(Before I even start, I wanna announce a thing.. So, a reviewer pointed out that Michael might be related to Veronica. And another pointed out a fact I already knew, Morgan is getting the absolute shit stick in storylines. I mean Ava? Seriously? Gross. So, bearing that in mind, I've chosen to go with Morgan Corinthos as Veronica's pairing. Now, I wanna thank everybody who's added the story to their follow list and the two who have reviewed, my anon, Meggie and my signed in reviewer, Castiel Angel Heart. I hope this story is something that people enjoy reading, and I hope to hell it's not the biggest piece of shit written, ever. I'm gonna do what I can with the characters, but in the cases of Morgan and Franco, yes, I am going to redeem both of them because, damn it, they deserve that. )
CHAPTER 08:
Chapter 08
The pristine and well manicured green lawns of the Madison Prep campus lie stretched out in front of her as she parked her car and got out, looked warily at the building, a slight scowl painting her face as she muttered "Already I can tell.. If assholes could fly, this place would be an airport." while raking her hands through her hair and looking around.
She'd been about to walk into the building but she felt a tap to her shoulder, turned around to see the girl she'd met in the diner a few days ago, Molly, standing there with a tall dark skinned male and a few other kids.
"Is it true you're the daughter of that crazy murderer?" one of the girls asked as Veronica rolled her eyes and Molly turned to look at the girl who'd spoken and said "A tumor made him that way, Ariel, it's not nice to talk about someone's dad that way."
"What she said." Veronica said as she studied the girl who'd immediately asked her about her father thoughtfully for a moment before turning her attention to Molly, who was really the only person she knew even a little bit, even felt comfortable talking to.
" Don't worry about her." Molly said quickly as Veronica chuckled and said quietly, "I don't. People like that just amuse me, really." making the other girl glare and then mumble something neither she nor Molly or TJ could quite make out before storming off. Veronica mused aloud, "Gee.. It only took her 10 minutes to realize that she wasn't gonna find out any deep dark secrets and lose interest." which made TJ laugh and say to Molly, "I kinda like her."
"Yeah, she's grumpy, but she's cool." Molly agreed which made Veronica pretend to pout and say in a quieter voice, "Not always, Molly, sheesh. So, did you get to watch it?"
"The video you sent me?"
"Mhmm. I'm thinking about either doing that song for the talent show or Flagpole Sitta. Something that's different. Screw getting up there and pretending to be Britney Spears or some shit." Veronica said as Molly laughed and explained to TJ, "She's our resident rock star wannabe I guess." before handing TJ the cell phone she held in her hands and letting him see the video Veronica sent her the night before after they'd ran into one another again at Kelly's and exchanged phone numbers and made plans to hang out sometime, a thing that made Alexis, Molly's mother look both grateful and a little worried about..
"You play the bass?"
"Mhmm. And paint. And I sing a little too, but it sounds like cats caught in a dryer when I sing so I don't do it that much." Veronica stated as they walked closer to the large stucco building, stopping on the stone stairs that lead up to the large glass and chrome double doors. Veronica hitched her leg up on the half wall that served as a support for the stairs and straightened a stocking she wore under the ugly uniform skirt, griping about how the wool on the skirt itched and she hated uniforms and wanted to burn hers on the front lawn.
Molly laughed and then said aloud, "Careful, you might upset the sheep. Can't have anyone who's different." with a teasing wink as Veronica laughed and rolled her eyes at a group of whispering girls nearby.
TJ groaned as one of the girls approached and smiling brightly asked "So, are you like, a murderer too?"
Molly saw the smirk curve Veronica's lips and palmed her face as she realized just what kind of personality her newest friend had. Apparently, she liked to mess with people's heads, because her next words to the girl who'd asked were "Dunno? Wanna piss me off and find out, little pretty?" in a mock 'witchy voice' similar to the one that the Wicked Witch of the West used in the Wizard of Oz.
Molly high fived Veronica when the girl glared and stormed off, mumbling things about how she'd 'show that bitch her place' and Veronica called out sweetly, "Go ahead, babe. Make my day." while holding her middle finger up.
"I hate small minded idiots." Veronica muttered as she bit her lower lip, her eyes softened and the hurt she actually did feel about the remarks made towards her father showed through momentarily. Molly nodded and said "They gave my sister Kristina hell too. It was because of them that she left town for Yale the second she got her diploma.. Them and her father, Sonny."
"No fuckin way.. Corinthos is her dad?" Veronica asked with wide brown eyes as Molly raised a brow and answered "And my uncle. It's messed up, really."
"It sounds like it."
Molly shuffled her Converses against the linoleum in the halls and then said quietly, "So, a certain guy might have asked about you last night after he saw us talking at the diner.." while looking at Veronica with a wide smile, wondering if she'd take the bait, wondering if she'd get to play cupid for Morgan and her new friend.
The way she saw it, Morgan could do so much better than Ava, a woman he was seeing that was twice his age and a raving bitch with bad family ties and the habit of getting everyone around her up to their necks in trouble of some sort.
Veronica straightened the blazer she wore with the skirt, momentarily unbuttoning it to reveal a Black Sabbath t shirt over the standard button down they were required to wear, as she fixed her necklace and then asked Molly, "Yeah? What'd they ask exactly.."
"How old you were.." Molly said as she ignored TJ's firm look that clearly read 'Stop meddling' and then continued carefully, "If you were doing okay with Franco and if you were sticking around.."
"Hmm.. So, who was this mysterious person?" Veronica asked, while crossing her fingers in the pocket of her blazer and hoping to hell that it wasn't Michael, the guy she was actually related to (but oddly enough, sort of thought was cute, in that dorky Dudley DoRight sort of way, totally not her speed, and actually felt no real sparks for whatsoever in the few times she'd encountered him), but the guy she now knew was his half brother, Morgan.
The guy she wasn't related to. The guy who managed to take her breath away just by walking into a damn room if the night before was anything to go by, of course..
The night before, she'd been talking to Molly at the diner while waiting on the food she and her father ordered to be prepared and she'd seen him walk past and promptly spilled soda all over herself watching him walk by while trying to fill her cup and listen to Molly at the same time.
"Morgan."
"Hmm. Interesting... How old is the guy anyway?" Veronica asked as Molly smiled and then said aloud "I knew it!" triumphantly then answered in a quieter voice "He's 19."
"Holy hell. I thought was around our age." Veronica gaped as she bit her lower lip. Not that her terminally nerdy ass dated much, but she usually didn't date older or younger guys than she was as a general rule.
Older guys tended to try and push you farther than you wanted to go, or so she'd heard from way too many of her more promiscious old friends, and younger guys.. They didn't know what they wanted, or who with and most of the time they'd be interested in you one day and the next they'd be all over some other girl.
And then there was the fact of course, that Veronica was a bit of a romantic at heart. She wasn't going to settle for anything less than fireworks. So she hadn't dated much, she honestly hadn't kissed a guy or gone any farther than a kiss on the cheek, a peck on the lips. She always told her friends it was because she was 'busy having a life' or some other smart ass comment, but she knew deep down it was because she wanted to hold out for something that felt real.
Or as close to real as possible for her age.
She wanted fireworks and fairy tales and nothing else would do.
"He's only a year or two older than you." Molly stated as she snapped her fingers impatiently in front of Veronica's face and told TJ, her boyfriend, "It's useless. She turns to butter, that goofy grin, if his name's even mentioned." while laughing and shrugging off the glare that Veronica gave her as an answer.
"Ha ha ha. Still not funny. Kiss my ass." Veronica retorted as she walked along side her only two friends and ignored the weird looks, the whispers and the occasional comment made at her expense. She turned her attention to Molly and said quietly, "Besides, my dad's been telling me he's bad news like every ten seconds since he realized we knew each other.. I don't think he'd be cool with it."
"And my mom's not cool with TJ and I. But we care about each other. Do you feel something for Morgan?" Molly asked as Veronica shrugged and said "To be honest? I don't know. I never actually did the whole boy girl dating thing.."
Both TJ and Molly gaped at her for a moment and then looked at each other and laughed a little, Molly asking "You're joking.. Right?"
"Nope. Just never got around to it?" Veronica admitted sheepishly as she pulled notebooks out of her locker and grabbed the books that'd been issued to her earlier in the week when her father bought her to register for school from the top shelf.
She caught sight of the guy in question, he loomed in a doorway, watching her casually, giving a wave. "What the hell is he doing here?" Veronica asked as Molly turned to see Morgan standing there. Morgan walked over and then said with a cocky grin "Got bored and felt nostalgic."
"Sure you did." Molly replied as Veronica muttered quietly, "Hi." and shuffled her feet.
Given what Molly had only just finished telling her, she felt a little strange standing here, him only a few inches away, close enough to reach out and touch. Her father's warnings about him kept repeating, she kept reminding herself that she wasn't the kind of girl who went against her parent's warnings and wishes, that until she'd run away from her mother and her mother's lies, she'd been a good girl, essentially..
And she was going to remain a good girl, by the gods, if she could help it.
Morgan chuckled as he said back in the same quiet voice, "Hi. How's it going so far?"
"Good. Maybe I won't kick half the other girls asses by lunch." Veronica mused aloud as she asked him, "What are you doing here?"
He shrugged and said with a cocky grin, "Wanted to make sure you were actually alright living with the jerk."
"As you can see, still have all my limbs and I'm healthy." Veronica said as she added "He's not like everyone keeps saying he is. The tumor is what caused his psychosis."
"So he says." Morgan countered as he looked at her, realized they were sort of migrating closer together. He stepped back a little and said quietly, "Either way.. I actually came by here to talk to one of the teachers. They're gonna give me a recommendation for an internship I want to go for when I start college in a few weeks."
Molly cheered at hearing this and said "You're finally going to go?"
"Yeah, I'm gonna go to PCU. I don't want to leave my dad here, he'd be alone." Morgan said quietly as he held Veronica's gaze and added with a slight smirk, "Besides, there's someone I sort of want to get to know. Maybe."
Veronica bit her lower lip and then retorted with a casual shrug, "Maybe they want to get to know you too." before looking at her watch and then saying aloud "I'm gonna get to class. All things considered, I'd probably better be on my P's and Q's today." before giving Molly and TJ a wave goodbye, winking at Morgan on the sly and skipping down the hallway and into the door of her homeroom.
Molly giggled as she looked up at Morgan and then said "You two are so cute."
"Who said I meant her?" Morgan said as he ducked the lazy punch thrown to his upper arm, pretending to pout as he said to Molly, "Hey.."
"Don't you Hey me.. You said last night that you thought she was cute."
"But I'm with Ava. I love Ava. I mean I think I love Ava." Morgan insisted as Molly grumbled and rolling her eyes said "Snap out of it, Morgan. She's using you. She's been using you, she does that to everyone. You've been hurt enough already by that daughter of hers, Kiki. You barely made it through that."
"Molly, you don't know the side of Ava that I do." Morgan said quietly as he bit his lower lip in thought and then added "Besides.. Someone can be cute to you and it doesn't mean you're going to fall head over heels crazy in love with them. I barely know her.. I wanna get to know her, but she's sort of standoffish I've noticed. Besides, Michael likes her.. And Michael always gets what he wants." with a roll of his eyes at the mention of his older brother, who he was still slightly pissed at about taking Kiki from him, even if Michael and Kiki were apparently broken up now.
It still didn't take back the pain or the fact that Michael did it.
"I know enough about Ava to tell you she's not the least bit in love with you. She's using you to get to Uncle Sonny."
"That's something I have to find out on my own then." Morgan said as he realized that deep down, what Molly said out loud, he was already beginning to suspect as of late. He'd sort of began to see that Ava only wanted what was in it for Ava. She didn't care who she hurt in the process.
He couldn't help but wonder sometimes if she wouldn't just toss him out like the garbage when he'd served his purpose.
