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I didn't want to be invasive, but I was very worried when Veronica ran away from me on the day of the incident. I wanted to understand what was going on in her mind, but I couldn't just dissect her brain; she needed to tell me her thoughts and anxieties. And at that moment I felt that she wasn't so willing to do it, so the distance between us only grew.

A part of me felt guilty, even though I knew I wasn't to blame for anything. And the other was just sad that she didn't feel comfortable enough to talk with me.

We had dinner in silence and two hours later we were the same way, but hugging each other and falling asleep.

Karlee had let us go for the rest of the week because of what happened to Emily, so I allowed myself to simply turn off the five a.m. alarm, keeping only the eight o'clock one, so I could wake up and get ready for class with time to spare. When the alarm rang again, my heavy eyes found it and I turned it off, turning over to the other side, noticing Veronica sitting on the bed, still lazing around.

“Good morning…” I whispered, grabbing her by the waist and placing my head in her lap.

“Good morning, love.” There was an intrinsic lightness there. Her fingers sank into my hair, nestling me better there. “Ken?!”

“Yes.”

“There's something we need to talk about.”

I adjusted myself, sitting down as well.

“Okay…” I put my hands on the covers. “What is it?”

“I need to tell you something… it’s not about us, but it’s about me… about… well, my life.”

I slipped my hand into hers, intertwining our fingers. I had no idea what was coming, but I wanted Veronica to feel comfortable telling me whatever it was.

“You can tell me, Roni.”

“You noticed that I live with my aunt and uncle in our hometown…” She began to explain. “ There’s a reason for it. My parents are deceased, but more than that, I… before they died, we lived in the park on the edge of town, the old trailer park.”

I remembered the place. I had never been there, but I remembered that whoever came from that place, was from the wrong side of the tracks. Every week, there was some tragedy on the local news. That was until about three years ago, when the city claimed the property and evicted everyone from there to create a sustainable park. The place was violent, and even though there were good people there, I was sure that if Veronica was talking about it at that moment and with that intonation, there would be no good story coming from it.

“My father was a… troubled guy, let’s say. He and my mother met when they were very young and Derek was born when they were eighteen. And three years later, I was born. My mother never managed to go to college, but she worked in a laundromat, while my father, he…” A sad sigh escaped her. “He thought there was a quick and easy way to make money, without being an heir, of course.” The acid humor in the sentence corroded her. Neither of us laughed. “He got involved in shit, a lot of it and ended up leaving home when I was about four. That’s when my mother started drinking. She was always drunk…”

Tears welled up in her brown eyes and all I wanted to do was take away all the pain she was feeling. Unfortunately, I couldn't do that, so I just continued to hold her hand firmly, encouraging her to continue.

“She started losing jobs and the bills started piling up. One night, she just passed out on the couch. Derek and I were finishing up some frozen food from the freezer…” The memories seemed to take her away. “She was so drunk and out of it that she was going to throw up, but she was lying down. She was going to choke and she was going to die. I had no idea at the time, but now I know that this would have happened if it weren't for Derek. My brother was seven years old and he turned her over and even called the ambulance. We were two kids and she wasthere, mourning the departure of the one who decided to leave. Derek certainly has more vivid and painful memories than I do, but he never talks about them. Anyway, two weeks after that incident, my father came home. And they stayed together for about six more years, until the night of the bar shooting.”

We lived in a small town, and the event known as the “bar shooting” was unique. Nine people died that night, both guilty and innocent.

“They left us in the trailer, she put us to bed and I remember that her red lipstick was bolder because it covered a bruise. And he always wore a jacket because when he took it off, his arms were always scratched and bruised.”

“Roni…”

“I need to tell you.” She insisted. “Please…”

It wouldn't stop her from doing whatever she thought was necessary, but...

“Let me finish.” She begged. And I gave in, just nodding at her request. “They were hurting each other, that’s the point. Back to the night of the shooting… well, my father died on the sidewalk, but she managed to get to the hospital. She survived, but… And the tears came back to her. “She chose to leave, she chose to die. A deep depression took hold of her and, suddenly, she wouldn’t eat. She didn’t want to do anything, until she died of cardiopulmonary arrest in the hospital. She had a choice. She had the chance to choose me and Derek, and she chose him. She chose him!”

Her tears streamed down her face while mine remained still trapped in my eyes.

“Veronica, my love… I’m so sorry.”

“She officially died from the bullet wound, but everyone knew that her low immunity due to her lack of will to live was the real reason…” She wiped her sleeves over her own skin. “After that, we were handed over to Aunt Isabel and Uncle Hendrix. They were amazing at putting up with us through our teenage years and still tried so hard to keep us on the right path. Sometimes, I feel like Derek and I were like puppies that fell out of the moving truck and then tried to please everyone who came along after that trauma. My brother tries so hard to make my uncles proud of him. His major was chosen because my uncle owns the damn construction company. We were two children and all we needed was good examples. My uncles gave us that and my brother, unconsciously or with full awareness, I can’t say which, strives to make up for all their work and care for us. As for me... I clung to the idea of a good life with the first guy I ever loved. I swore I had chosen the right one…”

A sad laugh left her.

I leaned over, pulling her fingers to my lips, kissing them. Veronica burst into tears. She cried as if her disappointment with Martin had just happened. And for a moment, I wondered if I had rushed things too quickly.

“My parents made all the wrong choices in life. And I’d rather die than make the same mistakes they did.” I felt nervous. I had no idea where she wanted to take this, but I had my suspicions. And then she surprised me: “Kendra, you and sports are the two choices I intend to never regret.”