Vivid by Jessica Wilde

thinning hair on top of his head, he looked younger than his age. He had started to shave his dark brown hair recently, so it was just fuzz. Mom said it made him look like a sexier Bruce Willis and women in town seemed to agree.
    Mom never let it get to her that women admired my father from a distance. I figured she was damn proud to have a man like that standing beside her, and she never doubted their love. Neither did anyone else in this town. They may look, but they knew her husband was off limits.
    The fact that he never noticed anyone but Mom certainly helped.
    I wandered past the desk and down the hall to the back offices. Patient charts lined the walls of one room while extra medical supplies and instruments covered the shelves in another. Keara was standing in the middle of the room with all the charts, looking like she was about to climb Mount Everest.
    "Need any help?" I asked, shakily. Why the hell was I so nervous to see my best friend?
    Keara let out a tiny squeak of surprise before jumping to the side in a spin move I had only seen in the movies. Her hand went to her chest and the folders in her arms went tumbling to the floor. "Sweet mercy, Grace! You almost gave me a heart attack."
    I smiled and tried not to burst out laughing at the look on her face. "You must have really been concentrating, huh?"
    "Well, there are about a billion Smiths that come to see your dad and like ten of them are named Sandra. I'm trying to find the right one."
    "I can help with that."
    Keara finally smiled at me, her eyes filling with moisture. "Thanks."
    Neither one of us moved as we stared at each other with goofy grins on our faces. I decided it was my responsibility to make the first move.
    "I'm sorry, Keara."
    She didn't even hesitate. She stepped all over the papers lying on the floor in order to get to me, and I barely caught her without tipping over. Her honey blonde hair covered my face as she tackle-hugged me. It was the greatest tackle-hug I had ever experienced.
    "I missed you, Gracie."
    "I missed you, too." I hugged her back and felt a sting in my nose. All the memories of our friendship came rushing back. I wanted to bawl for coming so close to losing it all completely.
    Keara pulled back and lightly smacked me on the shoulder. "Don't you dare do that to me again. I've been worried sick. A girl needs a phone call now and then."
    "I'm sorry, Keara."
    "A year!" she shouted, ignoring my words. "A year of not hearing one word from my best friend. Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is to be asked how you're best friend is doing by random people and not have a clue?"
    "I'm sorry."
    "And then I had to listen to Laura talk about how Jason just left you and how you deserved it for what you put him through. Do you know how long I had to wear the stupid cast after I broke my hand from punching her? A long time. It looked horrible and it would get all gross. And it itched like a bitch. I almost went psycho and cut it off myself, but it reminded me that I had finally gotten in a good one. Finally!"
    "Wait! You punched Jason's sister? When was this?" I asked, trying to get her to hear me over her ranting.
    "It was like a month after ... you know ... and he came back here all smug and shit, before he moved to God only knows where. I hope he's in Hell." She took a deep breath and met my shocked stare. "Laura was telling everyone that you faked the pregnancy to keep him and that he felt bad leaving so he stuck with you. Then, suddenly you were really pregnant. Said you cheated on him."
    "WHAT?"
    "I know! I knocked out one of her teeth, then ripped out a chunk of that nasty hair. If Josh hadn't pulled me off of her, she would've been eating it out of my hand."
    I was still reeling from the fact that Laura had spread those lies about me. I thought we had been friends. She was a snooty bitch, but when Jason and I started dating, she was always so nice to me. We spent a lot of girl's nights talking about more than our fair share of