Faith Will Find a Way

Vero's grandmother was one of her biggest inspirations. She loved her grandma very much. But at times, it seemed like her grandma didn't really care all that much about what Vero had to say. Her grandma was also sometimes her worst enemy.

The days leading up to Warped Tour were creeping by slowly and Vero's mother decided to take her and her younger brother to her grandma's house for the day.

"We haven't seen Grandma in over a month. I think it will be nice for you two to visit with her." Vero's mother said when she heard the groans from her children.

Even though Vero knew that there was nothing else better she could be doing with her day, she figured that anything would be better than going to visit her grandma. Ever since her grandpa died, her grandma had been acting differently. Her brother would be the center of attention. Her grandma was always giving him so much more attention than she was giving to Vero. In all honesty, it hurt. Vero remembered the days when she used to get attention from her grandparents. That was just the perks of growing up.

"Oh, Vero, sweetheart. It's so nice to see you." Her grandma gave her a hug and then moved on to her younger brother.

"Grandma, can I go watch TV in your room?" He asked, giving her a guiltless smile.

"Oh, of course you can." She smiled at his innocent face.

"But I was gonna--" Vero began but stopped herself when she saw the look on her mother's face. She decided the best thing to do was to sit down and shut up.

"Vero, tell grandma about the concert you're going to on Thursday." Her mother suggested, to get the conversation going.

"Are there going to be cute boys there?" Vero's grandma was always asking her about boys.

She sat there thinking about Andy. "Of course there will be cute boys there, Grandma." Vero smiled, thinking of the way Andy's lips curved around the width of the cigarette. Or how his blue eyes could capture your heart in a single second.

"What kind of a concert is it?" She asked, breaking Vero's thoughts.

Vero was in a dilemma. How would one go about describing Warped Tour? "It's, um... It's a rock concert." She decided on.

"All those reckless rock stars with the tattoos and long hair? Distasteful. What possessed them to go and ink up their whole body like that? You better not be getting any tattoos when you're older." Her grandma did the classic pointing of the finger scolding.

Whenever tattoos became the topic of conversation with her grandma, Vero always got up and left the room. Her grandma triggered something inside Vero's mind whenever she talked about how crude she though tattoos and the people who get tattoos were. But this time, Vero was stuck.

"Those 'reckless rock stars' with the tattoos happened to save my life, grandma." Vero stood up from her chair, becoming defensive.

"But they just scream. All of them. It sounds awful." Her grandma said..

Vero could feel her body beginning to shake. Things got personal whenever someone insulted the bands who saved her life. After all, without them, she wouldn't be standing in her grandmother's kitchen at that exact moment.

"Vero, calm down, please." Her mother insisted.

Vero glared at her mother before storming outside to take a breather. Her mother followed. "Vero, I really think it's time we go see some sort of therapist. This is getting out of control. I don't understand why you react in such a manner when someone ticks you off."

Vero shook her head. "It's only when it comes down to me and my music. None of you understand and you never will understand. Those men covered in tattoos saved me. Without them, I wouldn't be here right now. I would have killed myself off a long time ago without them."

"You're starting to scare me. I'm calling a therapist when we get home. I can't let anything happen to you." Her mother reached for her but Vero pulled back.

"I don't need to see a therapist. The only person I need to see is Andy. And I'll see him on Thursday." Vero turned away from her mother and went down the rest of the driveway to the garage. She needed some time alone in there.

The garage was always the one place that could help calm her down the most. Her grandpa used to spend most of his time there, and she would spend most of her time there with him. All of his stuff was still in place just the way he had left it. Everything in the room was frozen in time, except for Vero. She sat down on the cold concrete floor, put her earbuds in, and let Andy's voice slow down her rapid heart.