Beauty From Ashes

Chapter 31 Part 1: Farewell

Madison snickers loudly. "Wait wait wait! How did that turn out?!"

"Oh, that first time we went to a bar with Cheyenne was the worst!" Antoine hooted.

"Yeah. And because she made herself that HORRIBLE fake ID card, the bartenders were so unimpressed that they served us all dishwater instead of the actual brew!" Lexi laughed.

Cheyenne covers her face, stifling in her laughter. "And then I DRANK my whole thing because I had never tasted beer to know the difference!!!"

Wes and Vinnie are nearly dying of laughter.
"And they say we're the innocent ones!" Albert joked.

"Oh absolutely. It got better as time went on, but also worse," Raymond said.

How does it get worse and better?" Mark asked with a grin.

"Because that's when they started getting more....Angela crazy," Venus said.

"Yeah. Like that time Snake and Griffin got so hammered they tossed their wine bottles ar Ronny's window and smeered it with the booze!" Raymond said.

Veronica then taps his shoulder. "Oh no no no, they didn't just steer my windows. They smashed in my windows! That was after Snake and I broke up for the last time."

"Oh yeah!"
"I remember that."

"Why did that breakup happen again?"

"Well, that's when I found out Snake was cheating on me with....Lex," Veronica said, glancing at Lexi.

Lexi then looks at Veronica softly. "Yeah, well, that's his loss," she said with a smirk.
This is ironic because, from what I remember, Lexi and Veronica have been best friends for a long time.

"Hmm, so the guy was always a major dick, huh?" Mark jabbed.

"Marky?!" Phoebe said, slapping him on the elbow.

"Hey, he can be bad, but he has his moments," Veronica commented.

"You All do!" Venus said sitting down beside them.

"I can only speak for some of you guys," I said.

Raymond sighs. "This is crazy. We just found out YOU were alive, and, now you're just taking off again."

"You can blame me for that," Albert said.

"Yeah? Well, at least now we know the trutb," Lexi said with a smile. "And I'm thankful for it. And I also thought for sure that.....Venus was gonna be gone forever."

"I thought the same about you guys," Venus said.

"Wo what do you think Cheyenne, Madison?" We both glance at Albert. "Is it just as scary or angering just, sitting down talking with these guys?"

"I mean....not as much as the other guys."

"Yeah and....this, will definitely take some getting used to," Madison said, as the others laugh. "But...for now they don't seem as bad when they aren't swinging at us."

"Thank you, that's really sweet."

"Just like the drinks," Wes said.

"Well, we'll let you back to the gossip, so excuse us," Albert said as he and Wes step aside.

"You know Albert, when you're not scolding us or punching us.....you're quite handsome," Veronica commented.

Lexi tilts her head to the side peeking at them both. "I agree!"

"Guys!!" I teased. And as Johnathan and the other men sitting around us begin to laugh out, Albert and Wes glance at each other and perk up their eyebrows.