Redeeming LoVe
Chapter 20: Falling Apart
Veronica
I couldn't believe my luck just as I was pulling into the school parking lot my faithful LeBaron decides to die on me. I knew it would be the height of traffic as well so my car would be blocking the only major way into the lot, just what I needed at the moment. I could hear the horns blaring in the background as I popped my hood and began to look for the issue of my now dead car.
I am pulling at various tubes inside of the engine just to see which one is broken, as I am struggling with the tubes I see Dick coming up which meant Logan would be close behind if not even closer. I can see Logan munching on an apple as Dick makes a move to come closer.
"Uh-oh, someone's got her eye on that Miss White Trash title," Dick says as I look up to see Logan trying to hold it together.
"You know you got a solid effort in the talent competition, but I'd like to see that car up on some cinder blocks," Beaver says as he looks toward Dick for affirmation I believe.
"Okay, guys, come on, huh," Logan says as he cuts another piece out of his apple and begins chewing on it. If I knew one thing about Logan was he either hated you or he loved you and right now he was showing his love for me by not remarking. I knew deep down it shouldn't bother me, but it did a little at how easy he could turn that switch. I quickly dismissed it as I decided to take over.
"I know right, the talent though is making a grilled cheese sandwich on the engine block," I smirk as I grab the knife Logan was using and head back to my car. "There are so many more lines you guys could come up with. Why don't you use some of that brain power to come up with better retorts rather than all the dull crap," I snap as I cut a piece on a tube and it comes free while I reattach it to the motor. "You know, I think I can do both sides of this little act now," I say as I go to try my car as I hear the car turn over and start. I toss the knife back to Logan as I see a small smirk on his face. He catches it with such ease while Dick and Beaver look stunned that I talked back to either of them.
I saw a small interaction between a girl I thought was named Carmen, but the guy she was talking to made me see red. Ted was just like all the other 09er boys, he believed the world owed him something and if he wanted it he just took it. I use to the pretending to be his friend. He just made me sick to my stomach. I put my things away in my locker and headed for the bathroom where I found Carmen crying in the mirror. I knew something had happened. I moved to stand beside her.
"I don't even remember doing it. I must have been wasted. I-I would never do something like that. It's totally disgusting," she says wiping at her eyes with a towel.
"You mean, you two having sex?" I questioned so unsure of what I was really asking.
"Worse. I'm skinny-dipping in some hot tub and…I have this…popsicle and I…" she says breaking into more sobbing as I watch not really sure how to help her.
"Do you think he's serious?" I finally ask not really sure what had happened or what she was worrying about. Carmen goes on to tell me that she wouldn't put it pass him to do it. She didn't want to be splashed all over the internet doing whatever he had caught her doing. I decided to help her because I knew the feeling of being unable to remember doing something. I could feel the vomit coming up as I thought back to Shelly Pomroy's party.
I was thankful Logan and I were able to sneak off and let ourselves get a little carried away. It was amazing how high I felt with sneaking around with him. The kisses and simple touches he gave me were so different from anything I had ever felt before. My skin felt like it was on fire and super aware of him whenever we were close.
"What? I blockaded the door. I hung an "Out of Order" sign," I grumble as he begins to pull away from me. I didn't like the loss of contact. He just grinned at me while shaking his head.
"No, this is wrong," he jests looking around the empty backroom, "I mean a boy in a girl's bathroom, it's just-" he begins but I cut him off by kissing him as I pulled him back to me.
"So wrong, that is feels so right?" I say smirking as he just nods his head at a loss for words. We continue to kiss until he pulls apart once more to apologize for Dick and the others, but I could care less about them at the moment. I told him just that. I knew we had to keep up who we were, but I would be lying if I didn't feel a little sad we couldn't be open about our relationship like a normal couple.
We talk about how we both wanted Duncan to hear we were dating from us instead of the others. Logan decided it was time for him to actually go learn something and I hated the feeling of him leaving me. It was hard, but as he peered out the door to see if there was anyone around I slipped a tardy note in his hand before he jested a little with me and finally left. In reality I needed to focus on the case and I couldn't really do that fully with him locked to my lips.
I headed for my bag and pulled out my cell phone. I had made a promise to help Carmen and I intended to help her. I couldn't care less who ended up in the cross hairs of the fallout from what I learned. She deserved to know what Tad had done to her.
"No offence but you look odd," I say as I slip out into the hallway just in time to see Wallace walk around the corner.
"Right, I just remember watching our parents cuddle on the couch last night. My eyes…they burn," he mutters as I laugh. I tried to warn him off, but he didn't listen to me.
"Any idea what our parents do Mondays and Wednesdays from six to ten that requires an overnight bag?" I ask as I linger a little longer in one spot before moving again.
"As far as I'm concerned, they play bingo at the Retirement Home. That's my story, I'm sticking with it," he says as I laugh.
"I'll give you a little advice my little brother best way to deal with things like this? Pretend they don't exist," I say as I hand him a slip of paper, "Do you mind calling this number halfway through sixth period?" I ask changing the subject before we went somewhere I wasn't ready to go just yet.
"Sure, all right. Pretend they don't exist?" he mutters nodding his head.
"Deal," I say giving him a smile knowing he had it just as rough as I did with our parents, but I also knew my mom was going to tear things apart. I pause as I see Tad walking closer to us. "Do you mind helping me with a bump and bait here?" I say as I hand him a burner cell and I begin to talk really loud. He nods at me to continue.
"I was all no way and he was like, yeah, way and-" I say as posh as I could just as Tad walks by me but turns in my direction as I slightly bump him. "I'm so sorry," I continue as I watch Wallace drop the phone into his backpack.
"Yeah, right Veronica Mars watch what you're doing, stupid," he mutters as he turns around and walks away.
"Okely-dokely," I cheerfully say as I put my hand up to keep Wallace from going after him. Wallace just turns and gives me a forced smile. He heads toward his next class as I head to the girls PE to get excused.
"He did not say that. Uh-uh. Uh-uh," I say as I gasp walking into study hall where I see Tad, "Uh-uh," I continue in the best overly cheerful voice I could muster. I put my bag on an empty desk and go to say something else as Mr. Wu says something.
"Excuse me! What do you think you're doing?" Mr. Wu demands. I turn to look at him before looking back at my phone.
"I've like gotta go ciao for now," I say as I turn to look at him, "This is like study hall, right? I was excused from gym class for, um, personal reasons," I say moving my hand toward my stomach.
"Yes, and I am sure you are familiar with the school's cell phone policy?" he mutters as he holds his hand out. I knew he would want the phone. Mr. Wu was one of the only teachers who actually enforced the no cell phone policy.
"All right, all right, take a chill pill and try to relax," I say.
"You can pick this up after school," he says as I nod my head. I didn't really need it, but he didn't need to know that. I looked over at the clock and then to the book in front of me as I heard the ringing of a phone. I had a hard time not smiling when Mr. Wu snapped at Tad. It was funny to see him agreeing with the teacher over the fact that his phone was off and there was no way it could have rung. Yet, as Mr. Wu was an equally phone stealer he got Tad's phone as well. Tad looked around toward me, but I had already diverted my attention to the book in front of me.
"Ms. Dunn? I volunteered to separate the recycling from the cafeteria trash this afternoon. Can I be excused from class early?" I asked as I realized what time it was. I had to get back to Wu's class before Tad. Of course it was easy to get Ms. Dunn to agree as she took my paper from me. I quickly make my way to the class as the bell rings. "Hi! I'm here to get my phone back," I say as he opens the drawer and makes some comment, but I wanted to be gone before Tad realizes what I had done. On any other day the world would allow me time to escape, but no my luck I ran right into Tad as I was exiting the room.
I headed to Mars Investigations, and was lacing my belongings on my desk as I looked over toward my dad who seemed focused on his computer.
"Honey, how's school?" he calls out as I pull my binder out.
"Dad, it's the same thing all the time mean kids and different teachers. Crumbling infrastructure of people who have no clue as what they are doing, but try hard to make it seem like they do," I say heading into his office, "Why are you smiling?" I ask dead serious as he grins wider than I thought possible.
"Well daughter of my loin, because I'm savoring the irony. Imagine the Mars family sending our heir, Veronica, to an Ivy League college with money from the bounty on the Kane heir," he says laughing as I look over his shoulder at the screen on his computer. It is a "Missing Persons Links" which had laid out all the details of Duncan Kane; what he looked like, his weight, eye color and so much more, but what really caught my eye was the reward of $50,000.
"Fifty grand? Not bad," I say as he turns toward me.
"Money for nothing. That's your first two years right there," he smirks as he points to the screen. Then it dawns on me how he was at the table as I was talking with Meg the other day about how to disappear without leaving a trail. Damn it!
"Oh, boy it might not be as easy as you think," I say twirling a loose hair around a finger.
"Come on, honey, Duncan Kane? A sheltered rich kid who has maids fold his underwear? I think I'll be able to track him down. I'm only worried about beating the other pros. Yeah, he's a big fish in a very small barrel," he says slapping his hands together before he looks up at me.
"What is it?" he says as he tries to look very stern at me. I then go into detail telling him how I was discussing the entertainment lawyer who had disappeared and he was having trouble finding. I added how I didn't use any names, but told him the gist of what was needed to disappear. He didn't look too disappointed until I mentioned the way to buy a fake passport. We discuss what to do next. I decide to get Mac to help me with the ebay angle just as Mrs. Fennel came in.
It was strange watching the two of them hang around each other because they both seemed really happy with each other. I felt bad that it would all come to an abrupt end once my mom was out of rehab and back into the picture. I didn't like the guilty feeling that was settling in my stomach when I thought about how this could all blow up in my face. The two of them took off while I decided to focus on other things. Carmen came into the office shortly after they had left.
"So. Did it work?" she asks softly.
"Success," I say smiling as I hold up his phone. I pass it to her as she looks it over once.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you. You didn't watch it, did you?" she asks nervously. I can only shake my head no, and watch her sink down into the chair opposite of me. "You saved my life, Veronica," she continues as I decide she might not be fully aware that there could be more copies.
"Carmen, just because we got the phone, doesn't mean the video's dead. You gotta know it's impossible to destroy a digital file with any kind of certainty," I say laying it out there for her.
"Tad isn't really a think ahead kind of guy," she replies as she looks down at the phone and then grabs the sculpture from my desk and smashes the phone. I couldn't help the grin that found it's was onto my face. It was always empowering to see a woman take back her strength and life.
"That felt great like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders," she says sighing as I watch her shove the pieces into a zip lock baggie.
"Justice is served," I say as I look toward my computer screen when it beeps. I had received an email with a message that said: Nice try. "It's just a message from Top Gun," I say as I look toward her to see her face fall.
"That's Tad," she says as she comes around the desk. I watch as a video opens with Carmen and a Popsicle before she shuts the computer. "Oh my god," she mutters. She left shortly after that. I tried to see if there was anything I could help her with but she just told me no. I headed home angry that Tad could be so hurtful to someone as nice as Carmen. She wasn't the typical 09er girl who dished out just as much as the next person. She was actually a really nice person.
I had this dreaded feeling as I pulled into the high school parking lot. It was an unsettling feeling like things were going to be changing and not for the best. I quickly found Mac to discuss what I needed to about Duncan.
"The thing is figuring out if any passports were sold on any of these auction sites and shipped anywhere near Neptune," I say as I can see the puzzled expression Mac was giving me.
"Veronica. Have you ever asked for help for anything normal?" she questions with a grin on her face.
"Mac, seriously where would all the fun be in that," I say smiling as she chuckles.
"All right, well, I'll get back to you as soon as I find something out," she says as she moves toward the entrance of the school.
"Thanks a zillion, Mac," I call out as she enters the building Carmen caught my eye. I went to move toward her when I realized that Tad had his arm wrapped around her. She looked like she was about to be sick. It made me sick thinking of how hard being with him was for her. I needed to figure out how to get him out of her life without too much damage.
Now why would Carmen want to dump such a charmer? I think as I listen to Tad putting done the kids he deemed unworthy of his time. It was sickening listening to how he made rude comments and thought it was funny. I knew then that something had to be done or he would never stop harassing innocent people who couldn't stand up to him.
I caught up to Carmen later on as I was heading out to my car. "Veronica, I have only been back with him one day, and I already feel like I need a long hot shower. I don't know how long I can keep this up," she says as I look around us to make sure no one else was around.
"What you need is an exit strategy," I say trying to think of something that would get Tad out of Carmen's life for good.
"You know what's going to happen, Veronica? I gonna end up a downloadable national joke. You know, right up there with Paris Hilton or that "Star Wars" kid. I-I'll be the video that everyone emails their friends, you know, just google popsicle girl, and there I'll be for the rest of human history. And I can't stop him" she rants as seriously as she could. I knew I couldn't fully relate to her because I didn't see the whole video, but I knew I was missing a big chunk of one night.
"Unless you had something that would ruin Tad back. You know, get your own A-bomb, and then it prevents him from launching his first strike because there would be Mutually Assured Destruction," I say smiling as she looks more confused than ever.
"That would be a waste of your time. You're not gonna find any dirt on Tad, if that's what you mean," she says which I find hard to believe everyone had something they are hiding from everyone else.
"Really what could be worse than beyond his penchant for amateur underage pornography? Leave that to me. I just need to know that you're willing to get your hands a little dirty. If it makes you feel any better, he didn't really leave you much of a choice," I
"He used to be different. I mean, he was the first boyfriend I ever had. He was the first guy I ever slept with," she says shyly as if she had done something wrong.
"First guy who got you drunk and took dirty pictures of you. You still want to date him? Then let's get this over with," I say giving her the push she needed.
"What do I do?" she finally says as I outline what she needed to do. I couldn't wait for their romantic afternoon at the boardwalk.
I left her to head over to Weevil's since my car was acting up. I needed him to look it over. I wasn't sure how much longer it would last, but I wasn't ready just yet to give up on it.
"What are you doin' here? You miss me already?" he says giving me a wink.
"No, not yet. Alternator trouble. Think your uncle can return the LeBaron to all its original glory?" I ask as I pull my phone out of my bag and grab my water.
"You know he could get it ready for Daytona if you pay him enough," he says smiling as I shake my head.
"Right well, that won't be necessary," I say as he pulls me closer to him which both startles me and makes me nervous.
"Come 'ere. The word is the Kanes are offering a nice little reward to find Duncan," he says as he looks around.
"You pick up some leads when you broke into the Kane house or were you just covering your tracks? You used me," I say pulling my arm out of his grasp.
"Yeah, well. You and me we're always owing each other favors, aren't we? Don't give me that look. If you really thought I'd hurt Lilly you'd have a homing device on my ass already. I just heard something I thought might be worth; say, uh, 10% of your finder's fee," he says as I chuckle because he was damn right. If there was any chance of him being guilty of laying one finger on Lilly he would have more than a homing device on him.
"Depends on what that something it," I say not agreeing or disagreeing to his amount.
"How 'bout a certain spoiled white boy bought a crapped out Impala from my uncle's friend a few weeks back," he says as I see his Uncle stepping out of the office looking toward us.
"I'll think about it if it pans out and you throw in that alternator," I say as he just chuckles while shaking his head at me.
"Sure, chicka," he says as I move toward the entrance of the auto yard just as I see the yellow monstrosity of Logan's pull up. I pull out my phone to call my dad to update him on what I found out.
"Dad, you got a pen?," I ask as I listen to him mumbling something to someone. I must have interrupted a meeting, "A '69 Impala. California license plate 6GU C788," I say as I tuck it under my ear and shoulder as I get into Logan's SUV. "Also he purchased it from Weevil's uncle for eight hundred cash a couple weeks ago. Right. Bye," I say as I see Logan waiting patiently for me to finish up.
"What is it with you, it's always business," he says as he pulls away from the curb.
"Yes, it is, and don't you forget that mister, I say jokingly as he shakes his head at me. I knew he was taking me back to his place where we could be alone, but I was nervous about what he still expected from me. We enter the house kissing each other as he turns me around causing me to laugh. I feel a slight pain in my side where I had been hurt by the mad woman after Aaron.
"So the place is ours. Dad's at class," he says smiling at me as he kisses my forehead, "and Trina's at an extremely important purse store opening in Beverley Hills or something," he says pulling me closer to him.
"Aaron Echolls, your Dad is taking classes?" I ask amazed as he pulls away from me and heads toward the fireplace.
"Yeah," he says gesturing out with his hands as he mocks salutes the bong on the fireplace. He said several different things, but my attention was to the bong.
"Logan, did your dad make a bong?" I question knowing he probably got into trouble for the one I planted in his locker.
"Right, no it's an urn for my mom. You know since there was no body and thus no ashes, he filled it with sea water, 'cause she jumped into the ocean, get it?" he says moving toward me wrapping his hands around my waist. "At least it gets him out of the house," he says which I knew was probably hard for him to admit. He begins to kiss me once more as we spin around moving toward the couch. .
"Do you think this thing…will ever get more normal?" I ask as I motion between us. I mean I really wanted to be able to tell people about us, but wasn't ready for the fallout right now. I knew Wallace knew something was up between the two of us, but he would never come out and ask. Logan was there for me when I got hurt, and he has been there faithfully a few other times. He kisses me on the cheek and moves me toward the couch where I drop my bag and sink down into the nice fabric.
"I don't know. I'm not sure if we'll ever hangout at the mall and hold hands. I would like to do that, but this is all up to you Veronica. I would like to buy you a teddy bear that says 'I wuv you bear-y much' with a heart on it," he says smiling.
"Yes, exactly like that. Except I want my bear won through some sort of demonstration of ring tossing ability," I say smiling as he chuckles.
"Well, secrets are kinda hot, too," he says as he leans forward to kiss me from there we get more into the kiss as he wraps an arm around my back and my hands move to his hair. I am lost in the moment when I hear a throat clearing. I watch as Logan moves quickly from the couch to a standing position looking like a deer caught in the headlights. It takes all my will power to keep from laughing at him. His dad is standing at the counter with a bag in his hands.
"I'm sorry. Well, I didn't realize you had company. Hello, Veronica," he says as I will my cheeks not to turn bright red. I couldn't believe we had been caught by his dad kissing, no scratch that making out on the couch. I muster a wave of my hand.
"I thought you were out," Logan says looking from me to his dad.
"Yeah, well, Silvio cancelled so I," he says as he pulls a package out of the bag, "I grabbed some swordfish, I thought I'd try that Lime Tequila Marinade," he continues as he places the package in the fridge, "You know, uh, I think I'll get out of your guy's hair, uh, there's chips if you're hungry. Blue corn, really good," he says pointing to the bag as he backs out of the room. Logan is leaning over one of the armchairs with his head in his hands.
"Oh my God. Did I just get caught by my dad making out on the couch?" he says laughing as I just shake my head at him.
"Right, you got caught by your dad. I got caught by the star of "Breaking Point" and "Beyond the Breaking Point". That's weird," I say as I wipe my tongue of my teeth, "Um, and I have lipstick on my teeth," I say standing up and heading toward the bathroom. I could feel Logan's eyes following me so I make a little shake of my behind as I leave him. I am in the middle of wiping my hands on the towel when I hear more voices.
"Logan! Look who showed up. Dick and, um…" Aaron is saying as I pause in the door.
"Cassidy," Beaver says. I tune them out as I try to find a way out of this awkward situation. I surely didn't want them to be the first people to find out about Logan and me. I see Aaron looking my way as I slip out of the room.
"Looks like Logan is gonna be stuck for a while," he says as he offers me my bag, "Ride home?" he asks as I nod my head. Logan would call me later. I few slightly embarrassed as we drive.
"How are you Veronica?" he asks as I look out the window.
"Embarrassed and slightly uncomfortable," I say honestly chuckling as I think about it.
"Don't be. I was a teenager once. Th-the thing I really want to ask…how's Logan," he asks somewhat stumbling over the words.
"Honestly I think he's…coming to terms," I say as I realize this had been hard on their whole family.
"He was such a good kid. When Lilly died, he became…" he stops as if he really doesn't know what to say.
"Difficult, pain in the ass, jerk, I could list more," I say softly as I turn away once more.
"Well, maybe it's in the genes. I can be difficult from time to time. But whatever, I don't know if you guys are serious or, um, casual or, or just talking but," he says as he ponders what to say next, "Your secret's safe with me, you know? Look, I just appreciate whatever you're doing to help him through it," he says smiling at me.
"Sure," I say because I wasn't sure what else to say at that moment. He pulls up to my dad's office. "Thanks," I say as I go to open the door.
"Veronica," he says causing me to stop.
"I'm glad you two are together. I like what I see in him when he's with you," he says as I give him a tight smile and get out. I watch him drive away a little weird out and worried for Logan. The talk with Dad. I guess that means my relationship with Logan is officially off the ground. I think as I decide it's time to watch a different relationship crash and burn.
I watch sickened as Tad has his hands all over Carmen going from one vendor to another on the boardwalk. He just got her a cotton candy, as he sips something from a plastic cup. It's crazy watching them hangout and think about whether or not this is something I would want from Logan. I admit I wanted more from our relationship, but I wasn't sure if this was something he really wanted from me.
It was hard for me to watch Carmen having to lower herself because of Tad. She truly didn't want to be with him and he couldn't see that. I don't think I could be as strong as she was because I would have gotten my revenge the old fashion way and had someone beat the crap out of him for good measure. Carmen leads Tad toward a photo booth where they look at several different hats before they settle on some. They then head into the booth to take their pictures.
I knew our plan was to get him to do several things he wouldn't do normally to get some dirt on him, but I was caught off guard when I noticed them stopping in front of a tattoo parlor at the end of one of the section of the boardwalk.
'What's going on?' I text to Carmen. I am sitting at my spot trying hard not to run after her because I worried things could go south real fast.
'Getting him to do something that will hurt him more than me,' she texts back. I try to hide the smirk that I felt coming on.
Seth was waiting for them right where we had planned for him to be. Carmen and Tad moved closer to him once they left the tattoo parlor. I was very curious as to what she had done, but couldn't believe my eyes when I saw her lean toward him before he looked in our direction. I was about half a block away from them sitting on a bench with a baseball cap, and one of Logan's sweatshirts on. I could see clearly the moment Tad stepped away from Carmen her smile dropped. She seemed to be working very hard at keeping the façade up.
I snapped as many pictures of Tad and Seth as I could since I wasn't as close as I would have liked to be to hear what they were talking about. I would have to check with Seth later about what might have been said. Once Seth and Tad exchanged things, he ran back to Carmen. I waited until they were out of my view before I got up. I walked toward my car as I saw Logan exiting his.
"Hey," I say as he stops in front of me.
"Hey, I waited for you at school, but you seemed to just disappear," he said as Seth waved toward me and I waved back. I watched as Logan's eyes flickered from me to him.
"He was helping me on a case," I say feeling the weird need to be honest with him. He just nods his head. "I am working a case for Carmen, and I needed his help in bringing a jerk down," I say moving closer to him.
"I couldn't of been used," he whispers as I feel his hot breath on my earlobe. I wanted to kiss him, but my phone vibrated in my pocket.
"Damn it," I say as I pull it out to see, 'Tad just left, headed to your apartment.'
"Vee," Logan mutters as I look over at him realizing he saw the message.
"Lo," I start but he holds up his hand.
"Seriously, be careful around him," he says before walking away leaving me shocked. I get into my car and head to my apartment. I knew either I would beat Carmen or she'd beat me.
"Okay all we need now is the perfect soundtrack," I mutter as I turn toward Carmen. She had showed up right after I had. "Remember, be natural and act as if you are still very much looking forward to being romantic with him," I half gag on the end of my sentence.
"Tad, hey. I had such a great time today," she says into the phone.
"Me too. God, I wish I had you here right now in my bed. I can't wait until after prom for our little, ah, erotic experiment," I hear I'm say through the speaker on the phone. It took all my will power to keep from losing what little food was in my stomach.
"I had no idea that you'd be so into dropping X together," she says while looking over some of the lines we had written out for her to say.
"Are you kidding me, baby I'd do anything for you?" he replies as I see her give me a small smirk. It makes me wonder now what she had done in the tattoo parlor. The rest of the conversation was as sickly sweet and a little scary for me. Carmen was a great actress, who I hoped I would never cross. I would hate for her to be an enemy.
"So how was that? Did I do alright?" she questions as she hands me the phone.
"You did great. Remind me never to double cross you, and don't forget Tad," I say as she nods her head before I walk her out the door. I decided I needed to take Backup out or I might get a surprise form him I wouldn't like. We walked down the steps that led to the beach. I had hated moving from our house, but had to admit it was cool living so close to the beach.
"Hi honey," my dad says as he walks into the kitchen while I am stirring the chicken I was fixing for dinner.
"Guess what pops its Chicken Kiev night and this time-
"Next time. I gotta run," he says as I notice his hand held a black overnight bag. The mystery bag. On a Tuesday? My own dad has lost total libidinal control.
"Are you sure? There are some important teen issues we could discuss," I say trying to get as much as I could squeeze from him.
"Right, and that truly is my queue. Oh the car Duncan bought? Just got a tip. It was spotted outside Tijuana. Yale, baby," he says overly excited. I watch him leave as I scrape the chicken mush into the trash bin and pick up the phone. I decided I would order out. If you can't beat them, join them.
I wasn't feeling the greatest when I arrived at school. I had this dreaded feeling like something bad was going to happen. I didn't want to dwell on it, but I was having a hard time shaking the feeling. I was about to head into a room where I knew Mac would be when my dad called me. It seems the car Weevil told me about was a bust. Then my great dad decided to rain check on spending some quality time with his one and only daughter. I knew this was a bad day Veronica closes the phone and enters a classroom. I walk into the room where Mac was seriously sitting at a computer as if she knew I would need her help.
"You busy?" I question as she turns slightly to look at me.
"Just working on that passport thing. Check it out. I just found Mr. Heinrich's posting on the Neptune Swingles site," she says smiling at me as I lean toward the screen to get a better look. I just couldn't understand what Mac saw in me as a friend, but I really found her interesting at times. I hated the idea of using her, but she was the best person for this. Plus she knew her way around a computer better than I did. She had wicked mad skills. I explained to her what I wanted done and she gave me a smile. I had a feeling this wasn't the first time she was doing something like this. It brought me back to the purity tests.
Seth was entering the room just as I was heading out. I needed to catch up on a few things before this all went down. I headed for my locker to switch out my books, and saw Meg talking to her friends. I remember working the Polly case with her, but now things were just strained between us. I hated that something as silly as Duncan Kane was an issue.
I met Carmen at one of the more public benches near where I knew the PCHers would be in case I needed backup from them. It was funny how each of them would enjoy beating a 09er for different reasons. I saw Tad first and nudged Carmen.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Tad seethes through his clenched teeth.
"I'm here to offer you a deal," I retort looking him up and down before looking over his shoulder to where I see our little setup had caught Weevil's attention.
"I want my cell phone back," he snaps as I look toward Carmen who pulls the shattered phone out of her purse.
"Of Course," I say as I watch Carmen toss him the phone in a sealed plastic bag.
"Next order of business, you and Carmen are broken up, effective immediately," I say trying to keep on schedule.
"Whoa, who do you think you are Blondie? What about yesterday? The boardwalk? My tattoo?" he moans as I see a flicker of a smile grace Carmen's face.
"It's called pretending. I don't love you anymore. And you can't blackmail me into it. I tried leaving you, but you wouldn't let me go," she says as I smile.
"Carmen, I swear, I never wanted to hurt you. You made me do it. And look, if you make me do it again-" he starts as he moves toward us. I shake my head to Weevil who was all too interested in what we were doing.
"She'll hurt you worse, don't even think about trying to squirm your way back with her," I snap pissed off how manipulative and sick he was. I open up my laptop and show him the website I had Mac set up for me. It even had Tad's awful singing on it, the title though was awesome, "Our Precious Secret".
There were several different photos of Tad and Seth that were predominating. My favorite was the filmstrip taken at the photo booth which has been doctored to replace Carmen's head with Seth's.
"What's that?" Tad bellows as I watch his eyes bug out. I could see him twitching. He was ready to burst.
"Well it's Seth'S web page devoted to your forbidden love. Beautiful song you wrote for him," I say smiling as I could see the anger in his eyes flickering from me to Carmen.
"It's a bunch of crap. You guys just faked that with Photoshop. No one's gonna believe this," he says as he looks around us to see if anyone was looking in our direction or not.
"Really, I think that a lot of people would be interested in what you have going on with Seth. I mean I don't know how you have managed to have both of them without the other finding out," I say a little louder as a couple of Freshman walk by. I then play a little snippet of Tad and Seth talking about Tad being curious and all.
"Seen enough?" Carmen finally speaks up as I close the computer.
"Whatever, who do you think really cares about what this school thinks about me. I'm gone in a month," he says with a smirk on his face.
"Actually, I was able to get the email addresses of every Plebe at Annapolis. On press of a button and each of your new classmates will have the link to this very special website. The navy's got that don't ask, don't tell thing. If we tell, they're gonna ask. Mutually assured destruction. Think hard, Tad make the right decision before things explode for you," I say quickly as I stand up and move away from him. I waited for Carmen near Weevil. As we passed him I just nodded my head. He was going to have a talk with Tad if things didn't stop.
"Ah, mass transit," I hear Logan say from the left. He was sitting on my car. "Why take the bus when you can drive your very own rust bucket? I had my dad's driver pick it up," he says chuckling as he bangs on the hood. "I'm sure it's full of fresh stolen parts, all ready to go," he chirps as he tosses me the keys. I sit down beside him.
"Wow, I'll just try to keep this little gesture in mind this weekend when you and Dick, and the Beaver are off getting blasted and scamming cheerleaders," I say a little harsher than I meant to.
"Yeah...yeah. Actually, I had to tell Dick I'm not available, 'cause I have other plans," he says softly as I look up at him.
"There are cheerleaders with low self-esteem available domestically?" I say gesturing with my hand.
"Right, are you free Friday? Maybe we could go out," he whispers toward me as I give him a small nudge.
"Here? In Neptune? What about our little secret?" I say looking around the parking lot.
"Awe, I thought we'd try a practice run in Catalina Island. So what do you think about us skipping school on Friday for a little ride on Dad's boat? Dinner and a movie?" he says after sliding off the hood. I don't know if I should be excited or nervous.
"I'll pencil you in," I laugh as he pulls me.
"So it's, uh...what is the word? A date?" he jokes as I swing my arm at him as he easily catches it.
"Nice of your dad to let us use his boat," I say as he bends his head low.
"Yeah, yeah, I think he actually likes you. When he heard that stuff about your parents, I think he felt-" he says as I look up at him not really understanding what he meant. What stuff about my parents?
Logan never got to tell me because Dick and the guys called him. I hated having to hide out all the time. I wanted to let people know we were dating, but at the same time I didn't want to be judged. Before he was totally gone he at least slipped me the time we were meeting and the boat slip number.
I rush to my dad's office to see what the hell he was rambling on about. I was flipping through the paper when I came across an ad in the legal notices: Notice of Service. Seeking Lianne Mars. Please contact this number immediately, legal proceedings have begun in your name. 555-0166.
"Oh my god," I mutter as I call Cliff. I really didn't like his answer. It seems that my dad has decided to seek out my mom to file for divorce. How could he decide to do this without talking to me first? I was so upset. It seems that my dad only needed one more day. The ad had to run for one week, seven days. I called the newspaper company, but I had no luck since I needed information only my dad had.
I turn on my computer to see where my dad was. I looked up the tracking information and sent it to my phone before running out to my car to go yell at him. I made my way through the entrance to Hotel Dunes. I hadn't really ever been in it, but it was nice looking. I tried the receptionist, but no one was registered under my dad's name. I went to look at where the music was coming from. I saw my dad and Alicia dancing together. They looked happy together, but I knew my mom was seeking help to come home. I wanted her home, but I hated how this made me feel. I head home and call it a night.
"Good morning," I say to Carmen as I come up beside her. She gives me a smile.
"It sure is good, isn't it," she says laughing as we pass by a group of guys.
"Hey, Carmen!" one of them calls out as both of us stop and turn around.
"Do I know you?" she questions.
"I was wondering if you were hungry," he says laughing as his buddies hit him on the back.
"No," she says puzzled as I begin to put the pieces together once he pulls a Popsicle out from behind him.
"Cause I thought you might want to suck on my popsicle," he yells laughing as I turn to see the embarrassed Carmen turning quickly and hiding her face.
"Tad pressed the button," I say as she only nods her head. She took off as I went on to class.
"Hey. I saw your car was still in the lot," I say as I enter the room she was in. I had looked for her throughout the day, but never found her.
"Honestly, I was waiting for the rest of school to leave so that I could…sneak home without being assailed with any frozen desserts. Although, I'm sure my parents have already seen the video by now, so I'm not exactly sure where I'm planning to hide. Somewhere they don't have computers," she mutters wiping tears from her eyes.
"I can't believe he did it," I say as she looks up at me.
"Imagine my surprise. You know what? Screw it. I'm still glad that I dumped that idiot loser…crapface. I'd rather the whole world think I'm trashy than have a guy like Tad think he can push me around. At least now it's over. No more waiting for the bomb to drop," she says as I grin knowing she was better than he was by far.
"That's right. No more waiting. Time to strike back," I say as I open up my laptop and wait for her to push send.
"Mutually assured destruction," she half mumbles.
"The honors' all yours," I say moving away. She moves her finger on the pad and sent the email to the trash bin. I was more surprised because this ass just walked right over her, but Meg's words came back to me as I looked over at Carmen.
"Thanks anyway," she says as she gets up.
"You can't let him get away with it," I say trying to get her to see reason.
"He's already hurt me, tearing him down isn't gonna make me feel any better," she says as I try to reason with her, but she just walked away.
I flick the video on and watch a little bit of it. I see Carmen laughing and doing her thing, but what held my attention were the lanterns in the background. This video was taken at the party that changed my life. I remember those stars and Chinese lamps. In fact, they're about the only things I remember from that night. A year and a half ago. Shelly Pomeroy had a party.
I put my laptop away and decided to head to the office. I needed to clear my head a little. I knew things happened at that party I wasn't aware of, but could others have been hurt as well. I had walked into the office as I saw my dad leaning over the still open newspaper.
"Veronica, I know I should have told you," he says as I just shake my head.
"No. Your life is your business," I half mutter as I move around him.
"I just felt after a year of not knowing I wanted options. If I ever decided to move on, serving notice is just a first step and if I think I might take another…no more surprises, I promise." He says as I look at him. He had a glow about him, and he was really happy.
"I just want you to be happy, Dad, and I realize that may involve surprises," I say as he smiles at me before heading to his private office. I let out the deep breath I had been holding.
Mac comes in just as I think I can finally get on task. She tells me that she found a sold passport for a Roberto Nalbandion. I introduce her to my dad who looks excited by the new developments. I laugh as I see the wheels turning in his head. He says something about Argentina before leaving us. I hated how embarrassing he was at times, but I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world. Mac and I hassle about the money as she folds for the $10.00 I offered her the time being.
I then asked her about finding out information on a video that was sent. I showed her the video of Carmen and she confirmed the date of the video, and I felt a panic attack coming on as I watched in horror as Carmen sucked on the popsicle.
After Mac left I was very uneasy about what I wanted to do now. Part of me wanted to know why the heck someone would hurt me. The other part of me wanted to kill the person who brought the drugs. My night was very restless, but when I finally got up I decided to go to school and hand in a paper that was due. I would drop it off in the teachers' room and sneak out. I was excited to finally have some alone time with Logan.
I was just coming into the quad area when I see Tad, naked, duct taped to the flagpole as Wallace was in the pilot. He has the word "Scum" across his chest.
"How's it hangin', Tad? Let me guess: uncomfortable?" I say smiling as he looks disgusted.
"I guess you and Carmen got those bikers to put me up here," he sneers at me as I laugh knowing of course Weevil would take care
"I had nothing to do with putting you up here. But," I say as I pull a knife out of my pocket, "I might be convinced to help you get down" I say as I see him thinking about it.
"What do you want from me, bitch? You destroyed my life. You took away the only person that I ever loved," he mutters at me as I have the dreadful feeling of just pushing my knife into him and taking the consequences.
"I don't recall forcing you to send that video," I snap back at him as he shakes his head once more.
"No, she did. She left me. That bitch left me all because you told her to," he yells back at me.
"And what good did sending it do?" I sneer at him standing close enough to just stab him.
"Who's gonna wanna touch her now? You know, if I can't have her, no one can," he smirks at me.
"You are so lucky she has a better soul than I do because I would have taken you down with me," I mutter as I look at him good and hard and decide he wasn't worth my time.
"So what are you gonna cut me down if I apologize, is that it?" he questions as I just shake my head.
"Nope," I say as I get up close to him once again, "I just want a simple answer to a simple question. Who gave you the rohypnol the night of Shelly Pomeroy's party. Yeah, I know. You roofied your girlfriend" I snap at him as he looks to the side.
"I-I don't remember," he says not even denying it.
"In about five minutes, people are gonna start showing up for school and unless you want your…" I say as I point down, "little business to be the first thing they see, you're gonna tell me who gave you the roofies," I demand getting more ticked off.
"There weren't any roofies. It was GHB. It was Logan Echolls. He gave it to me," he says as I feel like I had been slammed back. Logan had the drugs at the party. He is the reason I feel the way I do.
"Oh, thank you," he says as I move up behind him.
"This might sting a bit," I say as I ripe the gauze from the back of Tad's shoulder. I grin as I hear him groan, I then walk away leaving him there yelling at me. I had to laugh because the tattoo he got was a heart with Seth's name in it. Carmen might say she didn't want revenge, but to me that was sure sweet justice.
***LoVe****
Logan
I made sure to get up extra early to have everything ready for this date. I even went out of my way to get all of Veronica's favorite things so that she would understand how much she meant to me. I looked down at my watch. It was 10:30, Veronica was never late. It was bothering me slightly that she wasn't here. I called her cell number, but it went right to voicemail. I toss it down as I go to the back of the boat and pop open the champagne. I feel like such a loser, waiting here when she clearly wasn't planning on coming. I dropped down on the sofa to drink my pain away.