AN: This last week was hellish as work, requiring 70 hours over 6 days. So I've only been able to write one chapter since then. Sorry. I know it's been a while, so I thought I would go ahead and post. I'll try to have another one by Sunday. This chapter and the next few are kind of transitional until I can establish the next storyline. Lots of fluff though. :)
Chapter 21
"I have to ask, Veronica. It's been five days. You've already broken up once, and you're practically having sex. Do you really think this thing with Logan has the foundations for a long-term relationship?" Mac laments while driving her new lime beetle. She bought the car with cash two months ago for her sixteenth birthday after running a purity test scheme at Pan where people could buy other kids' answers to sexual history questions. The girl's a wicked genius, practically evil. I had to pretend I knew nothing about it when some juniors tried to hire us to snuff out the creator, and Mac had to pretend the backdoor setup was too complicated for her to crack.
"I don't know. I'm sixteen. Does he have to be the love of my life right now?"
"Well, he kind of is. I mean even without the whole mutual obsession since twelve—the only other experience you have is Richie. Speaking of whom, he asked me if you would be there tonight."
"We broke up. I don't know how I can make it any clearer. Should I buy some billboards? Slash his tires?" I turn to her with an aha expression. "I know! Make out with his best friend at his birthday party!"
"That's dark. Good thing his birthday is four months away. You'll have to come up with something sooner." Sleep with his father? That seems like the nail in the coffin. If only I didn't have to deal with pesky virginity, statutory rape, and adultery to make that happen. And also hating myself afterwards. How does Lilly do it? "Why didn't I merit some snickerdoodles?"
"Mac, you can't just whip up vegan snickerdoodles. That takes foresight and at least one follow up visit to the grocery store for some forgotten obscure ingredient."
"Coconut oil is a staple, Veronica! Stock it, use it, love it."
"My appetite with your morals would make my dad go bankrupt in grocery bills."
"Is this it, I guess?" she asks as we drive past Neptune High.
"Welcome to the spring of my discontent." Except it wasn't. Despite the momentary fallout with Logan, this past week has been ultimately one of my happiest.
"At least stuff happens at Neptune. The great mascot caper is the most excitement we've had since the purity test, and I can't even enjoy that publicly."
"Cindy Mackenzie, closet drama queen. I don't think you'd like it at Neptune, Mac. Low-hanging fruit. You'd be a billionaire before you graduated."
"Hmm. That's sounds promising." I can tell she's concocting schemes as we get out of the car. She looks like a do-gooder but underneath, not so much.
We run into Wallace walking Billy down the hallway to the gym an hour before game time. "Wally World!" I shout, skipping up to him.
"I told you, Veronica. It's Wallace, just Wallace." He seems genuinely irritated, shifting side to side on either leg, his eyes darting all around. I know he lets Logan get away with calling him Wally.
"Right, Wallace. This is Mac, the other half of the junior detective agency."
"Nice to meet you, Wallace," Mac says warmly with her shy smile. It's all for show, unless she's actually interested in the guy. Then, Mac clams up tighter than an oyster.
"I come with a peace offering." I hand him his box of cookies.
"What's this for?" Wallace asks.
"To say thank you for helping get Billy back." No, my real reason is so you don't further shake the delicate tightrope Logan and I are walking. Because if Thursday night was a hint, that break up is going to ruin me.
"Veronica Mars, as I live and breathe," Logan sneers to my side. It's been five hours since we said goodbye, and I want to tackle him immediately and kiss off his smirk.
"Boopster! And Boopster's sidekick," Dick says next to him. Had he been there the entire time? It's like he materialized when he began talking. His red shirt reads, If You Think this HEAD is BIG. Classy.
"This is my partner, Mac."
"Partner?" Dick asks, his eyes lighting up. "Can I watch you two partner up some time?" Mac starts mock-gagging. "Just kidding, Ghostworld. I'll give you your privacy. Unless you want me to watch. Then I totally will."
"Dick!" Logan and I shout in unison. He puts his hands up in surrender and walks away to the gym.
"I've got to get the goat in there before more people come. See ya Logan," Wallace says as they fist-bump. "Thanks for the cookies, Superfly." He gives the smallest hint of a smile. I can work with that.
"So…Mac. You got past the five stages of grieving fast," Logan quips.
"Not as quickly as Veronica, it seems," she retorts. Oh Logan, Mac's just as feisty as me. That's why we're friends. His face gives away nothing, but there is a spark in his eye.
"Mac, do you think you can entertain yourself while I talk to Veronica for a second?"
"I might be able to manage." She rolls her eyes, walking away to the gym.
"Yeah?" I ask, looking up at him expectantly. Logan sticks his hand out for me to grab.
"Take a walk with me." I take his hand, and he guides me down dark hallways.
"My dream date. Late night walks through deserted high school corridors." He merely squeezes my hand in response—no clever repartee. After several turns on hallways I may have gone down this past week, he opens a door. Strung Christmas lights turn on when he flips the light switch. I hear the lock click behind me and turn around to find him leaning against the door. Deja vu to the bathroom all over. I can't believe that kiss was only two days ago.
He launches himself forward, and I instinctively back up. Something about him always terrifies me as much as it thrills me. The mischievous grin he sports so often returns. "Do you run away for the chase, or are you really scared of me?"
The answer to that question cuts far more deeply than I want to examine now. "I'd like to buy a vowel."
"Oh? Would you?" he asks, overly dramatic. I blush and downcast my eyes. The room has bean bag chairs everywhere, and I imagine the teacher is some tie-dyed hippie who still reminisces about Woodstock.
"What did you want to see me about?" I look back up at him to find him smiling. He advances towards me again.
"Do I need to have a reason to see my girlfriend?" he asks once he's right in front of me. We aren't touching, but the air between us is charged. My heart feels ready to belt out a ballad in karaoke with him calling me his girlfriend. His head dips down to kiss me, and it's a sweet kiss like our first so many years ago, even though nothing can really compare to that.
"I think he was waving at me, Bobcat."
I heard my breath catch before I could control it. Trying to come up with a soothing mantra like the rec center yoga teacher had taught, I repeated to myself, "Just breathe, Veronica." After a few breaths, I turned around to face the one player who had thought me worthy of blocking. His brown hair was like a bird's nest, darting every which way from sweat and being too long. In spite of his braces, he had a gentle smile that he showed now. His eyes held the real allure though. A deep chocolate brown, they invited you in to taste their sweetness, and you were helpless to escape.
"Naturally," I replied, "since I don't have a limo or a driver."
"Who's picking you up?"
I looked off to the side. Generally, I was not in the habit of introducing myself to new friends by sharing my mom's extracurricular activities. "My mom, but she forgets a lot."
"I can wait with you until she comes." My head snapped back to look at him. He seemed nervous to hear my response. All my teammates were gone, none of them having parents with trouble with five o'clock drinking. I nodded my head. "Just give me a sec." He ran off to say something to his driver, while I texted my dad that she still hadn't come. He responded that he could be there in 30 minutes to pick me up.
"My dad will be here in 30 minutes. I'll be okay if you have to go," I told him when he returned.
"And leave a damsel waiting in distress? Consider it payback for knocking you down." I started walking back towards the bleachers, and he followed me.
"It's just part of the game, but I appreciate the valiant effort." Hey, it's never too late to start using those SAT words.
After 30 minutes, I learned that he grew up in LA and hadn't lived in Neptune very long. He was hoping to make more friends when school started and tried to be in as much after school activities as possible. I got the sense he avoided being at home. I shared with him that I was really close with my dad and would probably get some ice cream out of the deal on our way home. I also detailed my grand dreams of playing soccer professionally. After 45 minutes, I texted my dad again, who said he was on his way.
"Is it difficult to eat with braces?" I asked.
"You get used to it. I get them off in six months."
"Don't they make it hard to do other things?" How can he possibly kiss with those on? Not that the boys were lining up to kiss me, but braces would be one more obstacle.
"Like what?" I gave him a hard look. "Oh. It hasn't really come up yet. I guess I'll have better luck in six months."
"I bet knights in shining armor could have their pick of the queen bees."
"What about queen vees?" he asked shyly. I gasped and turned to look at him. Again, with those eyes. It was like he turned on a hypnosis switch—must not look away.
"Probably any queen in the alphabet." It was the best I could come up with given the circumstance. I didn't understand what was happening to my body or my brain. My mouth felt like it was learning new vocabulary words when it was just trying to get out incomplete sentences.
"Do you think queen vees will give me a shot in six months?" I shook my head as my heart pounded. Did he mean what I think he meant?
"I don't think you have to wait six months." I didn't know where those words came from. I knew we were flirting, but I didn't understand how or when I had developed the ability to do so.
Before I knew it, he started leaning closer to me, and my body reciprocated while I just watched. I felt his lips before they touched mine, almost like they had a force field that connected first. When our lips finally grazed, it reminded me of pop rocks, and I wondered if the metal from his braces had anything to do with the shocks I felt.
The kiss could have lasted seconds or minutes because time felt suspended. At some point during the kiss, my dad's headlights flashed into the parking lot. Thank god he wasn't in his squad car and siren lights. I ran away from my first kiss, shouting I would see him next week. I didn't want to get caught making out by my dad. If I had known I wouldn't return to that field for a year, I might have lingered longer. I would have at least gotten his name.
Logan deepens the kiss, pushing his tongue into my mouth, and a small moan escapes my lips before I can stop it. He picks me up underneath my thighs and is about to lay me down on a bean bag chair when the lock on the door clicks. He sets my feet back down on the ground just as the door opens.
"Logan Echolls, how did you get in here?" a frumpy woman asks. She looks like something out of the 1890s rather than the 1960s, with a navy jumper dress that screams first grade teacher.
"Sorry, Ms. Mills. It was open, and we were hoping for some privacy to share our poems." What the hell? It's like the boy was made for subterfuge and had the excuse planned. He might come in handy on a case one day.
"Of course! I had no idea you wrote poetry, Logan. But you two budding literati still can't recite here with the door locked after school is over."
"You know, sometimes, the soul just needs to sing." I have to suppress the urge to not roll my eyes. He squeezes my hand.
"Well, you could join the literary club. We meet Tuesdays and Thursdays at lunch…"
"We should probably head out to the game now," Logan responds, yanking me towards the door. We take the hallway back, me snickering a little as a I skip to keep up with him and his abnormally long legs.