Veronica Mars looked like shit. She knew she looked like shit after almost being killed by Aaron Echolls over the weekend, and she just didn't give a damn.
She felt like shit, too. She knew that her dad and the administration would understand if she wanted to take a few days off to rest, but Veronica knew that the only way she was going to stop herself from going crazy was if she was at school, occupying her mind.
Dreams of Lilly would start of great, but then turn into dark, ugly nightmares as Veronica's subconscious ran away with what Aaron had done to her.
So Veronica was sleepy, had a black eye and bruises on top of bruises. Muscles she didn't even know she had ached. Veronica concentrated on the school lunch in front of her, trying to block on the noise of the courtyard, which was adding to her already massive headache.
A shrill laugh caught Veronica's attention. Shelly. The 09er table was alive and kicking as the privileged munched on food from a local Italian restaurant. The only two that weren't adding to the buzz were Meg and Duncan.
They were sitting next to each other like gods among the high school hierarchy. Meg was watching Duncan, who was watching Veronica, who was watching her meatloaf get cold.
The media hadn't released the story about Aaron due to threats from the Kane family. Only Duncan and Veronica knew what had happened. So, as usual, Dick and the other, less moral 09ers, were still reeling from the shock of Veronica being at Logan's birthday party. They were now pointing and mocking her in her tired state.
Veronica could see the mocking gazes, but she didn't really care. She just wanted lunch to be over.