Chapter 41: Dream.
Chapter 41: Dream
"Now, don't overreact, Valarie." My mother tells me, looking calm and collected.
"What do you mean? Dad is leaving and he's not gonna come back. Not to us. He's gonna have a whole new life, with his new family. How aren't you fazed by this?" I ask her, folding my arms.
"What am I supposed to do, Valarie? His mind is made. You're going off to college, so you won't have to experience the nastiness of this divorce." She tells me.
"You guys aren't getting a divorce. I'll make sure of it." I assure my mother.
"Just drop it, Vee. Fate has been sealed." She says before she walks out of my bedroom.
That's where you're wrong, mother.
***
"For real?" Adam asks, looking at me with sad eyes.
"Yup." I reply.
"Guess I'm going to have two of everything now. Two Christmas', two Thanksgiving dinners, two birthday gifts." I add.
"The perks are kinda fun, but it still sucks. And I would know." He says, shrugging.
"I just can't believe it's really over for them." I say, playing with a loose thread on my ripped jeans.
"You can't beat yourself up about this. It's their marriage." Adam says, putting his arm around me.
"I guess you're right." I say, leaning into his body.
"Wanna go to Hannah's?" He asks me.
"Yeah." I say, nodding.
Adam stands up from the sofa and grabs his keys from the coffee table.
"This way, milady." He says, gesturing to the door.
"Why thank you, fine sir." I reply as I walk towards his front door.
Minutes later, we're inside his car cruising down the street to Hannah's house. I take in the scenery as we pass by trees and tall houses. This part of town is definitely different from where I live. Hannah lives in the suburbs and I live uptown.
That's two different lives right there.
"Valarie." Adam says from the driver's seat.
"Hmm." I say, turning to face him.
"We're here, get down." He tells me and I unbuckle my seatbelt.
I get out of the car and I walk towards Hannah's front door. I knock on her door, waiting for a response. The door opens and Chad is standing on the other side staring at me.
"Oh, hey Valarie. It's been a while." He says, scratching the back of his head.
"Move Chad." I say, shoving him playfully.
I walk into the house and I see Hannah sitting on the sofa in the living room.
"What are you doing sitting here like a pregnant lady?" I ask her, folding my arms as I stare at her.
"Chad and I were just having some couple time before you and Adam showed up." She says, scowling at me.
"So, we didn't interrupt anything serious then. That's great." Adam says, standing beside me.
"Um, I'm gonna head out, H. I'll see you later." Chad says before he kisses her forehead and heads out.
"Great, now he's gone. What do you guys want?" She asks us, slightly annoyed.
"We wanted to hang out." Adam tells her, going over to her side of the sofa.
"We hung out last week. Look, we leave for college in less than a month. Doesn't that scare you guys? I want to have all my affairs in order before I leave this town. Don't you?" She asks us.
"I mean, yeah. We do, but that doesn't mean we're going to stop living because we're going away." I tell her, chuckling.
"I'm surprised you of all people find this funny, Valarie." Hannah says, staring daggers in my direction.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask as I sit beside her on the sofa.
"You act like you have it all together and the truth is that you don't. You prance around like the world is your stage. Meanwhile, you're barely an understudy in this shit show we call life." She yells in my face.
"W-what are you talking about?" I ask her. Why the hell is she coming for my head all of a sudden?
"I know you don't want to admit it to yourself, but Zachary is never coming back to you." She says and her words literally slap me in the face.
"I don't want him to." I tell her.
Liar.
"Do you even realize that we exist? Adam and I? No, because you're all hung up on some stupid boy that'll leave you just like Chad left me." She says and her voice quivers when she says Chad's name.
Oh, so that's what this was about?
Chad and Hannah broke up.
"Oh, Hannah." I say, hugging her.
She leans into me as she cries on my shoulder.
Damn, this week sucks.
"It's going to be fine, Hannah." Adam tells her.
"No, it's not." Hannah says, sniffling.
"Can't you see it? We're outgrowing each other." She says with sad eyes.
"Just like my father outgrew my mother." I say under my breath but she catches on to it.
"What did you say?" Hannah asks me, sitting up.
"Her parents are getting a divorce. That's what we came to tell you before you blew up like a bomb." Adam says, rolling his eyes.
"I'm so sorry." Hannah says, taking my hand in hers.
"It's fine." I tell her as I look her in the eyes.
"No, it's not. Are you okay?" She asks me.
"I'm fine, really." I assure her. "Men in my life leave. I am not surprised." I say, giving her a small smile.
"Okay, fuck that sappy shit." Adam says, waving us off.
"Remember who we are. You're Valarie Stone and Hannah Granite, you were the hottest girls at Barkridge High. And I'm Adam Hendrix, the most charming brute to ever waltz down those hallowed halls." Adam says with a smirk on his face.
"First of all, you were a weirdo who never got invited to any parties." I tell him.
"Hate to break it to ya Hendrix, but she's right. You were a floozy in High School." Hannah says, laughing at me.
"That's why we have college. Come on guys, we need to leave that shit behind." He tells us.
"But you're the one who brought it up." I say, laughing with Hannah.
"That doesn't matter. Look, we have new chances now. We have college. Our very own restart button. We can create what we want for ourselves. A dream. Away from this town, the same old faces. We will get to experience life as it hits us like a train. We will get to be young, wild, and free. We will finally get to live." He says, enthusiastically.
"If we say we care will you let our ears be now?" I ask him, folding my arms.
"You're a hater." Adam says, smacking my arm.
"You hit like a bitch." I say, smiling in his face.
"I need a drink." Hannah says as she stands up and heads towards the kitchen.
"Can you make me a margarita?" Adam yells at her.
"You have hands for a reason, Adam." She yells back from the kitchen.
***
"Ah, there you are." My father says as I close the front door behind me.
Oh, not this.
Not now.
"Dad!" I say acting surprised that he's home.
"Valarie, would you come here for a second please?" He says and I walk into the living room.
He has papers set on the coffee table.
Wonder what those are?
"What's wrong, Dad?" I ask him.
"Well, I don't know how to tell you this but...your mother and I have hit a rough patch." He says, wiping the bead of sweat on his forehead.
Yeah, call cheating on your wife a "rough patch."
Go figure.
"We're just not the same people anymore." He adds.
No kidding.
"And we want different things now." He tells me.
Like other women?
"So, we've made the exclusive decision to go our separate ways." He says, waiting for my reaction.
"I know, dad. Mom told me." I say, leaning into the seat.
"And what exactly did she tell you?" He asks me, nervously.
"The truth, Dad. She told me the truth. You're sleeping with your secretary and you want to marry her. Come on, that's low, even for you Dad." I say as I stand up from the chair and head towards the staircase.
"I made a wrong choice, Valarie." My father says, trailing behind me.
"No kidding." I quip.
"This whole divorce thing wasn't my idea. It was your mother's." He tells me.
"What did you expect, Dad? That she'll hire a marching band once she found out that you were screwing your secretary." I yell at him.
"Now watch your tone, young lady." My father says, raising his voice higher than mine.
"And now you're going to marry her." I scoff.
"Do better, Dad." I tell him before I run up the stairs.
That went well.