Her face mutinous, Veronica watched as Logan's hideous yellow beast of a car drove off, Logan's cackle wafting back with the slipstream. She couldn't decide if she was angrier at his words - What do you say to a little hootch, huh? What's the matter, aren't you your mother's daughter? Hmm? Now there was a woman who could drink. Hey, what's she up to nowadays, maybe she'll join us. Do you know where she is? Any clue? – or at herself for letting him get to her.

Nope, I'm definitely angrier at him. Alright, Logan. You want to bring our moms into this, asshole? Game on. And with a little luck, my plan will kill two birds with one stone.

Her vengeance fully rationalized, Veronica continued through the parking lot towards her car, the beginnings of a plan formulating in her mind.

"A welcoming committee of my very own! Van, Deputy, I'm touched, but I was really hoping to arrive without the paps getting wind of it, so do you think you could keep this on the DL?" Logan was full of outward bravado as he walked up to his locker in the empty hallway, but also cautiously curious as to why the principal and deputy were waiting for him. He knew what they wanted, but couldn't understand why he was being targeted. What the hell is the point of being an Echolls if the bastard's name can't get me out of shit like this? He mentally scanned the contents of his locker, trying to remember if Dick had taken back his bag of weed that he had stored there during lunch the day before. At least there was no drug dog with the deputy.

"Mr. Echolls, address me as Mr. Clemmons, if you please," the vice-principal said with the slightly exasperated tone of someone who was tired of repeating himself. "And I assume that your doctor's note is waiting for me in my office, explaining your late arrival today? If not, I'll expect you in detention after school. Would you open your locker?"

Logan's eyes went flat at the news of his detention – his dad was expecting to meet him at the latest paparazzi haunt for their monthly "father-son bonding" photo shoot– and he turned on his heel with military precision to face his locker. Immediately unlocking and opening the door, he stepped neatly to the side, pretty confident that Dick actually did get back his stash. "There you go."

In his peripheral vision, Logan saw Clemmons reach into the locker. "Well, what's this Logan? This would appear to be a device they use to smoke marijuana."

Wait, what?

Logan stared at the cherub shaped bong in Clemmons' hand, and immediately knew where it came from, or rather, who had put it there, and why.

Son of a bitch.

"What the hell is that thing?" Lilly exclaims and stops dead as she walks into the den of Logan's pool house. Veronica almost walks into Lilly from behind, her eyes scanning left and right, and whispers shyly, "What?"

"I know, right?" Duncan pipes up from his spot on the couch, eyes intent on the video game on the giant TV.

"Shut up," Logan's voice warns from his place next to Duncan, his back rigid as he leans forward, furiously jabbing at the buttons on his controller.

"God, Logan, is that any way to make new friends? I promised Veronica that she had no reason to be nervous coming over here, so I'll start again, and you can at least try to make a better first impression than that. All together now: What the hell is that thing?"

Logan quickly pauses the game and the boys turn to see two blond, pigtailed girls in soccer uniforms. But that's where the similarities stop. Lilly is several inches taller and, at thirteen, has clearly blossomed, if her ultra-tight jersey is any indication. Logan is pretty sure he would have remembered those if they had been there when he last saw her over Christmas. Pulling his gaze away (but not before he sees Lilly smirk knowingly at him), he looks over at her friend. She's tiny and seems a little shy, but stands confidently beside Lilly, looking around the room curiously. She's covered in spatters of mud, and Logan can't help it if his mind starts to imagine her cleaning herself up in the shower. Intrigued by this girl who didn't find it necessary to be perfectly put together, he greets her in the way twelve year old boys have been greeting girls since the dawn of time: with a flick of the chin and a, " 'Sup."

"Oh, hey Veronica," Duncan pipes up.

Veronica rolls her eyes at Lilly, blushing slightly. "I was not nervous, Lilly! God!" Turning back to the boys, she smiles, "Hi, Duncan. Logan, welcome to Neptune."

"Umm, are you girls coming from mud-wrestling practice? Because, by all means, we can watch you girls practice, give you tips, you know…" Logan leers, eyeing Veronica from her feet all the way up to her eyes.

Her blush deepens at his words, but her chin lifts slightly and she arches an eyebrow at him in response. "Soccer tryouts. Go…what's our new team name, Lil? The Cherubs?" Veronica shakes her head wryly, and does her best imitation of a cheerleader. "Go Cherubs!" In doing so, she finally spots what Lilly was asking about when they walked in.

"What? No! That can't be a coincidence!" Veronica's mouth drops open in surprise.

It's Logan's turn to be embarrassed, and he lowers his eyes and fiddles with his shirt sleeves. Duncan, on the other hand, is reveling in his friend's unease, clutching his middle and laughing uproariously. "Isn't it the cheesiest thing you've ever seen?"

"Your new team name, you mean. I just spent the last two hours trying very hard NOT to make the team." Lilly runs her hands over herself, winking at Logan. "Why would I want to get all this covered in grimy mud? Well, mud from a soccer field, anyway. A mud bath at the spa is another story. It's only fun to get dirty when you're naked." She closes her eyes and throws her head back in an altogether too sexy manner for a barely teenaged girl. Logan can hardly take his eyes off her, although the glazed look and slack jaw clearly indicates that his mind is off in fantasyland.

Duncan groans. "Gross, Lilly! C'mon!"

Lilly laughs at her brother's reaction. "Oh relax, Donut. Anyway, at least then Celeste can't make me go to those stupid games."

Used to Lilly's dramatics, Veronica ignores her and walks over to the mahogany table in the corner next to the fireplace. "It, umm, doesn't really go with the décor in here, does it?" The den in the pool house is every teenage boy's dream game room. Giant flat screen mounted on the wall, surround sound, every gaming console imaginable sitting on the shelves of the built-in, a wet bar well-stocked with sodas and snacks, oversized pillows and bean bag chairs strewn around the room. The walls are covered in movie posters and skateboard paraphenalia. One wall displays more than a few clearly expensive boards. An autographed picture of Logan with Tony Hawk is in a frame on a shelf. This space is clearly designated as a "Logan fun zone." Veronica can't for the life of her understand what this thing could possibly be doing in here.

It is a bronze statue about two feet tall. The sculpture is reminiscent of a cherub from a Raphael painting, but without the wings; all curly hair, round cheeks and big tummy. A little boy completely naked, Veronica can almost see him actually peeing. She has seen it actually peeing, in fact, in pictures. What Logan has is an exact replica of the famous statue Manneken Pis, and it could not be more out of place. Never mind that the style is more suited to a museum or church, but the bronze material it's made of knocks the cheese factor up several notches. It's cute, in a garish sort of way, if you get past the pervyness of having a naked statue of a toddler in your man-cave.

Logan sighs dramatically and says, petulantly, "It's from a movie. The Party, directed by Blake Edwards-"

"I love that movie!" Veronica cuts in.

Logan looks at her incredulously. "You've seen The Party?"

"What? Why not? It's a great movie. Thirty days have September, October, June and February, all the rest have 29-"

"-except my brother who got six months." Logan finishes, laughing. "Birdie num num!"

Veronica giggles along with him. "Is this really the one from the movie?"

"Yeah, Mr. Edwards is a friend of my mom's. He directed her in a stage production once. She loves that movie. We like to watch it after –" Logan cuts himself off, his face going suddenly cloudy. He shrugs his shoulders slightly, as though resettling his shirt. "She likes to watch it with me when she's had a bad day. Makes her feel better. She got it from him."

"Well then, what the hell's it doing in here?" Lilly breaks in derisively from where she had dropped into a beanbag chair. "It's hideous! And a little creepy. I mean, look at it?"

Veronica can't help laughing even though she knows she's being rude to this kid she's just met. Somehow though, she's pretty sure he can handle the teasing. "Does it pee, too? 'Cuz if you ever decided to pump soda or something through it, I'd love to get a picture of you trying to catch the stream in your mouth."

"Dude, you should totally hook it up to the soda machine for your next party! Dick would get a huge kick out of it!"

"Fuck you, DK! Dick would be dry humping it before the night was done. Anyway, my mom would kill me if I did that. It cost like ten grand."

Veronica chokes hearing this. "Are you serious? I get that it's a significant movie prop, but ten grand? That's just crazy for an ugly cherub statue! Why wouldn't she put it in the house? Why in here?"

"Look, my mom gave it to me for my birthday, OK? Like an inside joke thing. Just forget it. It'll be gone next time. I'm not gonna put up with this shit every time you guys come over," Logan snaps.

"You didn't say he was such a memorabilia whore, Lilly. I'd have brought my Star Wars Pez dispenser collection to show him," Veronica teases. At Logan's exasperated reaction, she tries to ask, straight-faced, "All right, all right! I'll stop! But what does this have to do with my team?"

"Oh, that. Well, my mom used to play soccer when she was a kid, and she was looking for her next publicity stunt, so I guess she went with supporting my friend's soccer team. Not too sure Duncan's would have appreciated that particular name change, so I guess she went with Lilly's. She likes her Manneken, what can I tell you? What, you embarrassed to be a Cherub?" he adds tauntingly, still pouting from her teasing.

Seeing that she maybe went too far with someone she didn't really know, Veronica dials it back and responds with false arrogance, "They're lucky to have my superior footwork! I am the Queen Cherub, thank you very much!"

"You know it, baby!" Lilly joins in full support of her best friend.

"You'll get captain for sure, Veronica. You're really good." Duncan interjects, bringing down their light hearted joking with his serious tone.

"Um, oh. Thanks Duncan. OK, well, I was promised swimming to wash this muck off. Let's get this show on the road! Where can I change?" Logan points Veronica toward the bathroom and hits the switch to turn on some tunes on the patio. The Beach Boys belt out their promises of fun fun fun, serenading the swimmers for the rest of the afternoon.

Logan looked around as he was marched unceremoniously down the hall towards Clemmons' office. There she was, hidden around the corner with the new kid. What was it with her collecting new kids, anyway? Me, Yolanda, this guy. He heard"Logan, welcome to Neptune" in his head so clearly he thought for sure that she had actually spoken. She's a regular fucking Welcome Wagon.

He knew she would be there; he was as sure of that as he was that he was going to get the shit kicked out of him later that night. He'd gone for the jugular the other day when he had brought up her mother so of course she would retaliate using something about his own mom. Furious, Logan looked directly at her, pointing. "It was you."

Veronica knew just from the look in his eyes that he understood the exact message she had sent: Back. The fuck. Off. Because I can play too, and you're not gonna like it. That didn't mean that she was going to admit to anything in front of Clemmons, though, so she feigned innocence.

"Listen, I know it was you. This isn't over, okay." If Veronica wanted a fight, Logan was going to bring fucking nukes to the battlefield. But despite all the trouble she had caused, despite the hell he was going to be put through later, he had to admit that he was a little impressed and that he was enjoying the challenge more than he probably should. Her taunting yawn was just icing on the cake. "You're so cute. Listen, I'll get you for this," he spat out the vicious promise.

"Let's go," Clemmons intoned as he pushed Logan firmly away.

Logan refused take his eyes off of Veronica until she was no longer in his sight line. His mind was already running through a list of possible reactions to this latest volley as his hand beat an unconscious tattoo to the Beach Boys song playing in the back of his head.