(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 14
"Well, if it isn't one half of Neptune High's hottest new couple" Veronica smirked as she opened the front door and found Mac right outside.
"And here I was hoping for a sensible conversation with the only girl friend I actually have" the brunette looked pained, and immediately her friend felt bad for her throwaway comment.
"Come in" she said, stepping aside, "You're fine, my Dad is working late, so it's just you, me, and BackUp makes three"
"He's about the only male that makes sense right now" said Mac as she flopped down on the couch and made a fuss of the dog that bounded over to see who she was and why she was here.
"Amen to that sister" joked Veronica with a strange accent and an odd hand gesture that even she wasn't certain she understood, "Yeah, so... you and Dick" she said, back to serious in a second as she moved to join her friend on the couch, "I was actually joking when I suggested the two of you were..."
"I know" Mac nodded, as BackUp lost interest and walked away, apparently realising girl talk was coming and not wanting to hear that any more than any other male would, "I honestly don't know how this happened" she shook her head, "One minute, he's this dumb 09er that's paying me to teach him Math and English, and the next..."
"His tongue is in your mouth?" Veronica finished for her, watching with stifled amusement as Mac tried to hide behind her blue-streaked hair, "Everybody saw, Mac, you can't deny it"
"I know" her friend agreed, "but this wasn't supposed to happen!" she complained "I'm not this girl, y'know, the kind that just makes out with a guy in public like that. I shouldn't even like a guy like Dick"
Mac felt so stupid and so entirely out of her depth. She knew what she was saying was ridiculous and wrong, after all, you couldn't choose who you liked or loved, who you felt attracted too. That went beyond the class divide, beyond anything else, and she was smart enough to know that. Still, as right as kissing Dick had felt, audience be damned, she also felt kind of wrong about it all. Perhaps her real problem was they really hadn't got a chance to talk about what happened, and by the time they could have had an opportunity she done the dumb thing and bolted.
"We headed back to class so fast" she explained, "I didn't get a chance to talk to Dick until school let out and by then I was just so freaked out by it all... I ran" she admitted, somewhat shame-faced at her behaviour, "That's twice now I've run out on him..."
"Twice?" Veronica frowned slightly at that, forgetting for a moment that she was about to share her own tale of kiss-and-bolt.
"There was a thing that happened... a kiss" Mac admitted, feeling ridiculously girly and embarrassed as she kept her eyes on her hands that rested in her lap, fingers lacing and unlacing as she continued, "at Dick's Birthday party, but then it all kind of went wrong. I don't even want to think about it, except I can't help it because... and I can't believe how cliché this is but when he kissed me..." she said with a sigh as she finally looked at her friend, "I swear, Veronica, it was like I suddenly understood all those awful love songs and lame romantic movies"
"Must be the day for it" the blonde replied as she looked back at Mac with an odd smile on her face, "Yeah, so I guess I may as well share, seeing as it's you" she realised aloud, "Logan and me, we kind of... no" she corrected herself, "we did kiss"
"Wow" was Mac's reaction, though honestly she wasn't as shocked as others might have been, after all, Logan and Veronica had been spending equally as much time together and she and Dick, "So you two are...?"
"I honestly have no idea" Veronica shook her head as she got up from the couch and walked over into the kitchen, Mac following on behind, "I actually did the running thing too. I was just so floored, I mean, we were always good friends, and then after Lilly... everything was just so awful" she sighed into the refrigerator before emerging with two bottles of water and handing one to Mac, "Logan was so mad at me and it hurt so much to be enemies. Lately, we found a way to be friends again and then today... it was just this moment" she tried to explain, "and it seemed weirdly right" she told her friend as they stood either side of the counter, looking as confused as each other.
"I get it" Mac nodded, "Trust me, I do" she said sincerely as she sipped at her water.
"Oh, what is wrong with us, Mac?" her friend asked in earnest, pretending to bang her head repeatedly on the counter top, "We're the smart chicks" she gestured between them, "How can we both be falling for dumb 09er pretty boys?"
"Pretty boys?" the brunette echoed with a chuckle at the phrasing.
"You know what I mean" Veronica rolled her eyes as she pulled herself up to sit on the counter and Mac propped herself on the stool, the two of them contemplating what the hell was happening in their lives lately.
"Well, they do say opposites attract" sighed Mac as she sipped her water thoughtfully, "I wish it was easier than this. Y'know there is actually a part of me that just wants to drive over to Dick's house and..." she faltered as she saw Veronica was looking at her, "and grab him and kiss him again and just be happy to be with him, to hell with what everybody else thinks" she said with more confidence than she could ever truly have in such a situation she was sure.
It took Veronica a moment to respond as she gulped down water then replaced the cap on the bottle and slammed it onto the counter with some force She startled poor Mac into almost choking on her own drink as she glanced at the blonde, wondering what was going on.
"Then do it" she told her simply, leaving her friend still bemused, "Mac, we had a near-death experience today. I actually had two. I'm learning fast that life is way too short to sit around thinking about what you could be doing" she explained, "Look at Lilly" she said, trying not to well up as she spoke, "She'll never do anything else, never graduate or go to college or get married and have kids or live to be old" she pointed out, "She should be inspiration enough for us. We have to get out there and do things while we have the chance"
"You're right" said Mac, after barely a moments thought, "and I know just what I want to do"
* * * * *
"I changed my mind, I don't want to do it" declared Mac as she pulled the car up on the Casablancas driveway and looked suddenly afraid.
"Too late, we're here and we're doing it" Veronica insisted, stealing the keys from the ignition before her friend had a chance to protest.
Mac watched her friend climb out of the car and let out a sigh. It was too late now, she had to do this. Hell, it had been her idea, but she really hadn't thought it through. Spontaneous wasn't exactly Cindy Mackenzie's middle name, far from it in fact, though she did like the idea of showing Dick she could surprise him. Despite the fact their relationship had barely started, her mind had already begun spinning with reasons why it might all go wrong.
Mac never really had a boyfriend before, not a real one, and now that it seemed she might be getting one, she feared the worst. It wasn't as if she were getting close to a person from her peer group, a fellow geek type or whatever. This was Dick Casablancas, a hot 09er who surfed and drank and probably swam in a pool of money like Scrooge McDuck when nobody was around. Mac did computers and barely had a social life, making them hardly the perfect couple.
The fact that Dick had stood there in front of almost the entire school and kissed her in such a way that even the memory of it put a shiver down her spine, that gave Mac serious amounts of hope. Clearly he was willing to overlook their differences in social standing if she was, and Heaven forbid that Mac should come out on the side of the class-divide argument that suggested the two extremes should never mix. Regardless of money and power, they were all human beings after all, and Dick was one very hot human being, with an ability to be so sweet and genuine when he tried.
Mac was smiling by now, and a little more eager to relinquish her grip on the steering wheel of her car that seemed to have been her life line the past couple of minutes. Veronica was right, life was far too short to be afraid. She wanted to date Dick Casablancas, and damn it she was going to. She was also going to go into that house and do what she came here to do, to hell with the consequences.
* * * * *
"So I just thought 'to hell with it', and I kissed her" Dick recounted the tale to Logan one more time, despite the fact he'd been explaining the exact series of events this morning had brought, pretty much all afternoon and evening.
"Yes, Dick, I know. I was there" he sighed tiredly, letting his head drop over the back of the couch.
God, he was bored of hearing this tale, especially when he'd been stood not three feet from the scene that his good buddy felt the need to reminisce on constantly. Logan never really thought about Dick being in love, but if he wasn't now then his friend would be entirely stunned. Girls may be one of his favourite topics of conversation, but rarely was it all about one girl, not even when he was dating Madison. Sure, he bitched a lot about not getting into her underwear, but that Logan considered to be normal teen boy behaviour. The way Dick talked about Mac, it all came out weirdly romantic, something that didn't quite work in Logan's head. He really never considered his friend could act this way, but then it had been a very long time sine Logan had thought about the possibilities of himself and Veronica being together either. Still, they had kissed, and the memory of it was burned into his brain so bright that he knew he'd be replaying it for a good few days yet, just trying to figure out how it had happened, why she'd bolted, how she could still make him weak at the knees without even knowing it...?
"Dude, you were totally distracted by Ronnie!" Dick exclaimed, almost as if he'd been reading his friends mind this whole time, instead he was just referring to the scene at school during the bomb scare, "Seriously, man, I don't get it, but if you want her..." he shrugged, apparently giving Logan permission to date Miss Mars if he wanted to.
"I don't want her, why would I ever want her?" came the overly-quick response that even he knew sounded like a lie... well, it was a lie.
"You totally just protested way too much!" the blond told him, almost laughing, especially when Logan's eyes went wide at what he knew to be a paraphrase from Shakespeare coming out of his surfing buddies mouth, "You want her so bad, and hey, if she hadn't totally had a personality transplant this past year, I'd get it" Dick declared with a hand over his chest, "She's hot as hell, man! I'd be tappin' that if I were you" he told him seriously before turning his attention back to the TV for perhaps thirty seconds, before Logan was sure they'd be back on the topic of Mac and 'the kiss'.
"Poetic and romantic as always, Dick" he said with an eye-roll, barely getting a chance to focus on what the television screen showed when there was a tap on the door and a butler-type came in, looking as serious as ever.
"There are two young ladies here to see you, sir" he told Dick with no emotion, "One is Miss Mackenzie" he continued, apparently not entirely pleased that she was here, though Heaven only knew why he should care.
"Hey, send them in, Phillips, it's totally cool" Dick said immediately shutting off the TV and getting to his feet.
Logan wasn't quite sure how to react, as he realised the only sensible option for a female friend of Mac was most likely Veronica Mars. Lo and behold, he was proven right as the two girls came through the door almost as one, the blonde looking barely surprised to see him and offering him such a smile that he forgot what day of the week it was... again.
"Hey" a little wave accompanied Mac's greeting as she looked nervously at Dick, her confidence coming and going in the oddest waves apparently as she faced him.
"Macky!" he declared, apparently thrilled by her arrival and making her feel a whole lot better as they met in the middle of the room and awkwardly greeted each other.
Their first meeting after that explosive kiss was going to be strange, since they'd spoken not a word from then to now. Still, they were happy to se each other, that much was obvious, and felt about as silly as each other in this odd situation, which helped both their sets of nerves.
"We were just... nowhere near the neighbourhood" she laughed lightly at her own odd phrasing, as she glanced Veronica's way and realised she and Logan looked even more awkward than them, "but I remembered you saying I should come by sometime, for non-study. You said if I brought my swimsuit you'd show me the pool, and since I kinda missed out at your party..." she rushed out, wondering why she ever thought it was a good idea to strip half naked in front of two guys she barely knew all of a sudden, despite the fact one was apparently her boyfriend now.
Dick himself was clearly thrilled at the prospect and looked at his buddy with a huge grin on his face.
"Hey, Logan. I just heard the word party" he said happily, his friend then looking between Dick and Veronica before he smiled;
"Yeah, sounds good"
To Be Continued...