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A wave of bitterness swept over me. I hated imposing these things on Veronica, but she was patient and understanding with my pace, and I was deeply grateful for that.

“Roni…”

“Hey, it's okay.” She kissed me affectionately. “In your time, okay?”

Smile.

“Okay, Hazel Grace…” I mocked.

“Awn, she's John Green’s fan..., but you could have chosen another reference instead of the book in which they both die at the end, right?!”

The atmosphere felt different and I felt a little lighter, even with everything going on. That was Veronica's power over me—she had a way of transforming things, making them all about her; both in the past, in a negative way, and now. As long as she was in the room with me, she was the only thing I wanted to pay attention to.

“It's just that you make me feel like I'm in the stars…” I confessed.

She smiled and gave me one last kiss before leaving me alone in the room.

The glimpse of calm that Veronica had given me in just a few minutes had faded as I waited for my mother in front of the dorm building. I remembered the burnt tongue with every sip of my second coffee of the day. My legs wanted to move involuntarily, but I tried to stay still.

When a car stopped in front of the place and the window rolled down, I knew who it was before I was even sure.

The sunglasses were removed from my face and I walked over to sit in the passenger seat.

“Hi, Kendra...” Mom sounded tense.

“Hi, mom.”

My idea was to buckle up and give her only objective answers, but her hands grabbed mine, stopping me. Catching my attention.

“How are you?”

I tried to appear indifferent, but it was impossible. I felt tears wanting to fill my eyes again.

“I'm fine, I think…” I had to take a deep breath so I didn't end up crying.

“Hey, I'm here now.” She held my hand even tighter. “It's going to be okay, I promise.”

I smiled, sadly, and faced her, turning around on the bench. I looked into eyes as blue as mine and I really wanted to see the truth there, but at that moment I no longer knew if it was just Colleen's situation that we were both referring to. Especially when I answered: “You can't promise that.”

“I know, I'll still promise. Because better a broken promise of mine than the certainty that things only have one ending: ruin.” Mackenzie pulled me towards her, wrapping me in her arms. “I'm very sorry about our last conversation, I'm also very sorry about what happened to your cousin."

Even though I avoided it, it felt painfully good to be in such a comfortable, sweet embrace. I hugged her back, letting a few tears escape me as she stroked my blonde locks.

“Everything will be fine, my dear.” She repeated until I calmed down.

Minutes later, as we pulled away, she smiled kindly and sped off to the hospital. It was a quick drive and, when we got there, the receptionist informed us that Colleen's companion was still with her and therefore we couldn't go up.

“Who is this companion?” My mother questioned, indignantly. And then I remembered Derek's existence.

“It's a... her fling...” I declared. “I'll send him a text.”

I walked away a little and sent a message to Veronica, asking for his number. She promptly handed it to me and I immediatelycalled, letting her know that we needed to go up to see my cousin. He didn't complain. Five minutes later, my mother was face to face with Derek Torres.

“Mrs. Bryant, I'm Derek Torres, it's a pleasure to meet Colleen's mother, even in circumstances like this...” He began to speak, trying to greet her. Mom was polite, so she reached out to him for a hand shake, but also corrected him.

“I'm her aunt, not her mother.” She smiled a little. “Her mother is…”

“A fucking bitch.” I added, receiving a look of astonishment from Derek and a mocking smile from my mother.