Hi Readers! I may start including a summary of major events from previous chapter as we get deeper into the story line. If you think that's not a good idea, do let me know. Thank you for following and for commenting - I look forward to reading all your responses whenever I post a new chapter! If you have any guesses as to where I'm going with the story, I would love to hear your theories!
-6-
Tuesday
"Oh my God! Get off of him!" The fist that was bearing down on Logan was abruptly yanked away. He grunted as his opponent got up and he involuntarily sucked in a deeper breath. Oh, his body hurt. He was aware that there was some yelling going on but could not focus who was talking and what was being said.
Logan grimaced from nausea as he slowly sat up. Veronica's hands were suddenly on his arm; her attempts to help him to his feet made it all the more difficult. "Veronica, stop. I'm fine."
"You're not fine. You need to go see the doctor. What if you have internal bleed-"
He was too frayed to reign in his temper. "Oh, for Christ's sake, will you stop? This is your fault, too." A part of him felt bad - all the blood had drained from her face - but then that only made him madder. "You walk around here like some goody-two-shoes little angel. You're two-faced, you know that? You make sure you stay on everybody's good side."
She had the audacity to look affronted. "That's not fair. I don't-"
"No?" He dug out the burrito in his backpack and threw it on the ground. "Then why am I feeling like an idiot for carrying this around?" At her silence, he said, "The line exists in Neptune. You have to choose."
"Logan, I'm your friend. That's what I've been trying to tell you all along."
His laugh was short. "Fine. Prove it, then. Friend." He left her looking pale and forlorn.
The Monday Preceding
"You're doing WHAT?"
"Don, you've heard me at least twice now. I don't think I need to repeat myself."
"Sheriff, for the last time, I'm telling you. Those were the guys in the video!"
"I wouldn't be able to recognize my own mother in this tape. It's unreliable and I would be fool to submit this as evidence in court. It's out."
Early evening was settling in at Dog Beach, the designated meeting point for Logan, Veronica and Wallace. "I especially like the way Lamb's voice cracks in the end", Wallace said. "Man, I wish I could have seen the look on his face!"
"Shall we hear that again?", Logan said as he waved his phone. Using the video editing software in the computer lab at school the previous Friday night, Logan had managed to blur out the faces of the PCH'ers on the tape confiscated from the Sack 'n' Pack. He had gone to work on Monday half expecting to be arrested for evidence tampering. Instead, he (the whole office, in fact) overheard the heated exchange between Keith Mars and Don Lamb. It hadn't taken more than a second for him to get it all recorded onto his phone. His face felt numb from laughing.
Veronica shook her head. "As much as I would love to, I have to get going." She pointed at the sun, which had descended halfway into the horizon.
"Vampire curfew still in effect, huh?"
She nodded. "Weekdays, at least." It was Lilly who coined the term "vampire curfew" - she'd been equally incredulous Veronica's parents had imposed both a curfew and the expectation that Veronica had to be home before daylight was gone. "But night time's when the fun starts!", Lilly had wailed despondently the first few times.
Wallace slapped them both on their backs, obliviously and effectively snapping them out of their Lilly reverie. "Ok, kids. Let's celebrate. I managed to score a few Pirate points - lunch tomorrow from Taco del Reino?"
Veronica looked taken aback. "Oh, um… maybe." She smiled brightly. "Let's see what the day brings." She waved good bye to them and hurried off to her car.
"She's pretty cool", Wallace said, before noticing Logan's dark expression. "Did you swallow a fly or something?"
"No." He snapped his phone shut. "I'm going home. Do you need a lift?"
"Yeah, that'd be great. The three of us make one helluva team. Don't you think so? We could start our own superhero league. With t-shirts and everything. We'd call ourselves the Triple Threat."
"Wallace, I hate to burst your bubble, but, it ain't gonna happen."
"Why not?"
"Veronica is an 09er."
When Logan didn't elaborate, Wallace said, slowly, "Am I supposed to know what an 09er is?"
"You know, the 090909 neighborhood?" Wallace's confusion didn't change; Logan continued. "My old haunts? You can't breach that circle unless you somehow can afford to live there. Essentially speaking, you and I, we're nobodies."
"And Veronica is an 09er?"
"Yep."
"And that's why our superhero league isn't going to happen… because of a zip code?"
"Dude, she's not going to have lunch with us. It's fine if we meet clandestinely at Dog Beach or anywhere outside of school. But wait and see - she's not going to do anything that will publicly jeopardize her status with the other 09ers. The 'have's' never mix with the 'have-nots'."
Wallace raised an eyebrow dubiously. "I think you're too hard on her. She seems pretty down-to-earth to me."
Logan snorted. "Just wait."
Tuesday
Weevil looked disgruntled when Logan played the recording to him the following morning. "Blondie was supposed to get me the tape."
"This is better than a tape."
"How do I know this is even a real conversation?"
Logan gritted his teeth. "Weevil, don't pretend to be stupider than you are. Your minions are going to get off. That means you lay off Veronica and Wallace."
Despite his condescending words, Logan knew Eli Navarro didn't get to be the leader of the PCH gang without a sharp intellect or good instincts. Therefore, the gleam in his eyes troubled Logan. "Why does a self-centered, spoiled son of a bitch like you care about some dopey kid and a cheerleader?"
"Just leave them alone."
Weevil made a show of sniffing around Logan. "Oh, I got it. You think this is some form of penitence, don't you? Sins of the father and all that?" The tone of his laughter made Logan's neck turn red. Weevil turned to go but threw out one last parting shot. "I'm going to enjoy the show, Echolls. I really am."
When lunchtime rolled around, Wallace made good on his promise. The delivery man promptly dropped off a bag filled with goodies from Taco del Reino. As Wallace paid for the food, Logan began to unload the contents of the paper bag. "Wallace, I know we're growing boys but this seems like an excessive amount of food, even for us. What gives?"
"One is for Veronica."
Logan made a sound through his nose as he bit into his food. "You're hopeless."
"She might not be able to eat with us today but I wanted to get her one on the small chance she could. It's just a burrito." Wallace looked over Logan's shoulder. "Look, there she is now." Before Logan could tell him not to, he waved at her.
She was carrying a lunch tray and hesitated before walking over slowly to them. "Hi."
"Hey, Ronnie. Forget that it was Wallace's treat today?"
She gave Logan a nervous glance then focused on Wallace. "I guess I did. I'm sorry, Wallace. I can't do lunch today."
"Oh, no problem, V. Right, Logan?" Wallace nudged Logan none-too-gently with his elbow.
Logan's impulse was to continue eating (mulishly) but he made himself look up. In a careless tone, he said, "Yeah, no biggie."
Veronica glanced over her shoulder. Meg and the others from the 09er tables were starting to notice her prolonged time with Wallace and Logan. Dick Casablancas was saying something which earned a sharp round of laughter from his cronies and propelled Duncan's head to swivel in their direction. He did not look pleased. "I, um, I should go. Maybe some other time, ok?" She didn't wait for their response before hurrying off. She could feel Duncan's gaze on her as she made the walk back to the 09er tables. It felt like she walked a mile.
Later, during her spirit squad practice, Duncan approached her when she was alone. Her whole body tensed as his shadow fell over her. "What was all that about, at lunch?"
"What do you mean?"
"Talking with Logan Echolls." He spoke in an accusatory tone. He spoke as if he didn't know Logan Echolls since they were young boys in grade school.
Facing Duncan wasn't like facing Weevil. She didn't seem to have any courage in front of her ex-boyfriend. "I was talking to Wallace, Duncan."
"Good. I wouldn't want to think you forgot who killed Lilly."
She bristled. "Logan didn't have anything to do with Lilly's death."
Duncan surprised her by grabbing her upper arms with his hands. He didn't hurt her but she let out a sound of distress. "What's gotten into you, Veronica? Now you're defending him?" He shook her, albeit gently.
"Let me go, Duncan. You're going to cause a scene." She spoke quietly but her heart pounded violently inside her chest.
"Yeah, let her go, Duncan." Oh, no. Veronica's dread further mounted as Logan appeared in her peripheral vision.
Duncan released her and her body swayed a little. Logan noticed and walked up to her to offer her a steadying hand. Before he could actually make contact, though, Duncan growled, "Don't you dare lay your filthy hands on her! I won't have what happened to Lilly happen to Veronica too!"
It was what Logan had been thinking, secretly, all along but to hear them voiced out loud, by Duncan, was like a brick shattering through a thin sheet of glass. Thus it was those words that caused him to fall to the ground rather than Duncan's actual fist. It was what kept him from defending or protecting himself as Duncan continued his physical tirade. Logan closed his eyes and let the pounding continue, numbly and wearily absorbing the pain. It was just as much his fault as it was Aaron's. Duncan was right. Weevil was right. The whole town was right to turn their backs on him.
"Oh my God! Get off of him!" Logan cracked open an eye in time to see the fist that was bearing down on him abruptly yanked away. The coaches had run over and was pulling Duncan off. Logan involuntarily sucked in a deeper breath. Oh, his body hurt. He was aware that there was some yelling going on but could not focus who was talking and what was being said.
Logan grimaced from nausea as he slowly sat up. Veronica's hands were suddenly on his arm; her attempts to help him to his feet made it all the more difficult. "Veronica, stop. I'm fine."
"You're not fine. You need to go see the doctor. What if you have internal bleed-"
He was too frayed to reign in his temper. "Oh, for Christ's sake, will you stop? This is your fault, too." A part of him felt bad - all the blood had drained from her face - but then that only made him madder. "You walk around here like some goody-two-shoes little angel. You're two-faced, you know that? You make sure you stay on everybody's good side."
She had the audacity to look affronted. "That's not fair. I don't-"
"No?" He dug out the burrito in his backpack and threw it on the ground. "Then why am I feeling like an idiot for carrying this around?" At her silence, he said, "The line exists in Neptune. You have to choose."
"Logan, I'm your friend. That's what I've been trying to tell you all along."
His laugh was short, disbelieving. "Fine. Prove it, then. Friend." He left her looking pale and forlorn.
The Wednesday Following
Logan slept badly the night before and woke up with only ten minutes to get to school on time. He grabbed his backpack (the contents of which he never bothered to unpack the night before) and threw it into the passenger front seat of his car. He had no intention of missing school that day but as he was about to turn in, he made a sharp U-turn and sped past it until he had merged with traffic on the Pacific Coast Highway. During the three-hour drive, he ignored the few times his cellphone rang. He was not in the mood to talk to anyone from school. As he approached his destination, however, he did place one phone call. He prayed the person on the other line would answer. The caller sounded surprised to hear from him. "Yeah, long time. I know it's probably a jerky thing to do to call you out of the blue and ask for a favor, but I need help. I need your help - but if you can't do it, I understand." He held his breath only to release it a second later. "Can you meet me at Lunar Ranch in 30 minutes? Thanks, I appreciate it."
The one small advantage to being a celebrity's son was that it still afforded him access to certain places. Lunar Ranch Studios was one of them. The security guard recognized his face and waved him in. He headed over to the production building. At the front lobby, the guard there asked him to announce himself. Logan pulled out his driver's license and said, "Logan Echolls - I have a meeting with Connor Larkin."