“Alissa, you’ve got mail,” Veronica shouted, walking in the apartment.
“Where’s it from?” Alissa asked, walking into the living room.
Veronica looked at the return address. “University of Central Florida,” she replied, tossing the package to Alissa.
Alissa opened it. “This can’t be what I think it is.” She pulled out the papers, hers eyes quickly reading the top sheet. “Oh my god, I can’t believe it,” she exclaimed. “I got in.”
“What?!” Alice asked, walking out of the kitchen. “How did that happen?”
“They said my SAT scores were so high, and all of the testing I did was like perfect, that they’d have to be stupid not to accept me. It’s for the Spring Semester, granted, but I still got in.”
“Under which name?”
“This one.”
“Did they inquire into your pervious schooling?” Veronica asked.
“I did the same thing we did on our work applications. I lied.”
“I hate having to lie,” Alice complained.
“Me too,” Veronica agreed. “Especially to the guys.”
“What’s going to happen if they don’t accept the reasons why we lied?” Alissa asked.
Veronica shrugged. “Hopefully they’ll understand. If they don’t, then we’ll just never see them again.”
“You forget, Veronica, we move in the same circles they do,” Alissa told her.
“Then we’ll see them, and be civil, but that’s it.”
“If that’s possible,” Alissa murmured.
“You know what, Alissa, you’ve got to stop making these damn predictions. We don’t know what’s possible. Stop being so fucking pessimistic,” Veronica screamed.
“I’m the one being realistic, Veronica. Do you truthfully think we can go back to our old lives after living like this. We’re having fun, we’re being ourselves. When we go back, we’re going to be puppets, like we were before. We have no other duty in life than to marry some rich asshole, give him an heir, and then see how many lovers we can have. Is that a life we can go back to?” Alissa asked, her voice rising with every word. “And the guys. I don’t know about you two, but I’m falling in love with Justin. And once we leave them, if they don’t accept our reasons, and we part on bad terms, I don’t know what I’m gonna do. And the college. I got accepted to a university. I want to go there, but trust me, I won’t be able to.”
“I don’t care what you want, just keep your fucking pessimistic mood to yourself,” Veronica told her.
“Fine then, you want to me to keep it to myself, I will.” Alissa stormed out of the house. “Good-bye,” she said, just before slamming the door.
“Good, I’m glad you’re leaving,” Veronica screamed, opening the door. Alissa flipped her off. “Fuck you, too.” Veronica slammed the door.
Alice watched with a shocked expression as Veronica stormed into her room, slamming the door behind her. Alissa and Veronica were best friends. In the entire time she’d known them, they’d never gotten mad at each other. Oh, they’d had their petty arguments and fights, but they had never been truly mad at each other. And she remembered meeting their parents. Mikayla had told her the girls had fought when they were younger, but once, again, it hadn’t been anything major. They’d never been apart for longer than a day. What had this done to them?
“You sound upset,” Joey commented. He was talking to Veronica on the phone.
“Alissa and I just got into an argument. Damn bitch,” she muttered, the venom evident in her voice.
Joey was shocked. He didn’t think it was possible for those two to get mad at each other. “What was the argument about?”
Veronica chewed on her lip, trying to think of a plausible reason why they argued. “I got sick of her pessimistic attitude,” she finally told Joey. “Her predictions that she won’t get into college.” It was close enough to the truth.
“And you two aren’t talking to each other now?”
“I wouldn’t talk to her if she was the last person on the face of the Earth. Alissa’s a goddamn bitch with a huge attitude.”
“Ok, ok, no need to get mad at me,” Joey said.
“Sorry.” Veronica took a deep breath. “I’m just kinda mad right now.”
“It’s ok, I understand. To get your mind off of it, would you like to go to the beach with me?”
“I’ll be ready in thirty minutes.”
Joey laughed. “Impatient, aren’t we?”
“Very. I want to get out of the house.”
“See you in thirty, then.”
Thirty minutes later, Veronica walked out of her room. “Ali, I’m going to the beach with Joey. Don’t worry if I’m not back until tomorrow.”
Alice laughed. “Laters. Have fun.”
“Oh, I’m sure I will.”
“Sorry, Justin, Lis isn’t here,” Alice told Justin that afternoon, when he called, looking for Alissa.
“Do you know where she is?”
“No. She stormed out of the house earlier, when she and Ronnie got into an argument.”
“What did they argue about?” Alissa and Veronica got into a fight? Justin thought. Not possible.
It took her a few minutes to reply. “Lis’ pessimistic mood.”
“But she’s rarely pessimistic. And I’d say her pessimism is more sarcasm than anything.
You haven’t seen her around here, Alice thought. “Ronnie just got fed up with it.”
“Oh, ok. Tell her to call me when she gets home.”
“Will do.”
Justin tossed the phone on his bed after hanging up. Now he knew there was something not right with those three. He was determined to get to the bottom of it.
“You dye you hair, don’t you?” Joey asked Veronica. They were laying on blankets, watching the sunset.
“Yeah. Normally it’s a dark brown.”
“Why did you dye it?”
“I needed a change.”
“Did Alissa and Alice dye their hair, too?”
“Alissa streaked her hair, and Alice dyed hers a dark blonde.”
“You should let it grow out. I want to see what your hair looks like.”
Veronica laughed. “You will, someday.” You already have.
Alissa’s words haunted her. She knew Alissa was right- they wouldn’t be able to go back to their old lives. Not when this one had some purpose. And she also knew that she’d be devastated if she and Joey parted on bad terms.
They had all been lucky the night they stayed with the guys. What if one of them had noticed they wore contacts. Veronica had been careful not to remove her contacts until Joey was asleep, and it had been the first thing she’d done the next morning. But what if one of these days, they weren’t careful?
“JC, do you have Joey’s number?” Alice asked. She was on the verge of tears.
“Yeah, why?” JC mumbled. It was ten in the morning, and he’d been sleeping.
“Alissa stormed out of the apartment yesterday, and she still hasn’t come back or called or anything. I’m worried about her. I wanted to ask Ronnie if she’d heard from Lis.”
“I’m really sorry. I hope Lis turns up ok.”
“So do I.” Oh god, so do I. She wrote down Joey’s number, then said bye to JC. “Call me later, Jace.”
“Will do.”
Alice dialed Joey’s number and got the answering machine. “Joey, this is Alice. Is Ronnie there? Ronnie, I wanted to let you know-”
“Sorry,” Veronica interrupted. “I was busy. Now, what were you saying?”
“Alissa is still missing.”
“Good.”
“No, Veronica, this isn’t good. I haven’t even heard from her. Neither has Justin. What if something happened to her?”
“Alissa is a big girl. She can take care of herself.”
“Damnit, Veronica, will you listen to yourself? This is Alissa we’re talking about. If it had been me or you, we’d be ok. But not Alissa. She can’t fight or defend herself.”
“The it’s a good time for her to learn.”
“Veronica Marie Cameron, will you get over the argument? Aren’t you the least bit worried? Alissa is your best friend, after all.”
“Not anymore,” Veronica said, hanging up the phone.
“What was all that about?” Joey asked.
“Alissa hasn’t called or come home, and Alice is worried.”
“Aren’t you?”
“Not really. Alissa is a big girl, and can take care of herself.” She wrapped her arms around Joey’s neck. “Now, where were we?”
“Right here,” Joey said, kissing her neck, his hands pulling off her shirt.
Veronica lay curled up next to Joey, thinking about what Alice had told her. There was some truth to what she said- if it had been one of them out all night, there would be no need to worry. But Alissa? The girl couldn’t hurt a fly. She wouldn’t know what to do if she was attacked. She couldn’t even scream loudly.
Veronica and Alissa had become best friends because of their differences. They balanced each other out. They had similar likes and dislikes, and enjoyed many of the same things. But they were still very different. Alissa was the introverted, quiet type, with a mind that amazed most people. She was really smart. And she could get them out of any trouble Veronica caused. Which Veronica did, and often. She was the out-going one, friendly, with a natural ability to make people feel comfortable around her.
She missed Alissa, and their friendship. They didn’t keep anything from each other. They were best friends, and had always planned on being best friends.
“Are you ok?” Joey asked, lifting his head to look at her.
Veronica wiped away the tears on her face. “Hold me, Joey.”
Joey wrapped his arms around her. “I will, for as long as you need me to.”
Alissa stood up and dusted off her jeans. She’d spent the entire day and night at the beach. She supposed that Alice would be worried about her, but didn’t call her, because she needed to think.
She heard a car pull up behind her and the car door open and close. She turned around.
“Alissa?” Justin asked, running down the beach. He hugged her. “Oh god, we’ve been worried. Where have you been? Why didn’t you call?”
“I needed to think about some things. Sorry I caused everyone to worry. I’ve been here all night.”
“No one tried anything?”
“No, Justin, I’m perfectly fine.”
“Ok. C’mon, we’ll go back to my house, and you can call Alice.” He pulled her towards his car.
Once they were on the road, heading for his house, Justin tossed her his cell phone. “Call Alice, tell her you’re ok, and that you’re going to my place.”
“Alice, it’s Alissa,” she said, once she got Alice. “I’m ok, and going over to Justin’s right now.”
“You had me so worried, Lis, I could kill you right now,” Alice told her. “When you get home, we’re all having a long talk.”
“I’m not going to talk to Veronica.”
“Oh yes, you will.”
“No, I won’t. Not until she apologizes.”
“God, I can’t believe the two of you,” Alice muttered. “Fine then. We’ll sit in the living room in silence. But we’re not leaving the room until everything is settled.”
“Fine. See you later.”
“Bye.”
Alissa stared out the window after hanging up. Alissa felt much like Veronica. They were best friends, and neither could picture a life without having the other there. Throughout their lives, there hadn’t been anything that had come between them. And now, their new life had.