Title: Forgotten History
Author: Canne
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Veronica Mars. Sorry.
Summary: A series of vignettes tracking the relationship between Veronica and Lamb.
Written: October 17, 2006 (yeah, I totally forgot that I'd ever written these)
The summer before the 8th grade, Veronica decides that she is destined to become a basketball player. She makes this announcement at Sunday dinner. Her father's new Deputy is with them that night, and he mentions that he used to play basketball, before he switched to baseball. She begs him to help her prepare for tryouts. She is thirteen and begging is not shameful or pathetic, it is her only way of getting anything. She is too spoiled to realize that one day she'll need to find a new tactic.
So, for the next two months, Don Lamb comes over every Sunday afternoon at 3pm and he and Veronica play ball in her driveway. They come in laughing after every session and more often than not he stays to eat dinner with the family. She likes to watch his white teeth flash as he smiles after she makes a basket or the way his fingers curl around the ball when he dribbles. By the end of the summer, she is in love and as soon as she buys her new school notebooks she starts drawing hearts around DL + VM.
Basketball tryouts are held the first day of school, but the team list doesn't come out until the end of the week. As soon as the last bell rings on Friday Veronica sprints to the bulletin board outside the gym. Her name is not on the list. Lilly Kane, who has decided that this year Veronica will be her new BFF, has followed Veronica to the gym.
"That's awesome, now we'll have so much time to hangout together! And anyways, everyone knows that only the butch girls play ball, you're too cute for that. Next year, we're totally going to be cheerleaders!" Veronica smiles at Lilly and agrees, because disagreeing with Lilly is something she's too scared to do. She desperately wants Lilly to like her, and if playing with stupid pom-poms instead of an orange ball will ensure her friendship, maybe she's willing to make that trade.
After Veronica says goodbye to Lilly, watching her climb into the Lexus driven by the Kane family housekeeper, she walks downtown to the Sheriff's department. By the time she reaches the building, the tears she hid from Lilly have returned. She ignores Inga as she walks past her, heading straight for her father's office. He hugs her while she cries and doesn't tell her she's silly, which is what she half expected to hear. When she's finally done crying, he smiles and offers to take her out for ice cream.
As they're leaving, Don walks into the office, laughing with one of the other officers. He smiles when he sees Veronica, but for the first time she doesn't smile back. Instead, to her embarrassment, she starts crying again.
"I'm sorry." She sobs, while clinging to her father's hand. Don looks terrified, but he bends down to Veronica's level and wipes away her tears with his somewhat clean shirt cuff.
"Hey, shhh, it's okay." He says, lightly grasping her other hand. She stops crying, although her nose is still running. "It's not your fault. I know you did your best; the coach is the one who should be sorry. He's lost a stellar point guard."
"It's because I'm short." She whispers. "He said so at the tryouts, that I was too short to play."
"We know better, don't we?" Don says, placing a warm hand on her shoulder. She nods her head, while blushing. "And you can work hard this year, so that next year you can make the team at the high school."
"I want to be a cheerleader next year."
"Oh." Don says, and Veronica can't help but notice how disappointed he looks. "Well, don't think I can help you train for that. I'm not really adept with pom-poms." Veronica giggles and Don smiles a little before saying goodbye and heading back to his desk.
She gets her ice cream and that night for dinner her mother makes lasagna, Veronica's favourite. Lilly phones at eight, asking if Veronica can come to the movies on Saturday and her parents consent. On Saturday night Veronica receives her first kiss, from Lilly's brother Duncan. It's just a whisper of a kiss, a brief graze of his lips over hers in the darkened theatre, but it's enough for her to decide he is who she wants for her first boyfriend. Don Lamb keeps coming over for Sunday dinners and Veronica, even though she likes Duncan, still writes Mrs. Veronica Lamb in the margins of her notebooks.