Veronica’s POV


I don’t know what urged me to follow this boy. A boy who seemed vaguely familiar, but I just couldn’t place him. I pushed myself off the wall I was leaning on, approaching the boy. He seemed even more familiar as I got closer. Smiling, I grab a cigarette from the pack hanging from his fingers, “Alright.”

The pair of us starts to walk away from the crazy party. I lit the cigarette with a match that I keep in my wallet for emergencies. As we escaped the prying eyes of our peers, he opened his mouth, “So…”

With a sigh, I look down at the ground as we continued to walk, “I don’t like my friends.”

“I don’t like your friends either,” he chuckles. “But I doubt that’s the big problem.”

“Perceptive, aren’t you?”

“I mean, I’ve known you since we were kids,” he tucks his hand into his pocket.

I glance at him in confusion. How does he know me? At least, in the way that he was insinuating. “This will probably sound really stuck up,” I start. “But who are you?”

He shook his head, smirking, “I knew you didn’t recognize me. Frank Iero. We were friends in elementary school.”

As soon as he said his name, images flashed on me playing with a short boy with a high pitched giggle. My eyes widened, “Frank? Oh my god, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s alright,” he shrugged. “Our paths changed a while ago. Now since they’ve crossed again, talk to me, Ron.”

I wince at the nickname. He used to call me that in elementary school, and now everyone either called me “Ron” or “Ronnie”. Never Veronica, which is what I really preferred. “C-Can you just call me Veronica?”

“Sure,” he throws the cigarette butt away. “Now talk.”

At this point, we had reached the park. I walk inside, going straight for the swings, Frank following me. My mind wandered as started to swing slightly. I’ve never really opened up about my insecurities and pressures before. No one understood. At least, no one around me understood. “Pressure,” I mumble.

“Pressure?” He plops down on the swing next to me. “What about pressure?”

Running my fingers through my hair, I reply, “Frank, I never wanted any of this. The cheerleading, the popularity, the parties. None of it. It’s not me. I want to escape, but I’m in too deep. My parents won’t let me give up. I’m drowning in the pressure.”

My gaze was glued to the ground as my feet grazed the dirt. My hands gripped the chain holding the swing so hard, I knew there would be imprints if I let go. Just like my life. If I let go, they would still be with me. They won’t let me go. “Why don’t you just do it?” Frank had stopped swinging at this point. “Quit cheerleading, I mean.”

“I already told you,” I get up from the swing, leaving my back turned to him. “My parents won’t let me. It will make them look bad, they say. They can’t have a quitter in the family.”

“So?”

I roll my eyes, “Did you not just hear me? I-”

He whips me around, holding my arms, staring me straight in the eyes, “I did hear you. And I say, so what? It’s your life, not theirs. If they can’t accept it, then they really don’t love you.”

I stared incredulously at him. In a way, he was right. It was my life. I was junior, so I was going to be gone in two years. In the full scheme of life, that’s not that long. But still...I can’t let everything go. I’ve held it in for too long to let it go so easily. Let go of the control, the care. He could see the hesitation in my eyes, so he sighed, releasing me from his grasp, “Look, I’m supposed to be hanging out with a few friends. If you want a night of no pressure, come with me. If you decide that it’s not for you, we won’t tell anyone about what happened tonight. But if you decide to be yourself, we will have your back. At least, I will.”

“Y-You’d do that?” I stammer, shocked that he would even suggest that.

With a soft smile, “Of course Veronica. We used to be best friends, remember? I’ve always kind of known that the bitchy side you put on at school wasn’t the real you.”

“How?”

“I could see the little looks,” he explained. “When no one was looking, you’d look lost and sad.”

To lighten the mood, I shove him slightly, “Stalker.”

He pretends to be offended, placing a hand on his chest, “How dare you!”

We giggle in unison. He still had that high pitched giggle. Now I knew what that laugh sounded like. “You’ve got such a pothead laugh.”

He winks, “Well, duh.”

We laugh again. For the first time in a long time, I was able to be myself. And I loved it. No fake smiles, no fake laughs. This was all real. “Ready to go, princess?”

I groan, “I’ll go if you quit calling me princess.”

Smirking, he throws an arm over my shoulder. It was similar to what Jason had done earlier, but I didn’t feel uncomfortable. He was the only real friend I ever had. “No can do, princess.”

I let out another groan, “Aw, come on!”

We start our way towards his friend's house. I was honestly starting to feel a bit nervous. These guys...they weren’t the crowd I was used to. How would I get them to like me? That was another problem of mine. I was a really bad people pleaser, and my peers used that to their advantage. “Who are we hanging out with tonight?” I ask.

“Glad you asked!” He exclaims, “Today we are joining the Way brothers, Mikey and Gerard respectively and Mr. Ray Toro. Know them?”

I could feel my skin go ice cold despite the warm weather. “Um,” I stutter. “Molly, a “friend” of mine, may have picked on them?”

I had put quotations around the word friend to emphasis my lack of caring for her. Molly was a bully. She was vindictive and picked on anyone who even sneezed differently than her. The only reason she was friends with me was that my family had money. His eyes widened in realization, “Oh...Okay then. This may be a bit harder than I expected.”

Notes

I hope you guys enjoy this! Please comment what you think, it gives me so much motivation when I recieve feedback!