Pan High Rules

Chapter 2

A/N: 2 quick things. RL for me over the next couple of weeks consists of one of my best friends moving to TX, which I'm spending every possible minute with her until she goes AND another one of my best friends having my baby "nephew" any time now. At which point, I will be on hospital and baby duty as much as possible. I will try my best to get chap. 3 out on time, but thanks for your patience. ALSO, I'm going to award a cookie to anyone who can guess where the name Cami came from. I don't think you will, but I'll offer up the challenge. Thanks for reading!

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When Monday rolled around, Logan was surprised at how excited he was about going to school. Not that he didn't like his new school. On the contrary, his new group of friends had made the transition to Pan High relatively painless. He would rather just invite his new friends to ditch and go to the beach with him instead of dealing with actually attending his classes.

Logan was excited because he felt like he was finally going to be able to solve the mystery that had been haunting him for the previous week. Cami was supposed to show up for school. He didn't know why he was so intrigued by the possibility of meeting her, but that he would finally be able to put a face to all of the stories he'd heard about her. Of course, there was the obvious. All of his new friends seemed to be entranced by her. He'd heard nothing, but praise about her. And apparently, she was hot. For Logan, that was always a great reason to meet a girl.

There was something else about her, though. Not only had he heard all sorts of funny stories about her and the situations she would get into and about how caring and wonderful she was, but she was also single by choice. She'd been going to Pan High since the previous year, but had not dated a single person the entire time. Besides Wallace, who took his role as her best friend very seriously, he hadn't met a single guy who hadn't either asked her out or wanted to ask her out. Because she was universally kind to everyone, even the shiest and least confident among the male population at Pan High had approached her for dates. She always turned them down, as she did every guy, but she always appreciated their feelings. She was gentle and respected the courage it took for them to step out of their comfort zone. It seemed as though every guy she turned down walked away feeling better about themselves and liking her even more.

That was it. She was an enigma. A phenomenon among girls. A girl who seemed to hold the hearts of everyone who knew her, rich or poor, popular or not. She had been described as funny, kind, intelligent, caring, fun to be around and gorgeous. At least, that's what everyone else was saying. He would judge for himself. Frankly, he found it a little too good to be true. Beyond all of that, Cami had missed the entire first week of school and no one seemed to think it was odd.

'Who misses the ENTIRE first week of school? Who does that? Who is this girl? Well, today's the day I find out. There's no way she's as good as they say, but at least I'll get a chance to find out for myself,' Logan thought to himself as he rushed out the door twenty minutes earlier than he'd normally leave.

The first thing Logan heard about when he got to school was none other than Cami.

"Enough already. Where is she?" Logan stated a little louder than he'd intended.

"She just walked off with Mac and the other girls," Wallace turned and pointed down the hall to a pack of girls who were turning the corner. "See, right there. You just missed her. Although, I doubt you would have been able to get a word in edge-wise with all the girls around. They barely let her say hello before they were whisking her away talking about her new hair cut and how great she looked."

"New hair cut?"

"Yeah, she looks even hotter now!" Richie piped up. "Before she was hot in a sweet way, now she's just plain hot! And, her body...well, let's just say, the summer was good to her."

"Ugh! I don't want to hear any more. You guys do realize she's like a sister to me, don't you? I may have to start kicking some butts around here and soon." Wallace growled as they all separated for their classes.

Logan entered each class before lunch, scanning the students, trying to spot any newcomers. When he didn't see her, he knew that the gods had to be conspiring against him. He finally realized after his last morning class had filled and the teacher had begun lecturing that he would just have to settle for waiting until lunch.

It was driving him crazy. He didn't even know this girl and he was being reduced to some little puppy dog, hoping to get a glimpse of her. That wasn't him. He was Logan Echolls, King of the 09ers...only not. Not at Pan High, at least. Still, he was confident and well, let's face it. He could get any girl he wanted with very little effort. A little smile here, a witty comment there. The charm oozed out of him so naturally that he didn't even have to try anymore.

In fact, besides Lilly, he'd never really formed much of an attachment to any of the girls he dated. He was with them for the 'fun of the moment', then the moment would pass and he'd move to someone new. Lilly had been the only girl he'd ever put much effort in to, yet Cami had consumed Logan's thoughts for a week before ever meeting him. He was sick of it and just ready to meet this supposed 'goddess' of a girl.

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Logan was walking to lunch with Wallace on one side of him and Ritchie on the other. They were engrossed in conversation about what they'd done over the weekend. Logan was regaling them with stories from the back-to-school party he'd attended at his friend, Dick's, house. They were laughing at the antics of the drunken teenagers when all of the sudden, Logan stopped dead in his tracks.

"What's up, man?" Wallace asked as he and Ritchie stopped and looked back at their new friend.

Logan was staring past them, an eyebrow raised in obvious intrigue. When the guys followed his line of sight, they were met with the vision of their table of friends talking and laughing. In the center of the group, though, was what had caught Logan's attention. With her back to them, a girl dressed in a short skirt and knee-high boots, had one of her knees propped up on the bench. She was leaning over the table to reach for something off of one of her friends' plates. The shirt she wore rose slightly, exposing the silky skin between it and the low waist of her skirt.

Logan's eyes traveled up her legs, over her well-shaped curves and across the expanse of milky skin that begged to be caressed. Wallace growled loudly enough to get Logan's attention.

"What?" Logan said, not looking at the boy, but continuing to stare straight ahead. He wasn't ashamed and felt no need to hide his appreciation of the view. He was a teenage boy, after all.

Ritchie laughed. "So, you've just gotten your first impression of our girl."

Logan swallowed, trying to bring moisture back into his mouth and throat. "THAT is Cami?"

Logan knew he was in trouble. Lilly had trained him very well, sexually at least. He had moved past that pubescent inability to control his body's response to the female form...especially the fully dressed female form. Yet, there he was, trying to cool his quickly-rising body temperature and adjusting his bag in front of him in order to hide his instant reaction to her.

"Get in line, man. Get. In. Line." Richie said with a chuckle, which was enough to bring Logan's mind back to reality.

As they began walking toward the table again, he decided to just play it cool. He knew how to attract girls, he did it all the time. In the short time he'd been at Pan High, he'd already had three or four girls make it obvious that they wanted to get to 'know' him better and 'welcome' him to their school. He figured he'd just hang back and let her notice him. His new friends wouldn't know what hit them.

As the guys walked up behind her, Wallace cleared his throat. "Cami, I'd like you to meet the new guy, Logan Echolls."

As soon as she turned around, Logan's jaw dropped. He said nothing. There were no clever quips or smirks, no humorous introductions and no snarky comments about finally meeting 'The Great Cami'. In fact, his head was spinning, his heart racing and his eyes huge. The carefully-placed smile had disappeared from his face along with the color in his complextion.

When Cami saw him, she wasn't surprised. She'd heard that he would be attending Pan High and figured that he'd make friends with her friends. Her suspicions had been confirmed when her friends had told her about the new kid they'd met on the first day of school. She'd known that this meeting was coming, but she just couldn't make herself care.

"We actually already know each other. We used to go to school together. I heard you'd be attending Pan High." She said as if it were no big deal. Then she turned her full attention to the two guys standing with Logan.

"Hey, Ritchie, Wallace. I barely got to see you this morning. I was a little preoccupied." She laughed as she jerked her head toward the group of girls at the table and rolled her eyes good-naturedly. After giving both of the guys a hug, she turned back to continue her previous conversation with her girlfriends.

Logan, still stunned, took a seat at the other end of the table, listening to them all. He was trying to match up the idea of Veronica, the girl he'd known and hated to Cami, the girl that he'd been hearing about non-stop for the past week. He'd spent all of his energy turning the 09er's at Neptune High against her. In fact, he had figured that the Mars family had moved far away from Neptune. Apparently, they hadn't moved that far away at all.

Veronica's presence at Pan High was one big mystery to Logan. From her reasons for transferring schools, to her new name, to the new style she seemed to be sporting. What wasn't a mystery any longer, though, was why she had missed the first week of classes.

When she had first turned around, all Logan could focus on was her face. He was staring into the eyes of a girl he'd thought was long gone. After he'd sat down and continued to watch her, he'd almost immediately caught sight of the difference in her bust size. He couldn't believe that sweet little Veronica Mars had gone out and gotten herself breast implants. Now there was something that the old Ronnie would have never done.

He had to admit, he was mesmerized. They weren't overdone, but they were definitely noticeable. 'Compliments to the surgeon, they look so real,' Logan thought as his eyes roamed her V-neck sweater.

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Veronica knew that Logan was stunned and had been sizing up both her and the situation since he'd sat down. She understood it. The last time they had spent any time around each other, she'd been running off in tears at every little caustic comment or glare he sent her way. Back then, her whole life had revolved around her friends and the life she'd lost. He'd been one of her best friends until he turned the entire school on her. She'd spent so much of her time being depressed and embarrassed and hurt. Veronica was a wall flower back then, constantly being pulled into the spotlight by Lilly, Logan and Duncan. After Duncan broke up with her and Lilly died, she had no one and she didn't know how to stand on her own.

'That was then, this is now,' she thought. 'How things can change in such a short amount of time. My stomach used to do flip flops and my hands would shake every time I knew he was around. I was so scared of what he would say next. Now, there's just nothing.'

She did grin to herself at one point, though, when she realized that Logan had been checking her out for a good five minutes.

'If he stares any harder, he may never be able to blink again!' Veronica was well aware of the changes in her body and knew that was what Logan was responding to. She still thought it was hilarious. No matter how much he hated her, he still wasn't shy about checking her out.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when Mac asked her a question. "So, Cami..." Mac drawled out like she was about to ask some deep, earth-shattering question..."what made you cut your hair? It looks amazing, but why'd you do it?"

Veronica couldn't help, but laugh at the glint in Mac's eye. Mac could make the simplest question sound mischievous.

"Oh, you know. Everything's just been so crazy busy lately that I wanted to simplify as much as possible. Do you realize how little time it takes for me to get ready now? It's great, I love how easy it makes things." Then, with a smile, she added, "Plus, I figured it was time for a change."

"Well, if you wanted a change you should have told me. I could've introduced you to the wonderful world of hair color," replied the girl sporting a blue streak in her dark hair.

Veronica chuckled in return. "Yeah, I can just imagine how that would have gone."

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"How's Keith doing anyway?" Logan heard one of their friends ask Veronica.

'Keith? They seem to be pretty close to Veronica's dad. When I knew him, he always made us call him 'Mr. Mars'. Why are they asking about him anyway?'

"He's doing much better. He hasn't slept much since being released from the hospital, but that's pretty normal. He should start sleeping better soon. I hope so at least. Even though I know he's okay, I'm still on edge about his health. Anytime he starts moving around, I wake up." She smiled and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, there hasn't been a whole lot of beauty sleep around the Mars' place lately."

'Mr. Mars was in the hospital? It sounds like he's okay, but that it was pretty bad for a little while. That must be why things have been so busy for Veronica.'

Gone was the wall flower. Now it seemed, that Veronica was the most popular girl in his new school. Everyone loved her, especially his new friends. She was like Lilly had been at Neptune. That's when it hit him. Veronica was the Queen of Pan High. One thing was for sure, she certainly was hot. And the hair, totally worked for him. Not that he'd ever really consider the girl who had betrayed him, Lilly and Duncan, hot...but she was.

Logan just couldn't grasp it. The only difference between what Lilly had been at Neptune and Veronica, was that he'd not found anyone who had anything negative to say about 'Cami'. At Neptune, the 09er's were disliked by most of the school population because of their privilege and their attitude of entitlement. At Pan High, there weren't those same divisions. There didn't even seem to be the major divisions between jocks and nerds, rich and poor, art students and stoners.

Logan sat in a daze watching the group around him as they focused their attention on Veronica. The kicker? She seemed completely at home with all of that attention. It was obvious to him that it wasn't just because it was her first day back. Logan could tell, based on her comfort level, that this was an everyday occurrence. What surprised him even more was that his presence didn't seem to phase her at all. At Neptune, she would have run away crying, just at the sight of him. Looking across the lunch table now though, he saw a certain confidence about her. She was completely comfortable with herself and he knew that she wouldn't be running away any time soon.

In a moment of clarity between all of the haze he'd found himself in, Logan realized that the game had completely changed on him. They were no longer playing by the rules that existed at Neptune High. They were now playing by Pan High rules. He would have to figure out his place in this new equation. Yes, he'd made friends with these people and had fit into their group nicely, but that was before Veronica was unveiled as their queen. As soon as everyone found out what he'd done to her, he was likely to be banished from their group. He had to laugh at the irony of it all. Yes, the rules had definitely changed. She had the power to do to him at Pan High what he'd done to her at Neptune.

After that realization, he watched her like a hawk, trying to figure her out. She hadn't seemed nervous to see him there, which made sense since she knew of his arrival at Pan High. Obviously, though, she hadn't pre-warned her friends about him and she ignored the opportunity to do it when they were face to face. She just didn't seem phased by his presence there at all. She wasn't overly welcoming, but she certainly wasn't cross with him either. What was she up to? Was this some game she was playing? Was she setting him up? And, what was up with her name? Cami? He was determined to find out.

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Thanks EVERYONE for reading!

REVIEWERS: WOW! You guys have outdone yourselves. I wasn't planning on responding to everyone, but I couldn't help it. Thanks so much for taking the time to review!

Maigu: Well, if you're reading this comment after chapter 2, then your question has been answered. How'd I do?

soccerluvr1: I'm glad you liked it. The thing about the time frame, I actually did on purpose. In the A/N at the beginning of chapter 1, I stated that everything happened a year later because I wanted them to be a year older. Thanks!

Jenn6891: See? Your wish is my command. You ask, I answer. lol Anyway, glad you liked it...more answers to come.

LostnStarsHallow: I'm so glad that you're enjoying DL, I really put my blood, sweat and tears into that one. I hope you enjoy this one as it unfolds. Thanks!

hayleygirl: So happy you enjoyed DL. I finally got this one started and just needed the push of the reviews. It's invigorating. Enjoy!

Magic Crystal Rose: Ask and you shall receive. The tables have been turned.

LoVeElle: Ah, so good to hear from you again. Yes, it's been far too long for this story to come to light. The one thing that I heard a few times with DL was the request for more of the other characters. I don't know how well I'll do with them because I'm usually so focused on LoVe, but I'm trying to weave them into the fic. Hope you keep liking it. Oh, and I know you helped me out last time with effect and affect...hopefully I can get it straight this time. :-)

rowanceleste: I should have known to count on you for such a great question. Honestly, it is not one that I'd thought of before you brought it up. So, I'm thinking no. Although, V has become good friends with everyone at Pan, I think that she's tried to separate her old and new lives as much as possible. I don't know. What do you think?

kylie144: Yes, I appreciated your reviews with DL and I'm so glad to hear from you again. I'm hope that you do enjoy PHR as much as DL.

RogueAvril: Thank you so much for the review. I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed DL. I'm going to try to do all of the characters justice, but it's definitely more difficult for me to write them than L/V. If they could have created a show where KB and JD were onscreen together at all times, I would have been a happy cat!

firebirdgirl: Thanks so much for the review. I'm glad you're enjoying it and I hope you liked the reveal. There is more to come, but I couldn't answer all of the questions in one chapter. A little for the suspense. Let me know what you thought.

alligirl785: And word cannot describe how giddy I get when I see reviews like this. Believe me, it is all my pleasure to make you squeal:-) Beyond that, I love that I can write down an idea that's been flopping around in my head for the last year that makes you come up with your own "what if's". I love stories that do that to me, so to hear that PHR is doing that to you makes me estatic. Thanks so much!

SnarkQueen: Well, what did you think of the reveal? I liked the Pan High epi also, but it was severely lacking in my Logan love. Hopefully, we can change that. Thanks so much, it was great hearing from you.

LoVefan4ever meet Obsessedlikeneverb4. What made me obsessed? LoVe...it's that simple. So from one eternal fan to another, thank you for your shining review. DL was truly a fic of pure devotion on my part and it's so great when people like it. I'm love that you are enjoying PHR also. I have this fear that DL was an enigma and I will never be able to accomplish anything like it again. I got a great response on it and it's part of the reason I've been so afraid of moving forward with PHR. Anyway, it means a lot to me that someone who has written a couple of good fics yourself likes mine. Thanks!!!

enchantedlight: thanks for the review. I'm glad it has piqued your interest. I hope you liked the update!

musicismylife08: WOW! I'm feeling the pressure now. Hopefully PHR lives up to your expectations. I'm so glad that you liked DL and I hope to not let you down with this new fic. Thanks!

Nicole Therese: I couldn't agree with you more. It was mostly a summary, but don't worry...we're on to the good stuff now. Well, at least, the new stuff. Still waiting on the jury to find out if it's good or not. :-) These chapters aren't quite as long as they were in DL. I'm trying to work on that a little. I feel good about a chapter when I am writing the scene that is playing on a loop in my head. Sometimes that scene just isn't there. Hopefully, this chapter leaves you a little more satisfied, although I know there are some unanswered questions. Thanks so much for the review. It was good hearing from you again!

Marslovahhh18: I'm so glad that you like the idea. I really like reading and writing stuff that I haven't seen or haven't seen much of, so I'm glad that you found it unique. Well, face-to-face meeting...what'd you think?

Lorelei Candice Black: Of course I do! You and I had many a conversation back in the DL days. Hopefully I leave you a bit more satisfied with the ending of this fic than I did with DL. Although, at this point, I don't plan on there being any weird twists in the last chapter. We'll see though, who knows what my mind will do! Oh, and yeah. You know me so well, I am so bad at truly answering your questions. Give it another three? chapters before you get all the answers you're looking for.

Vmfan387: So happy to hear from you again! I know that you were a great reviewer with DL and I'm glad to see one for PHR now, too. So much fan fics have been written on VM that I really like when I come across something unique. I'm glad you saw that, too!

carito2p: hmmmm...well, okay. I didn't address everything you thought up, but give me another couple chapters and I will. Fair enough? Anyway, glad that you are liking the fic and hope you liked the reveal! Oh, but yes. I don't believe there is any pairing, but LoVe really. Sure, there are a couple on the horizon, but nothing comes close to LoVe.

xosummerxo: good to hear from you again. You were always such an encouragement through DL. What did you think of the reveal?

XXspuffster101XX: ahh, the spuffster is back, my fellow Princess Bride lover. Nice seeing you again. You were always such a great reviewer! Very detailed and insightful. The name thing will be explained, but not yet. And, yes, her mom is gone...same as in canon. Thanks for the review!

Harri-bean: Thank you so much for your great review. I hope that you enjoyed this update. Let me know.

Mallikad: Hey, how's it going? I'm still liking your updates as well. Keep 'em coming! I'm glad you liked the beginning. The reviews have really energized me again!

IluvVM: Welcome back you, too! It's great to hear from you again. You were so supportive with DL and as always, I look forward to your reviews in the future! Glad you are liking this one so far.

snarkNsass: Ah, snarkNsass can only mean good things! As much as I understand being too tired to review, I'm so glad you did. Thank you for taking the time. And, I do have to agree. Let's have some suffering first, shall we? Oh, and just so you know...I'm going to try my best with these other characters. My true obsession is with L/V, but I will write the others as best as I can. Thanks again! BTW, when I found out that VM was going off the air, my one true hope was that JD would land somewhere that I could still see him. My hopes were answered in the form on Friday nights. My hope is that he can work his way onto the screen more and more like he did with VM in the beg. of season 1. The episode with his old girlfriend was like JD served on a silver platter with a side of Tillamook Mudslide ice cream...really nothing better than that:-) Looking forward to April.

Umma Isilady: Sorry about the wait. I'm just nervous that I'll post myself out of chapters before I can write them. Then where would we be:-) I am glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the review.

Beccakell13: Hello returning reviewer! So happy to see you again. I'm glad that I have intrigued you. You did guess right, but I'll give a cookie to the person who can guess the meaning behind the name Cami. Thanks again!

LilLadyMe: Well, what did you think? Was the reveal okay? Thanks for the review, I'm glad you're enjoying it so far.

Bluephoenix70: WOW! A great review BEFORE you even read the chapter. I really hope it lived up to your praise. Thank you so much. You really have no idea of how much reading reviews like this lift me up. I really appreciate it.

christykq: yes, I know it's been way too long. Truly, the response I got on DL was so overwhelmingly great, that I was afraid to really get to writing on PHR. With DL, I knew that I'd never written anything before and kept waiting for people to boo me out of the forums. So, here I am hoping that DL wasn't just a "one hit wonder" and that my writing will serve justice to the great story that's been bouncing around in my head. Let's cross our fingers that I've got an ability beyond the aberration that was DL. Thanks!

Caroline: Thanks for the wonderful encouragement. I hope you enjoyed this second chapter!

SoDa.PoP9: So? What did you think about the reveal? Right now Logan is still trying to figure out where he stands, but we'll get to see what he's really made of as this fic unfolds. Thanks for the review!