Hey guys. First off, I'm so sorry for the super long wait. I've been dealing with a massive writers block. And some personal problems. I tried writing a lot, but it was never any good and very frustrating. But I finally got myself together and finished this chapter and got around to upload it. The next one's already half way finished, so the next update should hopefully be within the next week.

This Chapter follows the episode Like A Virgin, you know the one with the purity test and all that stuff. I've changed the timeline a bit and added one or two new scenes. There's no Logan/Veronica interaction in this chapter, but in the next chapter there'll be lots of it. Originally this chapter and the next were supposed to be one, but I split it because it would have gotten to long otherwise plus I didn't want to make you wait any longer.

Enjoy reading!

"You can say what you want about me

Wanna do what you want to me

But you can not stop me

I've been knocked down

It's a crazy town

Even got a punch in the face in LA

Ain't nothing in the world that you keep

me from doing what I wanna do

'Cause I'm too proud, I'm too strong

Life by the code that you gotta move on

Feel excited for yourself

and got nobody no way"

(Paid My Dues – Anastacia)

Veronica sat in her father's office, the Lilly Kane file on the desk in front her, right next to her laptop in which she had by now copied most of the facts out of her dad's file. For once she was not worried about being caught by Keith, since once again he was gone for a couple of days, following up on some leads for an important case. A couple of days had gone by since she had send out that request to see Abel Koontz and she hadn't heard anything about it yet. It wasn't driving her crazy though. Not at all.

Veronica sighed and closed the file laying on her desk. She knew that investigating Lilly's murder wouldn't bring her friend back; she knew that she shouldn't visit Abel Koontz on the death row. Hell she even knew that pretty much everyone would think she was downright crazy if they knew what she was doing. Logan and Duncan wouldn't even look at her twice, if they knew that she had files on them. Logan would probably stop being nice and friendly again. For a second Veronica pondered whether that would be a bad thing.

She did enjoy not being enemies with Logan Echolls, but she would have loved to just stay out of each other's lives. The way things were now, Logan was holding back in school, even around his friends or when they joked about her, he never joined but rather tried to change the subject. And he kept sending her those smiles, those looks that reminded her painfully of how things used to be between them. Of all the things they shared and how safe he used to make her feel just by being her best friend. His attempts to rekindle their relationship had caught her off guard in the beginning and now they were confusing the hell out of her. She just didn't understand why he was doing it.

Why the sudden change of heart? A few weeks ago, he went out of his way to make my life hell, to make me suffer for whatever he was blaming me for. He made it clear that he didn't care much for "my people". So why did he let Chardo go after Weevil gave him that note? Why did I write it in the first place?

Veronica shook her head slightly. When Weevil had told her how Logan had changed his mind about beating Chardo up after reading her note, she had been floored. While she had claimed that exactly that would happen before, she hadn't really believed it deep down – or rather she hadn't realized what it meant if he really did do what she asked from him. If he was trying to irritate her and then catch her off guard with his true intentions, he sure was doing a stellar job.

When the phone started to ring, Veronica was half relieved about the interruption. She took a moment to compose herself and banned all thoughts of Logan in the very back of her mind before she picked up the phone and recited what she always said when answering the phone in her father's office.

"Hello. Could I speak to Ellen White please?" Veronica's heartbeat sped up hearing the name with which she had signed her request to meet with Abel Koontz.

"You're speaking to her. How can I help you?" She asked innocently.

"I'm calling on Abel Koontz' behalf. He reviewed your letter and agreed to meet with you."

"Oh, that's great! When?"

"Would tomorrow 5pm work for you?"

"Sure, that's perfect. Thank you very much!" Veronica said, listened to the security stuff she had to know before visiting a high security prison and hung up. She quickly scribbled down the time, then stared at it while biting lightly at the end of her pen. This was easier than she had thought. She had expected this to take much more time and that Abel Koontz would most likely say no to her first request, after all he hadn't been up to any visits so far. Then again, she had to have some luck from time to time.

Ever since she had stumbled upon those photos, she had known that there was only one way she could make sense of everything: she had to talk to Abel Koontz. She had thought about asking Cliff since he was his lawyer, but had quickly dismissed the idea, knowing that Cliff would never let her go to the prison. It wasn't that he was a bad guy – if you don't define bad guy as sucky lawyer- but he knew her dad to well and knew her real age and… all together, he wasn't as easy to fool as he liked to led on.

She was just about to get up and head out for school since she had already skipped the first two classes and knew that she couldn't miss too much school without it affecting her grades, when Cliff McCormack strode into the office a slightly annoyed look on his face.

"Cliff, what a nice surprise. I was just thinking of you a few seconds ago. If you're looking for dad though, he's out of town for a couple of days." Veronica said and smiled sweetly while reaching for her school bag. "I'm just about to head out for school actually."

"I actually wasn't looking for your father. I wanted to chat a little with you." Cliff said in his best 'no funny business' voice. Veronica sighed and sat back down, knowing that whatever Cliff wanted she wouldn't get out of it.

"Alright then, what's up? You need my help with something?"

"Funny thing. I just got a call that my former client is getting a visit. It's former client, because he's in a high security prison after pleading guilty. I normally wouldn't have cared, so what if the poor man does want to talk to somebody after all. Imagine my surprise though when I recognize the name of the visitor. It sounded familiar. I asked for the number and guess what, it's yours. Specifically the number to this very office. Somehow I doubt your father calls himself Ellen White nowadays, does he?"

"Not that I know off, no." Veronica replied, her smile fading while Cliff sat down in front of her. Damn, she hated being caught.

"I further remembered that you, little one, asked me about said ex-client not too long ago. So I put two and two together, mastermind that I am, and came straight here. Care to explain your sudden wish to see Abel Koontz?"

Instead of answering his questions Veronica picked up two of the photos she had been looking at not too long before. She looked a bit hesitant but handed them firmly over to Cliff, motioning for him to take a closer look.

"Tell me, do these look like the same pair of shoes to you?" She asked eagerly in a superior voice, as if daring Cliff to contradict her.

"Um, sure, I guess so. Why?" Cliff asked, temporarily thrown off. This hadn't been what he expected.

"One of those photos was taken in Lilly's room after her murder. The other is from Koontz's houseboat, two months later." Veronica explained slightly rushed, excited to finally share her evidence with someone. She just knew she was right about this and she had even proof enough to back it up.

"I see." Cliff said slowly, still looking at the pictures.

"Why would Abel Koontz break back into the Kane house simply to steal a pair of shoes?" Veronica voiced the question she knew would be raised in court too – once she had figured out what really happened and made the evidence public. If you asked her, it was a hell of a question.

"Because he's crazy?" He half asked, half countered slowly while looking up at the young blonde. He gave her the pictures back and assumed a more relaxed position. "You crazy kids. This stuff you're into." He laughed shortly before he continued in a slightly ridiculing tone. "Hula-hoops, cramming into phone booths, visiting death row inmates. What's it going to be next month?"

"I'm serious." Veronica scoffed annoyed. Why would no one take her serious? Her father never told her about the investigation she knew he still had going on. Lamb had just laughed at her after she had told him that she had been raped. Hell, even Logan had thought that he could just follow her around all day without her noticing. What was it with guys always assuming that just because she was young and blonde she'd be stupid too? Stereotyping much? "You're Koontz lawyer, aren't you supposed to at least consider that he's innocent?"

"Interesting assumption. Once a person confesses to a crime, gets sentenced to death and refuses to appeal, the term becomes former lawyer. Besides, Dershowitz, Cochrane and Shapiro were offering up their limbs and he comes here for representation. I failed criminal law and I still know that can't be good."

"So you're just dismissing evidence cause it fits you better, mastermind that you are." Veronica said mocking his earlier words.

"I'm a 20$ the hour, public defender. If I was looking for glory and justice I wouldn't look in Neptune." Cliff dodged the accusation casually. "I'm no superhero, V, I suck as a lawyer. I like the cases I usually get. Tawdry. Unimportant. Beneath most lawyer's standards. I'm the if-you-can-not-afford-an-attorney attorney. The only reason someone like Koontz would choose me over everybody else is if he's guilty and he knows it."

"It's not the only possible reason and you know it." Veronica disagreed heatedly.

"Maybe not. But honestly who cares? It's not like you could possibly get a retrial anyways just because you got a few photos lying around. You do know who's sheriff in town?"

"Just because Lamb's an incompetent idiot, doesn't mean there's no way to force him to do his job." At that Cliff sighed. He held Veronica's gaze for a few seconds than shrugged his shoulders as if saying 'I tried, that's all I can do'.

"Do what you gotta do, but I've met Koontz and he seemed pretty confident in his confessions. I don't want to hear about any other visits though, or else I'll tell your dad. Go talk to him and then just let it be, Veronica. This is good advice, take it." Cliff said before standing and walking away.

"Good talk, Cliffy!" Veronica called after him. She wasn't entirely satisfied with the way things had gone, but as long as Cliff didn't tell her father what she was doing, she was fine with it. Her eyes wandered to her watch, still lost in thoughts. She gasped and quickly grabbed her bag before running out of the office.

Damn, I'm going to be so late!

"Aren't your pep squad days over, slut?" Two girls asked and laughed at their own joke before walking away. Veronica sighed and threw her stuff into her LeBaron. She could have thrown some insult back, but what was the point?

When someone with her history started to walk around in cheerleader outfits, the nasty comments were a given. She didn't care about what people said over her before, so why bother now? So yeah, she was annoyed with whoever stole her clothes, but right now, there was nothing she could possibly do. She was grateful enough for even having the outfit, no matter how ridiculous it was – everything was better than walking around in a towel.

Suddenly someone walked into her from behind. She fell to the ground and let out an "ouch!".

"I'm sorry, didn't see ya there, you-" She heard Dick's voice but without the usual venom in it. She got up and faced the blonde surfer while unconsciously rubbing her slightly dirty and a little bit roughed up hands against her skirt. She raised an eyebrow at him, as if asking whether he really thought she'd buy his 'I'm sorry'.

"As if." She stated dismissively.

"Oh, it's you." Dick said stunned. He gave her a once over and Veronica realized that he really hadn't ran into her on purpose; he had thought she was a cheerleader. She groaned inwardly, this day was getting better and better. "Woah, déjà vu much." Dick added. "You look just like-"

"Like what? A human being? A GIRL?" Veronica asked angrily. She wasn't in the mood to deal with Dick on top of everything else. She really wasn't. All she wanted to do was get home, change and be back before lunch break ended.

"What, cat got your tongue? Or was it Madison?" Veronica barked when Dick just stared at her.

"You look just like the girl in the picture." Dick finished somewhat awkwardly.

"What picture?" Veronica asked stupidly and surprised.

"The picture in Logan's- nevermind." Dick suddenly cut off himself. "You just look like you did before."

Before. Now there's a heavy word, alright. What do ya mean Dickster? Like before when you didn't call me a bitch every time you saw me? When I wasn't the pun of all of your jokes and you even secretly taught me how to surf just because I asked you to? Before. Brought it to the point real eloquently, didn't you?

"Whatever, Dick." Veronica said and shook her head. This was getting a tad too weird for her.

"Do you really think that just because you're wearing Meg's clothe you look any less sluttier? Newsflash, you're not fooling anyone!" A male voice shouted all across the parking lot, interrupting whatever peaceful moment Veronica and Dick were having. Dick looked like a deer caught in the headlights and he quickly took a step back.

"Would you kick your friend's ass for me, for 'before''s sake?" She asked Dick without giving him a last glance, while she flipped his friend of and got into her car.

"I won't do anything for you, bitch. I know the truth about you now!" Dick called just as his nasty little friend arrived at his side, though he sounded just a bit less spiteful than usually. Both looked smugly down on Veronica when she pulled out of her parking space. Veronica just smiled coldly and winked at them before flooring the gas pedal – causing the two boys to jump out of her car's way.

When Veronica returned from home, back in her own more comfortable clothes, she found chaos. Everywhere were girls screaming at each other, there was hair-pulling and name calling in the worst ways. The guys were on war path too and not few got punched in the face while Veronica walked by.

"Figures that you'd be the last sane person around here." Veronica turned around and smiled at Wallace.

"Aw, don't let your mum hear that." Veronica said, still a little bit peeved that Wallace's mum disliked her so strongly that she had told her son to stay away from her. "Care to tell me why someone played painter?"

"I don't really know who did it. After lunch everything was fine, but when I got back here from PE everyone and everything had gone to hell. I do know what the numbers are supposed to say though, it's a ranking."

"A ranking? And I'm excluded? I'm so disappointed." Veronica said sarcastically.

"I wouldn't be if I were you. It's about that stupid purity test that's been going around for days."

"The one you scored a 70 on?" Veronica asked with raised eyebrows, not really connecting the dots yet.

"Yeah, apparently one can now buy everyone's test results. Hence the ranking."

"Huh. I guess that's what happens when they run out of words for 'slut'."

"Come on, you enjoy all of this chaos." Wallace grinned.

"Yeah, I guess I do. Does that make me a naughty girl?" Veronica winked at him with a satisfied smile on her face. Who was she to deny it? People at this school had put her through hell and she wasn't opposed to revenge, never was never would be.

Before Wallace could say anything, two students on the other side of the hallway drew attention to themselves. Meg and her boyfriend Cole.

"I knew when you came back from Spain last summer, there was something different about you. Should have guessed you slept with that Hobby Air guy. You couldn't shut up about him." Cole yelled loudly and indignantly at poor Meg who was desperately trying to rub the red number of her locker.

"He was our tour guide." She retorted angrily. Cole just laughed at that cruelly.

"Oh." He began nastily. "Was sex included in the package or was that extra?"

"I did not have sex with him. I haven't had sex with anybody. This is crazy; I didn't even take the test." Meg said and Veronica could see the tears that escaped her eyes. She had observed everything silently, her glare intensifying with every passing minute. Without a word to Wallace she walked across the hallway towards the fighting couple, not caring about the stares she got from everyone around her. Cole now started to read loudly from a paper he was holding.

"Have you ever slept with someone who spoke a language you didn't know? Have you ever had a fling while on vacation? Do you lie to protect your reputation? It all makes sense, every question here. You turned me into a joke. Thanks."

"No, thank you, Cole. Thanks for walking away now and bothering someone else with how much your poor little life sucks." Veronica injected before the nearly to tears reduced Meg could say anything. She stepped up beside Meg and put an arm comfortingly around the desperate girl while fixing Cole with a death glare. "I mean it, rich boy, shoo!" She repeated and motioned for him to leave.

"I don't know why I didn't see it before, your choice of friends is obvious enough." Cole didn't back down, obviously too wounded in his pride to leave Meg alone just yet.

"I'm not a very patient person, Cole. So if you don't move your dumb ass out of my sight right now, I swear to you that you'll regret this even more than you already will."

"Why would I regret telling the truth? I tell it how I see it, you're a slut and that" He motioned towards Meg with a disgusted expression. "bitch is even worse, 'cause at least with you everyone knows what he gets." Cole smiled smugly when Meg hid her face behind her hands upon hearing this. "Which is whatever he wants." He added satisfied. With that he turned to walk away.

"Thanks for giving me an open invitation. If I were you, I'd enjoy my life while I still can." Veronica called after him sweetly. Then she turned to Meg who was getting it together again.

"I- I didn't even do anything!" She managed between two stifled sobs. Veronica handed her a tissue and squeezed her shoulder.

"I know." She said soothingly. Silently cursing Cole for being such an ass. She had an idea how Meg must feel, she had gotten a taste of how cruel an 09er could be when he felt wronged. After all, Duncan had broken up with her without ever having that conversation with her. And Logan and the other guys had made sure that she knew what their wrath meant after Lilly's death. Before Shelley Pomroy's party, Veronica had been Meg by all means.

"You believe me?" Meg asked through her sobs and Veronica felt another wave of anger wash over her when she saw Meg's surprise. Why did these asshole always have to put the innocent one through hell?

"Meg, you're the last good person at this school. I'd believe cartoon birds braided your hair this morning. If you want, I can find who posted that test for you. We'll clear your name and make somebody pay."

"Really?" Meg asked hopefully and Veronica smiled genuinely.

"Unless there's a fairy godmother already on it." She added and winked at her. "Now, let's get outta here before any more idiots show up, there's only so much idiocy a girl can take."

Veronica glanced over at her best friend and noticed that Wallace had fallen asleep. She smiled slightly and stood up carefully, not wanting to wake him up. She put the blanket over him and walked over to the counter, pouring herself a glass of milk.

While sipping it delightfully, her mind kept wandering over everything that had happened today. It had been a long one. The stuff at school and the test thing didn't really bother her that much. She was angry about the way everyone was treating Meg and was determined to find out who did it.

But what bothered her the most was that Wallace had to make up an imaginary friend in order to stay over at her place. If it had been because his mum didn't want him staying over at a girl's place, she would have understood, but it stung to know that her best friend's mum judged her based on the stories she'd heard. Alright, so maybe she had caught her flashing Wallace, but Veronica knew that Mrs Fennel hadn't liked her before either.

"Does it ever bother you, the things they say?" Meg's question echoed in her head again.

Depends who's listening. Or rather, yeah it does bother me, but what does crying "fool" do for me that ignoring them doesn't? It's just… When people say it, you can get even, when people you care about listen to it, you can hardly do anything but prove them wrong. Which is a lot harder.

Veronica shook her head as if it would make the dark thoughts go away. She usually didn't pause to think about these things. It wasn't something she could change or influence so she just moved on and tried to make the best of it, but… sometimes life just stung like a bitch.

Come on, V, You've been through way worse. Wallace doesn't believe the BS and he's still on your side, no matter what his mother says. He's a real friend, something you haven't had for a long time. Just be happy about that.

When the lyrics to a Nelly Furtado song popped into Veronica's mind, she knew that she was dwelling on this too long. She had sworn to never be that pathetic girl again who cried at every little thing that went wrong. She wasn't this girl anymore.

As if on cue Keith entered the apartment. He saw his daughter and smiled at her. She put a finger to her lips and pointed to Wallace. Keith nodded his understanding and walked over to her. She smiled up to him lovingly when he put an arm around her and poured himself some water into a glass.

"Did you play sheriff again?" She whispered, recognizing his old uniform.

"You know me, overstepping is my main form of transportation." He playfully mocked her words from earlier. "I just hate living by the rules." He kissed Veronica on the forehead. "I'm gonna go, I gotta get up bright and early tomorrow… uh, today."

Veronica nodded and whispered a good night and a thanks.

"No problem, kiddo. Just don't stay up worrying your pretty little head much longer, will you?"

"All I can do is try." She whispered although her dad had already vanished into his room. Damn, there were those song lyrics again.

When Veronica walked down the hallways with Meg at her side, she wasn't really surprised to see a red fourteen on her locker. She would have been surprised if it had taken them longer actually. She was known as the school slut, so it wasn't really a stretch to expect something like this. Still, Veronica wondered, whether some idiot had just made the score up or whether some bitch had taken the test in her name. She was still thinking about it when Meg had left her at the locker.

They'd have to know my password for that. Or be a computer genius. Then again, someone did take the test for Meg.

Veronica decided to risk being late for her next class (English) in order to have a quick chat with the computer lab teacher. Just to see whether there was a way to get into her account without knowing the password.

"Is there any way to convert cipher text to plain text without initial knowledge of the crypto-algorithms?" Veronica started off when she had stepped into the computer classroom. She met the eyes of the slightly taken aback and confused looking teacher. She kept her smile in place, knowing that direct confrontation led often to success, plus she didn't really have much time.

"Ah, excuse me?" The teacher asked, sounding clueless. Veronica quickly assessed that either the teacher really had no idea what she was talking about, or that he wasn't exactly an easy person to get quick information from.

"I'm trying to figure out how someone could have overridden the control framework on the school server in order to access everyone's password. Can you help me?"

"Yeah, uh, in real life, I'm actually a gym teacher. The person you want to talk to is Mac. Try the parking lot, look for the blue hair." The teacher answered looking a bit uncomfortable. Veronica smiled gratefully before turning on her heels and taking off for English. She was however a bit miffed that she was late for English without having any results.

"Veronica Mars, late again I see?" Mrs Murphy asked reprehending. Veronica told a lame excuse and quickly got to the back of the class, sliding into a seat next to Meg. She was grateful that Mrs Murphy actually liked her and didn't make a big dealio out of her tardiness. Well, Veronica was the best of the class after all.

"So, you found anything?" Meg asked when Mrs Murphy had started to continue with her lecture.

"Not yet. Though did you know that this version of the purity test was originally published in "Grind Girl" magazine?" Veronica replied quietly while getting her stuff out.

"No… but the name's familiar. My sister subscribes to that, I think." Meg told Veronica, frowning a bit.

"I know." Veronica told Meg seriously. "She'd the only person at Neptune High who does."

"But I know Liz, she wouldn't do that." Meg denied the unspoken suspicion.

"Maybe. Right now she's the only one who could have known your password. I'm following up another lead, but you might just have get used to the thought of-" Veronica explained, not as convinced of the innocence of Meg's sister.

"Veronica. You seem to be in a sharing mood. Why don't you tell us your position on this?" Mrs Murphy interrupted the cozy conversation, looking slightly annoyed.

Veronica forced herself to smile while quickly trying to rack her brain for some answers. But she didn't even know what subject they were talking about. She remembered something about the year 1928 but that didn't really ring a bell. She glanced down on Meg's notes, trying to find out what Mrs Murphy was talking about, when Dick saved her. Or rather insulted her.

"All fours!" Dick said loudly enough for everyone to hear and the class started laughing.

"Dick Casablancas, you see me after class." Mrs Murphy told a still grinning Dick. Then she moved on with her lecture. For a moment Veronica was happy because she wasn't questioned any longer, but then she got over that feeling , annoyed with Dick and his stupid comments.

She remembered the short encounter she had had with Dick the day before, the few not-too-hostile moments that had taken her down a extremely short trip on memory lane. She suddenly realized that Dick would have said something similar before too, only then it would have been meant to help her not insult her.

How easy things can change, same situation a year ago I would have laughed afterwards about this with my friends. Now Dick's on the top of my list. Hell, he might even be the one who painted that stupid number on my locker.

She locked eyes with the blonde and wagged her finger at him. He just grinned smugly before turning away again.

Congrats, Dick, you've just won a free car inspection.

When Veronica left the parking lot and headed back to school her mind was whirling. Mac had told her that the IT guy Rene DuMois wouldn't have given out the passwords to any students. Assuming that was true, how the hell could anyone have gotten the passwords?

She had asked Mac to hack into the system and look for some answers and the blue-haired girl had agreed and asked Veronica to meet her later on in one of the computer classes. Hopefully things would become clearer then.

Veronica sighed frustrated while walking towards her locker. She went over everything she had found out so far in her mind, but just couldn't piece it together. She knew she was missing SOMETHING.

Note to self. Suspects:

Cole, the sexually deprived boyfriend

Pam, the type-A tightass debutante

Lizzie, the oversexed overlooked little sister

Or single white female, Kimmy

They all would have had some gain from ruining Meg. But none of them even know me. Maybe they went after me, because they heard about me helping Meg. But none of them had a real opportunity aside from Lizzie…

Suddenly she stopped when she was about to open her locker. The red paint was gone, her locker had been washed and… polished?

"What the…?" She muttered under her breath and quickly looked around. But no one seemed suspicious, some of the passing students were giving her condescending and judging looks, but that was nothing out of the usual. Just when she was about to give up on the looking around, she caught a familiar face smirking at her.

I should have known. Looks like there's another conversation I have to fit into my schedule. So much for "it's just school today and then Abel Koontz".

So, that was it. About 5000 words. Any guesses as to who has been cleaning up Veronica's locker? ;) Anyways, tell me what you think, no matter whether you loved or hated it. Or if you're just pissed for the long wait.

Sorry for any mistakes, I read it through pretty quickly cause I'm tired and planning on going to be now, I got a long school day plus a driving lesson tomorrow, isn't life just awesome? -.-

yours truly ;)