(no subject)
TITLE: Objects of Affection
DATE: 06/18/05 - present
GENRE: drama
RATING: PG 13, borderline R
SUMMARY: It’s the little things that always matter. It’s the little things that help us remember. It’s the little things that she took with her whenever they parted. It’s the little things that fill the old hat box that sat in the dark corner of her closet. And now, years later, it’s the little things that tell the story of the love she held on to.
Author's Note: Influenced by real life events.
Prologue / Introduction
+ Chapter One: Yes or No +
Veronica sighed as she threw her bright orange binder into the top section of her locker. It’d been a long day. One of the longest, actually. She’d had a test in what seemed like every period and in the ones where she hadn’t been tested, she reviewed for one that was coming up. The week, as a whole, was hectic and she couldn’t understand why. Even outside of school, her world was spinning. She had work three nights that week and on the nights when she was off, she had practice or a game to attend. The weekend was booked, too. She had to go shopping for her older sister’s bridal shower with her mom and her aunt. There was just no way out of her life. And she wished there was. Just for a few days.
Standing on her toes, she attempted to peer into the locker above her. “Math,” she said to herself, fishing around in the not-so-organized section. “Did I have homework?” she wondered aloud, finally taking hold of her white binder and yanking it out… along with two other books and a spiral notebook that fell to the floor. The loud smack of the books was heard throughout the empty locker hall, but went unnoticed. No one was around to see them drop. Just like no one was around to help her pick them - and all the papers that flew out of them - up again.
Or so she thought.
“Ronnie!” came a frantic yell behind her. “Ronnie, I need your math homework!” Julia yelled as she slowed her run to a walk when she was a few feet away. “Quick! I need to get to lunch and copy it before I run out of time!” she begged, gathering everything around Veronica’s feet in two quick sweeps and thrusting them at her chest.
“I don’t know if I did it,” Veronica told her, her voice tired.
“Noooo,” her best friend cried, throwing herself against the row of blue lockers and looking up towards the sky. “Whyyy?”
“You’re so dramatic,” Veronica stated, closing her locker and taking hold of her friend’s sleeve. “C’mon, we’ll find someone down there with it,” she said, pulling Julia, whose head was hung in defeat, behind her.
“We’re dead! We’re done! We’re finished! We’re gonna fail! My mom’s gonna yell, my dad’s gonna scream! Oh my god, I’ll lose the car!” Julia panicked, grabbing hold of Veronica, turning her to face her, and shaking her shoulders. “I can NOT lose that car! It’s my baby! It’s my one and only! It’s my true love!” she wailed.
“Will you calm the fuck down!?” Veronica yelled, laughter in her demand.
“If you smile like that a little more often,” Julia grinned, hopping down the last few steps and looking back at Veronica, whose smile had yet to fade. “Seriously, what’s with you lately?” she asked, holding open the door at the bottom for the two of them.
“It’s too crazy,” Veronica said, falling into step with her as they entered the cafeteria and headed for their normal table.
“What is?” Julia asked, waving to someone across the large, crowded room.
“Life?” Veronica said, her answer more of a question than an actual statement. Julia raised an eyebrow as they sat down on the circular, blue seats and dropped their books to the table. “I don’t know,” she sighed, crossing her arms on top of her books and placing her chin on them. “There’s just too much going on and I’m like, exhausted.”
“Take a day off?” Julia suggested, opening her notebook to the page with the assignment on top and letting her eyes search the room for someone in their math class.
“I can’t,” Veronica said, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath in. “There’s no day to take off,” she pointed out, feeling the others take their seats at the table. From the aroma suddenly intoxicating her, she assumed they had gotten their food already. Suddenly, her stomach growled and she realized she, too, was hungry.
“Weasel!” Julia suddenly shrieked, causing Veronica and the others at the table to jump in their seats. “Math homework!” she shouted, jumping up and hustling to the skinny blonde boy a few tables away, who was already opening his folder for her.
While Julia got their homework, Veronica decided it was time to attempt to fill her stomach. The school’s food never really appealed to her, therefore she always found herself in the snack line, buying things that came prepackaged in bags or plastic wrappers. As she got her soft pretzel out of the warm rotator, she was overcome with the fear that someone was watching her. Granted, she was in a very large room with close to two hundred other students, but still… someone definitely had their eyes on her. Who, she doubted she’d be able to find, but she felt it. She felt them. And oddly enough, she found herself somewhat enjoying it. As she moved on through the line, she grabbed a pack of brownies and looked down at the change in her hand. She would have just enough left to get a drink from the machines once she paid for what was already in her hands. Once she gave the lunch lady her money, she turned and began to walk back to her seat. The eyes still followed her. Biting her lip, she let her eyes wander the room in hopes of finding who was staring at her.
When she reached the table, she sat down briefly and peered at the work Julia was slaving over. It didn’t look that bad. Actually, it looked kind of familiar. A smile spread across her face as she pushed her food to the side and tried to open her binder without anyone really noticing. “Oops,” she whispered to herself when she got to the very last page of her homework section.
“What’d you do?” Julia asked, not bothering to look up from her scrawling of numbers, radicals, and positive and negative signs. When she received a guilty giggle, she snapped her head up and caught sight of what Veronica was looking down at. Her jaw dropped. “You slut!” she shouted, pretending to be appalled.
Veronica slapped the binder shut and pushed it towards the end of the table, trying not to laugh. “I’m sorrrry,” she whined, throwing her arms around her best friend and whimpering. “Please forgive me?” she asked.
“Make her buy you something!” Cullen, the dirty blonde across from them, exclaimed. “That’s what I have to do when I fuck up!” he grinned, elbowing the girl beside him, who rolled her eyes and laughed. “Isn’t that right, baby?” he asked, pushing his forehead against her temple and kissing her cheek.
“Shut up,” Melissa laughed, pushing him away and shoving a fry in her mouth. “I do like presents, though,” she smiled, glancing at him and winking.
Veronica smiled somewhat sadly. She wanted that. But hey, don’t we all?
“Want me to get you a drink?” she asked Julia, who was back to copying the homework from the boy they’d been calling ‘Weasel’ since the fourth grade. Julia just shrugged, not really caring about any type of food or drink at that moment. The homework assignment was worth big points. And the teacher enjoyed embarrassing his students when they didn’t have their assignments. No one wanted to be embarrassed, therefore, they all made an effort… most of the time.
Grabbing an extra dollar out of her wallet, Veronica stood and began to walk towards the other end of the cafeteria. The staring had stopped, she’d noticed, when she had reached her table. But that was a good thing. She would’ve hated if someone had been watching her when she began to eat. She didn’t like eating around people in the first place. She’d grown used to it since it was now two or three months into the school year, but still… it would’ve creeped her out, nonetheless.
There was no line when she reached the machines, so she shoved a dollar into the slot and thought for a second before making her selection and waiting for it to vend. She licked her lips, bent down for the soda, and stood, shoving her other dollar in and selecting Julia’s favorite choice of beverage. Again, she waited for the drink to drop, but this time, she wasn’t alone. She could feel someone behind her. When she bent down for the soda, she took notice of the white tennis shoes and khaki pants on the person out of the corner of her eye. Slowly, she stood, and as she turned, just managed to not collide with the most beautiful boy she’d ever seen in her life. Stunned, she stood there, cheeks suddenly growing hot as her green eyes stared directly into his bright, blue ones.
“Sorry,” he managed to get out, laughing uncomfortably and stepping to the side so she could get through.
“It’s ok,” she smiled, her calm voice alarming her mentally, before she took advantage of the space provided and began to walk away. Halfway to her table, she looked back over her shoulder, but quickly snapped face front again when she noticed him doing the same. Biting her lip, she tried to hide her grin when she took her seat. But it really wasn’t worth it.
“We saw that,” Cullen teased, smiling at her, causing her to blush a darker shade of red. “He’s a hottie,” he winked.
“Stop,” Veronica whined, hiding her flushed face in her hands and looking over at Julia, in hopes of some kind of defense.
Julia stared back at her, her expression serious. “You’re such a slut,” she said, shaking her head as the others laughed. Veronica smiled and broke off a piece of the pretzel she’d purchased as Julia hit her shoulder as a friendly gesture. “Definitely a good prospect,” she grinned, wiggling her eyebrows. This time, Veronica was the one who shook her head.
Realizations were slowly made throughout the week that she bumped shoulders with the gorgeous boy in the cafeteria. She realized she passed him in the halls between more than just a few periods. She realized he sat about five tables over from hers during lunch. She realized he was in her fourth and fifth period classes. And she realized that his eyes were the ones on her in the cafeteria that day… and all the others after that.
She also realized that maybe, just maybe, she might have a chance with this guy. But then again, maybe not.
His name was Bobby and he was absolutely perfect. Or at least, that’s how he came off to her. Through careful observation, she noticed that he was a football player and though not extremely annoyingly obsessed with that fact, he did somewhat enjoy the attention on the Fridays of games and seemed to be proud of the jersey he wore. She noticed he liked to look nice - he dressed comfortably, but dressy. His style was high class, but he played it off as if it were nothing. His jeans hung loosely, causing his boxers to be exposed at certain points of the day. His muscles, though not absolutely huge, were obvious and any girl that passed up the chance to be held in those strong arms would probably be considered certifiably insane. His smile was to die for. His hair was a simple brown and he wore it short, but flipped up in the front somewhat. He was gorgeous. So… why was he staring at her, of all the girls in the school?
Veronica viewed herself as nothing special. Her style was simple, but classy. She loved sneakers and jeans, and the minute someone saw her in a skirt, she was suddenly a completely different person. When she felt comfortable, she was content. She loved hoodies and always had one in the back seat of the white car she drove. When she felt pretty, she was giddy. Her dirty blonde hair was pulled back away from her face the majority of the time, and when she did leave it down, she got many compliments. She knew she wasn’t a bad looking girl. But she also knew she wasn’t a hot shot. She viewed herself as simply being just there. She wasn’t extremely loud, but she could be if she wanted to be. She was funny, though Julia had the better sense of humor in their friendship. She was sensitive, though she tried to hide it. She was happy with her life. But she knew something was missing.
Sure, she’d dated a good amount of guys, but it was never anything serious. Her heart had been broken and she’d suffered through teen angst and depression over the school’s male population just like any other girl had. She often found herself observing the couples surrounding her in the hallways and classrooms and especially the lunch room. She longed to have what Cullen and Melissa had. She wanted someone to love her the way they loved each other. She wanted it to be obvious to anyone who would simply glance at the two. She wanted to fall in love.
She was seventeen years old and nearing November of her junior year. She didn’t expect anything for the future, she just wanted someone for now. She wanted to be hugged and kissed and held. She wanted to feel safe in someone’s arms and know that they felt the same way she did when they looked into each other’s eyes.
Deciding to possibly help her chances a little bit, Veronica began to put a little more oomph in her step. Even though her week from hell still hadn’t come to an end and she was still under all the pressure of sports, school, work, and her sister’s wedding, she tried to smile more, put a little more effort into the way she looked, and tried to be as friendly as possible. She’d done all this before, but now she was actually looking for the attention. She knew she needed to go after what she wanted instead of just sitting back and waiting. Julia yelled at her for hoping all the time. “If you want something done, you have to do it yourself,” she’d told her time and time again.
The minute she walked into her fourth period class that Thursday afternoon, she knew exactly why Julia was grinning at her. She knew she was finally beginning to follow her advice. That made her happy. And in return, it made Veronica happy. Therefore, she smiled, too, when she took her normal seat next to her.
“I still like your shirt,” Julia grinned, even though she’d already seen her that morning. She reached over and adjusted the collar on Veronica’s green button down. “Brings out your eyes more,” she nodded, hitting her friend in the head with her pen and slouching down in her seat until she was comfortably positioned with her feet on the back of the chair in front of her and her butt halfway off her own seat. Julia and Veronica got along so well, they believed, because they were made for each other. What one didn’t have, the other did. They filled in for each other’s faults. They believed that they were a complete match. Julia was a little on the heavy side, or, as she would say, “I still have my baby fat!”, while Veronica was a healthy type of slim. Julia was loud and obnoxious, opinionated and funny. Veronica was quiet and apologetic, kept things to herself and loved simplicity. Julia was the black to Veronica’s white in their crayola boxes. They were both, however, laid back. And they loved that about themselves.
Julia cleared her throat loudly as the class settled down into their seats and Veronica looked over at her. Julia nodded her head towards the front of the classroom where Veronica’s current interest stood, eyes wandering the room, confusion splashed blatantly across his face.
“Is there a problem, Ringer?” Mr. Crawson asked as he approached him, addressing Bobby by his last name.
“I… think my seat’s gone,” he said, laughing uncomfortably and scratching his head. That’s something else Veronica had noticed about him. He often seemed uncomfortable, or maybe he was just shy. Even around his friends, he looked as if he was holding something back. But that was ok, because she did that, too. Also, when he was off in his own little world, he either bit his nails or played with his hair. And looked adorable doing it.
“Well I’m sure we can find you another seat,” Crawson assured, looking around the room. He noticed an empty one towards the back corner and was raising his hand to point to it when Katherine, the girl on Veronica’s left, raised her hand and pointed at the clock.
“I’m excused now,” she said, standing and throwing her purse over her shoulder. “Dentists,” she explained simply.
“Alright, cya,” Crawson said, placing his hand on Bobby’s shoulder and pointing to the newly available seat. “There ya go, Ringer. Right next to the lovely Miss Manners,” he grinned, dropping his hold of his student and going around his desk to take his own seat.
Veronica lowered her gaze and glanced out of the corner of her eye at Julia, who was wide-eyed. “Whoa,” they both mouthed to each other before Julia covered her laughter with a few coughs. But it was too obvious. Veronica knew it was too obvious by the way Bobby’s cheeks flushed when he took his seat.
“Hey,” he breathed, digging a pen out of the pocket of his jeans before making himself comfortable.
“Hi,” she smiled, her voice quiet, as she tried to keep herself from staring at him. He’s just a boy, she reminded herself over and over again. But such a beautiful boy.
Throughout the period, Veronica tried her hardest to pay attention to Crawson’s lecture on the Civil War, but found her attempts to be utter failures. She couldn’t keep her mind at ease. The butterflies in her stomach were getting tangled up in the knots that were forming and every time she stole a glance at him, her heart rate would soar. There was something about this boy. Definitely something. His mere presence made her knees weak.
Countless times the two caught the other glancing at them. Embarrassed at first, they would look away and try to hide their blushing cheeks, but halfway through the class, the embarrassment faded and they simply smiled at each other and looked away. But always found each other going back for more. He winked at her, at one point, and her smile took over her face, which made him laugh. She glanced at Julia, who was trying her hardest not to watch the two of them, but was having great difficulty.
Towards the end of the class, Veronica stole a glance and noticed that for the first time since the period started, he was actually using the pen he’d taken out of his pocket beforehand. She watched as he concentrated on what he wrote and then was amused as she saw him stop writing, look up at her, and then go back to whatever he was doing. There wasn’t a lot of writing on the paper, it seemed, and as she stole another look, she saw him beginning to draw some type of shape, the tip of his tongue sticking out of the right corner of this mouth as he did so.
“He’s so cute,” she mouthed to Julia, who was, again, staring at the two of them. Julia nodded in agreement and looked back up front before the two of them got caught. It didn’t matter, though, because the bell signaling the end of the period sounded and everyone was up and out of their seats before Crawson even had the chance to dismiss them.
“You enjoy bio, Ronnie,” Julia teased, giving her friend’s shoulder a quick squeeze before turning and heading toward her own fifth period class. The girls had every class together except third and fifth, but that was fine, because they both agreed that if they saw each other all day, they’d probably go crazy. They needed their space.
Veronica sighed as she paced herself going to her next class, every now and then peering over her shoulder, trying to see if Bobby was coming or not. She’d never seen him get up from his seat or leave the classroom. And as she parted ways from Julia, she still didn’t see him come through the door. They had the same class the next period, so shouldn’t he take the same route? She took the quickest route to all of her classes, simply because she hated walking in late. She hated the way people stared, even if you were only a few seconds after the bell. She hated the way teachers always had to be bitchy about it, as well. Their fat asses were still standing outside of the room gossiping with the teachers across the hall, anyway, so it wasn’t like she missed much of the lesson. These thoughts kept her occupied as she made her way to her bio class.
She settled into her normal seat on the end of a horizontal row of lab desks next to a kid that rarely ever stayed awake. Most of the class, she kept to herself. Sure, she had people she could talk to, but they were no where near her and the teacher for this class, Ms. Sanders, hated when her students weren’t in their assigned seats. Call her paranoid, call her bitchy, but either way, the woman was smart; she was saving herself a hell of a lot of unnecessary noise and hassle.
Veronica tucked her hair, which she’d allowed herself to wear down and wavy that morning, behind her ears and opened her notebook as she looked around the room. He still wasn’t there. She wondered where he could be as the bell sounded and Sanders shut the door on cue. Four minutes - she counted - after attendance was taken, there was a knock at the wooden, windowless door and Veronica bit her bottom lip, in hope and in fear. She wanted it to be him, but then again, she didn’t, because if Sanders embarrassed him, she had a feeling that she, too, would feel the discomfort that would surely run through the shy boy’s body.
“Mr. Ringer, I assume you have a note,” Sanders addressed him as soon as the door had opened. He nodded, handed her a slip of blue paper, and waited until she signaled her approval before he headed for his usual seat, which was two lab tables behind Veronica’s.
As he passed her, he dropped a folded piece of paper onto her notebook slyly. Her heart stopped as she tried to cover the paper with her arm as cool as she could. Sanders hated notes of any kind being passed and shared. She was one of those teachers that would stop class, force the student to hand over the note, and would stand there and read it to herself, her facial expression showing the class whether it was something interesting or something stupid. If it was interesting, the person who had been caught would be asked about it by the others after class. If it was stupid, everyone would forget it even happened and the lesson would continue.
Veronica had a feeling that his note wasn’t one that would be classified as stupid.
Again, through this class, just like she’d done throughout the last period, she tried to concentrate, but found it, once again, to be quite hopeless. All she wanted to do was read the note. Fourth period, all she wanted to do was stare at him and watch him in all his beauty. This period, all she wanted was a few seconds of noise so she could open the paper without any worry of being caught. Luckily, Sanders announced an assignment she wanted them to do and turn in the next day. During the hustle and bustle of everyone opening their text books and leafing through the pages of the books and their own notebooks or binders, Veronica was able to open the note.
With somewhat clammy hands, she unfolded it and smoothed it out, trying not to read ahead or accidentally catch any words at the bottom of the paper that turned out to be the corner of a page of notebook paper. She drew in a deep breath as she read what was on the paper at the same time she opened her text book so that Sanders knew she was getting started.
She grinned as she happily checked the box for ‘yes’. She had not one doubt in her mind that she wanted to see a movie with this boy. With a smile on her face and a fluttering heart, she did her assignment in record time and finished around the same time everyone else began to start their conversations around the room. Sanders allowed talking to the people around them, she just didn’t want anyone to get up and out of their seats. Taking advantage of this, Veronica folded the note back up, turned in her seat, and asked the girl behind her to pass it back to Bobby. She watched, somewhat nervous, as the note was successfully passed. She saw Bobby take in his bottom lip and bite it as he opened it in his lap. The moment a smile spread across his face, she felt an overwhelming sense of joy pass through her. She watched as he wrote something quickly and then had it passed back to her.
Feeling that she didn’t need to write a reply back - and knowing that she wanted to show the actual note to Julia during lunch next period - she looked up and nodded at him. With a smile, he nodded back. Smiling as well, she turned her body back up front and mentally threw herself a party. This was insane. Why was this boy interested in her? Why hadn’t she noticed him sooner? How was she getting so lucky?
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