(For disclaimer, etc. - see Prologue)
Chapter 1 - One For Sorrow
"Come on, buckaroos, we're burning daylight here!"
Ms Stafford's voice was as painful to Logan Echolls ears as anything could be, despite than fact her aim was to make people as happy and peppy as she herself felt. It wasn't the teachers fault. The woman was here to be in charge of the Prom committee and get everybody fired up about the dance. The problem was Logan wasn't really the peppy type, and was ultimately here for the sake of a girl.
The blonde in question was one Miss Lilly Kane, the object of many a young man's affection, or at the very least the subject of their dirty fantasies. She was wanted and adored by pretty much everyone, so the fact Logan thought he could actually be the one to tame her told others just how much he thought of himself. The son of movie-stars, he was at least in her league, and he himself was desired by many a young woman at Neptune High. So far, though their paths had crossed, Logan and Lilly had never become an official item. He was working on it, and he felt it was going pretty well. The whole student body were watching the affair unfold before their eyes, especially those who attended the Prom committee meetings.
Across a table from each other, Logan and Lilly would flirt terribly and it was taken as read that they would be going to the Prom together. Some speculated they were already an item, though they'd never been on an official date or actually been seen together in public in that way. Logan had a plan, he didn't share it, but he had it there in his head all the same. Things were going just the way he wanted, he had Lilly Kane in the palm of his hand, and this whole thing would be sewn up by Prom, or so he thought.
"Oh, I had the perfect idea for that!" the blonde in question yelled excitedly, waving her arm in the air at the teacher, "Seriously, I have pictures of exactly how the decor should go!"
"That's great, Lilly, and I'm sure we'd all be glad to see those pictures" Ms Stafford smiled, "Do you have them with you?"
"They're in my locker, I can run and get them in a jiff" she grinned, hopping up from her seat.
Logan couldn't help but grin at her enthusiasm, something Lilly noticed as she shot him a sexy wink over her shoulder and sashayed out of the door. As Ms Stafford went back to brain-storming ideas for various aspects of the Prom, Logan let himself daydream about Miss Kane and the way that special night could go for the two of them. It just made perfect sense, they were both rich, pretty, and powerful at Neptune High. It was so obvious that they belonged together, and everybody saw it. Still, Lilly had quite the reputation where guys were concerned and Logan was determined to bide his time and do this right. When he got the girl of his dreams, it was going to be for the long haul.
"What do you think, Logan?" Ms Stafford suddenly asked him.
A quick glance at the whiteboard helped out his chances of knowing what the hell he was supposed to be giving an answer on and he shot the teacher a winning smile.
"I think, Ms Stafford, a Prom can never have too many balloons of any colour" he told her, "Besides, with your impeccable taste, I don't see we have any choice than to go with what you pick" he said, sucking up to the nth degree.
Ms Stafford knew what he was doing and just rolled her eyes at his behaviour. He was a good kid, and despite his manner she knew he wasn't quite so fun-loving and chirpy as he liked people to think. His parents had split years ago and the details were dragged through the press. Logan came off all not caring about the world, but Ms Stafford knew he did care about things. She'd have to be blind not to notice, just like the rest of the populance of Neptune High, that what he was most interested in was Lilly Kane, not least because his eyes hadn't left the door she'd disappeared through since she went a few minutes before.
"You know, Lilly is taking a while at her locker" she said thoughtfully, "Maybe you could go hurry her along?" she smiled, knowing she was going to get no sense out of either of them until they blew off steam or whatever.
Letting them both out in the hall together might have seemed foolish to other faculty members, but Ms Stafford was all for young love. Besides, they weren't skipping class or anything, just missing five minutes of a meeting that they didn't seem hugely eager to participate in anyway.
Logan was only too happy to be out in the empty hall, looking for Lilly. Any excuse to be alone with her was worth it, and he was just planning what witty thing he would say on reaching her locker when he realised he was already there, and she wasn't. With a frown on his face, Logan ran his hand along the row, recounting the locker doors. Nope, this was definitely Lilly's locker, and yet she was nowhere around as far as he could see. Heading further down the hall, he peered around the corner, but she wasn't there either. In a last ditch attempt, he moved towards the girls bathroom, intending to tap on the door and call her name. His fist did not quite make contact with the wood when he heard something.
"Oh, yeah" said a female voice, followed by crazy giggling and a clatter like something falling to the floor, as Logan felt all the blood drain out of his face.
"Lilly" he said mostly to himself at first, then louder so she would hear, "Lilly!" he called, pushing on the door which took several hard shoves before it finally gave way.
Logan was stunned as he stood, breathing heavily in the open doorway, staring at the girl of his dreams. She was looking less than angelic in this moment, sat between the sinks with her legs wrapped around the waist of Eli 'Weevil' Navarro, head of the PCH Biker Gang.
"Don't you knock?" the Mexican asked, half way between smirking in victory at almost making the 09er cry and pissed at being interrupted with his girl.
All Lilly could do was laugh at the situation she found herself in, apparently not at all ashamed or even a little phased about Logan having walked in on her and her latest tumble. Hell, she almost looked proud and that was what hurt most.
It wasn't like they were dating, Logan had no claim on Lilly and no real reason to feel betrayed, but he did. His heart felt like it was breaking in his chest over a girl he had never really had in the first place, and even though he knew that made him all kinds of pathetic, he couldn't help it as he turned away, storming out of the bathroom and down the hall, knowing only that he had to get out of this place, and as drunk as possible.
"Logan!" Lilly called after him, apparently just now having a crisis of conscience, as she ran out of the bathroom, tucking her shirt back into her pants as Weevil followed on behind at a more sedate pace.
If the blonde's idea had been to ensure Logan wouldn't spill her dirty little secret, she'd made a big mistake. His silence would be worth less than nothing as more than one person milled around the hall, catching sight of the obvious love triangle. They'd put two and two together and made the correct four in seconds. Before the day was out, the entire school would be oh so very aware of what had happened here, and both Lilly and Weevil knew it.
Logan saw nothing and heard no-one as he moved through the quad like a man possessed. Several people noticed his mood but had no idea what it was about yet. They would find out, given time, and probably not that much time as other students followed him out through the doors, whispering about the latest gossip to hit Neptune.
"Whoa, I guess something serious is happenin' there" Wallace Fennel said more to himself than to Mac as they joined their friend Veronica at the lunch table, eyes fixed on Logan as he shoved his friend Dick aside and strode off towards his bright yellow X-Terra.
"Looks like" the computer geek pushed her blue streaked hair behind her ear as she sat down, "How was basketball practice?" she asked conversationally, as Wallace picked up his fork.
"Don't even ask me, girl" he said, shaking his head, "The coach is riding me hard, but the rest of the team, man, they're not even as good as me" he smirked just a little at his own pride that he felt he had every right to possess - he really was that good!
"Good to know you're being modest about it" Mac rolled her eyes, scooping up a forkful of whatever was on her plate before looking down and realising she wasn't so sure she wanted to put it in her mouth.
"We all have our strengths, right?" Wallace shrugged his shoulders, "You fix computers, I play ball, and Veronica... she's got the sickle wit" he said with a smirk as he nudged the blonde with his elbow.
It was only then as the two looked towards their friend that they realised something was wrong. Though her fork was in her hand, Veronica wasn't eating, only stabbing half-heartedly at her non-descript food, as if it were all she had the strength to do.
"Veronica?" Mac said looking concerned, after all, Miss Mars was one of her best friends these days, "Is something wrong?"
"Duncan broke up with me" the blonde said simply, letting her fork drop onto the plate with a hollow sound.
All Wallace and Mac could do was stare for a moment. Veronica and Duncan always seemed so solid and in love, they'd been together so long, no-one ever expected to hear they'd broken up. Still, Mac had to admit as she thought it over, Veronica did spend more time with her and Wallace than with Duncan lately.
"Apparently we don't have anything in common anymore" the blonde sniffed, "There was some stuff about growing apart and... It's over" she said with some random hand gesture and a half-smile that was entirely fake and empty.
"Damn, I'm sorry, V" Wallace tried to sympathise, though crying girls were not easy for a guy best friend to deal with.
Unfortunately, Mac was feeling just about as awkward as he was. She had no romantic experiences to draw on, and she was as uncomfortable with the tears of others as any boy might've been.
"Yeah, I mean... Are you gonna be okay?" she said, hoping that was the right thing to say and guessing maybe not when Veronica shook her head, setting free further hot tears that rolled unchecked down her cheeks.
"I have to go" the blonde said suddenly, up off the bench in an instant and bolting into the school building, crying like a baby.
* * * * *
This wasn't how her life was supposed to turn out, Veronica thought, as she lie on her bed, alone in the house because her father was working late. Things used to be so different, just a few short years ago. She had a Mom then, instead of an absentee drunken mother that she hadn't seen since she was twelve. She didn't have a boyfriend then but she also hadn't cared too much about male attention, since both her father and her old best friend had doted on her. Speaking of best friends, someone different had held that title back then too, someone who had suffered today much like she had. Of course, she didn't care about Logan, even though it wasn't entirely his fault they weren't best friends anymore. Somehow they'd just grown apart for one reason or another, and neither ever bothered to try to change it, even if they thought they could.
Right now, Logan Echolls wasn't really the man on Veronica's mind. No, that slot was filled by Duncan Kane. Technically, they never should've been dating in the first place. He was rich, she was far from it, just the daughter of a local Sheriff who was well-respected but still nowhere near the status of the Kanes or even the Echolls in a way. Veronica felt she'd been lucky to have such a dreamboat of a guy as Duncan choose her for a girlfriend, but the year long affair was now over, and the only reason Veronica could come up with was that the young Kane had grown bored of his taste of the 'wild side', and wished to go back to hanging out with his own kind.
Maybe that was why she and Logan had fallen apart years ago, because he was destined to be a major player in the 09er crowd at Neptune High, whilst she was always going to be a have-not. Perhaps there was more to it than that, especially since the conclusion didn't reflect too well on either friend. Whatever the reasons, it was done, her old friendship years ago, and her latest relationship now. Veronica was resigned to the fact she was just going to have to pick herself up, dust herself down, and start over again, just like so many times before.
Wiping tear tracks from her face, Veronica took a deep breath and got up off the bed. She was headed to the bathroom, planning to take a shower, get herself dressed up and head over to pick up Mac and Wallace for some kind of night out. She just needed to take her mind off dumb men and how they hurt her right now. Unfortunately, her plan was scuppered when she got to the doorway and stopped at the sound of her cell ringing. In two minds whether to go back and answer it or not, Veronica considered it might be her Dad and he would only worry if she didn't pick up, Heading back to her bed with a sigh, she sat down on the edge and picked up her phone. The display said 'Unknown Caller' causing her to frown as she clicked the button and accepted the call anyway.
"Hello?" she said, a little apprehensively.
"Ronnie!" came the over-loud reply that nearly took out her ear-drum; however, there was no doubt in her mind now who was on the other end of the line, since only one person ever used that name for her.
"Logan?" she said with surprise evident in her tone, "How did you get this number?"
"I remembered it" he told her as if it ought to have been obvious, "How you been?" he asked her then, making Veronica frown harder.
She couldn't understand why he felt the sudden need to call her, other than the fact he was obviously drunk. His question ignored and forgotten in an instant, she instead asked what she wanted to know.
"What do you want, Logan?" she snapped, "Sympathy that Lilly doesn't love you? Sorry, not going to happen" she guessed and shot him down in one, quite proud of herself until she heard the painful laugh escape his lips.
"You've gotten hard, Mars" he told her, actually making her feel bad.
Back when they were friends, the only time he ever called her by her last name was when he was mad at her, on those few occasions when they'd fallen out over the dumb stuff kids have fights over. Still, it hurt to be reminded that they were at war these days, or at least lived on either side of a divide.
"Why did you call, Logan?" she said with a sigh as she pulled herself up onto her bed and lay down, staring at the ceiling once again.
"I heard about you and D-man breaking up" he told her.
"We didn't break up" she said too quietly, "He dumped me"
It hurt to admit it and she wasn't even sure why she was sharing since it was a long time since she and Logan had been any kind of friends. Strangely, it still came naturally. Lying here like this with the phone in her hand, twisting a shortened lock of blonde hair around her finger, it was all so familiar to her.
"Want to make him pay?" said Logan's voice in her ear, "I was thinking, how about you and me make them both pay?"
"Both?" Veronica frowned, not understanding.
"Uh-huh" he nodded, though that she could not hear of course, "We could bring the Kanes to their knees" he chuckled, "All you have to do is be my Prom date"
That evoked a spontaneous outburst of laughter that Veronica fought hard to control but lost the battle for a full five minutes. She could hardly take in what Logan had just said to her. The two of them going to Prom together was crazy, more than crazy, it was certifiably insane!
"And as the hilarity subsides" he sighed, waiting for her fit of giggles to end, "You want to give me an answer?"
"To what?" Veronica asked as she finally caught her breath, "That was some kind of ridiculous joke to cheer me up, right?" she checked, now a little worried that her ex-best friend was being as serious as he sounded all of a sudden.
"No joke, Ronnie" he told her, "Come on, it'll be fun, you and me... how it used to be" he said, tone soft and nostalgic in Veronica's ear as she listened a moment, forgetting to speak when silence came, "Ronnie?" he prompted then.
"Sober up, Logan" she said sadly, mostly because for a moment she'd actually considered the idea before realising his drunken state was all that had fuelled it, "The world will look clearer if not a little less simple in the morning" she warned him before hanging up from the call and shutting off her cell, just in case he got re-dial happy.
With a sigh, Veronica threw the phone on her bed and got to her feet again, making it all the way to the bathroom this time. Pausing by the sink, she gazed into the mirror above, a stare off with her own reflection as she thought over what Logan had said. She was so different from the girl who had been his best friend, at least she thought she was, and he was certainly a different guy. Things had moved on, they had both moved on, to different friends, boyfriends, girlfriends... They couldn't suddenly start hanging out again, pretending to be chummy, going to Prom together... could they?
Veronica didn't want to think about it, and yet could not think about anything else. Her mood had shifted dramatically with the sound of Logan's voice on the phone. Her need or want to go out and party was gone. Instead she would stay home, get an early night, sleep off a day she'd rather forget. She doubted it would be easy.
To Be Continued...