Obsession Starts with a V

Chapter 30

"Thanks Mom!" Veronica yelled with a smile. 

Her mom was working in her home office balancing the car wash's checkbook when she came downstairs. On the kitchen table was something Veronica had been hoping for: her mom's special Last-Day-of-School-Bananza Pancakes. Usually reserved for the last day of school- hence the name- her mom decided to make them today since it was the last day of their fight. Veronica didn't care what the occasion was, she ate them greedily and happily.

Once she finished and washed her dishes, she went upstairs to change. Today she decided to drop by Alan's, because he said he wanted to give her something. For the special occasion she put her hair into the rare braid. She pulled on a Harley Davidson t-shirt with white pants, along with her new Chuck Taylors. When she reached for her glasses on her nightstand, she let out a surprised scream. She picked up the leather cord that had been sitting next to them. Hanging from it was her beloved pick necklace.

"Thanks David!" She giggled as she tied it back into its proper place around her neck. The bruises that Kirby had left were already starting to fade, just like the memory of him.

She looked over to the corner of her room where she had placed her present's from the Boys. They ended up getting her three amazing gifts. Dwayne bought her an old, rare book of vampire lore (which he explained was mostly wrong, but entertaining), Paul bought her a brand new Walkman, and Marko had bought her a vampire fang key ring. He wasn't expecting the others to get her something so big, so he was a little embarrassed when she opened theirs. Paul and Dwayne's gloating did not help, either. David did not say anything about showing up without a gift, but now she knew why. His gift had been sitting on her nightstand all along.

She skipped down the stairs and kissed her mom on the cheek. "I'm going out for the day!"

"What? But you just got home!"

"I know, but Alan said he wanted to see me. I won't stay long, I promise."

"Leave it to a boy to break up our mother-daughter bonding time. Have fun and stay out of trouble. I also expect to hear all about your date when you get back."

"Mom, it's not a date!" She laughed and headed out the front door humming to herself. She had to resist the urge to start skipping all the way to the comic book shop.

When she arrived, Alan was outside waiting for her.

"Let's go this way." He motioned her away from the shop and looked to make sure no one was following them.

"What's the matter?" She asked, noticing his twitchy demeanor.

"I don't want Edgar finding out about us yet. He can be mean sometimes."

"What about us?"

"Well, that's sort of what I wanted to talk to you about today. Do you mind if we just walk around the town? It's such a nice day out."

"Sure!"

"Here," he handed her a flat, square object wrapped in silver paper. She took it in her hands and looked up at him, flashing him a small smile.

"You didn't have to get me anything."

"Yeah I did, it was your birthday after all."

She opened the present and gasped at what she saw. There in her hands was a copy of I, Vampire.

Alan shrugged at her dramatic reaction. "It's for your vampire collection. I'm hoping you don't have this comic already, right?"

"Nope!" She ran up to him and hugged him. When she pulled away, his whole face had turned bright red. She giggled at him and he flushed an even deeper red.