Veronica
My ears perked up at the sound of voices in the hallway. There were two things strange about it. For one, Gabby hadn't come near my room in days, not since I'd made my confession to Vinnie. They'd both been keeping their distance. Secondly, both voices were distinctly female. When a soft knock landed on my door, I shot up in the bed.
"Yeah?" I called out timidly.
Part of me wished it would just be Stella, but I knew it wasn't. Gabby had exchanged a few texts with me that morning to arrange for Stella to spend the day with Travis. It hurt my heart to know that he'd reached out to Gabby but not to me.
"Someone's here to talk to you," Gabby said through the door.
"Come on in." I finger-combed my hair quickly. Had Travis shown up to talk after all?
"Hi, Veronica." Laurel stepped into the bedroom alone.
I felt a little dumbstruck. The few times I'd talked to Laurel alone, it had been about Kelley's art program. She'd helped pull some strings to let me sit in on the art class Travis was modeling for. Afterward, she'd followed up with a heavy-handed hint about the enrollment period for fall classes still being open. That had been nice of her, but we hadn't talked since.
"What are you doing here?" I cringed at the defensiveness in my own voice. "Sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out that way."
"That's okay. Can I sit?" she asked, gesturing at the end of the bed.
"Oh. Sure."
I scooted back so that there was plenty of room for her. I was expecting her to find some ladylike wait to perch on the edge, so it surprised me when she plopped right down and casually made herself comfortable, even going so far as to cross her legs up on the bed.
"Is it totally weird that I'm here?" Laurel asked. Her lips twisted up into a nervous smile.
"A little," I admitted.
"I figured, but I hope that you'll hear me out."
"Of course." After embarrassing her at the barbecue and then asking her for the art class favor, the least I could do was hear her out. Even if she was only there to chew me out.
Laurel pulled her phone out of the small clutch she had with her. She fumbled with it for a moment before turning the screen to face me. There was a picture of Travis and Stella pulled up. The two of them were on the floor with crayons and pages pulled out of what looked to be princess coloring books. Travis looked completely at ease as he concentrated on his picture of Cinderella. Stella was happily coloring only the sections outside of the lines on her own sheet. She looked cute as hell.
"Is this from today?" I took the phone from her so I could look at the photo up close.
"Yeah. I figured you probably weren't checking in with each other, so I thought seeing what they were up to might ease your mommy-mind. It can't be easy handing her over to him when things between you all are obviously not on solid ground right now."
I handed her phone back to her. "How much do you know?"
"Not everything, but I managed to wrestle a lot of it out of Travis. He's pretty torn up."
"He's not drinking is he?" I'd never be able to live with myself if I caused him to relapse.
"Not as far as I know. I think he's been going to meetings the last few days. They have a group on campus."
I remembered what Vinnie had said about Travis' sponsor being the school's athletic director. It was an interesting dynamic to picture. Travis had always endeared himself to sports people, though. They liked the way he dedicated himself to the game and to his team.
"He hasn't called," I told her, though I was pretty sure she already knew.
"I think he's just trying to give you space."
"I can't blame him much for that. The last time I freaked out on him I ended up disappearing for years. He's probably scared I'll run again."
Laurel shrugged lightly, but the nervous way she fingered the pearls around her neck made me believe I was on to something. It wasn't a hard leap to make. If the tables were reversed, I would have been freaking out about that exact thing.
"I don't know how to fix it."
"Talking to him would be a good start."
I sighed and let myself fall over in the bed. "You make it sound so easy," I grumbled.
"Well, I know it's not. Which is why I figured it was about time I showed up. Think of me as your new fairy godmother, because I'm about to help the two of you get your shit together. And then when that's taken care of, I'm gonna convince you to join Kelley's art program."
"What's in it for you?" I couldn't help still feeling a little suspicious of her. It was a leftover resentment from the days of catty girls in designer outfits. But at least I was working on that.
"Honestly? I could use a little good karma. I've made a bit of a mess out of my own life these last couple months. Sending some good vibes into the universe surely can't hurt." She paused for a second. "Plus, I just think Travis is a good guy. He should get his happy ending."
"I agree." Her words had definitely softened me. "You're a lot nicer than I expected you to be," I admitted.
Her answering smile was warm. "You wouldn't have thought that if you met me pre-graduation. I was sort of a monster. But hey, we're all capable of becoming the best versions of ourselves, right?"
"That sounds like something you'd hear at a self-help seminar."
"Nah. More like from a professor who happens to read a lot of self-help books."
"Okay, remind me to ask more about that later. But first, let's hear what you've got planned." I wasn't so sure about a fairy godmother, but I sure as hell was gonna need a little magic to finally set things right, once and for all.