Chapter 16

Andrea's POV

I felt tears prick my eyes as she talked, and I watched her...I couldn't believe how much we'd hurt Veronica because we were afraid we'd hurt her and ... and we didn't even realize what we were doing was hurting her worse...It was not called for ... I've missed her so much in the past few days.Ace was the most affected than any of us. He like Vera a lot! And when Vera dated Damen, in order to keep his pain away and distract himself, he started dating that annoying Jacqueline...And... he regrets everything he said to her. Every. Single. Word.I know that after Vera left, he'd cry himself to sleep... And even though he keeps his cold demeanor around a lot and even though he became distant from all of us, I know how much he was affected, considering I was the one who comforted him one night when he had a nightmare... No one but Rayan knows of it, and- Even though we never talk about it, I know he still sobs some nights...Rayan and Jordan ... well... they loved Vera like their sister... They loved her to bits. Just like how I love Ace as a brother, they both simply adored Vera and they still do. They were affected and I know they were highly sorrowful, and they didn't do anything to hide it either...Vera slowly ended her part of the story, and Bree just looked at her with tears and covered her face... She was shaking... Allison had a shocked expression and the boys, well, they were calming their girlfriends... I carefully looked at Vera and noticed her bottom lip quivering. I put my palm on her shoulder and she looked at me... There was gratefulness in it for a second, but then I suddenly realized my mistake and before I could pull my hand back, she moved her shoulder away...I looked down at my lap and from the corner of my eye, I noticed Ace and Rayan, and Jordan standing there .. and as I squinted, I noticed that Ace was on the verge of having his panic attacks again and Rayan and Jordan were in alarm... This was my cue to get up, I swiftly got up and rushed to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water, and rushed to him as I started instructing him to breathe in and out the same way the doctor had told me to... and as he calmed down, I gave him the glass of water...He looked up at me and then only did I notice his bloodshot red eyes and he looked at me with teary eyes and shook his head... I understood what he meant and as he finished the glass of water and slowly walked to the living room with Rayan & Jordan. I went behind them and we sat down, me beside Vera, the boys on a couch, and Vera's other group on another.Slowly, Ace looked up and I could see Vera surprised at how red his eyes were...She looked at him and his eyes softened for a mere second and he averted his gaze. And at the same time, she did too...I have to talk... There's nothing else to do."Okay, Vera, I-I guess I'll tell the rest of all of it..."I looked up at her and she looked at me gratefully...Now I must do this. To win back Vera's Friendship. Though, it never will be the same...FlashbackVera completely shut herself down... She didn't talk, smile, or anything. She came down for meals and would go back again. None of us knew what was happening. Then, on Monday, we went to school and Vera didn't as much as glance at us... The boys and I were getting worried AF!Then, all our classes went smoothly, and at the end of the day, I went to my IT Robotics club as Vera made her way to the Singing & Dancing Club, and the boys to their soccer...I couldn't concentrate the whole class...I was only sitting there and looking into space, thinking about what was happening with Vera...Suddenly my teacher rapped her ruler on my desk, making me sit straight up with a jerk..."Andrea!! What was I teaching, my dear ??" She asked me, with a slight tease and anger in her voice...Yikes...I looked at the projector and scanned everything and recalled one or two things I'd heard in the past few minutes and looked up at Ms. Winthrop, who was staring at me with furrowed brows." You were teaching us how with the aid of integrated sensors, robots perceive physical or chemical influences and convert them into pulses. This allows them to identify and localize objects, for example, the robots can also recognize other important factors in the environment, such as temperature, motion, pressure, light, or moisture, with sensors. And internal sensors provide information about speed or load status; external sensors help especially as regards interaction and navigation." She nodded at me with approval and then didn't bother me for the rest of the class...After class, while I was walking down the hallway, people were staring at me and whispering... I saw Jacqueline a bit further down the hallway, standing with a smirk on her face... What?? We all met up outside and Vera was down, as usual.. but her eyes were blood red like she'd balled her eyes out... We walked home and she just headed to her room while murmuring something about homework...I looked at the boys.Rayan looked worried and Jordan and Ace looked... a bit worse."W-What's wrong?" I asked, cautiously."We talked to Damen..." Rayan said.I saw Ace's eyes filled with sorrow, disbelief, anger, and a mix of emotions..."What did he say? Does he know why Vera's acting that way ??""He told us they.... they broke u-up," Rayan said.OMG! Now that explains Vera's state! Poor thing. I better talk to her."Oh dear.... why?" I asked."H-he said t-that s-she..." He talked with his voice cracking.What's happening here!?"He said she was flirting with our opponent football team' captain from Oaklane high school and that he saw her kissing him too... he showed us a picture as well," Ace said and clenched his jaw.My Jaw dropped...I couldn't believe this!!I CAN'T believe this!Vera would never do such a thing! She was the sweetest... She was way too genuine and generous for this!Just then, Ace's mobile dinged. He took it and opened it and went through something.He shut his eyes and heaved a long sigh...He slowly showed his phone to me, and I was shocked at what I saw...I didn't want to believe it at first... but it WAS the Oaklane Football team captain, and he WAS kissing none other than my hazel-eyed Vera ...I blinked back my tears but couldn't hold them in for too long... And they just poured down... I don't want to believe it, but the proof was right in front of me...And then, I did something I regret every single day till now...I believed it.*****************After that, my whole relationship with Vera went downhill... SHE went downhill.She was completely depressed and stayed at home ALL. THE. TIME.If she went to school, Jacqueline would torture her with her minions.The school football team was awesome, and EVERYONE knows how much Ace and Oaklane's captain hate each other the very fact that Vera was caught kissing HIM was the most outrageous thing of all... And now, the biggest problem, was that Damen, was getting popular and known for his excellent football skills and many people wanted to be with him.Now everyone thought that Damen really loved Vera and he must be so hurt that Vera 'cheated' on him. And they detested Vera for that... They called her a slut, whore, and whatnot!Ace and Rayan were very depressed as well, 'cos though Damen was their close friend, Damen claimed that Vera, who was also their best friend, cheated on him and they were going demented with perplexity.Soon, after a few weeks, 1 and a half months or so, Ace broke up with Jacqueline and she was even more furious... She deeply loathed Vera as she thought Vera was the reason behind their breakup and after that, she did everything she could, to scourge Vera...And slowly, Ace and Rayan, and I were further influenced and even though we didn't WANT to, we were made to mistreat Vera... By Damen... He told us that he'd spread even more rumors about Vera if we refused to mentally abuse her... At home and school...We didn't do it at home, but at school, for Vera, we had no choice... Or Damen would kill Vera...What we didn't realize, was that what Vera needed right now, more than us caring about the rumors was our support...By the time we realized that it was too late.And after that, Vera was further broken... Around 4-5 months after this happened on a daily basis, one day, my mom approached me in my room."Andrea, what is this I hear about you believing that poor Vera cheated on Damen???" She asked me furiously.I looked at her in shock, how would she know that?" I overheard Vera's parents talking about moving away, dear... How could you do this to her? If I was in your place, I'd never believe that Veronica of all people should do this!""Mom, you don't understand, -""WHAT do I not understand, my daughter?? Vera is the sweetest being on earth! She's so generous and genuine, you just can't treat her like that!""MOM!! We never WANTED to do that!! Damen threatened us that he'd spread more and more rumors about us if we don't ill-treat Vera! He told us that we were to torture her at home and school! We don't DO it at home! And at school, Damen watched us like a hawk! I love Vera dearly and I wouldn't do this for anything but for her euphoria!""Andrea- what she needs right now, is your support, honey... Vera wouldn't mind ANY rumors as long as she has you people to support her and look out for her and stand up for her! That would be the best thing ever. ""Mom, you don't understand all this. We'll deal with it ourselves, and trust me, everything will be fine soon!"And just like that, I didn't listen to the ONE clue I was given to a better way towards our friendship's happiness...The whole of Bridgetown High School can hate Vera, but only if we'd loved her, she would've been better...Then, before we knew it, a month passed by, and we heard the dreadful news that Vera was moving away...We were devastated...Ace's and Rayan's parents didn't know anything... Only my mom did...And she was so furious with me... But after Vera moved away and it'd been long, she slowly was better...A week after Vera moved away, we were all visiting Damen, and we entered the house without knocking 'cos that's what we'd do normally. And as we made our way to his room, we heard him talking. to his mom, and what we heard, was mind-blowing...Damen's father apparently, was Vera's dad's childhood enemy, and this one time, when Damen's dad was selling drugs on campus, Mr. Valdez had caught him red-handed. Damen's father, Mr. Turner, pleaded with him and even threatened Mr. Valdez, but he ended up reporting it anyway. The remains were found in Damen's father's locker and the evidence was the security cameras. Mr. Turner was expelled, and no other school in the country was ready to take him up. They had to move countries, and Mr. Turner's father was so disappointed with his son that he had a heart attack and passed away. THAT grudge from nearly 20 years ago, was still held by Mr. Turner's present family.And apparently, Damen was the one who cheated on Vera... and Damen, as an act of revenge, started those rumors about Vera and he planned a meet-up between the Oaklane high football team captain secretly, without either of them knowing, in an alleyway behind the school, and had them stand close enough to each other for him to be able to photoshop the picture to look like they were kissing, but, before Damen could do anything, the Captain dude ended up kissing Vera!! She tried to pull away, but Damen managed to click a picture in the nick of time! Vera slapped the guy as soon as she managed to pull away, but the damage was done, and the photo was taken!We couldn't believe our ears... We slowly walked back and walked down the stairs with shock all over, due to the appalling news we'd just heard... We slowly walked away and entered our house and as we sat down on the couches, I heard the sound of a loud crash and glass shattering! Ace threw a vase on the floor and his hands were bleeding from when he picked up some shattered glass pieces and squeezed them tight...I quickly rushed to get a first aid kit and Rayan began yelling at Ace for his uncontrollable temper...I cleaned and bandaged Ace's hand and then, we started talking... We could not believe how much we'd hurt Vera...I was reminded of my mother's words in my mind and said them out loud."My mother told me that when she came to one night and told me that Vera needed our support more than us trying to protect her from the rumors. She heard Vera's parents talking and this was the outcome. How could we have been so dumb??!?"I looked down at my lap and tried to blink back my tears..."I thought it was Damen's fault... but no... it was all our fault for not being able to see through Damen's lies..." Rayan said, his throat audibly parched...I grabbed a glass of water quickly and handed it over to him... He gulped it down and smiled at me a bit..."And because of ME, I lost the one person I thought I loved..." I looked up at the source of the voice, who was now walking up the stairs and I slowly digested his words, which only made me further depressed...And then, the fight between Ace and Damen was unexplainable...And after that, the rest is history...*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/I looked at my audience, and the next second, I was tackled into a hug, and I could only see the brown flowing moss of hair, as I looked down. And I started crying as I hugged Vera back.