Chapter Five
The week with her friends flew by far too quickly and before she knew it, Veronica was standing before her closet making decisions about what to take and what not to take to Neptune with her. She frowned as she looked back over her shoulder and saw Mac sprawled across her bed with a comic book while Wallace and Piz created an annoying tapping raucous as they battled each other in a 'kill or be killed' game of Madden.
Sighing dramatically, she asked them all and no one in particular, "Do I really have to go...?"
A resounding, "YES," came from all three parties, not one of whom even bothered to look up as they answered her question.
Veronica wrinkled her nose as she continued to scrutinize her wardrobe. When had she begun to wear so much black and grey? It was like she'd become a New York cliche without even realizing it. She shook her head and finally started picking things at random and throwing them in a suitcase. It wasn't like she was going to Neptune to impress anyone, she told herself. She was going to see her dad. Of course, there was also that pesky reunion, she recalled with annoyance. Her eyes narrowed as the corners of her lips turned upward in a wicked smile. There was no way she could go to the damn reunion if she didn't have anything appropriate to wear, she thought.
Casually, she glanced back out at her friends before she purposefully avoided packing anything remotely resembling something other than business attire. There were no dresses, no skirts, no pantyhose, and nothing with a shred of color in what she packed for herself. With a smirk and a low chuckle, she thought, 'How utterly butch of you, Veronica,' before cringing at a memory that tried to surface at her choice of words. She stuffed the recollection back down into the tightly closed and thoroughly locked box of nostalgia that she both hoped and planned to never make use of again. Her ability to compartmentalize was going to be sorely tested in the next week, she knew. She hoped, though, that the years of practice and the thousands of miles of distance she'd carefully maintained between herself and her hometown would be an asset and not a liability.
Finally, she said, "Ready!" as she came out of the closet and showed off her fully packed rolling duffle that she prayed would be compact enough to fit in an overhead bin so she wouldn't have to pay baggage fees.
"About time!" Mac responded as she sat up and looked over at Veronica expectantly. Seeing no garment bag, Mac frowned and asked, "Um, Veronica? Please tell me you're not wearing a garbage bag to the reunion. Where's your dress?"
Wallace turned with narrowed, accusing eyes toward Veronica and Piz just looked confused. It was to Mac that Piz spoke, not Veronica, but his gaze moved between the two women regardless, "Can't she buy something there if she wants?"
Mac smiled slowly and Veronica frowned, looking like she wanted to protest. Wallace chuckled and gave his best friend a look that said she was busted before adding aloud in a tone of false cheer mixed with direct challenge, "That's right, Supah Fly! You sure can buy somethin' there! I'll even foot the bill."
Scowling, Veronica bounced down on the bed and said, "Fine. I'll get something there. Seriously, you'd think a girl could catch a break once in awhile and not have her best friends ragging on her all the time!"
"No sympathy here, V," Wallace said with a smirk, "It's payback time, baby!"
Unable to help herself, Veronica chuckled and rolled her eyes before saying, "If this is payback, you don't know how to play the game, brotha."
Mac laughed and Wallace grimaced, shaking his head as he said, "Don't ever call me that."
Veronica sprang to tackle him, saying, "Oh yeah?" while pulling him into a semi-headlock and giving him the best noogie she could manage. The two wrestled on the floor like siblings for several minutes before they both ended in a pile of laughing limbs, winded and content in spite of Veronica stealing Wallace's controller, promptly getting him killed.
"Hey now!" Wallace warned in a playfully menacing tone as he tried to get the controller back from her.
A short time later, Mac was saying, "Hey guys! It's time for us to go!" and the three of them looked around to make sure they weren't forgetting anything while Piz went and grabbed them a cab. After all their things were put in the trunk, they each said their goodbyes to Piz - Wallace high-fiving him and giving him a manly shoulder bump; Mac giving him a tentative and awkward one-armed hug; and Veronica giving him a real and true squeeze and what amounted to a nearly chaste kiss on the lips. "I'll see you in a week," she said to him as he nodded and opened the front door of the cab for her. Then she grinned at him and rolled down the window, calling out, "You owe me!" while he waved, chuckled, and watched them drive away.