Greetings again old readers (and hello to new ones.)

It took me some time but I have rectified the major issue with this story. Thanks to those of you who sent me notes saying how much they missed it. I promise I will post my edited updates regularly until the story is back on track.

Thanks to my beta heavenli24 for her help with the editing.

The first time Veronica Mars met Logan Echolls, he was sitting in the corner of the kindergarten room crying because Richard Casablancas Jr. – Dicky for short - took away his train. This grave injustice against the new boy forced Veronica into action and – as the Sheriff's daughter and self-appointed law enforcement for the class – decided to apprehend the thief by whacking Dicky over the head with a plastic banana. She couldn't understand why the teacher was so mad at her when it was clearly Dicky who was in the wrong, and felt her time-out was a gross miscarriage of justice.

However, Logan seemed genuinely grateful for her intervention, and gave her a wide smile when she returned the engine to him. Logan's parents – Oscar winning actors Aaron and Lynn Echolls – decided to move to Neptune part-way through the school year. By this time, most of the kids in the class had made friends. Everyone except Veronica. Veronica was uninterested in dolls or playing house, and didn't hang out much with the other girls. Plus, the boys teased her and told her she couldn't play trucks and trains, so she stayed away from them too. So more often than not, the petite girl found herself doing puzzles or reading alone; until Logan showed up in her class.

At snack time that day, he sat down next to her and offered her half of his chocolate granola bar. Always in the mood for more food, Veronica happily accepted it, and later, during recess, the two of them chased each other around the playground, playing cops and robbers. When her mother picked her up from school, Veronica's pretty pink flowered dress was covered in mud, and her long blonde braids were disheveled, but she didn't care. She had made a new friend, and it was all she talked about for the rest of the day.

Veronica Mars was a tiny blond ball of pure energy. She was small for her age, so her parents – Keith and Lianne Mars – decided to hold her back a year, so she could catch up to the size of the other kids, before entering Kindergarten. This meant that while she was still the shortest one in the class, she was also one of the oldest kids in the room. As for Logan, his mother feared the ever-present paparazzi, and thus, kept him home a little longer, to protect her boy from the media as long as she could. Logan was tall and gangly for his age, with a mouth full of crooked teeth, and a head of shaggy blond hair that covered his soft brown eyes.

Although they were the same age, Logan was a good four-inches taller than his new friend, and he found himself looking down on the top of her head when they stood together.

Through the rest of the school year, their friendship grew, and over that first summer, play dates at the Echolls' mansion became the norm.

By the beginning of 1st Grade, Veronica's mother, Lianne began driving the kids to school together, and Lynn sent her driver to pick them up. The two of them became inseparable and as they moved through the grades, they ended up being partnered up for everything from class projects to field trips. Along the way, they allowed Dicky to join their crew – along with his little brother 'Beaver' when he sometimes cried about being left out. And when Keith and Lianne went away for a romantic weekend getaway, leaving Veronica in Lynn Echolls' care, the new tradition of the kids' sleeping over at each other's place was started.

Logan and Veronica also shared a love of the ocean, which led to them enrolling in surf classes in 5th Grade. Dicky joined them, and the three of them spent many hours on warm California days perfecting their surfing skills.

Over the summer, they met Lilly and Duncan Kane one morning while surfing. Lilly was a year older than her brother and rest of the group, but still fit in with the surf crowd, showing off that she could surf just as well, if not better, than the boys. The Kane siblings had been attending a prestigious boarding school just outside of L.A., but had convinced their parents to transfer Lilly to Neptune High, when she started grade 7 in the Fall, and Duncan would join her at when he graduated to junior high. According to them, their parents – Jake and Celeste Kane - went to Neptune for junior and senior high, and their dad easily agreed to let them follow in his footsteps in his home-town.

By 6th grade, Veronica was beginning to notice some weird things happening to the people around her. Logan and Dicky (who now insisted on being called 'Dick') voices began to crack, causing them to sound like a Smurf one minute, and Darth Vader the next – a phenomenon she thought was hysterically funny. Even Lilly, who was usually happy and funny to hang around with on the weekends, began to get moody and cranky, missing out on group activities with no explanation.

Slowly, Veronica began to realize that puberty was looming over all of them, but insulated from the rest of the world, over the summer, the group of friends continued in their bubble, ignorant of what was happening with the rest of their classmates.

Then 7th Grade happened.

The first day of school, Logan and Veronica emerged from the back seat of Keith Mars' police cruiser, in the parking lot of Neptune High . Veronica stood on the curb near the parking lot, taking in the sight of their classmates as they gathered in the quad. It looked like everyone they knew had just stepped out of the pages of a teen fashion magazine. The girls were in high heels and short skirts, wearing makeup, while the guys wore jeans and Polo shirts, some with frosted-tipped hair, others with gel-styled locks.

Veronica looked down at her outfit and cringed. She was dressed in her favourite blue and grey Mexican Baja hoodie, ripped jean shorts, and black Converse sneakers. Her long blonde hair was pulled into its usual ponytail. In the California summer sun, it had become almost bleached-blonde and her deep golden tan skin only accentuated it. She nervously reached her fingers up to play with the puka-shell necklace around her neck, glancing over at her best friend to see if he was as taken aback by their classmates as she was.

Logan had become even lankier over the summer, having had a crazy growth spurt. His shaggy brown hair covered his eyes, and his braces still hadn't come off, despite the fact that he begged his mom every day to take him to L.A. to get them removed.

For the first day, he was wearing green khaki shorts and a vintage grey rolling Stones t-shirt, which apparently had made his parents wince. A puka shell necklace which matched Veronica's hung around his neck, but he was wearing Birkenstocks instead of sneakers. He wore a puka-shell necklace, that matched Veronica's, but elected to wear Birkenstocks instead of runners. He glanced back at Veronica, shoving his hands into his pockets and frowning at the scene.

"It's like Night of the Living Dead," remarked Veronica.

"But instead of turning into zombies, everyone went for makeovers," snarked Logan.

Keith chuckled. "Welcome to teenagerdom. Beware of killer acne."

"Dad." Veronica groaned.

It was true. Veronica had turned thirteen in August and several days later, she received her first pimple on her nose as a present. Even though Logan wouldn't be thirteen years old until the end of October, his mother had already stocked him with a variety of expensive "pimple products" to keep the tiny face monsters at bay.

Keith came up behind her and kissed the back of her head discreetly, and she was glad he didn't try to embarrass her further.

"Have a great first day of school, guys. Stick together, stay out of trouble, and say 'no' to any drugs offered."

"Will do, sir," replied Logan and gave him a small salute.

Veronica turned and hugged Keith. "Thanks, Daddy. I'll see you later."

Releasing Veronica, Keith gave a final nod of recognition to Logan before climbing back into his police cruiser.

The two waved goodbye as Keith pulled away from the curb. Then, with a sigh and a nod to each other, they made their way into the quad full of people.

Just as they entered the melee, she heard a squeal and someone call out "Ver-roni-ca!" from behind them.

Lilly Kane jumped out of the limo at the curb, waving her arms with excitement. They hadn't seen the Kanes all summer, as Duncan and Lilly had been on a whirlwind trip of Europe with their parents. The Lilly Kane that was bounding across the quad was different than the one who left Neptune in June. This Lilly, long blonde hair flying behind her, dressed in a tight-fitting, pep-squad shorts and t-shirt uniform...bounced. Since Veronica had last seen her, Lilly had blossomed, developing curves that had never been there before. Veronica's mouth dropped open as her friend pressed her soft body against hers in a great big hug before turning to Logan and giving him a giant hug too.

Logan turned beet red, avoiding Veronica's eyes. When Lilly pulled back from him, he started moving back and forth nervously, and shuffled his backpack from his shoulder into his arms, covering the front of his body. Veronica figured he was thrown by this 'new' Lilly too.

"Oh my God! I missed surfing with you guys so much this summer! All I saw were museums and art galleries and old buildings and I wanted to run away to the ocean," Lilly rambled, as Duncan joined the group, giving them a sullen nod.

"But Veronica, now that we are in the same school, you have to try out for Pep Squad! I mean, I started in Grade 7 and now that I'm in Grade 8 I get to do so much more, and then, if you join, we can keep going all the way through high school together! Wouldn't that be great?"

Veronica glanced over to Logan for help but he was busy looking down at his shoes.

"Um...no thanks, Lilly. I mean, you're totally awesome, but I don't think I'm all that 'peppy'," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Lilly's face fell for a second before quickly recovering.

"Well. Okay then," Lilly said, her voice full of forced enthusiasm. "See everyone at lunch."

And with that, Lilly was off, leaving Veronica, Logan, and Duncan watching her bounce across the quad. Veronica glanced over at Logan, who's mouth had dropped open slightly as he watched Lilly leave. She caught Duncan's glance and she jerked her head at Logan, rolling her eyes at his reaction. Duncan shook his head slightly and let out a sigh.

"Now you know what my summer was like," Duncan said, jerking his thumb in Logan's direction. "Hurricane Lilly ripping through Europe, leaving guys slack-jawed and drooling in her wake."

Veronica let out a small giggle. "Good to know it's not just Logan."

"What?" Logan said, finally snapping out of his trance and turning to his friends. This time, both Duncan and Veronica rolled their eyes at Logan's reaction.

Dick sidled up to the group just as Lilly left, letting out a low whistle as he approached.

"Damn! Looks like Lilly picked up some 'friends' in Europe." Dick laughed, cupping his hands in front of his chest.

"That's my sister, dude!" exclaimed Duncan and punched Dick in the shoulder.

"And Veronica's here. Don't be a pig," chastised Logan.

Veronica's presence had never stopped the boys from being boys before. The thing about being a tomboy was that she was privy to all sorts of disgusting boy behaviour – farting, burping, dirty jokes – that was rarely censored. Until today.

Dick scoffed. "Dude, it's just Ronnie!"

Veronica suddenly felt very self-conscious about the fact that she wasn't exactly a girly-girl. Surfing gave her toned body a layer of visible muscle and she had no curves, her chest as flat as her favourite surfboard. And today she was very aware of it.

"Look, Dicky, we can either waste the entire morning talking about boobs, or we can find our class. I prefer brains over bod, myself," she snapped, throwing him a harsh glare over her shoulder.

Dick rolled his eyes, letting out a huff of annoyance. "Fine. But don't call me Dicky again."

Catching Logan's eye as she turned, he flashed her a silly little smile. The boys began following her into the school and she couldn't help but grin. It was nice to feel like the leader.

Veronica walked up to the sheets of paper plastered to the side of the dull, grey, cinderblock wall, her small frame cutting through the people milling about in front of them, and quickly scanned the grade eight lists of names.

"Logan. You and Duncan are in Room 438," she called out. "Dick. You and I are in room 327."

Turning back to the group, she caught Logan's expression falling as he realized they wouldn't be together, in the same homeroom, for the first time in their lives.

"We still have lunch," she said reassuringly, stepping up to her best friend. "And surfing after school. And Saturday night sleepovers. And, like, every other moment of our lives."

Logan nodded in that sad way which meant she couldn't really convince him. "And at least Dick has someone to take care of him."

"Yeah. With all the boobs, Dick's liable to get distracted and walk into a wall...or an open locker...or the open sea," Veronica teased.

But when she glanced around to see Dick's reaction, Veronica realized he was standing there, gawking at pack of girls standing across the hall from them. Veronica let out a big sigh before grabbing Dick by the arm, dragging him out of his stupor.

"Come on, doofus. Let's get to class," she said as she led Dick down the hall.

"See you at lunch!" Logan called out and Veronica raised her hand, waving at them as they walked away.

The first half of the day flew by in a blur of information. At the "Welcome to Neptune High" assembly, Veronica caught Logan's eye where he sat with his homeroom class, and the two waved to each other, enthusiastically. She listened obediently to a myriad of speeches, lectures, and snarky comments from Dick, before they were finally treated to a performance by the junior pep-squad.

The girls and boys in the squad, dressed in green shorts and white t-shirts, jogged onto the field, led by Lilly. They stood in triangle formation and waited for the music to start. Hoots and hollers from the bleachers filled the silence before the first strains of music began to fill the air. As they began their routine, the crowd settled momentarily as Eve and Gwen Stefani growled through their song, asking everyone to "Let me Blow your Mind."

Veronica scanned the crowd as the squad jumped, bounced, and cheered. Most of the boys were staring, mouths agape at the spectacle, including Logan. Many of the girls were either pointing and whispering or looking at their laps.

Was it like this last year? Veronica thought as she glanced around. It wasn't just that they were at a new school – everyone just seemed so "different". The jump from elementary school to Junior High seemed like a leap from earth to the moon.

Looking around at the other girls in her grade, she saw Madison—Maddie—Sinclair, Susan Knight, and Carrie Bishop, all clustered together just one aisle down from her, giggling and whispering. They were all wearing makeup this year, and their clothes were definitely tighter than last year.

Veronica's eyes dropped for a second to her own chest before looking up again. I wonder if they got their periods yet? Veronica scrunched up her nose at the thought. She knew that a lot of girls got their periods last year, from the way they talked in the gym locker room, but puberty still had not stuck Veronica. 'Late bloomer' was the phrase her mom kept using; but she didn't feel like a flower.

Glancing over at Dick, she rolled her eyes at the crooked, giddy smile on his face – the same one that appeared when he was staring at the girls in the hall. Each year of school, Dick had seemed to notice the girls around them more and more, and more often than not, was the one making comments about cute girls on the beach. Logan and Duncan would talk about them, but not to the extent that Dick did. Dick also had no qualms about showing off his three measly chest hairs, often going shirtless by the pool. Logan and Duncan still preferred to keep their swim shirts or tank tops on around her.

And then there was Lilly. Sometime, Veronica felt like there were two Lilly Kanes – the public one and the private version. At school, she was a smart, gregarious leader, with charisma that attracted many followers, and poise that made her seem much older than her actual age. But in private, Lilly liked hanging out with their small group, goofing around good-naturedly with Veronica and the guys, watching movies while making silly comments at the screen, and gossiping about the stars in her favorite celebrity magazines.

She turned her attention back to the performance as Lilly executed the grand finale – perching herself at the top of the human pyramid, arms spread in a wide V, chest arched proudly and smiling gleefully at the crowd. The school erupted in cheers as the music came to an end.

"Mind blown," Veronica muttered sarcastically under her breath as she stood and applauded with her friends.

The social pandemonium of the cafeteria on the first day of school was of little consequence to Veronica and Dick. The students had already started breaking off into small groups at the long tables, leaving stray people wandering around, looking for places to accept them. Logan had scored a table towards the back of the hall near the big windows overlooking the grounds - and was waiving his long arms in the air, trying to get their attention. As they approached, Veronica saw Duncan was with him but Lilly was not, which after rejecting Lilly's offer to try out for pep-squad, this morning, Veronica was kind of okay with.

Dropping into the seat across from Logan she couldn't help but smile a little. Seeing her best friend made her feel instantly better about the rest of her day.

"How were your classes?" he asked eagerly.

Veronica shrugged and pulled her lunch out of her backpack, giving a little cheer when she discovered vegetarian sushi inside.

"Fine. The teachers mostly lectured us on expectations. They also kept mentioning where the bathrooms were located in proximity to the classroom, which makes me think that previous 7th Grade students have not been toilet trained, or that someone, at some point, got very sick in their class. How about you?"

"The usual 'Are you related to Aaron Echolls?' question from a couple of new teachers, who hadn't heard through the grapevine that I go here." Logan shrugged as he pulled his lunch from his backpack. "I think Miss Elliott might fail me just so she can meet Aaron."

Even though he could well afford lunch, his mother worried that it could be contaminated with shellfish, and rather than risk losing her son to an allergic reaction, she had their chef prepare his lunch, even though Veronica knew he would much rather eat greasy pizza and drink pop from the cafeteria. Today, he had a large gourmet sandwich along with some unidentifiable grainy salad, which Veronica guessed was probably one of Lynn Echolls' new favorite "super foods."

"Dudes, you are both neglecting to mention the best part of the day...boobs set to music!" Dick proclaimed and tried to steal some of Logan's large lunch. Logan smacked Dick's hand and threw him a stern look.

Veronica turned towards Dick, feeling a rage rise inside of her at his sexist remarks.

"Seriously, Dick. You need to shut up about the boobs or so help me, next time we are out on the water, I will drown you," she hissed, pointing a chopstick at him, menacingly.

The table went silent. Veronica felt her cheeks go hotwith embarrassment. She wasn't sure why she was so mad, but the fact that the boys seemed so preoccupied by the girls around them seemed to push a button inside of her. And she didn't know why. In the past, she'd always rolled her eyes when they pointed out cute girls on the beach and bugged her when her eyes lingered a bit too long on the muscular arms of their hunky surf instructor. But this was different. She wasn't sure how it was different...but today, it just felt...different.

Dick looked shaken, but tried to play it cool.

"Jeeze, Ronnie. Take it easy. It's not like I'm talking about your boobs or anything. I'm talking about an actual girl, you know, not you," he explained.

Duncan hid his eyes in his hands and shook his head. Logan let out a deep sigh, rolling his eyes at the comment.

"If I'm not a girl, then what exactly am I?" growled Veronica, about to take off her friend's head.

"You're like my sister...our sister...mine and Logan's. We've all been friends, like, forever, that it just feels that way, you know. And the one of the thing you don't do is look at your sister's boobs, or ass, or anything...you know?" Then he smirked and turned to Duncan. "But it's okay to look at his sister's boobs."

Duncan uncovered his eyes to find everyone guffawing and promptly turned beet red.

"I hate you so much, Dick," Duncan muttered and pushed his chair back, stomping off to get in line for food.

Veronica turned back to Dick. "That was actually kind of sweet, dude. What you said about me, that is, not Duncan."

Dick shrugged and stole a piece of her sushi. "Just be careful of these bo-hunks. Anyone who wants to date my sister has to go through me and Logan first."

Veronica caught a glimpse of Logan who was meticulously inspecting his food, his eyes lowered.

"Yeah...I don't see that happening for a few years. I'm pretty sure the guys at school think I'm just a surfer boy with long hair," she replied with a sigh.

Dick scoffed. "Yeah. Right. Then why did I see that new, preppy kid...Casey...the one that went to elementary school with Duncan, checking you out in homeroom?"

"Really?" Logan and Veronica said in unison. They froze and looked at the other for moment then looked away.

"Totally. Want me to beat him up for you?" asked Dick, enthusiastically.

Veronica frowned. She didn't have time for boys. They just created drama and problems. Junior high was the stepping stone to high school. And high school was the stepping stone to a scholarship and college. And college was the stepping stone to a career in law enforcement. This would not do.

"Maybe later," she muttered, pushing her remaining lunch over to Dick to finish.

"Umm...remember...Mom is sending the car for us at 3:30," said Logan.

Veronica noticed his voice was high and nervous, although she didn't know why it would be.

Veronica sighed. "It can't get here soon enough."