A/N For all of you that was reading Epic, my other VM fanfic, I apologize for taking it down. It wasn't flowing the way I wanted it to. Don't worry though I'm still working the kinks out and then I'll post it again.

Chapter one

I stared out of the window as the plane I was in went over the Pacific ocean. I'm Victoria Mars, or Tori for short, and I'm on my way home from spending the last year as an American student in Australia. It was a great opportunity and I met some great people and that is what I will be telling every one who asks me how my trip was.

Truth is, I didn't leave Neptune to see what this opportunity had to offer like I told my father, who was reluctant to let his baby go out into the world alone. No, I left because of him. I Took the cowards way out. I could only imagine what my older sister Veronica is going through.

Okay so eight months isn't that much older but still. How are we only eight months apart you ask? I'm adopted. I've known pretty much me whole life. With my olive toned skin and my curly black hair it was kind of obvious to every one.

My dad was just a deputy at the sheriff department when my bio mom left me with the receptionist. They already had Veronica, but my parents had always treated me like I shared DNA. Everything was great until about ten months ago when my sisters best friend Lily Kane was murdered.

Veronica got into high school and immediately made friends with the most popular people. I on the other hand didn't care much for them. They were nothing but rich snobs and Lily was one of the worst. It didn't matter that I wasn't even a year younger she refused to speak to me. When she was around Veronica acted as if I didn't exist.

Her death shook the whole town to it's core. My dad was the sheriff and he had a lot of pressure on him to find who did it. For one reason or another he felt that Jake Kane, Lily's father, was guilty since things didn't add up at the scene of the crime. The whole 90909 zip code went on a witch hunt and got him thrown out of office. As a result, me and Veronica suffered for it at school.

She had it way worse than I did since she was her best friend and in that crowd, but I had my share of haters. It came from all sides. The rich, the poor, even my best friend. Lets not get into that. Too many good memories were flushed down the drain and I couldn't deal so I entered a essay in an writing contest. The first prize was to go to Australia for a semester abroad and I actually won. Getting away from that awful place for a while has really done me good. Now I'm going back...

" Welcome to Neptune please stay seated until we make a complete stop and thank you for choosing sky airlines. " One of the flight attendants said over the intercom.

Yawning I stood and stretched. Reaching up into the overhead compartment I grabbed my carry on and waited my turn to exit the plane. It was about six PM when I got to my luggage and saw my dad and Veronica waiting. A huge grin was on his face and he hugged me tightly.

" Did you have a safe flight sweetie? " He asked tearing up a little.

I hated seeing my dad cry. " No I died like six times. " I said sarcastically to change the mood.

He laughed. " God I've missed that sense of humor. "

I let him go and looked at my sister. She had her arms crossed and a slight glare was on her face. I knew she was mad at me for leaving but why the cold shoulder?

" Hey sis. " I said.

Her slight glare turned into a full on glare and I glared right back. " Fine don't say anything. " I mumbled before grabbing my things.

Veronica spent all summer avoiding me while I did nothing but play my guitar. Every girl needs a hobby. Music is mine.

I woke up the morning of the first day of school and sighed. Here we go Tori you're about to walk into the lions den with no allies. Should be fine right?

I showered quickly and went back into my room. My polka dotted underwear set were right at the top of my drawer and I slipped into them. Looking through my half unpacked suitcases I found my low rise boot cut jeans and paired them with a gray tank and a denim vest over it. Once I was fully dressed and in my gray high tops I headed out into our living room slash kitchen.

Dad and Veronica were already there eating waffles. I sat down at the table where my dad had already made my plate.

" Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and I'm glad I can now share it with both of my daughters again. " He said happily.

Veronica rolled her eyes and I sighed suddenly loosing my appetite. I ate half of the waffles just to appease dad. Why did she have to be so mad any ways? It's not like I cut her out of my life and them moved to Australia. She cut me off and then expected me to stay and get bullied with her every day.

After putting my plate in the sink I grabbed the keys to my old red Grande Prix and grabbed my back pack. " I'll see you later pops. " I said opening the door.

" Have a great day honey. " He called after me.

Pulling up to Neptune high was bitter sweet. So many memories both good and bad happened here. Locking my car I headed in thanking god that I was early enough to avoid the huge crowd that was sure to come with in the next twenty minutes.

Going into the office I got my schedule, locker number, and signed my re-enrollment papers. My locker was right by my home room, which was no where near any of my other classes. Awesome.

Once I got every thing situated I took a quick look around. The hallway was empty so I turned my attention back to the books I needed for calculus and geography. The next thing I knew I heard heavy foot steps coming from behind me.

" Well well well look who decided to come home. " Came a accented voice.

Turning around I came face to face with a smiling Eli, or Weevil as he goes by now. Seeing him threw me off. I was speechless. We weren't on the best of terms before I left or before Lily died to be more exact.

" The torture that is Neptune high kept calling my name... " I said looking away from him.

He looked at me strangely with his pretty brown eyes. " What? You're not happy to see me? "

I moved my lips to speak but nothing came out.

" Yo Weevil! " Came Felix's voice from further down the hall.

He looked at him and then back at me. " I'll see you later. "

Once they were out of sight I leaned against my locker and sighed. How tongue tied and stupid could I get? Shaking off the humiliation I walked to my first class and hoped the rest of the day went better.