Redeeming LoVe

Chapter 18: Finding LoVe

Veronica

I couldn't believe how nice my date was with Leo. He was so different from the other guys I had been dating. He was way nicer to me than what Duncan had been. He was way nicer to me than Troy had been treating me lately. I mean the guy was very delusional if he thought I would ever be his girlfriend any longer after the demented way he was hurting me. We were currently kissing each other outside of my apartment where my dad was no doubt lurking in the shadows waiting for me to come in.

"Do you think there is any chance I'm ever gonna get to see the inside of your apartment?" Leo questions softly as he pushes a few stray hairs out of my face.

"And what pray tell do you exactly, hope to see? Our good china, the screening room?" I say smirking as he leans in to kiss me once more.

"I just wanted to get a really good long look at your bedroom ceiling," he says smiling as he leans up against the door frame.

"Wow! Those college girls must be easy," I playfully say.

"Come on this is my A material. They swoon," he says flirting.

"Sorry there bud but my dad's home. I saw his car outside as we were coming in," I warmly say as I lean in and kiss his perfect lips.

"But he's cool with us, right?" he questions a little nervously.

"Like, has he made a couple of remarks about the 29 month age difference? He has. On the other hand, he likes the fact that you carry a gun. Not so much that he's okay to sleepover but, yeah, he likes you. I wouldn't push past his limits right now," I say as I move toward the front door to head in. He gently strokes my hair.

"I'll call you tomorrow," he says before moving toward the steps.

"Later, deputy," I say smiling as I use my key to open the door of the apartment only to find my dad at the refrigerator.

"Ah, the pretend-to-be-digging-in-the-fridge-rather-than-spying-on-your-daughter ploy. Bravo," I joke as he sets down his mixings to make a sandwich.

"Veronica, we need to talk," he says as he stands still which made me nervous.

"He's a fine gentleman, pa. He'll come up with the dowry to marry me, just you wait," I say in my best southern drawl I could muster as he smiles a little.

"But seriously, folks. Sit down," he jokes pointing to the barstool across from the counter. "Honey I know how uncomfortable you are with the idea of me dating and I've done everything in my power to respect that, but…your mom's been gone for over a year now," he starts as I nervously begin to fidget with him asking me that now.

"You met someone?" I say worried as I knew where mom was since I helped her get into rehab so that she could come home.

"I have. But I didn't want to say anything until I was sure I had feelings for this person. A-Alicia and I talked about it and- I felt sick to my stomach the moment I heard the name Alicia.

"What? Who? Alicia? As in Wallace's mom?" I question as he gives me this look I can't really decipher.

I met Wallace first thing the next morning to discuss our parents. I mean neither one of us were very comfortable with the thought of our parents hooking up, but what could we really say about it.

"Wallace we should look on the bright side, if our parents get hitched, we could have bunk beds and stay up all night talking," I say trying to ease the tension one could really cut with a knife if this was a comic strip. I could easily tell Wallace wasn't amused by my words.

"I think you were dropped on your head, because you're truly sick," he mutters as I try to get the creepy feeling of Troy watching me out of my mind.

"Well I am looking on the bright side of all of this because I've always wanted a little brother I could dress up like a little doll," I say smirking as he groans in frustration.

"Yeah? See how that works out for you," he mutters as he begins to stack his books and stalks off. I chuckle softly to myself knowing Wallace will be so thankful once this faze our parents are going through ends. I do feel bad because although I was being serious with him about wanting a sibling, my mom is coming home. It would be wrong of me to encourage him or even our parents otherwise. I look down at the table to see that someone has written " " on it. This idea concerns me a little. I mean could we have a Columbine on our hands or a mass murderer on the loose as I look around at my classmates.

I had rushed to the Journalism room to keep myself busy. I didn't even notice Duncan enter the room until he touches my arm as he passes me headed toward the front of the table across from where I was seated. I find it hard to not watch him as I try to piece together thoughts in my head about how we could be related or if he really killed Lilly. It hurt a little to see how easy and playful Duncan and Logan could be. I mean sure they have been there for each other since Lilly died, but it wasn't my fault they both shut me out. It seemed I might dislike how easy it was for them to hang out while I was being shunned by our classmates.

"Come on, buckaroos," our substitute teacher Ms. Stafford was saying in her pep squad voice. I hated it back when I was a member of the squad and I haven't grown fond of it now. "We're burning daylight here," she continued as I glanced toward the boys and saw Duncan roll his eyes as Logan snatched a paper out of his hand. It wasn't funny, but I had a hard time turning my gaze toward our teacher. "So a new edition of the Navigator comes out tomorrow and we're still short on articles, she slumbers on as Logan takes the empty seat next to me. He usually doesn't get this close in class, but the small smile on his face told me things were okay for the time being. "Let's do something fun," she ends sadly as everyone around the room seems to have tuned her out. I can see Logan giving me a wicked grin from the corner of my eye.

"How about something on oxycontin replacing ecstasy as the drug of choice for high school students?" Duncan chimes in bringing me out of my daze. I give him a quick nod as I am slightly impressed he was thinking outside of the box.

"It's a nice thought, but I'm sure your parents don't want to read about drugs at the school where they sent their precious little ones," she says softly looking through her planner.

"I'm sorry, but I thought the newspaper was for the students. Why should it matter what the parents think as long as we are telling the truth," I say without thinking it totally through as I see a shocked Logan look up at me.

"Where's your Pirate Pride, y'all, lots of good stuff happens here," she says ending the conversation on that. I sigh as I knew all the teachers would stand together in not trying to cause a disruption with petty notions. I watch as Logan continues smirking as Duncan leans back into his seat looking disgusted with all the talk about things. "Did you know that Madame Rousseau's been teaching French here for forty years now? Maybe someone could do an in-depth profile?" she continues as I see a student outside in the hallway walking toward another room.

"A loving tribute to a sadistic crone," Logan chimes in as we all laughs because he wasn't wrong about that.

"The janitors work so hard and no one even pays attention to them. Maybe we could do something on them?" she counters as I could see the other students shaking their heads.

"Maybe," someone says snidely as I look up at our teacher surprised she hasn't caved and asked for more thoughts. Any further discussion was put on hold as the fire alarms goes off.

"Oh great, what is with these fire drills? This is the third one this week," Duncan mutters as he stands up and moves closer to the door.

"Maybe we should do a story on oxycontin use in the administration office," Logan whispers softly to me as I stand up causing me to laugh.

"Okay, Pirates. Single file. Straight line," our teacher says as some students are barely standing up. She is handling the drill as if she was doing one of her pep squad pep talks something that doesn't seem to foreign to Logan as he jumps up enthusiastically.

"Come on people: Heads up, chests out, big smiles. Ready? Okay," he mocks as he moves his arms in motion with his words as if he was doing a rally call while the class clears the room. I am walking slightly in front of Duncan and Logan as Ms. Stafford catches up with me.

"Veronica, You know what? This could be a good story for you, the fire drills," she murmurs as I try to see her reasoning.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but you think all these fire drills is a story! Someone alert the Pulitzer Committee," I mutter as I move a little further ahead of her.

"I know you'll find a way to make it interesting. I believe in you," she retorts smiling as she walks past me. Duncan who was just behind me give me a smirk as he begins to walk next to me.

"Not exactly Ms Dent, is she?" he questions as I look to Logan who seems to be shooting glares at Duncan.

"Seriously, not even close. She was overly peppy as my pep squad advisor, as a journalism teacher, she's a nightmare," I mutter as he chuckles softly.

"Well we do lots of stories about bake sales and blue ribbons, why not throw in a fire drill story to make it interesting once in a while," he jokes as I look at him as serious as I could.

"Why, oh, why did Ms Dent let herself get knocked up?" I murmur as I throw my hands up in the air while Duncan moves ahead of me. We were all lined up in the quad for almost an hour before we were released to head back to our classes. I hated to admit it but it seemed like Ms. Stafford might be right. There seemed to be more to the fire drills than what was being told.

I tried to question Mr. Clemmons, but he wasn't dishing out any information about the excessive amount of drills. He was so armament that they were needed to catch the school up on the mandated ones they needed. I felt like he was way too quick to dismiss me. There was something more to the drills than what he wanted people to know.

I quickly went back to the journalism room to talk with Ms. Stafford at her desk. She asked me how the story was coming and I told her my thoughts about it being a little more than what we were being told. She was helpful though when I got the name of the person who would know for sure how many drills we were suppose to have. It was interesting speaking with Miss. Roush about the safety policies for the school district. I found it more curiously interesting when she let me know that the school was only mandated to do one fire drill a year.

I found Corny by his locker as I was walking down the hallway. He seemed lost and confused. He began asking me crazy questions and then I saw three officers enter the building with dogs. I knew at that moment there was something fishy going on and I was going to get to the bottom of it. I quickly pulled my camera out of my bag and began snapping pictures as the officers moved further down the hallway.

I waited until I got to my dad's office to make the important phone call to Mr. Clemmons. "Hello," he says very uncomfortable.

"Van, I received a call from a very pushy student of yours who's doing a newspaper story," I say in the best impersonation of Ellen Roush nasal voice.

"Yes, I believe I know the girl that you're talking about. She should never have called you," he mutters half annoyed as I just want to laugh at the fact that he doesn't suspect anything is a miss in this whole situation.

"Well, she did and she has quite a fresh attitude," I say holding my hand up to my mouth to keep the giggle from escaping.

"Yes, Well I spend half my waking hours trying to keep her out of my hair. I am sorry she bothered you at all," he replies as I decide it's time to head in for the kill.

"Well she did call me and I am concerned Mr. Clemmons, she gave me the impression that you've been exceeding your fire drill limits," I snap.

"No, look there are things going on here at the high school that I have been trying to keep tightly sealed, but since Miss. Mars called you. We have received several bomb threats and the drills are just a precautionary measure. During the drills I have the bomb squad do a quick sweep of the school and then let the students back in," he says as I realize this story is so much bigger than the drills at all. I was going to a school where students were unaware of the threats that were coming in and the administration thought it was alright to keep us in the dark. Not on my watch this was the story I had been born to write.

I quickly pulled up a fresh document and began writing down the details that Clemmons had provided for me and then sent the finished piece in. I felt everyone at Neptune High deserved to know the danger that we were facing each day we went into the school building. I headed back to the school where I knew Ms. Stafford would be waiting for me. When I entered the journalism room she was hovered over the draft cover with Duncan looking it over. She asked if I was sure this was the story I wanted to print and I was. She verified my sources, but never asked or questioned how I got Clemons to give me the details. I don't think she was prepared for what I might have told her. Once we were all sure this was what we were going to publish Duncan took it to the copiers to print it out.

It wasn't hard to see that my fellow classmates weren't too keen on the idea of being left in the dark by our administration. I knew there might be some form of fallout from the exposing revelations that I wrote, but to really see the kids all terrified was something else. It seemed like everyone had a copy of the Navigator in their hands, they weren't just reading the article, but talking about it as well. I was a little surprised and worried from some of the conversations they were having. I mean the thought that someone would willingly blow up a school and kill so many people was just unreal.

I was listening in as I walked the familiar hallway toward my desk when I heard several students talking about going home or how their parents were livid with the lack of knowledge from the school about what was going on in where it concerned their children. I was almost to my locker when I noticed a locker "KillemAll," scratched into the metal.

"Girl you just had to mess the day up with your expose. You won't believe how insane the administration office is right now," Wallace says as he comes up behind me almost making me jump. The phones have been ringing off the hook all morning, the parents going off on Clemmons. He wants to see you in his office, by the way," he says giving me a brave look before turning away from me.

"Great I thought he had forgotten all about me. Although now to think about I am beginning to think he has a crush on me," I say smiling as I turn around and head toward the administration office.

"Ms. Stafford let me be clear as I explain something to you and your student. The Neptune Navigator is not the Washington Post. You don't have carte blanche to print whatever you choose. This newspaper is for the student body and their parents. We don't need stories that cause alarm with either one," he snaps as he lowers the newspaper he was reading glaring at the two of us.

"Was story inaccurate?" Ms. Stafford questioned as Mr. Clemmons just her down. Of course the story was accurate, he was just ticked off he got caught in the drama. He questioned me about who my source was and how I got the information out of them. When I explained he was my source he began to shut me down until I pulled out my wicked Ms. Roush impersonation. That was all I had to do for him to go white. He knew there was no way for him to deny the proof I had or dismiss the story as being fake or made up. I went with more questions to follow up the story, but he began to reprimand me.

I felt bad for Ms. Stafford when he said he might have made a mistake in having a pep squad advisor to fill in for our journalism class. I had to send her a quick sympathetic look at her because he was just being crass to her because he was ousted and made to look bad.

He then sent me on my way to my next class which was English and I wasn't looking forward to it. Mrs. Murphy was already pacing the room as I entered and took my seat. I was seated next to Norris Clayton a boy who was somewhat of a loner. He helped me once, but that was the extent of my knowledge of him. It's hard to believe you can attend the same school with someone and really not know them.

"Who would like to compare the character of the three Karamazov brothers? I'd like to hear from someone who hasn't spoken today. Ben?" she says as I look past Norris to where Ben the new kid was seated. It looked like he was scribbling on his notebook, but it was hard to tell form where I was seated.

"I'd love to tell you all about it, but I didn't read it. I thought maybe I'd wait for the mini-series to come out and save me sometime," he snapped at her as I saw our teacher look a little thrown off by his statement.

"I don't know where you expect to end up in life with your attitude, Ben," she replies as she moves past him and around toward me.

"Mrs. Murphy I wouldn't worry about it because it won't really help me. In the end we all wind up in the same place; six feet under the ground in a pine box," he retorted as I saw Norris give him a nod with his head. The class began to whisper and then the bell rang. I could see another student Pete roll his eyes as he grabbed his notebook and bag.

As if I didn't have enough to worry about my dad decides last minute to invite Alicia over to have dinner and watch a movie. Wallace and I would do our homework or in my case do some spying when they weren't looking. Wallace and I had been trying to focus on our homework, but the thought of our parents in the living room cuddling up wasn't settling right with either of us. I wanted my dad to be happy, but I wasn't too thrilled about him dating my best friend's mom. I went into the kitchen to get us something to drink and to spy. It was very uncomfortable to see the two of them all snuggled with each other on the couch watching some black and white movie.

"What's happening out there?" Wallace bombards me as I walk back into the room with our drinks. I hold out one to him and move toward my desk since he was sitting on my bed.

"They're watching an old movie with his arm around her shoulders, softly whispering in her ear," I say as I see him thinking about the idea.

"Uh, he's not…groping her or anything, is he?" he questions as I let go of the amused expression I had at teasing him to one of actual distain.

"No, but earlier I saw him cutting a hole in the bottom of his popcorn bucket to get a better look," I retort as he whips around to look at me.

"That's sick not funny," he snaps.

"I think it's funny because you act like what they're doing is wrong. I'll admit I don't like this, but I wouldn't hurt my dad beside he's not a groper," I say as I toss the tissue box that was on my desk at him.

"Do you think they're serious about each other? What does your dad say?" he questions staring at the door as if he was willing it to open.

"Well Wallace that's a funny thing. We shouldn't have to worry about that. This will not last or can't last," I say trying to make my words make sense without hurting him.

"What in the world does that mean?" he snaps a little meaner than what I was expecting.

"I found my mom a few months ago. She's in rehab. When she is clean and sober, she'll be coming home," I say in all honesty.

"That's nice and all, but where does my mom fit into that plan?" he says to me as I just shrug my shoulders unsure of what to say because I hadn't really had to think of that kind of a situation until now. "Are you telling me you are willingly allowing our parents to hang out together, and date all the while knowing the moment your deadbeat mom gets cleaned up she'll be back? I can't believe you would stoop this low," he snaps as he begins to gather up his things.

"I don't know what do you expect me to say, Wallace? This is my family. Two minutes ago, you didn't our parents dating either," I say really trying to keep it together because I couldn't afford to lose Wallace as a friend.

"Yeah, I probably wish Mom would've found a guy who wasn't my best friend's dad, but…Mom hasn't found a decent guy since my dad died and if she's just gonna get burned, I need to tell her right now," he fumed at me as his eyes glared.

"Please you can't," I pleaded as he gave me daggers.

"Why not, it's my mom that is going to be hurt not yours?" he grumbled tiredly.

"Wallace, wait, do me a favor and just wait a few weeks," I suggest as I hope he'll allow me that.

"I hate to say this but I gotta say it, Veronica. I'm getting a little tired of doing you favors," he sighed as I watched him retreating body head to the living room. I heard him tell his mom it was time to go. Our parents relented and Alicia left with Wallace and a small part of me felt like I betrayed my best friend. I hated the feeling that I was hurting him even though I wasn't trying to.

I got up extra early to avoid running into my dad after last night's strange dinner slash date. I wanted to have some alone time before I had to face the masses of quivering whining people who have been torturing me for a year now. I am walking down one of the hallways as I hear Pete talking or more like discussing something with Mac. I decide not to barge in on them, but wait by the door instead.

I don't know how long I have been waiting, but it seemed like forever so I decided to enter the room. "Hey, that iPod Mini is something else, isn't it?" I say gaining both of their attentions.

"Veronica, how are you doing this morning?" she questions as I see Pete looking from Mac to me.

"Dandy thanks for asking. I'm sorry to interrupt. Mac, would you mind taking a look at my computer? I can't get it to boot up," I say as I hold out my laptop for her. I was going to do this at lunch, but running into her now will save me time later on.

"Sure, um, do you mind if I take it with me? I gotta boogie," she says as I hold it out to her.

"Um, sure, everything important is password protected," I say as she shakes her head at me.

"Really what are we in 7th grade, like I really care who you have a crush on," she jokes walking out of the room leaving me with Pete.

"Veronica, can I talk to you about something," he says as I cringe on the inside because I didn't really want to talk to anyone right now.

"Yeah, sure." I say wanting to be anywhere but alone with him in this room. I had to mentally kick myself because he gave me some new information about the bombs threats that the school was getting. He told me he saw the new kid and Norris throwing tennis balls at stray cats only to watch them explode. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with that kind of information, but it couldn't leave my head.

I was hoping to catch Wallace, but I had been to my locker for a little while and he still hadn't shown up. I was closing my locker as I watched him opening his.

"Hey, last night, you said something. Am I really your best friend?" I asked as he turns to really look at me. I hadn't had a best friend since Lilly died and him saying it last night bothered me for some reason.

"Who else you seeing around?" he questions as I smile, he doesn't look my way but I can see the faint smile that crept up on his face as well. "Quit smiling at me," he jokes at me as I chuckle at the silliness of our situation. I could see Norris and Ben walking down the hallway just behind Wallace.

"Could you tell me what you think of this new kid?" I question as he looks at Ben.

"Are you serious? Veronica, you're unbelievable," he grumbles closing his locker door.

"Why? What makes you say that?" I say as innocent as I could. I hadn't asked him to do anything just yet, only to tell me what he thought about him.

"Cause you want me to go get his file, don't you?" he sighed as I hate the guilty smile that crept onto my face.

"Damn, you're so predictable," he mutters I guess hoping he was wrong in what he thought.

"Right, thanks for letting me know. I'll have to change my tactics now, besides it's for the greater good, Wallace. Doesn't he look like total bomb threat material?" I say looking toward the two guys huddled close together looking at something. Wallace told me that I should be more worried about Ben and not Norris because Clemmons had made him turn his shirt inside out because it said, "Kill 'em all. Let God sort 'em out." I hated the thought that someone could be so deranged and no one would take them serious. I mean Ben could be the behind the whole bomb threats situation. Since Mac had my laptop I had to use a school computer as I pulled up the website. The first thing I head was a demonic laugh as the page began to load. Then there was a countdown that showed 'Forty six hours, fifteen minutes'…until what? I thought as I tried to think what it could mean.

At lunch I sat at a table alone while I watched Wallace joke and full around with some of his buddies from the Basketball team. Out of the corner of my eye I see Meg and Duncan walking toward where I was sitting. I could tell from Duncan's expression he would rather be anywhere but near me. I see them exchange some words and then Meg pulling Duncan closer.

"Hey, do you mind if we…" she asks as Duncan moves further away.

"Sure, how are you two doing?' I ask as I push some hair behind my ear. This was so awkward. Meg sits down beside me while Duncan sits across from me. He clearly looked pissed. Meg asked about any cases I was helping my dad with, but I couldn't really give her any details. Yet, I decided to just hint at a few things to keep her from asking too many questions. She looked surprised, but Duncan took off as soon as I finished.

"Ah, the shop talk buzz kill," I mutter trying to deflate the hurt in my voice.

"I wouldn't take it too personal. He's been acting weird all day. Well, I'll catch you later," she says as she gets up and goes after him. I decide to set my sights on Norris and Ben. They were deep in conversation about who knows what. It made me think back to when Norris stopped the 09er boys from shooting spitballs at me right after Logan turned the school against me.

I decided to check to see where his head was at now or if he had gone totally to the dark side since becoming friends with Ben. I went over and asked them fake questions for a pretend poll I was doing. Of course the answers shocked me, but the kid I had seen a year ago seemed to still be there slightly. Ben's answers didn't really surprise me since he seemed like a bomber to me. Norris's answers were strange, but didn't make him a bomber. Sure all the people he chose were dead, but some of the greatest people to have are dead. I quickly walk away from them unsure of what to do next. I was deep in thought when I heard a voice behind me.

"You could have sat with me, and the guys," Wallace says as he catches up to me.

"Really, I just thought you were making a point about where we stand with our parents," I say as he stops me from walking away.

"Veronica, I wasn't you're my best friend and although I dislike how you are letting your dad and my mom get close for them both to get hurt. I just sat with them. There's no school file on Ben," he says as he starts walking again.

"Strange, there should be some form of a file on him," I say thinking over what this could mean. Although I wasn't thrilled about not knowing more about Ben Wallace came through and got me Norris's file. It was strange to see he was suspended several times in middle school, but hadn't gotten into any trouble since high school. This didn't make sense. Wallace told me he was glad I found my mom, but I still felt bad for allowing my dad lead Alicia on. Wallace was right; it wasn't fair to either of them.

I was headed to the office when I saw Duncan in the journalism room. I decided to enter the room to see what was going on with him. I could tell he was staring at the computer screen, turning his head slightly when I entered.

"Wow, that was either a really poor warm welcome or an excellent cold shoulder," I say softy unsure how this conversation was going to go.

"You know Veronica; I thought out of everyone I could trust you. Lilly trusted you with everything, but then I get Logan telling me you've been carrying on your own little investigation into her murder. He said you have files of everyone in your computer who was linked to her," he murmured angrily at me.

"That's true," I say softly trying to keep the conversation from getting out of hand, but when I see Logan I'm going to chew him out.

"He says there is a file on me, please tell me he was lying," he murmurs as if he was hoping it was all unreal.

"Logan's right, there's a file on anyone who was connected with Lilly," I reply looking directly at him.

"Then tell me almighty Veronica, what does mine say?" he snaps at me as he finally turns to face me.

"It says that you have Type IV epilepsy, that you have mood swings, violent outbursts, that you're taking medication," I state being totally honest with him.

"How the hell do you know that?" he yells at me.

"It doesn't matter," I reply.

"It does matter," he says extremely angry with me as he finally stands up from the chair and faces me directly. "You've been prying into my private life. If I wanted you or anyone else to know about that, I would have told them. Who the hell do you think you are?" he snarls at me as he storms off toward the door to the room.

"I am Lilly's best friend," I cry out as he stops before fully reaching the door. He turns make toward me.

"Lilly is dead Veronica, her killer is rotting in jail," he yells out as I try to keep my calm.

"Abel Koontz didn't kill Lilly," I say as he whips his face to stare at me.

"Veronica, he confessed had the items on his houseboat. He killed Lilly," he snaps at me as I watch his fists clench several times at his sides.

"I'm sorry, but he was paid to confess. He didn't even know her," I say as he just shakes his head.

"Oh my god. I mean, do you even hear yourself? Who would pay?" he yells as he turns to leave once again before he stops as my words probably sink in. "Of course, my family would. You think someone in my family paid him. Now why would they do that, Veronica?" he screams at me.

"I can't really give you an answer to something I don't know," I finally admit because I it was the truth.

"You think they did it to protect…me?" he murmurs softly as he decides to leave again.

"Duncan, do you remember what happened that day?" I ask quietly as he slowly turns around like a lion ready to pounce on its prey.

"You think I killed Lilly. How could you think that, even for a second?" he blurts our very angrily and harshly as he marches right up to me almost in my face.

"Duncan, you need to calm down," I state softly hoping that he doesn't lose it.

"What, do you think I'm gonna have another episode and kill you too?" he yells at me as I feel his hot breath on my face. I am totally shocked by his outburst, but watch as Duncan slowly blinks his eyes confused and afraid looking before he runs out of the room leaving me alone.

I wait a few moments to catch my breath and head to the quad once again only to see Norris and Ben agreeing, but I was too far away to hear what they were saying. Ben leaves Norris at the table as I decide to follow Ben because he seems more like the aggressor to me than Norris. I watch as Ben gets into his car before racing to mine to follow him.

I was surprised to see him pull into the Camelot Motel due to him being in high school and all, but I couldn't knock him for where he was living. I take several photos of him going into a room and then returning to his car. I slide down in my seat as he pulls out onto the street to keep him from seeing me. Then I pull out after him and follow him. He goes into Neptune Garden and brings a cart-load of fertilizer, heading for his car. He loads the back of his vehicle while I watch taking pictures of him. I now concerned and worried when he removes a large gun out of his car resting it on the side of his car.

I am pulled from my stakeout by my cell ringing. I don't look at the caller ID and answer it, "Hello," I say looking back to where Ben just was.

***LoVe***

Logan

"Ronnie, its Logan. I thought you might want a heads up. Duncan knows about your files," I say trying to be as polite as I could because I knew I shouldn't have told him, but he was my best-friend and I hated the idea that Veronica was looking into something as big as Lilly's murder without any real backup.

"He only knows because you told him," she mutters.

"Well, yeah, I mean, what was I supposed to do? He's my best friend," I say a little uncomfortable with how I felt at the moment.

"Well, he nearly took my head off. You would have loved it. Have you talked to him since school let out?" she asks as I feel bad for not at least being there when he confronted her about the files. "Oh my god, what do you think you're doing?" she replies as I hear what sounds like her dropping her phone.

"Let's go for a ride," I hear a male voice say, who the hell was in her car right now. I run out of the quad and head for my X-terra as fast as I could. I heard the guy say, "Make a left at the next stop."

"Where are we going?" Veronica questions as I wait to hear if he would tell her or not.

"Like you don't know. You must have followed me there," he snaps as I hear her breath catch.

"The Camelot?" she replies as he confirms that is where they are going I hang up and drive as fast as I could to the seedy motel I wouldn't be caught dead in except for her. I make it there in time and head up to the second floor after speaking with the clerk about any teens checking in.

"My dad's a private detective. If I don't check with him after school, he freaks. There will be people looking for me, armed people," I hear her pleading as I stayed hiding where I was.

"I wanna show you something, you need to understand what you are butting your nose into," the guy sneers as I see him reaching for his pocket. I didn't wait any longer as I jumped out from where I was and began pounding the jerk in the face. I don't care about anything in that moment but protecting Veronica.

"Logan, stop," I hear her says as I am about to hit him once more until I see the badge she was holding out. "He's a federal agent," she says as I move to stand up, but not totally wanting to let him be alone with her. I was confused as to why I was feeling so overwhelmed with Veronica, but for some odd reason I felt good about being there for her.

We walked into his motel room, where he sat down on the bed touching his face carefully as I stared him down flexing my fist waiting for him to make a move so that I would have a reason to punch him once more. I looked over his shoulder to where Veronica was in the bathroom wetting a towel for him. She comes out of the room and hands it to him as he puts it up to his face.

"You're posing at our high school for what reason?" she begins as he looks at me.

"I think it would be better if he goes outside? I'd like to talk to you, alone," he says giving me a nasty look. It takes all of my will power to keep myself from landing him.

"Dream on, jump Street. I'm not leaving you alone with her, after you practically kidnapped her and drug her up the stairs against her will," I snap as Veronica walks toward me.

"Logan, he's the real thing. Just give us a minute, all right?" she says softly as I try to think about all of this from her point of view, but in my mind I would be fleeing the other way not wanting to be alone with the jerk. I hated how he thought he was winning this little match with his smug smirk on his face, but I do what she asks me to do.

"Fine, but don't close the door all the way. Yeah, I'll be right out here," I say loud and clear to make sure the punk keeps his hands to himself and doesn't try to hurt her anymore than she has already been hurt. I leave the room making sure to leave a crack where I could see her as I moved toward the balcony. I lean over the railing trying to wrap my mind around the last half an hour.

I feel a hand on my shoulder as I lift my head up from where I had it laying. Veronica was behind me, the look on her face was soft and grateful.

"Are you alright?" I question knowing that we would have to talk eventually about the situation with Duncan and most importantly what the hell this jerk just did to her.

"Um-hm," she murmurs softly as I wait for her leaning up against the wall. She quickly leans forward and kisses me on the corner of my mouth. I looked down at her surprised and confused. I wasn't sure what I was feeling, but the moment I saw her shake her head and go to walk away from me I stopped her. I pulled back toward me spinning her around to face me once more as I lower my head to her and kiss her on the lips. She kisses me back long, passionately like we were the only two people in the world as our arms wrap around one another. I pulled her closer not wanting to let her go hoping that she felt something.

I don't know how long we were kissing, but we eventually had to break away to breathe. I wanted to keep her right where she was but hugging her to me was just as fine. I felt her shifting to move away and I could see several different expressions flush across Veronica's face but if I had to say two off the top of my head was wonder and disbelief. I wasn't sure why she had those two written on her face.

I finally moved my hand from her waist to my side because I could sense she was getting nervous. I watched her turn away from me once more and watched as she walked away from me. I wanted to follow her, but felt like she was sending a clear message that she wanted to leave. It took all of my will power to stay where I was. I saw her pause at her car looking up at me once more before she got in and drove away.

***LoVe***

Veronica

I couldn't wrap my head around the idea of kissing Logan. I mean it felt right, but he has been behind all of the crap that has happened to me over the past year. Ugh! I pulled up to Norris's house to find it a modest single story home. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary from the outside. I head up to the door hoping that Norris was home and he bought my story.

Of course Norris answered the door. I felt odd having to lie to him, but if the agent was correct in his facts Norris was going to be blowing up the high school if he wasn't stopped. I pretended to need his help looking for stolen weapons.

"Norris thanks for helping me with this. I brought some pictures of the stolen weapons if that helps," I say as I hand him some of the pictures. I was surprised to watch him as he unlocked a padlock that was on his bedroom door.

"My parents are a little nosy," he says as if it was a normal thing to do.

"I'm glad my dad respects my boundaries. It would get a little awkward if I had to lock my room every time I went out," I say trying to be very calm about the whole thing. Once we entered his bedroom I noticed a life sized poster of Bruce Lee on the back of his door. There are weapons all over the room, on the walls, on display stands, leaning against bookcases. I couldn't believe the number of weapons he owned, but in retrospect I was a little amazed by all of it as well.

"So, this is my weapon collection. I have probably any type of weapon you could imagine somewhere in this room," he says proudly.

"That must make you feel really safe at night, when the all the dragons come," I say causing him to laugh with me.

Norris sits down at his desk, with his laptop looking up the weapons I had brought from a dragon slayer website.

"Is there anything you recognize?" I ask leaning up against a bookcase trying to act natural.

"Yeah, the Tachi Sword. I'll write down the price for you," he says looking up from the screen. I then notice his laptop didn't have any wires attached to it.

"Is that wireless?" I asked as he looks up from his screen.

"My dad's a programmer over at Kane Software, so we get all the latest technology. We were one of the first household in the country to have Wi-Fi," he says which I should have known. Then he points to one of the weapons on a sheet of paper.

"I have a replica of this," he says as he points to the empty space on the wall behind him. "It's, uh, it was right over there but I think it-I think it fell," he says almost embarrassed.

"I'll look for it," I say nicely as I move toward the wall where the head of the bed is. I bend down and feel under the bed only to pull out a magazine before quickly shoveling it back under his bed. I didn't want to see any porn.

"Actually, don't even worry about it, I'll find it later," he says as he notices me shoving the magazine back under. I stand up and pick up a throwing star. He decides to take me out to his garage to throw a few of them. I was playing around as I threw the star mocking Mr. Clemmons and all. He told me next time he would let me throw a real one. I thought he might be trying to flirt with me. I saw a chest and went to open it, but he stopped me before I could see what was inside of it. He then made me even more nervous as he asked me out to see a show this weekend. It got me to thinking what kind of sane high school boy would ask a girl out if he planned on blowing up his school in a few days.

I thank Norris for his help and head for my car. I was trying to put the pieces of everything together but I couldn't figure out what his point would be in blowing up the school. There just wasn't enough information or facts that linked him to the actual threat. Okay, I came up empty on the weapons search but there's one place I can check for his address book. I was thankful I quickly got my laptop back from Mac or I wouldn't be able to do this. I knew I could probably plug into the Clayton wireless system to check his address book.

"Hello?" my buddy in crime answers as I put the phone up to my ear.

"Mac, it's me. I need you to walk me through something if you have the time," I say as I move my laptop onto my lap.

"Veronica, Could you tell me what you did before you met me?" she says in a slightly proud voice.

"You wound me. I really don't know and never want to find out. You are my personal tech nerd," I say as I hear her chuckle. "Okay it's something like monkeys clubbing each other-," I say as I hear her laugh once more.

"Never mind," she chuckles as I laugh this time.

"Mac, I have a quick question for you if you were planning to bomb a building on a Friday killing yourself and hundreds of your classmates, would you ask someone out on a date for that weekend?" I ask seriously.

"Asking me, well that's probably the only way I'd ask someone out," she chuckles nervously. I wanted to answer her, but then I see Pete heading into the house next to Norris. This was news to me. "Veronica?" Mac says as I see Pete turn toward me and wave before turning back to his door. "Earth to Mars," she yells into the phone. I felt like this was the break I needed.

"Mac, could someone use another person's IP address without them knowing about it. I mean if the wireless system wasn't protected," I ask as Mac gives me the answer I sort of already knew. I was in way over my head. This wasn't an open shut case like Ben thought it was. There was way more to the story than he knew.

I was thankful that Wallace was still at school when I left Norris's house and was able to pull the records I needed to confirm my suspicions. I was looking over all the information spread over my desk calling Norris.

"Norris, pick up, pick up, pick up. It's Veronica. I need you to call me when you get this. Please call me before school tomorrow, we need to talk its urgent," I say in the voicemail before hanging up. Okay. If you get this, call me before tomorrow. I checked the 'KillemAll' website to see the countdown now showed, 18 hours, 8 minutes and 34 seconds. I put all the files and things in my bag and settled into my bed for the night hoping things worked out in the morning.

Norris hadn't responded to my voicemail so I got up early to meet him before school. I was exiting my car just as Norris pulled up in his car.

"Veronica, I got your message late last night and couldn't call you back," Norris was saying as I quickly interrupted him.

"It's alright, listen, something's up. Ben isn't who he says he is. He is someone more dangerous than we know and he thinks you're behind all of the bomb threats," I say as he looks at me as if I was crazy. I was going to say more as a blacked out SUV pulls into the lot behind him. The doors open just as several Agents jump out while I see Ben getting out of a car just behind me.

"Clayton don't move; put your hands where I can see 'em. Drop the keys on the ground," Ben yells as he draws his gun and moves around me. I want to interfere, as I see Norris stretch out his arms to his side and lets go of his keys.

"Ben this is all a hoax, it's an elaborate joke by another student. This is crazy, you have the wrong guy," I say as he begins to turn toward the trunk of Norris's car.

"I have a warrant to search your vehicle," he demands ignoring my protests as I see him pull a paper out of his jacket.

"Search away, I have nothing to hide," Norris says as another ATF agent picks up his dropped keys and opens the trunk. The trunk if full of fertilizer bags and a large gun was resting on top of the pile.

"It's all here, there you go," the agent says as I see the smug expression on Ben's face.

"Ms. Mars, a hoax, huh does this look like a hoax to you?" he triumphantly says to me as I see Pete lingering just beyond the black SUV watching everything go down. Norris proclaims his innocence as I piece together the facts that Ben set him up. Once I voice my opinion the agent decides it's time that people back up because now it was a crime scene. I knew what I had t do so I pull out my camera and begin taking pictures of the agents cuffing Norris and hauling him off. Then I turn my attention to Ben and click several pictures of the fertilizer in the trunk as well as the gun.

I decided when I took the photos what I had to do, but I needed to do it fast before the details got blurred. I went to journalism to not only use the computer, but to upload all of the photos to piece together the story or the true story of what really was going on. I hated the fact that the Agent used me to do his dirty work and then framed Norris to take the fall. The fertilizer that was found in Norris's trunk was exactly the same stuff Ben bought right before he led me to the Camelot.

I knew from looking over Pete Kaminski's file he was bullied by Norris, and the fact that he lived right next to Norris was icing on the cake. Pete set up the countdown clock to frame Norris, but probably didn't think it would get so far out of hand. Yet, when everything was going down he didn't stand up for the right thing. No Pete had whatever he had coming. When I called him on the carpet for his crimes he tried to explain it away that Norris got what was coming to him. I hated that Norris bullied Pete, but as humans we tend to do stupid things. Pete was wrong for setting up the countdown and for phoning the fake bomb threats. This was just a case of revenge gone badly. I finished typing up the article and saved the photos showing the events just as I saw Meg enter the room.

"Veronica?" she asks softly as I get up and follow her out of the room. I could sense there was something wrong because she had looked like she had been crying recently.

"Everything alright," I asked as she shakes her head.

"You haven't seen Duncan tonight, have you?" she asks tearfully.

"No now that you mentioned it he never showed…which is sort of weird," I say looking around as my eyes stop on Logan looking intently at me.

"He's missing. His parents think he may have run away, but they don't know why," she says as I look at her unsure of what to do.

"Meg, why would they think that?" I question not knowing why they would jump to that conclusion unless they knew something they weren't sharing.

"Celeste says that yesterday he withdrew ten thousand in cash from the bank. No one's seen him since," she replies as I feel like this day has just gotten much worse. Where the heck would Duncan be and why would he need that kind of cash. Meg told me she would let me know of anything if she it out. I nodded my head to her as she left. I saw Logan making his way towards me as I reentered the room.

"Is Meg alright?" he questions as I look up at him. I don't know what to say. "Ronnie," he mutters putting his hands on my shoulders and shaking me slightly knocking me out of my daze.

"Meg says that Duncan is missing," I say as he pulls his hands off of me.

"Why would she think that?" he snaps.

"She thinks that because he withdrew a lot of money and Celeste says it," I say as he says something I don't really hear and takes off out the door leaving me alone. After Logan left Ms. Stafford and I talk about the article and she was just as surprised as I was when all the facts were laid out. It was a story worthy of a TV show. She was all for publishing the story, but I didn't want her to get into more trouble with Clemmons. In the end she chose to do the right thing and run the story. I knew she would be let go or punished but like she said it was the right thing. We couldn't sit on a story like this.

Wallace had found me first thing this morning talking all about the story. Everyone knew the story by now; the headline of which reads: Bomb Threat Hoax: ATF Arrests Wrong Student. I watch as he lowers the paper before speaking.

"If you're wondering, Clemmons isn't too pleased right now. I believe I saw a vein pop in his neck," he jokes as I try to see the humor in it.

"Right, I did the right thing. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it," I say as he chastises me for using Norris's school records. I laugh as I promise him they would have to torture me to get the information out of me about them.

When I enter the journalism room I see Logan staring at me and as we hold our gaze for a moment he looks away. I hated how he made me feel. It was like hot and cold. We needed to talk about so many things, but especially about the kiss. I mean we hated each other right, or did we, then yesterday the whole Duncan thing. I feel like he is sending me mixed signals and I am unsure what they all mean.

"Listen up everybody, I have an announcement to make," she says as she enters the room. I look to the front of the room where she is standing. "I just found out that Norris Clayton is being released later today, due to a certain high school story. The charges against him have been dropped and he'll be back at school tomorrow," she says sorrowful as I chance a look at Logan who is looking directly at me. "Sadly though I hate to say this but I will no longer be teaching this class. Today is my last day teaching here at Neptune High," she says softly. This bothered me because we did the right thing in reporting the facts, especially about Norris.

"Ms. Stafford," I say as she shakes her head.

"I want you all to know, it's been a real kick working with all of you," she says trying to keep her composure as she gathers her belongings off of the desk. I hated to see her go because it really wasn't her fault. I watched her walk out the door before moving toward the front of the room and taking charge. Duncan may be missing and Logan and I had issues, but the news didn't wait for our troubles.

"Okay buckaroos, we're burning daylight in here there are stories out there that aren't going to write themselves. Let's talk about any stories that might be newsworthy. Who's got something?" I yell out as everyone begins to work while I jot down notes as people tell them to me. Yep, it's another day like any other day at Neptune High.