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It was still early evening when I called Veronica. She had indeed spent the Fourth of July weekend with Liam, but immediately afterward, they took an impromptu trip to his hometown in England. I'd been texting her with sparse details, but she didn't really know what I'd done to Louis. I'd been avoiding her since she got home because I knew she'd be furious with me.
But now I really needed my best friend.
"Hey, V," I said in a somber voice. "Can I come over?"
"Sure," she said. "Liam's here, but he can get lost for a bit while we talk." I heard him in the background, and then she squealed a little, like he was tickling her or something. She was clearly smitten with this guy.
I arrived at her place about an hour later, incredibly grateful to get out of my house for a while.
She threw her arms around me in a tight hug and didn't let go for several seconds while she rocked us from side to side. Veronica had never been an air-kiss kind of girl. She was pretty good at showing affection and sharing her feelings. Unlike her stupid best friend who couldn't deal with them at all.
Liam put an arm around me in a friendly side hug. "How are you, Ashten?"
"Very well, thank you. And you."
"Never been better," he said, grinning crazily at Veronica.
Correction: they were both smitten and it was a little sickening, to be honest.
We went off to a private corner of the house while Liam went swimming.
"So?" She asked eagerly.
"So...I think I broke Louis' heart."
"Ashten Brittany Norwood! What did you do?" Luckily, she wasn't as frightening as my mother, but she still sounded pretty angry.
"Well, the trip to Michigan was out of this world. We had such a fantastic time." I spent the next hour telling her about all the fun things that Louis and I did together. And, of course, I told her that we kissed. A lot. Even Danielle knew that; I couldn't very well leave Veronica in the dark.
"Well, that sounds fabulous. So, how exactly did you break his heart?"
I closed my eyes, feeling very vulnerable. I hated crying in front of other people, but lately I'd become a gushing faucet.
"When we got home," I started, my voice shaky. "My mom took me to meet wedding planners. I tried to tell her that I didn't love Richard, but she wouldn't even hear it. She just kept going on with the appointments, not even listening to me. Finally, I snapped and told her she was being selfish, just wanting to plan a stupid wedding for her daughter to get married to a man she doesn't love."
Veronica gasped, knowing my mother's reputation for being brutally strict. "What did she say?"
I choked a bit. "She slapped me across the face. And then she told me that if I don't marry Richard, she will kick me out of the house."
