Corruption

Chapter 2

Lip in the media!

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"Hey, are you going to the Gallegan's party this weekend?" I ask Ronnie when she walks out of her third period classroom.

"Jeremy and Melody?" She asks scrunching her nose up in distaste. It's not that she hated them; it's just that, she wasn't exactly fond of them and I didn't quite understand why. "Ugh, white people functions aren't my thing."

I tilt my head to the side, "I'm white..."

"And when was the last time you threw a party? Beside, you probably have some Spanish in you, that would explain the J-Lo esque ass you've got." She pinches my ass to emphasize and I squeal, slapping her hand away.

"Veronica," I drag her name out, "Please come with me," I beg.

She quirks an eyebrow stopping by her locker and shoving a few things in, I toss my jacket in there too and we walk across the hall to our next class. "Why do you want to go so badly? You can go by yourself, you know."

I shrug, feeling my cheeks heat up a bit. Would she be surprised if I tell her it's because Lip asked? "Lip asked."

She's not surprised. She pats my shoulder and we take a seat near a window. "I'm grounded," she finally admits.

"What?" I glance at her, surprised, "What did you do?"

She stares ahead, biting her lips, "Lend me some paper. And a pencil."

"We were just at your locker?" I question wondering why she fails to accommodate her classes with actual school supplies.

She further avoids my question when our teacher arrives, handing out a worksheet. I fill in most of the answers and then Ronnie says, "I told mom I was leaving for college. She kind of flipped, pulled the whole 'after carrying you for nine months and raising you for seventeen years you're just gonna up and leave?' bullshit." She rolls her eyes, "It's not that serious, honestly, cut the damn umbilical chord for fuck's sake."

"Language, Ms. Dawson," our English teacher scolds when Ronnie's voice grows louder. She blinks in shock, unaware of just how angry she really is about the whole situation.

"Sorry," She says begrudgingly. She writes her name on her work sheet and lowers her voice, "Sorry, Fi. You want me to sneak out?"

"I don't want your mom to beat your ass," I reply, sighing. She laughs but tells me it's not funny because it's probably true.

"You can go by yourself; you know people."

"It's not the same," I tell her and she grins knowingly.

"Aw, Fi, you're so cute, you love me." I roll my eyes at her teasing but I don't deny it. I've known Ronnie since we were eight. She had been the new girl then and was quick to become my friend. I hardly remember how it happened, I wish I knew the details of our first exchange, but I know that somehow, we became inseparable through the years. Our relationship was ride or die.

-

"What was that letter all about?" Ronnie asks after the bell rings and we're trying to push through crowds to get to the cafeteria. It had started raining sometime last period, and my lack of car forced us to stay in for lunch today.

"What?" I ask, hiking my bag up, "You mean Lip?" She nods her head and I shrug, "Dunno, he said his cousin was coming over or something."

"He has cousins?" She asks. "I mean, like, legit cousins? Because when I say 'my cousin' I usually refer to some relative somehow related to me, not my actual parent's sibling's children...does that make sense? - I didn't know any of his parents had siblings who have children," She finally amends. I look at her amusedly as I hold the cafeteria doors open for her. She scowls, "Shut up."