A/N: Thanx for the continued support, you all rock :-)
(For disclaimer, etc - see chapter 1)
Chapter 10 - Sex Education
"You feeling better?" asked Veronica, as Mac came back to the seats they had all been lounging on a while back.
"Yeah, kind of" the brunette smiled in response as she retook her seat, no longer wearing Dick's jacket around her shoulders.
He appeared a moment later, as if they had never even been alone together and their almost moment sat alone on the other side of the library had never happened. Veronica looked between the two of them. She didn't quite know what to make of the strange friendship that seemed to be developing between these two, perhaps the most unlikely of couples. Of course, these days she and Logan would be considered equally as mismatched, and yet the two of them had been so very close, so attracted to each other. It all made Veronica think too much about what might have been, about her real reasons for getting mad at Logan these days. She couldn't stand it, and so when Weevil reappeared from wherever he had been with the second bottle of booze in his hands that they had yet to open, she was quick to take it from him and declare Round Two. What exactly they were in the second round of nobody was sure, but they went along with it anyway, all except Mac who refused the bottle the second it was passed her way.
"Hey, where's Logan?" asked Dick as they all sat around and his brain caught up to the fact there was only four of them instead of five as there ought to be.
"Maybe he can't hold his drink either" shrugged Weevil, apparently not caring about the absence of the smart-ass 09er.
Besides, he didn't think Veronica would want to explain exactly what had been said between them, the real reason why Echolls might've bolted. She looked away at the very mention of his name, gulping down a healthy shot from the bottle that soon landed in her hand, before passing it off to Weevil again.
Dick didn't much like the awkward silence that kept settling amongst the group. If there wasn't going to be any other conversation then he was up for some kind of party game. 'I never' had kind of been exhausted, but he had other ideas.
"Hey, we should play like Truth of Dare or something" he suggested, once again bouncing around like a twelve year old girl who'd just discovered Spin the Bottle - one game they definitely would not be playing today!
"I don't care" shrugged Veronica, and Weevil reacted similarly, their nonchalant responses all the encouragement Dick needed.
"Okay, Ronnie, Truth or Dare?" he challenged her with the a stupid grin all over his face.
"Truth" she said, fixing him with a serious look, wondering where his question tended and determined she was not going to back down from anything she was asked.
"Dude, this is awesome!" declared Dick with a little too much joy, "So, come on, Ronnie, fess up" he urged her, "How many guys from Neptune High have you done the deed with?" he asked, like an over-excited school boy.
"You can't ask that" said Mac definitely, wondering how she had ever had the thought in her head that Dick was a misunderstood and entirely sweet guy - he was certainly proving her wrong right now.
"That is not cool, dude" said Weevil with a look, but to her credit Veronica was still smiling, even when Logan wandered back to the circle and slumped down beside her.
"What'd I miss?" he asked, making a 'gimme' gesture with his hand til Weevil passed him the bottle.
"Veronica is about to tell us all how many guys from school she's made lurve with" said Dick, with an over-acted emphasis and hand gestures to go with the last few words.
"Hmm, you need to take your shoes and socks off to help you count, V?" he asked his old friend cuttingly, "Hey, maybe we can help out. I'll bet Cindy here has a calculator that handles those kind of numbers" he teased her, a smirk on his face that might have made Veronica angry or upset were it not for the fact she was somewhat drunk and relaxed.
"You're just feeling bad because you never got past second base with me" she shot back at him, making the others react first with surprise at her bluntness and then with amusement at the way she cut him off at the knees.
"So, now I'm curious" said Weevil, "If your old-time Romeo here never sealed the deal, did anyone?" he asked her seriously at which Veronica only smiled at first.
"I'm not a virgin" she told them honestly, "but the true number is probably going to disappoint every one of you" she sighed over-dramatically on purpose, "One" she said, holding up her index finger to reinforce her answer, "There has been exactly one guy that... went there" she said, mindful of her phrasing, not least because Mac looked mortified they were even talking about sex in this vague way.
"But everybody says..." began the brunette, blushing furiously at the words she'd even dared to think, and because everyone was now staring at her, "There are all kinds of rumours about you and guys"
"That's all they are, just rumours" shrugged Veronica, not offended that this girl had believed such slutty things about her, after all, she wasn't exactly alone, "I got my drink spiked at a party, a long time ago now, and apparently my behaviour wasn't exemplary" she smiled wryly, "Still, I do know I didn't sleep with anyone. My one and only was my boyfriend at the time - Duncan Kane"
"Dude, that is... like a total drag" declared Dick, looking decidedly let down, "I so totally thought I was gonna get dirt with that 'Truth'"
"So sorry to disappoint, Dick" said Veronica, rolling her eyes, "Your turn, Truth or Dare?" she asked him next and the blond easily went for Dare.
"I got this one" Logan cut in, despite being relatively quiet since Veronica's earlier comment to him, "Your dare, Dick, should you choose to accept it, is to give our little Miss Mac here her first real kiss" he smiled, taking a drink from the bottle and passing it on.
Mac meant to open her mouth and argue such a presumptive dare. After all, her feelings and wishes had not been considered at all. Maybe she didn't want Dick to kiss her, and yet saying so not only made her look like some kind of frigid prude or whatever, it also might offend the blond that had been so nice to her today. Sure, his question to Veronica had been pretty mean, but it wasn't as if she couldn't hold her own against these guys. She was in a total quandry on the subject until suddenly Dick spoke up.
"Nah, man, that's not cool" he said awkwardly, "I'm not doin' that, I pass" he insisted, reaching for the bottle from Weevil's hand.
"Hey, it's not called Truth, Dare, or Pass" the biker told him with a shake of his head, passing the bottle back to Veronica, "Somebody's gonna miss their drink as punishment" he said definitely, shooting a wink Mac's way then and making her blush.
He saw Dick's refusal to play as more of a slight on the girl's looks than anything else, and that just wasn't cool. Sure she was quiet and shy, kind of a geek, but if they'd dared him to kiss her, he would've done it, providing Mac herself didn't mind. From the outside looking in, it seemed to Weevil both odd couples sat before him now ought to just get to the making out already so they all felt better, but he wasn't about to tell them that. Instead he waited for the game to continue, knowing now it was Echoll's turn to be asked Truth or Dare, which he duly was.
"Dare" he said easily, not at all worried apparently by any challenge they conjured up for him.
Dick, Veronica, and Weevil all exchanged looks, clearly trying to come up with the worst possible thing to make Logan do after the way he had treated each of them today. Nobody expected Mac to open her mouth at all, nevermind come up with the particular dare idea that came spilling from her lips.
"I dare you to run a circuit around the whole upper level of the library" she said as all eyes landed on her, "naked" she added, proud of herself for coming up with such a scheme, and yet having to fight with every fibre in her being not to blush bright red about it.
The chuckling that went around the circle proved that the others found her idea highly amusing, not least because she was the one to come up with it. Logan just stared, eyes locked onto Mac's as she glared back at him, refusing to back down. More than once today he had made a fool out of her, and he was not going to do it again. She had to stand up for herself, no-one else was going to do it for her, and this was the start of her change in attitude towards bullies like the young Mr Echolls.
"Wow, Cindy" he smiled an almost-evil smile, "I had no idea you were so desperate to see a man get naked"
"I'm not" she answered smartly, apparently having recently found her nerve, "If I was I'd hardly be daring you to take off your clothes, I'd ask an actual man"
"Oh no she didn't!" said Dick, like some street-wise woman on a talk show or similar, complete with snapping hand gesture.
"Oh yes, she did" said Veronica with an almost proud smile as she looked first at Mac and then to Logan sat beside her, "What are you waiting for, Logan?" she asked him then, eyes dancing with laughter and fun.
"I knew you always wanted to get me naked, Mars" he told her in a low voice that almost made her shiver, before he was gone from her sight in a flash.
Logan Echolls was such an ass, but he wasn't entirely wrong about her wanting him. Eighteen months ago, even less maybe, she had believed she was in love with him, and yes, getting naked with him had crossed her mind. There had certainly been making out and promises that one day they would be together. It had never happened of course, and now it was all too late. They were different people and so much had happened, both to each of them separately and together too.
Veronica shook too many memories from her head and turned back to the group left behind by Logan.
"So, whilst we're waiting for that" she said, trying not think too much about the nakedness that was about to occur, "and given Mac's killer dare idea, I think it's only fair that we ask Mr Navarro here if he would like to tell the truth or take a dare" she said, looking to Weevil.
"I'll take truth" he shrugged, "I got nothin' to hide"
"Okay" smiled Veronica, feeling just a little mean when she asked her question, "What is your full name?"
"Oh, V, that ain't fair" he told her, shaking his head, as Dick lamented the waste of a question that was going to have such a boring answer.
"C'mon, what's the big deal?" Mac urged the Mexican, feeling all kinds of confident right now, "They're only names, right?"
With a sigh, Weevil looked awkward a moment before seeming to give in. Still, he didn't speak, just reached into his back pocket and produced what appeared to be an ID of some kind, complete with his full name, Mac noticed, as he handed it over.
"Wow" she gasped at the sight of so many Latin names on one card, "Your name is Eli Francis Alberto Carlos Diego Jose Navarro" she read aloud, at which Veronica's eyes went wide.
"Now you see why I prefer Weevil" he said, a little embarrassed apparently, as he took back his card from Mac.
No-one got much of a chance to react to that as Logan suddenly yelled for their attention from above.
"To infinity and beyond!" he declared, much to everyone's amusement, before running full tilt around the upper level of the library.
From where they sat, all his audience really saw was flashes of his legs, back and head, since the barriers hid his modesty. Still Veronica made a big deal of covering her eyes from the display, as if she would be permanently scarred by the experience, whilst the boys and even Mac whistled and cheered for the guy that must have some of the guts he claimed to posses if he was willing to do such a thing. Nobody had any doubt that the alcohol helped fuel his actions, but he had to know he was revealing his injuries once again, as well as giving everyone a flash of what some might term the good stuff.
Laughter echoed through the Neptune High library, even as Logan disappeared from sight, apparently gone to re-dress. Even Weevil, the 09ers toughest critic, had to admit the guy had some cajones to do what he just did, not that he'd ever tells Echolls that - no way.
To Be Continued...