I know the plan was for me to pick her up at seven, so that she could surprise me with a dinner with her mother and father. Their plan was to make me all uncomfortable, to sit at a table with a man with a gun, whose teenage daughter I was planning on taking out later in the evening. Lilly knew I could handle it, but I'd decided to deviate from that plan.
I really didn't want to sit with her family if I didn't have too. Not for our first date anyway. Passive aggressive, Lilly had said. I'd show Veronica Mars passive aggressive the best way I knew how.
I pulled up in front of her house at a quarter to six, sitting and staring at her front door as I screwed up my courage and formulated a plan. I knew I couldn't just go in and grab her, she'd balk, refuse to come, I had to do something more.
I quickly dialled Lilly's number, waiting for her to answer.
"Lilly." Came her succinct voice over the phone.
"Hey Lill, need a favour. When Veronica calls you in the next fifteen minutes or so, don't answer. Let her handle this one on her own." I smiled at Lilly's exasperated sigh.
"What are you up to now? You're not supposed to be picking her up till seven." I laughed outright at the annoyance in her voice.
"You know me Lill, never one to stick to the game plan. You with me or not?" I grinned when she sighed again, no one did long suffering sighs like Lilly.
"Fine. But if this backfires on you, you've no one to blame but yourself." She hung up without another word.
I next dialled Duncan's number hearing the short hello before launching straight to the heart of the matter. "Dude, you totally gotta back me up tonight." I kept my voice rushed, knowing Duncan's curiosity would win out.
"Back you up?" He questioned just like I wanted him too.
"I'm… I'm taking Veronica out tonight. To the Village, I need you to show up, later, just for a minute. You don't have to say, you don't even have to say anything to her, just show up?" I made my voice sound desperate.
"What? Logan! What the hell man." Duncan sounded confused and exasperated.
"Look. I know why you broke up with her. The real reason, just… I know the rule man, Dude's don't date their friends ex's, but…" I let my voice trail off into uncertainty. "I should have asked you before hand, but I like her, like, really like her. She's totally giving me the shoulder, and I need something to push her over, just a little, just enough so that she trusts me." I paused for breath, before sighing, purely for Duncan's benefit. "Please?"
"You're out of your mind, you know that?" Duncan hung up before I had a chance to respond. He'd still do exactly what I wanted him to do. Duncan was predictable that way, reliable. He wouldn't be able to resist showing up just to see what was happening.
I took a deep breath and fortified myself before finally leaving the Xterra and heading up the front walk way to Veronica's door. Showtime.
I knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer, bouncing on the balls of my feet, keys dangling from my fingers. I couldn't help but grin when Veronica herself answered the door. The look on her face alone was worth it.
"You're early." Was all she said as she stared.
"Yep. Figured maybe we could grab dinner before whatever you had planned for the evening." My grin got wider, smugger, I watched the suspicion flit across her face. I could see the knowledge on her face that I'd known the plan. Veronica Mars was definitely a worthy adversary.
"Dinner's at seven." She sounded so confused, cute, adorable, so adorable.
I pushed my way past her into the foyer, saying hello to her parents. I'd always like her parents, wished my parents were more like them. You could see the genuine caring in everything they did.
"Mr. Mars, Mrs. Mars. I was wondering if you'd mind if I took Veronica out for dinner. I know you guys usually eat at seven, and Veronica's curfew is eleven. I thought if we started a little early we could have a good jump on the evening." I had to struggle not to look at her, to gauge her reaction to what I was saying. Play it cool Logan, I reminded myself, be you.
"Sure Logan. Have her home by eleven. Veronica take your coat, the wind is supposed to pick up tonight." I grinned at her mom's response and caught Veronica's face fall out of the corner of my eye.
"No drinking and driving Logan. And if anything happens call here first." Sheriff Mars, always the responsible one.
"Let me grab my coat and purse, be right back." I nodded and watched her hurry away.
"I'll have her home by curfew Sir. We're going to the Village tonight, no drinking, no partying, just a night out at the shops." I gave them my most sincere smile and watched as they relaxed. Not entirely, but at least a little bit.
I knew with the amount of time Veronica was taking that she was trying to call Lilly. She had to be. I couldn't help but smile to myself, this time she'd been outmatched. She was slowly coming down the hallway towards me, jacket slung over her arm, cell phone in hand. Looks like it's time to get the party started.
I nodded once more to Mr. and Mrs. Mars, taking Veronica's elbow and leading her out to the Xterra. I played the gentleman and opened her door for her, waiting until she was safely buckled in before closing the door. I'd surprised her once today, if I played my cards right I'd be able to do it again.
The wind was a little chilly as we walked along looking at different vendor stalls. I'd watched as Veronica had zipped her coat. I couldn't help but offer her my coat for warmth, as cute as she was shivering in the wind, I'd hate for the only thing to be remembered about this night was how cold she was. She'd politely refused and I could see the little wheels turning in her head.
We'd stopped at one of the vendor stalls, delight lighting her features, as she'd found a puka shell necklace, turning it over and over in her small delicate fingers. I couldn't help but be fascinated over the way she handled the shells. Veronica managed to surprise me once again, speaking in Spanish to the old Mexican. I didn't understand a word they were saying. I watched as money exchanged hands. She shyly handed it to me and I looked at her questioningly.
"To replace the one I broke." I smiled as I accepted the necklace, putting it around my neck quickly.
"I don't remember you breaking my shells." I couldn't keep the confusion out of my voice; I couldn't remember her ever breaking a shell necklace of mine. Her face was alight with happiness and God she was beautiful.
"You remember. We were like, twelve? Thirteen? We were swimming… you tried to dunk me and I grabbed at you…" she spoke slowly, reminding me of a time when we were younger, before Lilly, before Duncan.
"That's right. You were a little imp! You grabbed my shells and tugged. The shells and beads went flying! Celeste had to take Duncan to the hospital!" I started laughing and couldn't seem to stop. "One of the damn shells hit Duncan in the eye. Scratched his cornea, Dude had to wear an eye-patch for weeks!" I slipped her hand into mine and waited for her to pull away. Veronica didn't, clenching her hand around mine.
She giggled, the light pure giggle that always made me smile. "You teased him mercilessly about being a pirate. I remember something about a parrot and a peg leg you bought him on his birthday to go with the patch." We laughed as we continued to walk. Still holding hands.
"Man was he mad. Refused to talk to me for weeks. Forgave you soon enough though, even though it was all your fault." I couldn't help but tease her, smiling so broadly my face hurt.
"True. But I have something you don't." She was smirking at me, batting her eyelashes. Veronica Mars thought she was so cute.
"Oh yeah, Mars? What's that?" I brushed my fingers across her chin, staring into her eyes.
"I'm cute and adorable Echolls. That always gets me out of trouble." I let out a startled laugh as she smirked at me. She really did know her own power.
"What? You're saying I'm not cute and adorable?" I batted my eyelashes at her, giving my best coquet, she laughed out right, a deep belly laugh that made me smile.
"Being small and diminutive works in my favour!" Veronica pinched my chin, turning around and almost running smack into Duncan.
He looked back and forth between the two of us, eyes landing on our joined hands before turning on his heel and stalking away.
"Duncan!" She yelled after him, her voice cracking. We both took a step in the direction he'd stalked off in, but at the last second I held her back by our joined hands. Wouldn't do for us to actually catch up to Duncan and have him ruin my plans by letting the cat out of the bag.
"Let him be. It's not your fault he's behaving like a jackass." I smiled, couldn't help myself, Duncan had done exactly as I'd asked, and Veronica was reacting just like I'd predicted. She tried pulling away but I refused to let go of her hand.
"You mean it's not his fault he's behaving like his best friend?" Veronica snarked back smiling slightly.
"I guess I'm rubbing off on him." Tugging at her hand I led her away from the scene. Time to get the date back on track. I saw her glance in the direction Duncan had gone in but kept walking.
"Ice cream?" She asked hopefully, sticking out her lower lip. I almost gave into the urge to kiss her, but managed to pull myself back from the edge at the last minute. Wouldn't do to have her freaking out on me after all this trouble.
"Nope. I promised you dinner! No ice-cream before dinner." I smirked at her, hoping to tease her into a lighter mood.
"How about ice-cream for supper? I've been trying to talk my Dad into a sundae night for ages." I frowned for a minute as she giggled, before smiling.
"Now that we can manage. Sundaes, I mean. Maraschino cherries have nutritional value right?" I grabbed her up into my arms and spun her around laughing. This date wasn't a disaster; I was one step closer to my goal. Maybe I shouldn't listen to Lilly so much, apparently she knew nothing about her best friend, or at least, not as much as she thought she did.
The rest of the date was a rousing success, other than the fact I spent the last half of it debating over the goodnight kiss. I finally managed to talk myself out of it, deciding instead to take her home before curfew. You could never impress the parents too much.
I'd been trying to call Veronica all weekend, her mother had run interference, or at least that's what I assumed, since it didn't seem likely Veronica hadn't stepped foot inside her house this weekend. She hadn't been to see Lilly, she hadn't been seen anywhere. Veronica Mars was avoiding me, again.
I showed up early for school on Monday hoping to catch her before the bell, to corner her, to force some sort of reaction out of her. We'd had an amazing date and now she was running scared? Nothing made sense.
She showed up just before the bell, looking like herself. No more playing dress up, no more armour of punk rock clothes, just Veronica in a swirling pink flowered dress, softly curling blonde hair, and light pink lip gloss. She looked breathtaking.
I slid in next to her when she finally opened her locker. Glancing up quickly, she looked away, refusing to meet my eyes.
"So I was thinking. Friday was great. Want to try the boardwalk tomorrow? We'll go right after school." I tried my best to keep my voice sincere, trying to infuse it with as much meaning as I could, as I stared down at her.
"Look Logan. We both know this isn't happening. Either you want to get back at Lilly for dumping you, or you're trying to be nice and cheer me up after what Duncan did. Drop the act and let's go back to the way things were. Go apologise to Lilly, she'll take you back like she always does and life can go back to normal." Veronica didn't look at me once during her speech, grabbing her books and walking away from me. I blinked in shock, watching her walk away, on her part she didn't look back once.
Sometimes I just didn't get girls.
I saw Lilly heading towards me, books in her arms, heading towards her first period class, for once she was walking alone. I grabbed her arm pulling her into the girl's bathroom and kicking the doorstop under the door to hold keep intruders out.
"Geez Logan! Grabby much?" Lilly's voice grated across my already raw nerves.
"I want to know why. Why is she running? Why now? We had our date and it was absofuckinglutely perfect!" I paced back and forth trying to puzzle everything out in my head.
"I haven't spoken to her. The date was good? Did you give her your impression of an octopus?" Lilly raised her eyebrow at me, lips turning up at the corner as she mocked me.
"No! I was a total gentleman! I didn't even try to steal a kiss!" I grumbled loudly, continuing to pace.
"That's your problem then. You didn't even kiss her goodnight." Lilly shrugged her shoulders heading towards the door.
"That's not it! She just gave me some bullshit line about trying to cheer her up, or get even with you, or some such shit." I shook my head; I was feeling like an idiot. I should have known someone like Veronica Mars would never fall for my smooth Echolls charm.
"Getting even with me?" Lilly raised her brow and lifted one slender shoulder. "You trying to get back in my pants Logan?" She laughed slightly at my horrified look. "That's what I thought, it's just her insecurities talking. Every girls got 'em."
"Well what the hell do I do Lilly? I can compete with another guy, can't really compete against her now can I?" This whole thing was starting to look hopeless, well more hopeless than it was in the beginning.
"I'll talk to her, see what the deal is, see if I can bulk her up." Lilly smiled coming towards me, for a moment I almost back away; she had the look of a panther stalking her prey. I barely managed to hold my ground, but all she did was kiss me quickly on the cheek. "I'll talk to her, we'll deal." She winked at me and she was gone.
I stood in the middle of the girl's bathroom thinking over my options. I really didn't have any. Wait. I'm in the girl's bathroom. The flush crept up my neck and I hurried out and towards my first period class. A boy in the girl's bathroom was just wrong.
I was driving myself insane. I knew it, the maid knew it, and the hole I was wearing in my floor knew it, yet there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop it. No, that wasn't right, there was something that could stop it. Lilly could stop being a selfish bitch; pick up her phone and fucking call me.
I flipped open my cell phone for the thousandth time and willed it to ring, which is probably why I threw the phone half way across the room when it actually did ring. I felt like an idiot scrambling across the floor after it, answering with a breathless hello.
"What are you doing jerking off?" Lilly's voice came across with a muffled smile. I banged my head on the floor a couple of times, hoping it would knock some sense into me.
"No, stop being a bitch and tell me. She hates me right? Hated the date? She's still in love with Duncan? Fuck, why did I let you talk me into this?" I kept banging my head on the floor.
"She likes you." I paused in my self-mutilation, waiting for her to say more, anything else but apparently unless I fished that was all I was getting.
"What?" Was the most intelligent thing I could come up with. She likes me? Then what the hell was with the cold shoulder? The hiding? The telling me to go back to Lilly? I really didn't understand girls.
"You heard me the first time dork boy. She likes you, in a more than platonic way." I could hear Lilly laughing outright now, the laugh that told me she thought I was a hilarious idiot.
"But…" I trailed off when Lilly broke in.
"She thought I'd mind. Friends don't date friends ex's. It's the rule." Everything was starting to make sense.
"What did you say to her?" I couldn't help but wonder if Lilly had screwed me over on this front. It would be just like her to get my hopes up, then take it all away on a whim, bitch that she was.
"What do you think I told her? I told her to go for it, throw herself at you, she's pretty certain she ruined everything with her little stunt today." I felt something loosen in my chest, something that felt suspiciously like panic.
"She likes me?" I couldn't help but ask. I was an idiot, a dumbfounded idiot.
"Get over it. Be prepared to get pissed off tomorrow, its time to start our revenge on Dick. You can use it to your advantage. Show Veronica that blinding jealousy that used to drive me mad." Lilly giggled when I sighed.
"What did you tell her to do?" I couldn't completely keep the fear out of my voice. Lilly had a dangerous mind and I was a smart boy, things were gonna get bad.
"Later lover." Were the last words I heard before she hung up on me. Fucking bitch hung up on me!
I stared at the phone for a moment before clicking it closed. Jealous? I could do jealous.