More "Betty and Veronica." This may be the most controversial part I've written yet. Not for content, but for character behavior.

I hesitate to beg for feedback, especially given the tremendous amount I've received so far, but please, let me know if you think I've botched this one. I think I'm okay given the storyline I've established so far, but if I've wandered too far off character, I want to know about it.

Thanks much to ziebra, jacedes and buffybc for their opinions regarding the controversy.

Disclaimer: Veronica Mars and all of its characters belong to Rob Thomas. I own only this specific arrangement of words.

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Just before lunchtime I caught up with Wallace at his locker. The "secret" of Polly's kidnapping seemed to be out by this point, and the rumors said Neptune's rival Pan High had done it.

"Look at this," he said.

"What?" I asked.

He showed me a stuffed frog on top of a card. The card read, "Go Wallace. We love you. You rock!"

"Wow," I said. "A frog and affirmation. Wish I played basketball."

"Actually, I'm kinda disappointed. Usually I get some snickerdoodles, too." Yeah. And I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to bake them. But last night? Stroking Wallace's ego with cookies didn't seem all that important. I still snuck him the card and the frog, because, after all, I do love him, and he does rock. "But," he was saying, "Still better than my old school ever did."

And it made Wallace happy, which even under the circumstances made me happy. I declined Wallace's invitation to lunch and made my way to the parking lot to head over to Pan High. If they took Polly? I'll figure it out.

The students there hated Neptune High almost as much as I did. I introduced myself as "Betty." Betty and Veronica, ha ha. Otherwise, I met a couple of jocks, the team manager, and found out that, in revenge, Neptune had apparently taken the Pan goat, Billy.

A parrot named Polly and a goat named Billy. The originality is staggering. All we need now is a dog named Fido.

When I snuck back out to the Pan High parking lot, I found Dick Casablancas waiting by my car.

I was less than ten feet away when I noticed. "Mars," he said viciously. "What the hell are you doing at Pan High?"

"Trying to find out who stole the Neptune High mascot."

He kept rambling, as though he didn't care about the answer. "I mean, I see you sneaking off school grounds in the middle of the day, and I'm like, great chance." Great chance for what? That scared the hell out of me. "But then you come here and I'm like, what is she doing here? And then I realize, I don't care. All I know is, she's off Neptune High property. Clemmons can't touch me."

"The police still can, idiot."

"Yeah, but they don't like you. I'm thinking they won't believe you." He started to walk towards me. "That Lamb dude, I mean, he totally hates your guts."

I realize Dick was capable of beating someone up. Way back when I'd cleared Weevil and his grandmother of credit card fraud, I'd heard he was one of the people in Logan's posse that was set to pound Chardo Navarro before the PCH'ers stepped in and took care of it themselves. Even after this morning, I hadn't realized that he'd gone totally off the rails. He wasn't thinking at all. Not that he'd ever been particularly good at it, but he wasn't thinking about trials or how this could affect him or Beaver or how this would make him look or anything. He just seriously, seriously wanted to hurt me.

Another mistake on my part. And this one could get me badly hurt.

I already had my hand on my taser. I pulled it out, but Dick was faster than I thought he'd be. He knocked it out of my hands, grabbed me, and shoved me backwards as hard as he could. I landed on my back on the asphalt about ten feet away. My head hit the pavement, but not hard enough to knock me out.

I'm not stupid. I yelled for help. After all, we were still in a high school parking lot. Dick could have waited until I was on the road back home or something, but he was pissed and stupid enough to try to come after me in public.

Richie and Curtis -- two of the Pan High jocks I'd chatted with earlier -- heard me and came running, as did a dozen or so other people. Richie yelled, "Get away from her!" as he got closer.

Dick backed away and Richie and Curtis helped me to my feet. "Betty," Richie said. "You okay?"

"Betty?" Dick said, laughing. "Her name's Veronica, dude. Veronica Mars. She's a Neptune High student just like me." Then he turned and ran back to his car.

Richie helped me to my feet and said, "You should see a doctor. And you shouldn't drive yourself home."

Curtis said, "But --"

Richie looked up at him. "Dude, she was just attacked." Curtis nodded, but he obviously wasn't happy. "Give me your keys," he said.

I made a character judgment right there that Richie could be trusted. I handed him my keys and pointed to my Le Baron. "Tell Coach," he said to Curtis. "Then follow me to the hospital. I'm going to need a ride back here. Curtis walked away. The rest of the crowd had dispersed when Dick had run off.

Richie helped me into my car and we began the drive back to Neptune.

"Are you really a Neptune High student?" he asked.

Well, there was no point in lying now that Dick had blown my cover. "Yeah. I was trying to figure out who'd stolen out mascot."

"No one's been bragging about it," he said. "Not yet, anyway."

"Can I have your number?" I asked. He looked confused. "If someone does start bragging about it, maybe we can simply trade them back."

"You know," he said, "You're a hell of an actress. You actually sound like you mean it when you say you hate Neptune High."

"I'm not that good an actress," I said. "Some of the worst days of my life have been spent in its shallow halls."

"So that's what this was about. You distract us while someone sneaks off with Billy."

I shook my head, then was sorry I'd done it. "No. I have no idea who took your goat. I don't care about these things any more."

"Then why are you doing this?"

"I'm being paid."

He laughed. "Now there, I believe you."

I took out my cell and asked for the number again. He shrugged and gave it to me, and I programmed it in. Then I asked him if he'd back me up if I decided to take this to the Sheriff. (No, I don't trust Lamb. I don't trust Lamb to arrest jaywalkers. But even he might have a hard time ignoring a dozen witnesses.)

"Of course," he said. Can I tell you once again how gosh darn lucky I am to go to Neptune High? 90 of the people there, if they saw me getting attacked in the parking lot would kick my body out of the way only because they'd be afraid if they drove over me it would damage their suspensions.

When we got to the hospital, I once again tried to plead that I didn't need to go in. Richie ignored me, waited until I was signed in, told me he was glad I was okay but not to come back to Pan High again, then left.

I told the admission staff that I'd fallen down in a parking lot and hit my head, which was true as far as it went, and I was feeling fine and could I go now?

The hospital said no and insisted on calling on Dad. Dad rushed over and demanded to know what had happened.

"And the truth, honey," he said. I gave him the whole story. By the time I was done, he was absolutely furious.

"I'm calling Cliff," he said, "And as soon as you get out of here we're getting a restraining order against Dick Casablancas."

I didn't even have a concussion; just a bump and a couple of scrapes, plus a nasty bruise on my elbow.

When we got out to the car Dad called Cliff and told him to meet us at the courthouse. I then made a call to Lynn Echolls – yes, Lynn Echolls – and explained what was going on and asked her to throw a little influence our way. Make sure the judge actually agreed to hear the case.

She said she would. And she did. We got an emergency hearing scheduled that evening.

Cliff must have drafted the restraining order in record time. When he showed up at the courthouse, he was almost out of breath.

"It's on me," he said when Dad tried to pay him. "I like making those rich bastards squirm every once in a while myself." But his concern for me was also clear. See? I told you Cliff was secretly a nice guy.

The Judge listened to me, looked at the medical report, and issued a temporary restraining order telling Richard Casablancas, Jr., to stay at least 100 yards away from me at all times. A permanent hearing would be scheduled for a few weeks later.

When Dad and I finally got home, he smothered me with fatherly love and attention, baking his special lasagna and everything.

In the meantime, I called first Wallace, then Logan, and told them what had happened. It was easy enough to calm Wallace down. Logan, not so much.

"I'll kill the son of a bitch," he said when I was done.

"No. Stay away from him. I don't want you to be the one getting in trouble."

"But –"

"No. Logan, no. Promise me."

"I won't touch Dick Casablancas," he said. "I swear. Happy?"

"Ecstatic," I said.

"I'm still taking you to school tomorrow," he said.

"I know what you have on your mind, Mr. Echolls," I said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Usually, yes. But now? Well, yes. But not so much as wanting to keep you safe."

"Thanks," I said, and meant it. We flirted and expressed our concerns for a few more minutes before Dad yelled that dinner was ready.

So, let's review. Aaron Echolls killed Lilly. Clarence Weidman controls my life. Dick Casablancas wants me dead. Logan wants him dead. Wallace wants snickerdoodles. And now I had to find Polly without actually being able to go to Pan High to track her down, thanks to Dick outing me in the Pan High parking lot.

It's true what they say: Just when you think you've hit bottom, someone hands you a jackhammer.