She had Daniel. They’d been together for almost five months. It was a wonderful, fun relationship, and she trusted Daniel—more than anyone else she had ever been with. He knew all about her visions. When she met Eric she hadn’t even admitted to herself she had visions—much less to him.
The man had no sense of timing.
She took a sip of juice. Tasting the sweetness of it on her tongue did help her to feel a little more grounded.
“I’ll bring Daniel along,” she said out loud. That was the solution. When and if she met Eric, she’d just bring Daniel along. Daniel knew more about which neighborhoods—heck, even which streets—were more prone to crime than anyone Veronica knew. He’d be a great person to have along on any apartment hunt.
Right, because now you’re going apartment hunting with Eric. Sure, V. Because sitting down for a bagel with a map of Sacramento certainly wouldn’t be enough.
She shook her head at herself. She had to just get her mind off all of this craziness. It was a nonissue. She’d write a quick note back to Eric and give him her cell number, and that would be that. One day she’d get a call. She’d plan to have lunch. Maybe bring Daniel along—or not. She was an adult. She could handle seeing an old friend she used to flirt with. That’s all he ever was, after all.
Gnawing on her lower lip, Veronica considered calling Melanie. Ordinarily she’d have done so already, but for some reason she was reluctant to talk to Mellie right now.
For a moment she couldn’t remember why that was, but as she approached her computer, her cell buzzed on the table where it lay.
A text from Angie: “Sure. Tomorrow am. Or we could get lunch?”
Of course. Angie. The pregnancy. I must truly be losing my mind, if I let that little tidbit slip away from me even for a few minutes.
Veronica frowned at the text. She sensed a hidden hope for a free lunch in Angie’s last sentence. Well, that might work in Veronica’s favor. Butter the kid up and maybe she’d relax enough to level with Veronica. It could happen.
She texted back: “Penny Coffee’s for lunch?”
“Sure,” came the response. “Noon?”
“See you there,” Veronica punched in. She would deal with the Eric nonsense later. She had more important things to think about now.
Chapter 3
Veronica waved at Angie from the comfy chair where she was nestled. On the low table in front of her was a plate with a turkey sandwich and a large glass of iced, blended mocha and whipped cream. Veronica held Penny Coffee largely responsible for the twenty extra pounds she wished would just melt away by magic. She was grateful that Daniel seemed not to notice them, and as long as she felt healthy, she didn’t spend much time fretting over her weight.
Angie trotted over.
“Should I order something?” she asked.
Veronica handed her a twenty. “Yup. Knock yourself out.”
In a few moments Angie returned carrying a bowl of soup and an iced coffee. Veronica eyed the coffee. Melanie wouldn’t like Angie drinking coffee, and if the teen really was pregnant, it wasn’t the best choice either. Deciding to let that slide in favor of not starting out this little interview with a struggle, Veronica smiled at Angie and moved her plate over to make room for Angie’s lunch.
“The potato bisque is so yummy here,” Angie said. “I’m trying to do low carb but I just had to have a bowl.”
“Oh, Ange. You don’t need to worry about low carb. I’ve never in my life been as lean as you and I’m not doing low carb.”
Angie gave Veronica a quick once over. “Yeah, but you’ve got that Italian luscious curves thing going on, Veronica,” she said appreciatively. “If I gain five pounds I just look dumpy.”
Rolling her eyes, Veronica took a sip of her frozen, blended mocha. “Angie, that is so not true.”
Angie shrugged. “Anyway, you didn’t invite me out to lunch to talk about dieting. Let me guess. Mom wants you to lay a hand on my head and figure out what I’ve been up to these last few weeks. She’s so nosy.”
“Oh, come on, Ange, do you blame her? I’m glad you’re moving on after that whole nasty business with Grant,” Veronica said, noting that Angie’s lips tightened at the sound of the boy’s name. “I really am. But can you really blame your mom for becoming a little overprotective after all that? It hasn’t even been six months.”
“Whatever,” Angie said, sitting back in her seat and crossing her arms. “I’m fine. He’s dead. End of story.”
Nodding, Veronica ran a finger along the rim of her glass. “Yes, that’s true. Just… cut her a little slack, okay?”
Angie blew air out of her mouth and grabbed her iced coffee, bringing it up to her mouth in a gesture that seemed more designed to hide her face than quench her thirst.
With a quick smile at Angie, Veronica tried to lighten her tone. “So what have you been up to, Ange? You might as well spill. You know I can find out.”
“That’s so unfair,” Angie said with a sigh. “I’m the only kid I know whose mom’s best friend is a psychic.”
Veronica grinned. “Yeah, I bet that does suck.”
Angie fiddled with her soup spoon.
“So…” Veronica prompted.
“Nothing! I’m not doing anything. Just stuff.”
This wasn’t going anywhere. Waiting for Angie to open up was like waiting for a clam to cough up a pearl. Well, Angie might not want to spill but Veronica couldn’t just let this pregnancy thing go. “Ange, is there a boy?”
Casting a narrow-eyed look Veronica’s way, Angie took another long sip of coffee.
“Okay, I have a confession to make,” Veronica said after a moment of silently watching Angie drink coffee and toy with her spoon.
Angie met Veronica’s eyes.
“I have already had a vision,” Veronica informed her. She was gratified by a flush rising in Angie’s cheeks. “I know there’s a boy.”
“So what?” Angie snapped. “I’m sorry, Veronica, but it’s none of your business!”
Veronica gazed at her calmly, saying nothing. Angie squirmed under her stare.
“I’m sorry! But why do I have to answer to you about who I’m dating?”
“Angie, you know I’m only bugging you about this because I care about you.”
Angie grimaced. “You and mom say stuff like that and it just makes me want to scream.”
“I know you think you’ve got this all under control, Ange. I know you think your mom and I worry too much about you. But take a second to consider something, okay? I’m not just your ‘Auntie Veronica,’ you know? I’m a psychic, hon. I see more than you do.”
The teenager’s face slackened and she stared at Veronica. “What did you see?”
“I saw… I’m sorry, hon, this is going to embarrass you.”
“Well, for a second there you really scared me. I can handle being embarrassed. I thought you were going to say you saw Joe doing something… bad…”
“Joe, is that his name?” Veronica smiled. Then she schooled her expression to be serious. “Do you think he’s capable of doing something bad?”
Angie rolled her eyes. “You know, the potato bisque is good, but it’s not worth this interrogation.”
“Ange, I saw you pregnant. Like, big pregnant.”
Angie’s mouth dropped open. She set her glass down on the table with a thud. “Whoa, Veronica. I mean… whoa.”
“I’m sorry,” Veronica said. “I warned you it would be embarrassing.”
“But see, you’re just wrong. You’re wrong, Veronica. That isn’t possible.”
“It isn’t possible because you’re using condoms, or because you haven’t had sex?”
“Whoa!” Angie cried. “Step back a minute. I can’t believe I’m even discussing this with you!”
Inhaling deeply, Veronica willed herself to be patient. “Because you know, Angie, condoms are not foolproof—”
“Jesus, we’re not using condoms!”
Veronica raised her eyebrows. “
Well then how can you be sure—”
“Oh my god! We’re not using them because we’re not doing it, okay? Jesus. This is unbelievable.”
Veronica let out her breath slowly. “Okay,” she said. “Okay then. That’s a relief.”
Angie was glowering at her. “I’m still a virgin, okay, Veronica? Is that what you want to hear? I’ll probably be a virgin until I’m twenty, if you and mom have anything to do with it. God. This is just perfect.”
“Better that than pregnant at fifteen.”
Angie stirred her soup without looking up for a few minutes. Letting the silence grow, Veronica watched her. She was a good kid. So many of the teens in Veronica’s classes would have stormed out of this conversation five minutes ago. But Angie wouldn’t do that. She loved Veronica and she wouldn’t want to do something hurtful. Instead, she endured the humiliation of this conversation. Thank goodness, too. If she was telling the truth, Veronica’s vision had come in time to stop the pregnancy from ever happening.
Angie seemed to have come to the same conclusion. Peering up at Veronica through her lashes, she smirked. “I was like, really big pregnant?”
“Yup,” Veronica said with a nod.
“Man.”
“And not only that, you were in pain. In trouble. Something was wrong.”
“Jeez.”
Veronica let Angie absorb this, and busied herself with her sandwich.
After another long pause, Angie said, “I wasn’t planning on… you know. I wasn’t going to… to do it, any time soon.”
Veronica pursed her lips and nodded. “Yeah, that’s good. And Joe, he wouldn’t… force you, right?”
“No! No way!”
“So, he’s a nice guy?”
Angie nodded. “Yeah.”
“Then why all the sneaking around?”
“First of all, I have not been sneaking around. Just because I don’t tell mom everything I’m doing doesn’t qualify as sneaking around. And you know how she’s been. I can’t say a boy on TV looks cute without her getting all hand-wringy.”
“Yeah, I can see how that gets old.”
“I’m like, not going to become a nun or something, okay? I mean, Joe is really nice. He’s a junior. Or, I mean, in the fall he’ll be a senior. He plays basketball.”
“Cool,” Veronica nodded.
Angie warmed to the subject. “I met him at the mall when I was walking puppies with Shona and Regina.”
“Does he go to Eleanor Roosevelt?”
“No, he goes to Sac High. But he said he might be able to transfer this year. Except I don’t think he should because he’s probably going to be captain of the basketball team at Sac this year. Maybe after basketball season is over he could do it. The only thing is I’ll probably get in trouble if Eleanor plays Sac and I root for him.” Angie shrugged. “But who cares? I never used to go to any games anyway, except my own when I was on the basketball team at Saint Pat’s. Maybe this year I’ll go out for basketball at Eleanor.”
When all the trouble occurred with Grant Slecterson, Angie had been attending Saint Patrick’s, a private Catholic school. Part of the challenge of getting over that ordeal had been her transfer to the high school where Veronica taught French, Eleanor Roosevelt. It had been a milestone when Angie made friends with Shona, Regina, and the other members of “All About Animals,” a school club that existed primarily as an excuse for outings to the mall to walk puppies from the pet store. Also apparently to allow for hobnobbing with boys from other schools.
“I think you should definitely consider going out for the team,” Veronica said. “You know, I’m pretty sure Shona plays basketball.”
“She does. She plays most sports.”
“Well, there you go.”
“Yeah,” Angie said, then took a mouthful of soup. Once she swallowed, she added, “And Joe is kind of a jock. I mean, not like, obnoxious. But it would be cool for him to come to my games, you know, like I’m going to come to his.”
“I think that that is definitely a good idea.”
Veronica finished her sandwich and listened to Angie chatter about Joe—who was a big fan of collecting comic books and whose dad had a “Captain America” worth forty thousand dollars, apparently—feeling very satisfied with herself. Not a bad week. I warned those cops about that shooter. I prevented Angie getting pregnant. And she doesn’t even hate me. Wait until I tell Mellie everything I’ve found out about Joe, too… Of course, Melanie would probably be worried about Joe, but Veronica trusted Angie when she said they weren’t having sex, and that Joe was a good guy. Melanie was going to have to come to terms with Angie dating again anyway. Really, this was a good thing. Angie needed to be a teenager. She needed to date and have fun and have crushes like any other girl, and the fact that her experience with Grant hadn’t ruined all of that for her was awesome.
Just as long as Veronica’s vision didn’t come to pass.
“Ange?” she said as they got up to leave.
“Yeah?”
“So, you know I get visions sometimes as a warning, right?”
Angie groaned and rolled her eyes. “Yes, Veronica. I get it. No knocking boots. I wasn’t planning on it anyway, but if something changes and I start thinking about it, I’ll remember what you said. Big pregnant and in trouble. No thank you, alright? Message received.”
“Good,” Veronica said with a chuckle. “And you know I’m dishing with your mom all about Joe—what’s his last name?”
Angie peered at her. “If I give you his last name, you and mom are going to go all stalkerly, though. I don’t need her calling up his parents or something.”
“Ange, part of getting your mom to trust you is going to involve you trusting her, you know.”
Groaning again, she shook her head. “Fine. It’s Chapela. Joe Chapela. There’s a photo of him on Sac High’s website on the sports page. And I’m friends with him on Facebook, you can go to his profile from mine. But please don’t let her do anything… weird.”
Veronica crossed her heart. “I swear.”
~~~
“Joe Chapela?” Melanie echoed.
After waiting for Melanie to be done with work, Veronica met her back at her house. She resisted spilling the beans until both she and Melanie were wearing work gloves and holding rollers of paint. That would slow Mellie down if her first instinct was to try to call Joe’s parents or seek him out on the computer.
“He sounds like a good kid, Mellie.”
“He’s a basketball player? Aren’t jocks aggressive?”
“Mellie. Angie really likes him. She went out on a limb telling me about him. She’s giving you a chance. Don’t blow it by being…”
“What? What? What am I being?” Melanie demanded, shaking the roller, which splattered tiny droplets of paint everywhere. Veronica took a step away from her friend.
“Well, right now you’re being a little threatening with that roller.”
“You know, V, I don’t appreciate you telling me I’m going to blow it with Angie—”
“Now wait a sec, please. I didn’t say that. I said you should be careful not to blow it. Angie has been hiding this relationship from you because she’s afraid your anxiety is going to push you to do something that will embarrass her.”
“Did she say that? She said I was going to embarrass her?”
“She asked me not to let you do anything weird.”
“Oh, fantastic. Like what?”
Veronica sighed and focused her eyes on the patch of wall she was painting as she answered. “Call his parents. Get ‘stalkerly.’”
“‘Stalkerly’? She said ‘stalkerly’?”
“Mellie…”
Tears welled in Melanie’s eyes.
“Okay, what gives, lady?” Veronica demanded. “I mean, I know you’ve been struggling with letting Angie do her own thing ever since the whole Grant ordeal, but you seem more—I don’t know—I mean, is there something else bothering you, hon?”
Melanie shook her head a
nd then pressed her forearm’s sleeve to her eyes. “No,” she said, her voice muffled. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I know you’re right. I know she’s fine—you talked to her, and you really think she’s fine?”
“Yes, I really do,” Veronica said.
“And I wasn’t having such a hard time until she started sneaking around…”
“Um, that’s another thing, Mel. Angie said she hasn’t really been sneaking around so much as not telling you where she’s going or whatever. Is that true? Because you made it sound like she was escaping through her bedroom window at night.”
Melanie sighed, dropping her arms to her sides, the roller smearing creamy paint on her already splattered jeans. “It’s just that I’m afraid she’s going to sneak out. It’s not like she’s never done it before.”
“Yeah, but not since Grant Slecterson.”
Melanie shuddered. “Yeah, but that time was pretty bad, wouldn’t you say?”
Veronica stepped over a paint tray and put her arm around Melanie to give her a side-hug. The strength of the vision knocked her over. She was vaguely aware that she landed in the paint tray, but soon that awareness washed away.
~~~
She was wearing the red cardigan again. Her belly protruded roundly, and she was on the floor, clutching her groin where the stabbing pain skewered her. She brought a hand in front of her face again—more blood—but this time she noticed a ring on the finger.
~~~
The vision faded and Veronica returned to herself. Her eyes focused on the long smear of paint down her leg.
She looked up at Melanie, who was talking rapidly.
“V? V? Oh god, are you okay? You cried out—it sounded like you were really hurt! Did you hurt yourself falling? What did you see?”
Veronica took a deep breath and grasped Melanie’s hand—the one with the mother-of-pearl ring on it that Chris had given her.
“Mellie,” Veronica asked weakly. The pain was gone, but she still felt drained by it. “Does Angie ever borrow your clothes?”
The Plane and the Parade (Veronica Barry Book 3) Page 3