Planning Your Future

Dance With You (Part 2)

March 26, 1993

Veronica's POV

Owen and I get to rehearsals. He limps over to the drums. Apparently his leg wasn't broken as bad as his wrist was so his leg healed faster. But his wrist was broken pretty bad so it took a lot longer to heal. He grips the drumsticks in both hands and plays a little. I can see him slightly wince but he keeps going. We all clap when he stops. "Look at you!" I hug him. That's the best he's done yet. "We're proud of you." Sam pats him on the back. "So do you think you can do the gig on Sunday?" I ask. Miles said it was an early birthday present for me. We said yes since we could see that Owen was getting better. "I think I can as long as we don't do the songs where I drum really hard." That's fair. Some of the songs do have intense drumming parts. "Okay so we'll have to wait to debut 'Stand Tall.' I say we do 'Finally Free' and 'Bright.'" I suggest. Everyone nods in agreement. "I think that's a good idea." Owen says, looking at his music for the two songs.

We rehearse those songs, giving Owen a break after each run through. After I dismiss everyone, I grab a bag of ice and hand it to Owen. "Thanks." He holds it on his wrist. "You did great today." I tell him. "I'm just glad to be able to play again." I can't imagine how hard it must have been for him. "You should talk to the director of the musical. Maybe you can get your spot back." I don't know if it's too late. "I'll try but I doubt there's enough time." He shrugs.

I sit at the piano in my dorm. I'm playing a song I wrote. "Hey. What're you playing?" Erika comes in. "Nothing." I stop and put away the music. "That's not suspicious at all." She says sarcastically. "Shut up." I pull out 'Stand Tall' and play that since I don't get to play it for an audience yet. "Are you doing that song on Sunday?" She asks. "No. The drumming is a little too intense for Owen to do right now." He could make his injury worse. "Oh. That makes sense." She nods. "So you're not going to tell me what that first song was?" She makes a pouty face. "No. It's private. You can't hear it." She gives up.

March 27, 1993

The venue let us rehearse on the stage. We were told we only had an hour but an hour is still something. "I still can't believe they asked us to be a part of this music showcase." Sam says as we sit on the edge of the stage. "Well the other people I saw on the list looked unknown. So I think it's only fitting." I drink from my water bottle. "Just wait until 'Edge of Great' gets a tour." JD smirks. "Unlikely. Aren't you going to law school?" I look over at him. "I'm still deciding. I might take a gap year to help figure that out." JD was so confident in being a lawyer when he first told me he got accepted to Harvard. It's weird just how much has changed since then. "And doing an 'Edge of Great' tour does sound pretty awesome." Owen twirls one of his drumsticks in his other hand. "I agree." Sam nods. "I do too." I smile. "But that is a long ways away." JD puts down his water. "Well we can dream." I rub his arm.

After we rehearse, we all go to a diner to eat. "So you got an outfit planned for tomorrow?" Owen asks me. "Yeah. Just a blue and white dress. Nothing crazy." I say. I've had it for a few months. "Cool." Sam gives me an impressed face. Owen has ice sitting on his wrist. "Are you sure you'll be okay tomorrow?" I'm just scared he's pushing himself to hard. "Veronica, don't worry. I'll be fine." He assures me. He's right. He'll be okay.

March 28, 1993

Erika shakes me awake. "Happy 21st birthday!" She pulls out a bottle of red wine. "You can drink legally now! We're going drinking with JD and Kyle after your show." JD would still have to use his fake ID but the rest of us can use our real ones. Erika had her birthday at the end of January and Kyle had his earlier this month. "Sounds great. I need to go to the studio to do a final rehearsal. I'll see you later." I get dressed and drive to the studio.

Someone covers my eyes as I sit at the piano. "Happy birthday, babe." They whisper. I turn around and JD is holding flowers. "Aw... thank you." I hug him. "So did Erika tell you about the plan for tonight, after the show?" He asks. "She did." I say as I search the room for something I can put my flowers in. I find a water pitcher. "Perfect." I fill it up with water from the sink and put the flowers in. "They're really pretty." I look at them closely. "I'm glad you like them. I thought you would." He kisses me. I put the flowers down on the table.