Echoes Between Us - McGarry, Katie Page 0,86
was over tonight. Oh Diary, I’m still crazy about that kid. I certainly have hung on for a long time, but I like him exactly as well as I did at first.
Yeah, I get it, Evelyn. You’re into Morris and I’m into Veronica. It’s a great feeling when that person is into you, too.
Brunch is done, the dishes are washed, the kitchen cleaned, the table folded up and put neatly back in the basement. Ulysses then had me, Jesse and Nazareth help bring up the heavy prelit Christmas tree from the basement along with the boxes of ornaments Scarlett and Veronica deemed necessary as they hunted through the massive amount of stuff in the basement storage. Lucy skipped around the commotion singing Christmas songs at the tops of her lungs.
As everyone was packing to leave, Ulysses asked me to stay. He told Veronica to go out onto the front porch and Ulysses and I had a talk. More like him staring at me for an uncomfortable twenty minutes before finally saying, “Don’t hurt her.”
I received the message loud and clear: the man is going to kill me if I do. He never said the words. He never had to. It was all right there written in his death glare.
Glad I survived that round, I step out onto the front porch and Veronica glances up at me. “Your mom’s home and she called Lucy in. I told her you were helping Dad with some boxes.”
“Thanks.” I settle onto the step beside her. “Did you have a good time?”
“The best. You know, I’ve never had a boyfriend before. I’m assuming that’s what we are now—a chill boyfriend/girlfriend. As in we kiss with none of the clingy drama.”
“We’re definitely boyfriend/girlfriend. If it helps, I’ve never had a girlfriend.”
Her eyes widen in disbelief. “I don’t believe you.”
“It’s true. I’ve never wanted to be in any type of relationship. Taking care of Lucy and Mom is enough responsibility for a lifetime. But this”—I take her hand and love how her breath catches with my touch—“I can handle.”
“Whatever.” Her smile is tempting and teasing. “It’s well known you’ve dated. Plus your kiss screams experience.”
“Dated. Mainly to get Mom and my friends off my back. And how far down the who-I’ve-kissed rabbit hole do you want to go?”
“Not far,” she admits.
Since she brought it up. “What about Leo? There were rumors at school you two were an on-again, off-again thing. I meant what I said. I’m good with a chill relationship, but I’m not into sharing people I kiss.”
Veronica nudges the ground with her shoe. “I was in love with Leo, for a long time, but I fell out of it. I don’t know when I fell out of it, but it happened. But even during that time, while we flirted around a relationship, we mainly stayed in the friend zone. And before you ask about kissing and Leo, ask yourself how far down that rabbit hole you want to go yourself.”
“Not far at all.”
“Good, but here’s the truth.” She takes her hand from mine and places her fingers to the side of her head to point out the problem. “He didn’t know how to see past the tumor. It was always there with him. He saw it all the time. He saw it before he saw me.”
Fear forms in her eyes—am I like Leo?
Naw, I’m nothing like him, and the honesty of the situation is I’m not much different from Veronica. She has a tumor in her brain that’s waiting to grow out of control. I have this addiction in my blood that can set me off, cause me to go over that ledge and end up impaled by sharp rocks. If I don’t get this under control, my life span could be shorter than most. The miracle here is that she cares for me.
To calm her anxiety, I take her hand that’s pointed at her head, link her fingers with mine and lay them on our knees. I lean toward her and brush my lips to hers.
Her breathing hitches, and with the brief taste of her, my heart beats faster. Knowing that my mom could walk out, that her father could storm out, I pull back, yet rest my forehead against hers. “All I see is you.”
She exhales as if relieved. I kiss her forehead, and reluctantly pull away, but keep her fingers laced with mine. The happiness of being with her fades as my own fears fester in my gut. “I need to talk