Redeeming LoVe
Chapter 8: More Questions
Veronica
I knew what I was about to do might get me in a lot of trouble, but I needed to do it. I don't think my dad would understand why I had to do it, but I knew one person who might. I would talk to them later about it. I had spent several hours just looking at the two photos knowing that they just don't add up. I knew there was only one person who could tell me about them, but he was currently rotting away in jail for a crime he didn't commit.
"Cliff McCormack. Just the person I wanted to see. Can I get you some coffee, a doughnut, baked good of some sort?" I ask trying to be as nice as I could be.
"Aren't we pleasant? You're not gonna try to sell me a raffle ticket, are ya?" Cliff replies looking around the office probably for my dad.
"Close. I want you to get me onto death row to meet with Abel Koontz," I say as he chocks then laughs probably thinking I was being silly.
"You crazy kids. This stuff you're into," he says as he sits down in front of me. "Hula-hoops, cramming into phone booths, visiting death row inmates. What's it going to be next month?" he half mutters not looking me in the eye.
"I'm serious. You're Koontz's lawyer. I need to speak with him about some new information," I plead with him as he just shakes his head so I tilt my head to one side.
"Interesting fact; once a person confesses to a crime, gets sentenced to death and refuses to appeal, the term becomes former lawyer," he states as he looks down at his watch.
"You can get him to see me," I say smiling because I knew he was putty in my hand.
"He alone decides who he'll see and so far, he's seen no one. Yes, me, his $20 an hour public defender. Dershowitz, Cochran and Shapiro were offering up their limbs, and he comes here for representation. I failed criminal law and I still know that can't be good," he mutters unhappily as I then decide to question him. I show him the photos I collected and then ask him if he thought they were the same ones.
Cliff really didn't understand why I thought the man was lying because to him he was as guilty as they came. I mean sure he admitted to the crime and all, but there really wasn't any evidence that proved he was there. Finally Cliff told me to write him a letter and he would make sure he got it, that's all he could do.
XOXOXOXOXO
I was feeling a little better as I got out of the shower. I hated having to have gym class, but since I dropped pep squad I needed to pick up the requirement for physical education or something. On the bright side I also got a hot shower. I wrapped my towel around my body as I walked over to my locker to change clothes.
"Where are my clothes?" I yell as I open my locker finding it empty. I could tell by the looks, smirks and giggling that the other girls had done this. "Where are my clothes?" I ask once more as non of them respond, but start to leave. I walk to the toilet area where sure enough all my clothes were. I hated how the kids treated me like I was nothing more than a parasite, but the truth was most of the rumors weren't even true.
"Veronica, did you find your clothes, yet?" Meg asks as she runs toward me then stops once she sees that I had found them after all. "Ugh, the people can be so awful here," she admits.
"Well does this towel make me look fat?" I ask with a small smile.
"You need something to wear?" she asks softly as I want to say no, but the alternative would be to wear dirty PE clothes. Meg went to her gym bag and pulled out her Pep squad uniform. She thought she had sweats, but no her uniform. I thanked her for it, and put it on. I still had another period before lunch. Whenever I walked by some of the 09er guys they would make noises and whistle at me as I passed by.
"God, you must have been one hell of a beauty on the field," Troy says as he joins me.
"What do you want Troy?" I question as he reaches for the fringe of the skirt.
"I just needed to see you in this outfit. I mean the pictures don't do you any justice," he smirks as he shoves me into a locker near a dark hallway.
"Leave me alone," I snap as I go to move, but he holds me firmly in place as he places a hand on my thigh moving it up under my skirt until he is jerked away from me.
"Leave her the hell alone," Logan says as he stands between the two of us.
"You think just because your daddy is a big time actor you're invincible. You are going to cross the wrong person one day and they will teach you some manners," Troy spats at Logan as he punches him in the face. "That is my last warning. Stay the hell away from my girlfriend," Troy says as Logan falls backwards sending me back into the lockers.
"Shit," I mutter as I try to stand up. My whole back hurt.
"Ronnie you okay," Logan says as he moves to the side on the floor beside me.
"Yeah," I mutter as I slowly stand up. He moves to do the same, but when he catches what I have on her stops in his tracks. His eyes are looking me up and down. "Would you like a picture?" I snap as I know it's not right, but he was probably imagining something dirty in his mind.
"No, I have one," he mutters as I raise an eyebrow. "I was sent a few from some of the guys, but they do no justice to seeing you in the outfit in person," he says as he gestures at my outfit. I look down and have to admit he was right. A photo wouldn't really capture the essence of me totally. He walks me to class before heading to the computer lab. I felt like I was over thinking things with Logan and I, but there was something new there. I wasn't sure what it was, but it was there. I had a bad feeling that it might have been there longer than either of us had even thought it had.
XOXOXOXOXO
After school I headed over to Wallace's to enjoy some good television since the Mars family didn't have cable anymore. I was glad I had made friends with Wallace because he was someone I knew I could depend on for anything without having to make excuses for why I do things. He understood me in a way that other people didn't. As I was eating some chips I watched Wallace as he surfed the internet on his laptop.
"Twenty seconds, baby," I say as I try to get his attention. I wasn't really too interested in the fight, but more or less the bonding.
"You're this excited about the Super Featherweight Crown?" he says softly in a joking manner.
"I know I'm usually so passive. But our bond grows stronger every day, he-who-has-satellite-dish," I say seriously.
"So, did you take the purity test? Yeah, me neither. Stupid, right," he says as he looks over at me. I had seen it, but didn't take it. I wasn't really concerned about that sort of thing. I knew who I was.
"What'd you score?" I ask checking to see if I could catch him.
"Seventy," he says as I laugh. Of course he took the test. I bet the whole school had taken the test.
"Wow, you are 30% danger-lovin', girl-touchin' rock star," I say jokingly as he just shakes his head knowing I caught him.
"More like one point away from being cool," he mutters as I try to think of something to help him with his so called issue. I myself couldn't care less what others thought about me. The rumors hurt, but that's all they were just rumors. "That had to be at least worth two points," I say as he gives me a look while he walks out of the room.
I heard the majority of the conversation between Wallace and his mom, it hurt to hear her talk about me as if I wasn't even in her home. Of course the peoples at Kane Software would be filling her head with their open agenda, but to hear her actually tell Wallace what she thought of me hurt more than her doing it to my face.
I decided to use his computer to see what the big fuss was about his whole purity test. I knew the questions were the same for everyone, but now there was an added bonus people could buy other people's tests. I guess secrets always have a way of coming out sooner or later. Wallace comes back into the room trying to be normal, but I knew his normal was being affected by his mom now.
"Did your mom invite me for supper?" I ask trying to break the silence.
"Aw no, it's no big deal. You know how many girls she caught flashing me?" he tries to brush the whole incident off, but the thought that they were here for a fresh beginning meant they might be running from something, but was Wallace even aware of what it was.
"Listen to this. Not that innocent? Buy the results of anyone's purity test. Ten dollars will let you know if you're dating an angel from heaven or a hottie from hell," I say reading the caption off of the website.
"That's crazy. You can go on there and buy anyone's test?" he asks a little bemused.
"I never thought I'd say this...but I kinda can't wait for school tomorrow. I mean can you just imagine the have not's vs. the haves in the hallway first thing in the morning," I ask gleefully. We both settled into the couch for the fight that was the whole reason I was over in the first place.
***LoVe***
Logan
I totally hated Troy, but no matter what came his way he seemed to be sticking around. The thing I disliked the most about him was the way he lurked about waiting for Veronica to be alone before attaching himself to her. It irked me more than usual when he was with her in that cheerleading outfit. God, I missed seeing her in it, but he didn't have to make her more uncomfortable than she already was.
I watched as some of the 09ers were still making catcalls at Veronica when she walked by in her outfit, but I didn't join them. She looked over at me for a brief moment before she left Meg who had came out of the building with her. I could see Troy looking in her direction as well from his seat next to Kimmie.
Dick though is reading off his laptop as everyone around us seems interesting in this purity test thing.
"Number 26, have you ever done it in a car? Yes. Number 27, have you ever done it in a moving car? Yes again," he says laughing. Of course most of us had did the majority of the items he had been reading, but the look on Troy's face when he mention doing it in the car worried me.
I half listened as Pam made rude comments about Veronica in her pep squad uniform. I mean was it any of her business who Meg let wear her things. Between Kimmie and Pam always hanging around us I could have sworn it was only for Duncan Kane. Especially Pam; she usually always sits within earshot of him.
Pam and Kimmie laugh as Meg joins them. Meg cuddles up to Cole.
"Tell that to Logan. She put a bong in his locker and got him suspended," Dick says as Troy looks in my direction, of course Dick with his big mouth. I turn to the group to listen to what was being said.
"What about Ashley? She told her that her dad was having an affair. A week later her parents split up," Kimmie says. Well the truth was that Ashley's dad was having an affair, but let's blames Veronica for it.
"You're too nice, Meg. The girl's a skank," Pam says as I have to take a deep breath to calm myself. If anyone was truly a Skank it was her. I watch as Duncan joins us and Pam redirects herself closer to him.
They all joust with each other about their scores, but all that didn't really matter to me. I mean who really cared who did more than the next person. I wish I could see what Lilly thought about this type of a scandal. She would play it for whatever it was worth. Lilly always loved a scandal no matter who it hurt.
I didn't need any test to score me on my purity. I was no doubt a sinner in all the different ways one could be. I had a lot of free time practicing with Lilly when she was alive and then whatever flavor of the week I found. I was a jackass from the get go. Wow, no wonder Veronica was usually mad at me. I was one hell of a jerk to her. I get up to walk away as Troy gets up as well. I head for my SUV to ditch the rest of the day, while he heads back into the school building.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXO
I was just about ready to head to bed when the doorbell rang. I knew both of my parents were out of town, and the staff was all gone. I debated on whether or not to answer it, but the thought of it being someone important got to me.
"This better be important," I half snap as I open the door.
"Well, if it isn't Mr. Manners working his magic," Veronica says as I stare at her. She isn't her peppy self.
"Come in Veronica," I finally say as I move out of her way. I am closing the door when I see a car with the window down across the street. It looked like it was Troy, but I couldn't be sure of it.
"I think I did something that might make those around me mad," she says as I look confused.
"Well there isn't much more that you could do that wouldn't make most people mad at you," I joke as she lightly punches me.
"I asked Abel Koontz's former attorney to get me in for a visit," she half mutters as I fall back onto the sofa out of a mixture of anger and confusion.
"What the hell Veronica?" I finally snap as I am having a hard time forming thoughts in my head. I mean why the hell would she even want to see the man who murdered Lilly. There was no reason at all for her to even go near the bastard. He was in the place he was in because he murdered someone.
"I just have something that isn't making sense to me about why he murdered Lilly. I just want to ask him a few questions, and then I'll leave it alone," she says as I try to think of what to say.
"What does your dad have to say about this?" I ask already knowing the answer when she looks up at me. "Seriously, Veronica," I mutter.
"Logan I thought out of everyone you would understand why I need to do this," she says trying hard not to break down. "I have to get the answers from him," she says as she turns to leave, but I grab her wrist before she has a chance to run.
"Fine, but I get to go with you," I say as she shakes her head. "It's not up for discussion. I go or I tell your dad," I say using the only card I knew might work. She looks at me as if she was trying to decide if she would rather her dad know or not.
"Okay, but you have to wait in the car. I need to go in alone," she says as I just nod my head. I didn't like the idea, of her going into the prison alone, but I couldn't force her to let me go in.
"Was there anything else," I ask as she looks around for a moment.
"No, I needed to tell someone and you were the only person I knew who would halfway understand my reasoning," she says as I give her a tight smile. Truth was I didn't understand, but I also knew if Veronica wanted me to know she would tell me.
"I should head home before my dad sends out the hounds," she mumbles as I laugh. I knew her dad worried about her, and knowing him he might just do something that crazy.
"Veronica at least he cares enough about you to worry like that," I say as she looks back at me.
"I know, but sometimes it feels hard to do things I need to do," she says as she hugs me before walking back to the door and walking out of it. I disliked how strange some of our conversations went. There were so many times I felt weird after talking with her. It felt like there was this pull between us, but we were both fighting it. I have felt it on and off since I met her that day in her soccer uniform. She was so cute with her knee socks, pony tail and wild grin. I have had some feeling for her ever since.
***LoVe***
Veronica
I wouldn't have thought that walking into Neptune High would bring me such pleasure as I felt right now. The utter looks some people were giving others to the frantic numbers all over the lockers told me everything I needed to know. It was utter chaos. I was about to plaster a smile on my face until I felt the hair on my neck stand, Troy.
"It seems everyone's little dirty secrets are all coming out," he sneers at me as I look to Meg who is being yelled at by Cole her boyfriend.
"Well I wonder if there was a question on the test about being a lying, cheating, dirt bag, steroid user," I snap at him as he grabs my arm hard twisting his fingers as he pulls me closer to him.
"No, but it did tell me you were a bitch," he snaps at me as I try to wiggle my arm out of his grasp. "How was your little outing last night? Did Logan give you a quickie before shoving you out the door like the whore you are?" he sneers at me as I see Logan coming toward us with Duncan.
"Troy," Duncan says a story lets go of my arm. I want to stay strong, but a tear slips down my cheek before I have a chance to high tail it away from them. I make my way to Meg who is still trying to clean the number 48 off of her locker.
"I knew when you came back from Spain last summer; there was something different about you. Should have guessed you slept with that Javier guy. You couldn't shut up about him," Cole snaps in Meg's face.
"He was our tour guide," Meg says trying not to cry.
"Oh. Was sex included in the package or was that extra?" He sneers at her as Troy walks by us sending a shiver down my spine.
"I did not have sex with him. I haven't had sex with anybody. This is crazy; I didn't even take the test," Meg says adamantly which makes me think who might have taken it for her. Cole though continued to harass her about it.
"I-I didn't even do anything," she stutters as I move closer to her holding out some tissue for her.
"I know," I say as she looks at me puzzled.
"You believe me?" she asks softly as I give her a smile.
"Meg, I don't think you could really do anything like this because you are probably the only honest and good person her at this school. I'd easily believe cartoon birds braided your hair this morning for you. If you want, I can find out who posted that test for you. We'll clear your name and make somebody pay," I say with a wicked smile.
"Really?" she asks surprised.
"Unless there's a fairy godmother already on it," I say as we walk down the hallway together. Meg headed for her class as I headed toward the computer lab. The teacher in there wasn't very useful for me, but he did tell me about a student who might be able to help me. I just had to find the one with blue hair.
I looked a student with blue hair only to find her in the parking lot kicking a really old beaten up car. The car alone looked like it could fall apart at any moment. I helped her unlock the car by using one of the slider grips from one of my report covers. I learned this trick of course from my dad. She couldn't believe it when the trick actually worked and the door unlocked. We talked about cars as I showed her mine. She liked it.
"I'm Veronica, by the way," I say as if she really didn't know me. I mean more people knew me from the rumors than I knew of them.
"Mac," Mac replies as I thought about that for a moment.
"Is that 'cause you're good with computers?" I ask really unsure about it.
"Ah, no, 'cause my last name's Mackenzie. How'd you know I was good at computers?" she counter questions as I see Logan walking toward his SUV. He gives me a small smile as he gets in. I just give her a smile as she begins to explain it all for me.
"Every student has an email address that's easily accessible. You're VeronicaMars , Meg would be MegManning ," she says as I understand that.
"That's the easy part. Anyone can buy a copy of the test but to post the results in the first place, you need to use your password. Who has that information?" I ask as she looks to the side. I think I just found her tell. Mac looks left when she is about to lie.
"Only the student and the IT guy," she says as I see she seems nervous as well. Mac is hiding something big. She tells me about our schools IT guy. I didn't even know we had one, but okay.
I was back at Wallace's house that night using his living room to pose for the letter I was writing to Abel to get in to see him. I was holding my hands up in a strange way as Wallace called me out on it. I wanted to laugh he was so naïve. Just as he took the last photo his phone rang. While he went to answer it I noticed his mom going at it with their renter. The guy looked like a creep to me from the window. I watch as he shuts the door in her face. Of course she is not happy. I finish putting my things away. It wasn't my problem, but the way the guy treated her made me upset.
XOXOXOXOXOXO
I could tell Meg was in some sort of trouble as I watched her on the morning broadcast. She was jumpy and looked like she was warily of everyone or thing around her. It was wrong that her so called friends were treating her like this. The boy on the program with her threw her for a loop when he went off track about being an actress. I noticed how she tensed up like she was ready for a big ole fight. She seemed relieved when he went on about why he was asking, but still worried.
I found Meg at her locker as I was rounding the corner, "Hey, you alright" I asked as she looked up at me.
"Barely, boys have been calling my house, emailing me porn, slut sneezing," she mutters as she dabs her nose with a tissue.
"What?" I asked as I was puzzled with what she meant.
"Slut, slut," she demonstrates how the boys were doing it by sneezing out the words in her hand. I totally got it now.
Meg closes her locker, and we walk down the hallway together.
"Okay, whoever posted those results had to have gotten hold of your password somehow. Here's my very important question. Does
anyone else besides you know it?" I ask as she is walking toward her next class and I have to walk one more door to mine.
"No, no one. Well Lizzie might know it, but she wouldn't do something like this. I don't think she would at least," Meg says as she turns to look at me. I knew who I now needed to talk with, but like Meg said why would Lizzie post the test. What would she benefit from doing it? Meg went into her classroom and I went in search of my new lead.
I walked into the bathroom a few minutes after Lizzie did. I watched as she began to apply her makeup. I thought it was strange that Meg hardly ever wore makeup, but Lizzie painted it on. Lizzie was very sincere in the fact that she didn't do this to her sister, and I must say she did make a very valiant attempt to release herself of the blame. I was still unsure if I could trust her to be innocent or to blame her out right. Yes, I might not have found the guilty party. I watched as the new made up version of Lizzie walked out of the restroom.
I now needed to go get myself a password. I head toward the IT office that I actually didn't know existed until just recently. There is a man with his back to me working on a computer.
"Mr. DeMouy?" I ask hoping I said his name correctly.
"Yes?" he says with a beautiful French accent, as he turns to look at me. Oh my god, no wonder Mac gave me the look when she was telling me about him. He is very good looking with his dark eyes and wonderful accent.
"Whoa! Um, I was-"I half stutter trying to reel in my thoughts.
"Can I help you with something?" he asks slightly annoyed.
"I hope so. Um, my friend Julie, it's her sweet sixteen tomorrow and I wanted to change her screen saver to say happy birthday, like, as a surprise, but I don't know her password. I was told I could get it from you. She won't mind, I promise. We're like total BFFs," I say as I get back on track with my thoughts in the most perky and peppy voice as I could muster.
"I don't know what that means but I cannot give you someone else's password. They are confidential," he says as he looks over my head as if he was watching for someone of something to happen. I even try to bribe him, but he won't fall for it. He is very adamant that it's not something he could do. That he could lose his job and get in a lot of trouble if he did it. I wasn't sure about him, but wouldn't cross him off my list fully just yet.
I headed toward the auditorium since I knew Meg would be there for her tryout for the play. I stopped to watch Kimmie. She was talented, but nothing like Meg. I had seen the play the year before with her in it and Meg rocked it.
"Good job, Kimmie. Um, Meg? You're up," one of the teachers says as Kimmie sits down with a grin on her face. I watch Meg take center stage, and begin her tryout. The students in the audience began to make rude comments and little snips at her. I could tell from her posture and body language that the remarks were getting to her. I wasn't surprised when she ran off the stage. I was more or less ticked off by then. I had just smacked the second guy in the back of the head as she fled.
"Life is so not a cabaret," I say trying to lighten up the mood once I caught up with her in the hallway near our lockers.
"I can't take this anymore. This is too much. Everyone thinks I'm the biggest slut in school," she mutters turning to look at me. We had just gotten to my locker which now had a nice red #14 sprayed on it.
"Well, second biggest," I say as I point to the number on my locker. I wonder what took them so long to finally come after me. I knew one thing that Logan wasn't behind this. Meg and I head in different directions when I see Logan look up at me as I passed him. He gave me a small smile before Troy bumped into me.
"So I finally see that you being a whore has finally made the list. I was wondering why you didn't have your scarlet letter yet, but the powers that be must have heard my thoughts. I see you finally got a score for your duties," he sneers at me as I move to the side to walk around him.
"Don't you dare?" I snap as he moves to stop me, but this time I have my taser out and ready. He backs up slightly with a huge grin on his face.
"This is going to be so much fun. I can't wait until I can strip you of all your worth," he smugly says as I have to keep my head up to stay upright. I hated how vulnerable Troy was making me feel.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXO
I made dinner to keep my dad from over thinking all of the extra activities I have been doing lately. Actually it was to keep him from bothering me with how little time he spends with me. I needed a few hours to work on my letter to Abel Koontz. I had my laptop open working on my photo and reading up on everything I could get my hands on about him. I needed to be well versed in case he called me on something. I was able to find out some things about his hometown and other things he might have been involved in. I was using an alias to get into the meeting. I knew he was from Virginia so I would take that angle. I was from his home state studying her in California.
'Dear Mr. Koontz, my name is Ellen White and I'm a graduate student in criminology at San Diego State University. I also happen to be from your home town. I would love the opportunity to talk with you.' I wrote as I tried to play to his weaknesses, as well as his strengths. I wouldn't be getting a second chance to meet him, and I wanted everything to be done in this one meeting. I still had to wait to see if I was going to get to visit him, and then I had to let Logan know.
Once I had finished writing the most boring letter in my life I decided to splurge the $10 dollars just to see what my purity test said. I mean come on some of the answers were so not me, but who ever posted it what to sling more dirt my way. I was ready to deck the person who filled out the test. It totally was the worst $10 bucks I ever spent. I had to admire the person who set the thing up. I mean come on an idiot wouldn't be able to pass it up. I would need to change my password tomorrow morning. I mean apparently I've pleasured the entire swim tea while I was jacked up on goofballs. What the hell were goofballs? Ugh! If Logan was really behind this I was going to murder his sorry ass.
XOXOXOXOXOXO
I headed back to the IT office first thing. I knocked on the door just as Renny turned around from his computer monitors. He held a look I couldn't quite decode.
"You're back," he mutters as he moves away from the computer he was working on.
"I need to change the password on my email account. Someone managed to figure out the old one," I say as I was trying to be nice. I felt like I was in the presence of a total douchbag.
"That's why your password should always include numbers as well as letters. Everyone thinks its fun to use the name of your dog or boyfriend, but that actually makes it easy to crack.
Renny moves to a computer screen," he says smugly like he was talking to an 8 year old. I knew that a long time ago.
"My old password was GJ7B!X," I say as he looks over at me with an amused expression. He mumbles something about making it a little tougher before moving out of the way for me to do another one. This time I used 103Lil.
"Logan," I say as he is walking by me in the hallway.
"Hey," he says before looking around. "Where is your ever present lapdog?" he questions as I look around for Troy as well.
"Can I ask you a question?" I ask hoping not to offend him.
"Sure," he mumbles like it was life or death.
"Did you post my purity test?" I ask as his eyes got huge before giving a chuckle and walking away from me shaking his head. I guess that means 'no'. Damn it, of course Logan wouldn't have done it.
XOXOXOXOXO
I was feeling bad about even accusing Logan of doing it. I mean he has been nice to me and even stood up for me a few times with Troy. Why did I even think he could be capable of doing that to me? Ugh! I am trying to clear my head lying on the couch, until someone knocks on the apartment door. I am surprised to find Wallace there we had another hour or so before our study date. He wasn't too happy either.
"You ready to put the hurt on that Pythagorean Theorem?" I ask joking as he gives me a pointed look before starting to pace around the little space.
"Oh, you don't even wanna mess with me on that today. I just about murked my mom's crazy, no-rent-paying tenant this afternoon," he have snaps at me making me take in his physical appearance.
"That guy's sleazy so I hope "murked" means something bad. You know, my dad's still got that sheriff sheen. He's great at scaring people away," I say as he seems to settle down slightly, but all together.
"No, I got it covered," he says rubbing his knuckles.
"Am I giving you the birds and bees again, Wallace?" my dad says as he decides to joke around with the fact that I told Wallace to talk with him. Of course he would be coming into the room a minute late missing the whole conversation.
I decide to tell my dad the whole story about Wallace's mom and her stupid renter who was totally taking advantage of her. My dad asked Wallace a few questions before giving me a look. He said he would go talk to his mom and offer to help her if she needed it. Wallace smiled and thanked my dad. We then got busy on our math homework as my dad slipped out of the apartment.
XOXOXOXOXO
I got up with a huge burden. I needed to talk with Logan to apologize for thinking he would do something like this to me. Plus I found where the test came from. I hoped that was good news, but I wasn't totally sure yet about it. I hadn't been able to find Logan, but of course Troy found me.
"Morning lover," he whispered into my ear as I almost flipped out as I was digging in my locker looking for a book.
"What the hell?" I say actually slamming my locker. "Troy I am not your lover nor am I your girlfriend. This is mild harassment," I say as I try to leave.
"You are my lover whether you like it or not. I will have you before I give you up to that manwhore," he sneers into my face pushing me into the lockers and slamming his lips on mine as he assaults me. I am pushing on him to leave me alone, but he continues as he pushes me rougher into the door as I can vaguely hear whistles and rude comments coming from the other students in the hallway. "Just remember what I am capable of," he says as he walks away leaving me frighten and scared. I hadn't felt like this since Shelly's party the year before. It was a flood of emotions I wasn't willing to go through right now, so I put on my game face as I headed toward English. I was sitting in the back of the room with Meg whispering about what I had found out, but she then told me that Lizzie subscribed to it. She was the only student who did, but still she didn't seem like the guilty party to me.
"Veronica. You seem to be in a sharing mood. Why don't you tell us your position on this?" Mrs. Murphy asks as I guess she noticed us not paying attention.
"All fours," Dick yells out as I am pondering my question, he was in for a rude awakening now I smirked. Just like any other immature class at Neptune High the student body begins to laugh at my embarrassment.
"Dick Casablancas. You can see me after class," the teacher says as Dick looks in my direction giving me a nasty look, but I am one step ahead of him as I wag my pointer finger at him with a smirk of my own plastered on my face.
The rest of the day went on without too many insists where I wanted to murder my fellow classmates. I still hadn't been able to find Logan, but Troy on the other hand was everywhere. I was getting so sick and tired of him being all over me, but I wasn't sure what to do about it just yet. My dad told me him spoke with Wallace's mom, but she wanted to handle things on her own. I knew he would have to step in later, but kept that information to myself. We had leftover pizza, and as my dad decided to watch TV I decided my homework wasn't going to do itself.
I had just finished up my English assignment when my phone rang. It wasn't a number I knew, but I answered it anyway.
"Ellen White, please," the caller asks as I was a little startled but thankful I didn't answer with Veronica Mars. I freeze for a moment knowing this was the moment of truth.
"Speaking," I say small voice.
"I'm calling to set up a visitation with Abel Koontz. He's agreed to see you this Friday between two and four. Prison guidelines are as follows…" he begins as I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding. I begin to write it all done, so that I had it when I would go for the visit. "No cameras permitted inside…" he continued as I wrote more and more.
"Dad, I'm going out for a little while," I say as I exit my bedroom to find him fast asleep with Backup curled up next to him. "Come on," I tell the lazy pit-bull as I snap the leash on him and grab my bag before heading out the door. I drive to the familiar house. I push the buzzer instead of trying the code. I wait for a few minutes and as I was just about to leave the gates open. I notice the obnoxious yellow beast in the middle of the driveway.
"What do I owe this meeting to? Want to accuse me of more evil," Logan snips toward me before I am even out of my car as I realize he had been drinking.
"No, I wanted to say 'I'm Sorry'," I say as he looks up from the ground where his eyes were trained.
"What?" he questions slowly as if he was sobering up. "Wow hell must have frozen over for Veronica Mars to apologize," he sneers as I watch him turn to walk back into the house. Backup followed closely behind him not giving me a chance to leave.
"Are you alright?" I question as he sits down on the sofa.
"Yeah, perfectly fine," he mutters as I look back at him.
"Your parents home," I ask as his eyes snap up to mine. "Logan if you need a safe place you could stay at our apartment," I say as he laughs.
"Right, why are you even here Veronica," he snaps as he goes back to his drink on the table. "I mean last I knew you thought I would lower myself to posting your purity test, but I bet you didn't even take it. Man the jokes on them," he laughs even harder as he reaches for the bottle of his liquid courage and his glass heading up to his room.
"Logan," I muttered as Backup again decided against me and followed Logan. I went into the kitchen grabbed a bottle of Gatorade and some aspirin for him. When I made it up to the bedroom; I found him with no shirt lying on his stomach with Backup lying next to him on the bed. "Traitor," I snap as I rub his head. He laid it back down on Logan's arm.
"Did you bring aspirin?" he asks as he turns his head toward me. I had him the four pills and the Gatorade. He chugs them all down. "Thank you," he says as I go into the bathroom to get the first aid kit once again.
"What happened?" I asked as he shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know. Everything was going well until Aaron got a call from a developer saying he no longer had time for him to do his remodel project," he says as I look at the gashes on his back. They weren't too deep, but they were already oozing.
"It was Troy's dad wasn't it," I ask as I remember that Troy's dad was a developer.
"Yeah, I found out later," he mumbles as I finish up with his back and lay down beside him as Backup moves in between the two of us. "Did you come by for something?" he questions after a few minutes.
"I came by to apologize, and to let you know I got the meeting with Koontz for this Friday between 2 and 4," I say as he looks up with a brief flash of anger in his eyes.
"I'll drive," he says as I just nod my head. We lay there for a little while until my phone rings. My dad was calling to see where I was. I said my goodbye and went home. I wanted to talk more with him, but things were strained a little right now. I opened the front door with breath abated that my dad would jump out and freak me out, but no it was quiet and he was in his room. I got ready for bed. I hated that Logan was still being hurt, but I wasn't sure what I could do to help him.
XOXOXOXOXOXO
I was looking forward to meeting Meg for lunch to see if she had heard anything more about who might have been doing this. I was sitting at the lunch table near the 09er tables but she hadn't shown yet. I was very close to the 09er table I once sat at with Lilly and our friends. I hated listening to the guys bad mouthing Meg and her not being there to defend herself.
"So now it comes out. Meg was one of those Britney Spears virgins, huh," Duncan says as I look to him. This isn't something he usually would discuss, but maybe this was a new low for Duncan. I was disgusted by the whole group. "And you were her noble Justin, just keeping it all on the down low," he continued as I watched Lizzie looking toward them as well. The guys' continued their little triad until Lizzie finally spoke up for Meg. In that moment I knew Lizzie wasn't the guilty party.
Once Lizzie had set the guys in their place I asked her where Meg was she told me she stayed home. It was sad that someone would go through so much to destroy another person's life like they were doing to Meg, but then again my life was ruin just like hers.
I noticed a man in the window of the house I had just pulled up to. He wasn't too old, but he was thinning out on the top. I noticed Meg's car in the driveway. Meg's dad was a little weary of letting me in to see his daughter, he had heard things about my family, but being the daughter of the ex-Sheriff's held me to a higher standard in his book.
Meg was lying on her bed under the covers when I walked up to her room. She must have been crying because she had a trash can filled with used tissues. I sit down on the end of her bed as we talk. She told me about the phone calls, he dad finding some dirty letters from a guy she met, but none of it added up to her being this big slut. I made sure to let her know she was going to school the next day, and she was going to find out who was destroying her life.
It struck me hard when she did ask me how I dealt with all of the crap that was thrown at me. I knew I had to get tough or they would have destroyed me even more than they had. I guess knowing that Meg knew where I was coming from meant a little to me, but still things for her would go back to normal, they weren't getting back to normal for me. Logan was still Logan, but he wasn't the jackass he was at the beginning of the year.
I was drying the dishes from our dinner when there was a knock on the door. My dad looked over at me with a puzzled look as I sat down to finish drying.
"Wallace. Come on in," he says turning to look at me.
"Do you think I could crash on your couch tonight? My house is getting exterminated and we have to be out of the house for the night," Wallace says as I continue to dry.
"Sure are you hungry? We just finished supper," he says as smile toward the two of them.
"What happened?" I asked in a hush voice.
"Nothing we just couldn't stay at the house tonight," he says. I asked my dad if he talked with Ms. Fennel, he said he did and she had a plan.
"Overstepping is your main form of transportation," I smirk as he smiles and nods his head at me.
"You know, I have to go back to the office and grab some stuff," he says as he walks out of the door. I knew he was headed back to the office probably to dig up the info he would use to help the Fennels out.
"My mom thinks I'm staying at Norman's house," Wallace says as he comes to stand by the counter.
"Who's Norman?" I ask knowing there wasn't anyone named Norman at our school. He went on to tell me it was his imaginary friend. It hurt a little to know his mom disliked me that much to make Wallace lie to her. It was a big setback for me, but I would be alright. Wallace was my friend; I wasn't going to worry too much about it. We had popcorn and watched a movie until it was time to go to bed.
XOXOXOXOXO
I am trying to get my bag ready for school while Wallace seems to be searching for something as well. "Could you use your investigative skill to help me find my keys?" he says as he is pulling up the cushions on the sofa.
"Hmm. You got breakfast?" I say as my dad enters the apartment holding a bag with bagels in his hand.
"Don't act like this isn't usual. Wallace will think I did it for him. Don't make me look bad in front of your little friend," he grumbles as he set them on the counter.
"I know you bought them for me. Have you seen my keys?" Wallace asks my dad who puts his hands in his pocket and pulls out a set of keys.
"Well, what do you know? The last place you'd think to look." He says tossing them to Wallace as he heads toward his room giving me a wink and whistling as he walks by me.
"Come on," I finally say as Wallace grabs the bagels before I could get them.
Once I get to school and wrestle Wallace for a few bagels to the amusement of Logan who was standing by his locker. He gave me a small wave as he smiled at me. I chuckled at the mild manner he was in today. I found Mac in the computer lab hard at work.
"Ten bucks a pop, man. Somebody's getting rich. I know some kids who have ordered dozens," she says as she notices me behind her.
"Did you order any?" I ask as she looks back at me with an annoyed expression. I guess I asked a dumb question.
"Think that I have ten dollars to spare? You've seen my car, right? I don't think I have any extra money to spare for a test of stupidity," she half mocks as I just laugh. She was right her car was worse off than mine and that was saying a lot. She emailed me the paperwork for the dummy corporation, but when I went to log onto my email account it wouldn't allow me to do so.
"The computer won't let me access my account," I say worried as she leans over my shoulder to see why I couldn't log into my account.
"Somebody's logged on as you right now," she says as I look back at the screen for a moment to think about who would be doing this right now. "It says they're on a computer in the journalism room," she says as she clicks a few more keys. The bell rings signaling the end of our break. Mac and I race to the Journalism room, but the room is empty by the time we get there. We are about to turn to leave when I notice one of the screens was still open to email.
"So how hush-hush are the contents of your mailbox?" Mac asks as she comes up beside me. I have to remember that this email was only used for school.
"I only use this one for homework and class schedules, anything related to school mostly. Anything important or not for others eyes, I keep in my personal email, not my Neptune- Oh god," I groan as I look at my out box. Crap, why did I still have his email address in my contacts.
"Veronica," Mac says as I try to breathe normally. I was ready to hyperventilate.
"Crap, my outbox has an email from me to my ex," I say as she half rolls her eyes at me.
"Duncan Kane or Troy Vandergrift?" she asks puzzled as what was the big deal. I give her a surprised look. "You used to be all anyone gossiped about. You still are, just…in a different way. So what does it say?" she mutters softly giving me a small smile.
"Dear Duncan. I want you to know that I still love you very much and I think about you constantly. Every time I see you, my heart breaks. I need to tell you that when we were dating I had VD. I hope you didn't catch anything from me…" I read the email out loud as I turn to Mac who just looks at me. "Am I naked? If this was a dream I would be buck naked," I say as she shakes her head. I am trying to figure out who has it out for me other than Troy when the computer beeps.
"It's an IM someone thinks you are still online or whoever was pretending to be you," Mac says as I look at the IM of a frog.
"Yet, the bell has rung and the person should know that I would have moved onto my next class unless they aren't in class," I say as I finally get a piece of the missing puzzle. Mac watches me as I type, 'Can you get a password for me.' The person on the other end gives me all the evidence I needed with his reply, 'Another one?'
I don't even log off of the computer as I get up ready to move onto my next task. Mac is following closely behind me, "Veronica do we know who froggy is," she asks as I don't slow down. I am to my car before I stop and explain to her what was going on. Mac kind of looked strangely at me, but nodded her head in understanding.
I followed our school's IT guy because he was the only person who had the access to get the passwords to the low rent version of Lovers' Lane, Inspiration Rock Quarry and while there's nothing more satisfying than solving a case. I waited a few minutes for him to park and settle in with his lady friend. After ten minutes I race to the parked car and begin talking pictures from every angle possible with the flash. I knew the occupants would be scrambling to get dressed if I waited too long, so I was in and out within 3 minutes.
XOXOXOXOXOXO
I was smiling to myself as I quickly hid my video recorder waiting for my prey to come. I wasn't ready for the bastard who has been stalking me though.
"Well, what do we have here," Troy sneers at me as he roughly reaches for my face. I try to move but he has me blocked in.
"What is your issue?" I snap as I try to knee him, but I can't get a good shot for it to affect him.
"I don't like my woman flirting with other guys while I am dating them. I don't like them hanging out with them either. Don't think I don't know about your late night visits with Logan Echolls," he spits into my face as I turn my head slightly to avoid all of his spit.
"You had your dad cancel on Aaron Echolls, why would you do that. What is your issue with him?" I snap as I shove him but have no side effect.
"He is trying to get into your pants. You're my girlfriend not his," he yells at me as he slams his hand into the locker beside my head.
"I am not your girlfriend. If you don't leave me alone I will report your sorry ass," I say as I see Mr. Clemmons coming around the corner. "Mr. Clemmons," I yell out as Troy turns to look at the Vice Principal before letting me go and moving away from me.
"Veronica," he says as he passes me by. I let out the breath I was holding. I see my target coming so I take a deep breath to clear my head of all trouble with Troy.
"Hey, Kimmie, check this out. I followed our IT guy Renny around last night. Guess where he ended up well maybe you don't actually have to guess?" I say as I pull the photos I printed out
"Oh my god. That was you," she mutters looking like she had just eaten something sour.
"Yeah, anyway I heard the purity test website is gonna start posting pictures to illustrate the questions. Wouldn't these be perfect for them to use," I say flipping through the photos pointing out the numbers that each photo could go beside. She was looking ill.
"Why are you doing this?" she mutters looking around to see who was in the hallway.
"I don't know why you would mess with Meg or me. You don't even know me and you posted that test for me. What did I ever do to you," I say as she looks around once more.
"I didn't post your test. I only posted Meg's," she says trying to move along.
"Damn it stop lying to me. I know you got my password from Renny. You know I don't think they allow conjugal visits in prison he's 23 and your only 17," I snap trying to stay calm but I losing my patience with her.
"Pam posted the test for you. She hates you because Duncan is still hung up on you. I only posted Meg's, I swear," she mumbles as she looks as if she might break down crying.
"Why would you do that to her? What did Meg ever do to you to get you to ruin her like you are?" I snap as she just shakes her blonde hair.
"What did she do? Are you blind Veronica; she gets everything I want, everything; the lead in the musical, cheerleader, the anchor job. What does Meg Manning have that I don't," she glares at me as I smile at her. I got everything I needed to clear Meg.
"Thanks, Kimmie you just dug your own hole," I say smiling at her as I open the locker next to mine and pull out the hidden camera. Kimmie was speechless when she saw what I had in my hand. I asked her who was behind the purity test, but she was adamant that she didn't know who had set it up. I thought her boyfriend might have, but she said he knew nothing about it.
Veronica opens her locker and takes out the video camera.
I was sitting two seats over from Duncan when the announcements came on. I had to copy the admission to keep the incident with Troy out of the footage.
"Last night's victory continued the winning streak for the Pirate lacrosse team. Kevin Stockland has a story," Meg says smiling when my piece comes on retelling the whole incident with Kimmie as to who was behind Meg's downfall. When I hear Kimmie talk as to why Pam was out to destroy me because of Duncan I realized I should have set it for when it should have started. Duncan turns to look back at me but I avoid his eyes altogether. I do catch Troy looking into the room from the hallway with a devious smile on his face. The footage breaks back to the original broadcast of the lacrosse team resumes.
"And last night's lacrosse match with the Point Pleasant Raiders…" the boy says as I stop pay attention.
I am able to get finish the rest of the day without another incident from Troy or walking into anyone else who might cause some trouble. I am walking past Dick's car as his engine is steaming. I'll have to remember to send Weevil something for his help with that.
I see Mac as she honks before passing me by in a brand new Beetle. 'Of course there really was only one person who was really capable or even smart enough to set up the purity test. Mac was the brains behind the whole scandal. How can I resent someone who took sex-crazed 09ers for their allowance money?' I have to laugh at that as I watch her pull out of the parking lot in her new green beetle. I am about to get to my car as I see Meg walking up to me.
"Here I was looking for a white horse," she says with a smile. I laugh at her remark.
"Ooh. So now I'm your knight in shining armor?" I ask with a huge grin. She laughs at my remark like I had just done with hers.
"Yeah, I mean you did prove my innocence, and now all of a sudden everyone's running up to me saying how they never believed I did any those things. Cole, even came up to me apologizing wanting to get back together. Not that I care," she says muttering the part about Cole.
"Really I'm glad, funny thing no one has come running up to me, yet," I say with a questioning look. She tells me that's because people are scared of me. I knew that was true, but the funny part was her telling me I needed to rethink my revenge tactic. I laughed because I would if it didn't help me out of sticky situations. The best thing though was here telling me I did have people who cared for me. I knew she was talking about herself. She was walking away as I saw Duncan walking toward his car with a few guys.
"Duncan do you have a minute," I say as he waves to the guys he was walking with.
"Sure," he says as I see Troy walking toward us.
"I wanted you to know somebody stole my computer password, and used it to send fake emails from me to you. I don't have VD nor am I still hung up on you. I don't love you either," I say as I look up at his face. He has a hint of a smile.
"That's good to knows cause, I'm not still hung up on you or anything, either," he says as Troy stops beside him but off to the side.
"Well I never thought you were. I mean you were the one who ended things," I say softly. I decide to leave before things got to strange with Troy listening in and all.
"Veronica wait you don't have VD? 'Cause I keep getting this thing on my lip and I'm not sure who I could've gotten it from," he says jokingly as I punch his shoulder before smiling and walking away. He waves as he walks away with Troy. Well that settled who was out to get Meg and who was out for me. I still needed to figure out what to do with Troy, but I had to meet Logan at Dog Beach.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXO
"I thought you had changed your mind," Logan says as I get out of my car. He was waiting beside his SUV with his surfboard in his hands.
"No, I had a run in with Duncan," I say as his eyes look up at me.
"It was awkward, but we were civil," I say as he puts his board away in his trunk.
"How are things with Troy?" he questions as he gets into the SUV. I look away from him. "Veronica," he snaps as he pulls out of the parking lot.
"It's nothing I can't handle," I say as I look out the window hoping he got the message I didn't want to talk about it. I must have dozed off because when I opened my eyes next he was pulling into the parking lot of the prison.
"Are you sure you need to do this?" he questions as I get the file I needed out of my bag along with my ID saying my name was Ellen White.
"Yes," I say as I get out of the SUV and walk toward the entrance of the Prison. I look back to see Logan get up on the hood of his SUV and sit there. I go through the security and head toward the visiting area, as I walk slowly around to where Abel Koontz was waiting. 'I have always believed the truth will set you free. And I'm looking for the truth in a maximum security prison. Don't worry. The irony isn't lost with me.' I sit down in front of a fragile looking man who picks up the phone on his side gesturing for me to do so as well.
"Ellen White, well aren't you just a breath of fresh air darling," he says grinning at me. He sure didn't look like a murder to me.
"Mr. Koontz I want to thank you for taking the time to meet with me," I say in the best southern voice I could fake.
"Well Ellen it's always nice to chat with a hometown girl. Do you ever get back to good old Stallings Burg for the pear blossom festival?" he says with that same smirk. He was testing me because he asked about the wrong fruit.
"You mean apple blossom, just bought my tickets for May," I say keeping my grin on the inside.
"Of course you know, you remind me of someone I use to know. How old are you, Ellen?" he asks as I look past him at the other prisoners.
"Twenty-two," I say as he looks me over before pursing his lips.
"Hmm, yes she was younger than you. Now, what shall we chat about?" he says as if he was trying to goat me into something, but changes his mind.
"I think I might have found some proof that could get you a retrial. I found these two photographs online that could prove your innocence," I say holding up the two photos of Lilly's shoes from the two different places her room and the evidence bag. He puts on his glasses looks at them and then gives me a frown.
"Now why in the world would I want a retrial when I can have all this?" he gleefully says waving his hand around himself.
"Don't you want to live your life? I know somebody planted the shoes on your houseboat, but the reason is something I can't figure out. You have never seen Lilly Kane in your life. Why would you confess to killing her? Why would you allow yourself to rot in this place for a crime you didn't commit?" I snap at him.
"Well, well so you're one of those. What will it take for Keith Mars to let sleeping dogs lie? Do you wanna know exactly how I bashed in your friend's brains? Yes, I know exactly who you are Veronica Mars. I knew your mom back when she visited the office during lunch hours with Jake Kane," he sneers at me laughing and grinning like a wild man.
"What are you talking about? I don't believe you," I say trying to process what he had just said. Why the heck would my mom be visiting Jake Kane?
"I must say Veronica; you're a very dedicated young lady. I'm sure you didn't inherit that quality from poor scattered brain Lianne. No, unfortunately for you, that makes you your father's daughter," he sneers at me as I look at him puzzled.
"What do you mean my dad tried to save your life? He tried to prove your innocence," I cry out as he shakes his head like I was missing something.
"You're missing the point I meant your real father. Think about it Veronica. Look hard in a mirror; are you the daughter of a small town Sheriff or of the king and queen of the prom?" he says satisfied with his counter questions. He motions for the guard as he puts his glasses away with a smile on his face. I didn't get the answers I was looking for; no I got more questions instead.
"Veronica," Logan says as I blindly walk out of the prison. I was trying to hold in my anger and how shocked I was with his remark. I climb into his car, and before he has even gotten in I let loose as the tears fall. I didn't care at the moment that Logan was witnessing my breakdown, no I was thankful I didn't have to drive home with all the questions I had swirling around in my head.
Logan drives us back to Neptune holding one of my hands as I just look out the window once again. He pulls into the parking lot of Mama Leones. "Logan," I say as I look over at him.
"Don't worry I order the food to go. I'll be right back," he says as he lets go of my hand. I watch him go into the restaurant. I see a few of the kids from school heading in as well. The one that stands out is Troy and Madison holding hands. Why the hell was he screwing around with me when he was with her? Why was he hurting me? Logan comes back a moment later with the food and drives back to Dog Beach.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" he finally asks as I eat a piece of bread.
"I didn't get the answers I was looking for," I say as he looks over at me.
"Well then it was a waste of your time," he mutters as I shake my head.
"No, I got more questions," I say looking toward the ocean.
"What do you mean?" he questions. I tell him what Koontz said leaving out why I went to visit him in the first place. I just told him about Koontz asking me if I knew who my father was. "So let me get this straight; your mom was seeing Jake Kane while she was with your dad," he says as I nod my head.
"My guess is that the person who sent her the pictures of me knew all this and used it to black mail her," I mutter bitterly. "Logan my dad might not be my dad," I say crying for the second time in front of him.
"Shh! Ronnie, Keith Mars is your dad no matter what. Listen, I may not have the best father figure, but anyone can see that he loves you so much," he says as I nod knowing he wasn't telling me anything I didn't already know.
We finished our food and changed subjects talking about school and other things. Logan helped me up as I picked up the trash and threw it away. I gave him a smile and hug as I got into my car to head home. Logan though went back to the beach. I arrived home to find my dad watching the news.
"Hey sweetie," he says as I look at him. Could I really live without him in my life? Would I still be the same person I am today if Jake Kane had been my father? "Are you alright?" he questions me after a minute.
"Yeah, I love you dad," I finally say as I sit down beside him to watch the TV with him. Keith Mars was my father no matter what; no DNA test would ever change that. He raised me.