV

We went to the hotel in a taxi while Andrea and the rest tagged behind in their car, Rayan Driving... since he's the eldest... Just the day before yesterday he'd turned 18... Ace would turn 18 in 9 more days..... Could you remind me why I even remember that? I sighed and was drowned in all the possibilities of upcoming events because they knew about me... Halfway through, Bree turned towards me and tapped my shoulder... I was staring out the window, zoned out... and she woke me up... I looked up at her and raised an eyebrow... 

"What ??" I asked with a slightly irritated tone. I was not in the mood to talk anymore.

"Why did you tell them that your name is Valerie?? What's wrong with Veronica??" She asked cautiously.

I looked down and fiddled with the edge of my shirt. Then I sighed and looked up at her. Everyone was staring at me intently, listening closely. I looked her straight in the eye.

"Look... I won't tell you much. But do you remember that the first 4 months you've known me, I was depressed so much about something, that when you asked my parents about it, my mom nearly cried, and my dad looked calm & furious as he only said that it was my story to tell??"

"Yeah, I thought you'd tell us why when you're completely in your um... comfort circle."

"Yes... I'll tell you about it soon... pretty soon. But all I'll tell you now is that Andrea, and the rest, I know them... and they were a part of it all... and that's all, okay?? Don't freak out." 

Everyone was staring shocked & Allison & Aiden looked sad & shocked and looked away. They knew my state. They remembered. They'd seen me be lonely, all alone in my house, never going out, staying locked up, and the marks... They'd seen it all.

"OMG girl, we can always cancel our plans with them and go by ourselves," Bree said... she was freaking out. I could tell she was sorry & sincere. 

"No look, it is completely fine, okay? There's no big deal. I can go through it... And, I can't be running from my past all my life, right? I have to face it one way or the other." 

"Are you sure you're, okay? I would have said no, but Bree butted in" Alisson said while she glared at Bree.

Bree glared back, leaned back, and looked out the window from the opposite direction. She was guilty, and I hated to think that it was my fault.

I gave a humorless laugh and put a 'thumbs up'.

After that, I just looked out the window as I remembered bad times, and then slowly, the good times drifted into my head... I couldn't help but smile. Just as I was smiling, a cone blue car came right beside my window. It was Rayan. 

My smile wiped off my face. Andrea was looking out the window and smiling at me slightly and I could see the sorrow in her eyes. It was almost like guilt. I felt afraid. But something in my head felt comforted by the familiarity. Comforted at the same time with my fear, I smiled out of habit and then snapped out... What the hell? Why did I smile??.

I guess that smile was just... So amicable...

I mean, we were BFFs after all... I shook my head vigorously as if to shake those thoughts off. I was worried, but I still wanted to find out, how it all happened. The driver stopped at a signal with Rayan's car right beside us. They lowered their window and gestured for Nino to do the same as he was in the passenger seat.

Rayan then said something and gave his mobile to Nino. He typed something into it and gave it back to Rayan, who smiled, nodded, and waved. I didn't care really, so I ignored it. Then, a minute later, on the green signal, Rayan's car zoomed off and took a U-Turn.

I got confused. The way to the hotel was straight up ahead. Now I cared.

So I asked.

"Hey, Nino, where did those guys go??"

He looked back at me.

"They said they'd received a call from Andrea's mother since she needed help with something, and Rayan gave me his mobile phone so I could text my number into it & he'd send his address". 

I just nodded and looked away... For a minute, I thought he might as well have said they couldn't tour us and were going to leave. But I guess that would solve neither the mystery nor the problem. Wait- Andrea's mother!? Sandra is here-? I could feel myself paling further. I cannot face her.

Nino turned back and looked at me... I raised an eyebrow at him, shoving my thoughts and emotions away.

"Are you okay with spending the night at the hotel, then we can go tomorrow morning after breakfast there ??" He asked, hesitantly...

I inhaled sharply nodded easily and smiled. He relaxed, returned the smile, and looked ahead... the trip went quietly as I just looked out. I remembered everything. the greatest of times. and smiled. Then the sad ones rolled in... 

Suddenly, I decided I had to tell my friends. I've known them for 2 whole years!! And they've given me nothing but happiness. They bared with me, comforted me, loved me, and did everything to just make me...happy. They deserved to know. They needed to know the truth.

The whole car ride only went all simple and silent... The silence was comfortable & weird at the same time...

I decided to tell them right before bed. Once we were there, I got out, followed by Bree, Allison, Alden & Tyler. Then Alair came from the other side and Nino gave the driver his cash and while everyone slowly climbed the stairs to go inside, I stared after the taxi... 

I looked down and realized I looked like a perfect example of a mess... my shirt had a bit of chocolate frosting, and my skirt was dripped with a milkshake. When did- never mind.

My hair?? Well, that was another story to tell.

Long story short, my hair is so ruffled by the scarf, that it looks like I just escaped a tornado. I could feel my hair all electrically charged because of my silk scarf.

I shook my head as I climbed up the stairs, two steps at once... I nodded at the receptionist and went into the hallway that was interconnected to each of the Large House-like rooms. And stopped and entered mine.

What I saw, stopped me, and for the first time in what felt like ages, I laughed. Heartily.

All the pillows were on the floor and bedside tables as Alden and Alair were wrestling on the floor Bree joined them only to stop them and Allison joined to help Bree, but both got pulled into the fight... 

Nino tried stopping them and ended up with a punch to the ribs. Tyler was sitting on the edge of the bed and laughing with Drey... 

I laughed, took my phone out, and snapped a picture of the idiots. I then slowly and carefully walked to the bed, narrowly missing Alair as she flung her arm to smack Alden, accidentally hitting Bree instead, and pulled out my suitcase... I started putting all the clothes inside and organized them. I went as slowly as I could. 

I zoned out momentarily as words that Andrea once said to me suddenly crashed into my mind.

"We're BFFs, Vera. Neither the sun, the moon, nor the million planets or stars can break that." 

It didn't take the Sun, Moon, or the million stars. It only took a boy. A fricking psychopathic boy. 

An angry huff from Alair brought me out of my trance. I noticed that by the time I was done, the four idiots had stopped fighting. 

Alair and Alden wouldn't look at each other and if they did, they glared. Nino refused to talk to Allison or Alden. He was angry at them for messing the entire room up when we were supposed to leave the very next morning. And because they were behaving immature. When did he become so mature?

They both didn't care. Nino couldn't not talk to Allison for a long time. Bree was ignoring everyone except Tyler.

I didn't mind, to be honest. They'd come around eventually. I took a look around the room, not at all surprised to see all the pillows on the floor and some of them even torn. 

What I did get surprised, or shocked about, was the finger-nail-sized stain of blood on one of the pillow covers. I hurried to it lying on the bed and picked it up. Yes, it was blood. It was a bit smudged as well. Exhaling deeply, I turned to look at the group. The ones part of this fight were furiously packing their items or leaning on the bed frames in one of the rooms, scrolling through their phones. Bree was nowhere to be seen. I assumed she went to change.

"Are we all going to pretend like I didn't just spot a giant stain of blood on the pillow cover?"

Nino's head snapped up at me, as I noticed from the periphery of my view that Alair looked up at me from her room curiously. The door was wide open, so I could see her sitting on her bed, legs stretched out.

Bree walks out of the washroom, looking unflustered, in her pajamas, and my eyes immediately jump to the band-aid on her head.

"OMG Bree, this is your blood!?" I guess the way I phrased that exclamation was wrong because at once Alden, Allison, and Alair ran to her before Nino, I, or anyone else could blink. They were so worried, that Nino and I just glanced at each other and smiled in relief.

I shook my head, smiling to myself as I threw the pillow onto the couch. And to think these lots were trying to ignore each other.

 I went into the washroom and changed into my pajamas. I looked forlorn in the mirror. My eyes were slightly puffy. I could feel pain coursing through me as the thoughts came in and out.

If they discovered who I was, what would happen?

Would they fight? Would they tell us to get lost?

I should be the one speaking something along those lines, but I couldn't bring myself to be mean no matter how much I willed myself to. I splashed my face with cold water. My face was heated up a lot. It was internal heating, and I know it was because I was stressing too much. The cool on my face felt like it was spreading through my body, calming my thoughts, and steadying my brain.

I silently went out of the washroom and ordered food of everyone's choice. As we all sat together to eat, I spoke up, my voice being the only one heard. All heads jerked up to look at me as the words began to spill out of my mouth. I wanted to pour it out and get it over with as soon as possible before I changed my mind again. 

"Guys, I've thought about it... and you all deserve to know what happened... I won't give you all the details, but I'll tell you what happened, nonetheless."

"Vera, you don't have to force yourself for anything," Alair said, gentler than ever. 

"Yeah, are you sure you're fine? We won't force you at all, you can tell us when you want to. Or you can just not tell us if you don't want to" Alden said... 

I looked at them smiled slightly and shook my head "I've thought about it guys, you deserve to know. I've kept you waiting too long." Alair and Aubrey moved away just last year. Even Tyler, They were there when I needed them as well. I couldn't keep them in the dark. At least not this part of my life.

They all shared glances & nodded. Bree and Allison gave me reassured looks as I inhaled deeply and began my autobiography...

If you can call it that.