New Beginnings, Bellanessa21 [pride and prejudice read .txt] 📗
- Author: Bellanessa21
Book online «New Beginnings, Bellanessa21 [pride and prejudice read .txt] 📗». Author Bellanessa21
and clearance clothes for the program, I’m not a really good spender and my life hasn’t really had any need for expensive things.
“Veronica let’s get going,” Mrs. Henderson called from the doorway as I made my way down the stairs. Mr. Henderson had the day off and was in the living room with Jonathan watching television, “Have fun, enjoy yourself Roni”. Thanks I muttered, a bit peeved that he called me Roni, only the guys at the program call me that I said to myself following Mrs. Henderson out the door and into the car. I don’t know much about cars, but the BMW insignia and gadgets inside the car pretty much screamed “look at me”.
Buckling up Mrs. Henderson put the car into drive and down the driveway we went. Awkward silence is exactly that, awkward. “So, how long have you been living here”, I asked, anything to break the silence. “Well about 6 years this September, before here we lived in Italy for a few years Mr. - Veronica? Are you okay?” Italy, they lived in Italy! How awesome is that. “Oh, sorry, you lived in Italy.” “Yes, we lived in Italy, Mr. Henderson’s work sometimes takes us away for a few years”, glancing at the horror on my face she smiled, “ don’t worry, it’s not like that anymore.” Oh, ok, so what other places have you been to? “umm, England, France, Italy, and Germany mostly, there is an offer in Ireland, but that’s a long way away, and you get a say in it as well.” Wow Ireland, I’ve always wanted to go there.
Pulling into the interstate we listened to the radio and talked more about the places they’ve been to. Mrs. Henderson is really nice, she loves to talk about Jonathan and art, music, and her obsession with animals. “I wish I would have gone to school to be a veterinarian instead of just a regular Physician,” Mrs. Henderson sighed. I thought about what I could say to that and the best I could do was tell her, “I think being a doctor is really cool, because of you, people have someone to go to that really cares about how they feel.” “ Well thank you, I guess when you put it that way, I’m glad I stuck to people. Oh, here’s our exit.” pushing a stray lock of hair behind my ear and concentrating on the traffic we made our way into the Home Depot parking lot. Turning off the ignition Mrs. Henderson gave me a gigantic smile, “This is always my favorite part, let’s go!”
Home Depot has this unique smell to it that I could only describe as flowers, wood chips, earth, and fun. As soon as we entered Mrs. Henderson had me grab a cart and together we headed to the paint section, soon we were surrounded by color and paint brushes and the smell of primer. “So, your room is all yours, you can do whatever you want with it, dress it up, dress it down, “She took to the left side of the wall lined with color options and I took the right. It’s my room. I can do whatever I want with it. It’s mine. Huh, this would be the first thing that would really be mine and I don’t have to share it at all. “What about this one?” turning I came face to face with my most hated color, “Pink? uhh, pink and I don’t exactly see eye to eye,” I stated and pulled out a lilac color named “Simple Beauty”. “Veronica, that’s it! This is exactly your color!”, pilling the cart with “Simple Beauty”, primer, different paint brushes and utensils we made our way into the lighting fixtures department and picked out a gorgeous lotus flower chandelier for my room as well as a few decorations.
“That’ll be $126.49,”the cashier by the name of “Becky” stated as she bagged our merchandise and all but threw our bags into the cart. Mrs. Henderson fished out her credit card, swiped and signed and looked the girl in the eye, “Well thank you Becky, you’ve been most kind. I do however hope that you treat all of your customers’ belongings better than you have ours. Veronica, let’s go home.” We left Becky looking like a fish out of water at her check stand and customers staring as we made our way into the parking lot.
“Oh my god, Mrs. Henderson, that was really something back there,” I laughed while loading the car. “I’m sorry dear, it’s just that I can’t stand people who think just because they are angry they can take it out on other people.” All of a sudden my laughter ebbed away as I thought to myself isn’t that exactly what I’m doing? I am angry and taking it out on everyone. I’m just as bad as Becky! “Mrs. Henderson” “yes dear?” she answered closing the trunk and getting into the front seat. “Never mind,” I can’t say anything right now, I need to think.
The drive home was silent; we stopped at a Starbucks and ordered two vanilla bean lattes’. I kept thinking about everything, how I act, my attitude, why I’m so defensive all of the time; am I angry or scared? “Mom- uh, sorry Mrs. Henderson,” I corrected myself feeling a blush coming on. “oh! Oh that’s fine dear, you can call me whatever you feel comfortable with.” Glancing across to the driver’s side I noticed how her shoulders sagged a little, and her smile fell slightly. I am a horrible person! I made her sad and hurt her feelings. I thought to myself and remembered Amara telling me that I belong with the Henderson’s. I belong. “Mrs. Henderson, I need to tell you something and it’s really important that I tell you this before I chicken out,” I looked over at Mrs. Henderson and she pulled over next to a little park. Climbing out we headed to a bench and watched little kids on the monkey bars.
“I’m sorry for being so cold to you and your family. I never thought I would actually find a family again, you have to understand that I’ve been alone for so long that I didn’t even think it was a possibility. My parents were the best, my mom was so strong and kind and my dad was funny and caring, and I was fine. I wasn’t a bad kid, I got good grades in school, had friends, I even went to a party or two. After they were killed, none of my family members wanted me, and I was all alone.
At the center I changed, I hated that my parents were taken away and that they left me there. I got into fights with some of the older girls over little things, black became my favorite color. I met some people at school that were not the best influences for me, but I was so angry at everyone that I didn’t care anymore. I let them change me from the inside out, they were always talking about doing drugs and stealing,” I glanced at Mrs. Henderson worried that she would get up and walk away with an angry look on her face. I was surprised that she gave me a smile, “Veronica, if you need to tell me about your past, tell me,” holding my hand in hers she looked me in the eyes and said, “I am never going to leave you, and I will never judge you.”
“ok,” lifting up my t-shirt I showed her what I’ve done to myself. “Oh, Veronica, dear, how long have you done this for,” she asked, her eyes following the faded scars on my stomach. Taking a deep breath I continued with my story. “When my parents died I felt like I died with them, I just went to a dark place where I was numb to everything, to the cold, the heat, the pain. The first few times hurt the most, I thought I cut too deep but I was fine. I cut for about a year, Amara helped me stop.” Water? What’s – oh, I’m crying I realized. I wiped my eyes and looked at Mrs. Henderson straight in the eyes and said, “Amara was right you know, I do belong with you guys. I tried to push you away and you didn’t deserve the way I’ve been treating you. Do you mind if we start over again?” “Sweetie, you were family the first moment we saw you. You are the most beautiful and smartest young lady that we’ve ever met. It didn’t matter to us how you looked or acted, we saw you for who you really are: You. And we would never try to change who you are.”
After a few private moments where I bawled my eyes out like a baby we pulled apart and cleaned ourselves up. “Veronica, just promise me that you won’t ever hurt yourself again, we can’t change what’s in the past, but you can bet that we will always be there right alongside you in the future.” We sat watching the little kids play on the grass for a few more minutes while I let what went on between us simmer, “I promise”.
“Veronica let’s get going,” Mrs. Henderson called from the doorway as I made my way down the stairs. Mr. Henderson had the day off and was in the living room with Jonathan watching television, “Have fun, enjoy yourself Roni”. Thanks I muttered, a bit peeved that he called me Roni, only the guys at the program call me that I said to myself following Mrs. Henderson out the door and into the car. I don’t know much about cars, but the BMW insignia and gadgets inside the car pretty much screamed “look at me”.
Buckling up Mrs. Henderson put the car into drive and down the driveway we went. Awkward silence is exactly that, awkward. “So, how long have you been living here”, I asked, anything to break the silence. “Well about 6 years this September, before here we lived in Italy for a few years Mr. - Veronica? Are you okay?” Italy, they lived in Italy! How awesome is that. “Oh, sorry, you lived in Italy.” “Yes, we lived in Italy, Mr. Henderson’s work sometimes takes us away for a few years”, glancing at the horror on my face she smiled, “ don’t worry, it’s not like that anymore.” Oh, ok, so what other places have you been to? “umm, England, France, Italy, and Germany mostly, there is an offer in Ireland, but that’s a long way away, and you get a say in it as well.” Wow Ireland, I’ve always wanted to go there.
Pulling into the interstate we listened to the radio and talked more about the places they’ve been to. Mrs. Henderson is really nice, she loves to talk about Jonathan and art, music, and her obsession with animals. “I wish I would have gone to school to be a veterinarian instead of just a regular Physician,” Mrs. Henderson sighed. I thought about what I could say to that and the best I could do was tell her, “I think being a doctor is really cool, because of you, people have someone to go to that really cares about how they feel.” “ Well thank you, I guess when you put it that way, I’m glad I stuck to people. Oh, here’s our exit.” pushing a stray lock of hair behind my ear and concentrating on the traffic we made our way into the Home Depot parking lot. Turning off the ignition Mrs. Henderson gave me a gigantic smile, “This is always my favorite part, let’s go!”
Home Depot has this unique smell to it that I could only describe as flowers, wood chips, earth, and fun. As soon as we entered Mrs. Henderson had me grab a cart and together we headed to the paint section, soon we were surrounded by color and paint brushes and the smell of primer. “So, your room is all yours, you can do whatever you want with it, dress it up, dress it down, “She took to the left side of the wall lined with color options and I took the right. It’s my room. I can do whatever I want with it. It’s mine. Huh, this would be the first thing that would really be mine and I don’t have to share it at all. “What about this one?” turning I came face to face with my most hated color, “Pink? uhh, pink and I don’t exactly see eye to eye,” I stated and pulled out a lilac color named “Simple Beauty”. “Veronica, that’s it! This is exactly your color!”, pilling the cart with “Simple Beauty”, primer, different paint brushes and utensils we made our way into the lighting fixtures department and picked out a gorgeous lotus flower chandelier for my room as well as a few decorations.
“That’ll be $126.49,”the cashier by the name of “Becky” stated as she bagged our merchandise and all but threw our bags into the cart. Mrs. Henderson fished out her credit card, swiped and signed and looked the girl in the eye, “Well thank you Becky, you’ve been most kind. I do however hope that you treat all of your customers’ belongings better than you have ours. Veronica, let’s go home.” We left Becky looking like a fish out of water at her check stand and customers staring as we made our way into the parking lot.
“Oh my god, Mrs. Henderson, that was really something back there,” I laughed while loading the car. “I’m sorry dear, it’s just that I can’t stand people who think just because they are angry they can take it out on other people.” All of a sudden my laughter ebbed away as I thought to myself isn’t that exactly what I’m doing? I am angry and taking it out on everyone. I’m just as bad as Becky! “Mrs. Henderson” “yes dear?” she answered closing the trunk and getting into the front seat. “Never mind,” I can’t say anything right now, I need to think.
The drive home was silent; we stopped at a Starbucks and ordered two vanilla bean lattes’. I kept thinking about everything, how I act, my attitude, why I’m so defensive all of the time; am I angry or scared? “Mom- uh, sorry Mrs. Henderson,” I corrected myself feeling a blush coming on. “oh! Oh that’s fine dear, you can call me whatever you feel comfortable with.” Glancing across to the driver’s side I noticed how her shoulders sagged a little, and her smile fell slightly. I am a horrible person! I made her sad and hurt her feelings. I thought to myself and remembered Amara telling me that I belong with the Henderson’s. I belong. “Mrs. Henderson, I need to tell you something and it’s really important that I tell you this before I chicken out,” I looked over at Mrs. Henderson and she pulled over next to a little park. Climbing out we headed to a bench and watched little kids on the monkey bars.
“I’m sorry for being so cold to you and your family. I never thought I would actually find a family again, you have to understand that I’ve been alone for so long that I didn’t even think it was a possibility. My parents were the best, my mom was so strong and kind and my dad was funny and caring, and I was fine. I wasn’t a bad kid, I got good grades in school, had friends, I even went to a party or two. After they were killed, none of my family members wanted me, and I was all alone.
At the center I changed, I hated that my parents were taken away and that they left me there. I got into fights with some of the older girls over little things, black became my favorite color. I met some people at school that were not the best influences for me, but I was so angry at everyone that I didn’t care anymore. I let them change me from the inside out, they were always talking about doing drugs and stealing,” I glanced at Mrs. Henderson worried that she would get up and walk away with an angry look on her face. I was surprised that she gave me a smile, “Veronica, if you need to tell me about your past, tell me,” holding my hand in hers she looked me in the eyes and said, “I am never going to leave you, and I will never judge you.”
“ok,” lifting up my t-shirt I showed her what I’ve done to myself. “Oh, Veronica, dear, how long have you done this for,” she asked, her eyes following the faded scars on my stomach. Taking a deep breath I continued with my story. “When my parents died I felt like I died with them, I just went to a dark place where I was numb to everything, to the cold, the heat, the pain. The first few times hurt the most, I thought I cut too deep but I was fine. I cut for about a year, Amara helped me stop.” Water? What’s – oh, I’m crying I realized. I wiped my eyes and looked at Mrs. Henderson straight in the eyes and said, “Amara was right you know, I do belong with you guys. I tried to push you away and you didn’t deserve the way I’ve been treating you. Do you mind if we start over again?” “Sweetie, you were family the first moment we saw you. You are the most beautiful and smartest young lady that we’ve ever met. It didn’t matter to us how you looked or acted, we saw you for who you really are: You. And we would never try to change who you are.”
After a few private moments where I bawled my eyes out like a baby we pulled apart and cleaned ourselves up. “Veronica, just promise me that you won’t ever hurt yourself again, we can’t change what’s in the past, but you can bet that we will always be there right alongside you in the future.” We sat watching the little kids play on the grass for a few more minutes while I let what went on between us simmer, “I promise”.
Two simple words and an extra caramel macchiato later we were driving up to the house in an animated discussion over my favorite band, The Black Veil Brides. “They’re awesome! The guys are great but I kind of have a thing for the lead singer Andy,” I giggled and lowered down the window. “Well, I have to say I’ve never heard of the Black Veiled Birds, but if they are as good as you say they are then I’ll have to check them out,” Mrs. Henderson smiled at me. Turning into our driveway I burst out laughing, “not Black Veiled Birds! Black Veil Brides! Most people just call them BVB though so don’t worry about it”. The car was parked and we sat in the car for a bit, silence taking place of the laughter as I fiddled with my thumbs. “Ok, enough with all this sad stuff, we’ve cried for the things in our past and now it’s time to live for today,” pulling me into an awkward hug over the center console we hugged. “Alright dear, enough moping around, we have to unpack and make the perfect bedroom for you, and tonight we dine on pizza!” I salivated just thinking about it, “extra mushrooms?” I asked. “Of course, I hope you like jalapenos because we can’t get enough of them”. We opened the doors, hefted our bags between the two of us and made our way into the house.
Publication Date: 10-16-2012
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