IV.

Family dinners at the Mars residence hadn't always been that comfortable, but they were plain out forced nowadays.

'This is lovely, Lianne,' Keith said, patting his wife's hand awkwardly. Veronica pricked her fork into her lasagna, but she wasn't very hungry. Even after two glasses of water, the taste of vomit wouldn't leave her mouth. She wondered if this was what it would feel like, being Jake Kane's daughter: like a bad taste that just wouldn't go away.

'Very nice, mom,' she forced herself to say, before shoving her plate away, which turned out a bit more forceful than she'd liked. It startled Lianne, but she quickly recovered and managed to smile at her daughter. 'May I be excused?'

'Veronica…'

'Alright honey,' Lianne chirped, not quite capable of keeping the edge out of her voice. 'Going for a walk with Backup?'

Veronica simply nodded. Backup was already shuffling restlessly in the kitchen, and it was a good excuse to get out of the house. She put on his leash and strolled down the street, taking the road downhill towards the beach.

Yes, she lived up the hill. She was practically an 09'er, a girl from the right side of the tracks, but still – they'd never really accepted her as one of them. Only Lilly had done that, Duncan and Logan following her example. But the rest of them, people like Dick and Madison who lived in the grand mansions even further uphill, saw her as a fake, an intruder.

And actually she felt more comfortable downhill, were she could feel the sea breeze in her hair and the sand under her feet. She'd always been an ocean girl, happiest when she was swimming in the always lukewarm Pacific, her sorrows floating away from her there and then. With her feet on solid ground again, however…

When they reached the beach, she unleashed Backup and couldn't help but laugh as he threw himself enthusiastically and rather clumsily into the waves. 'Go get them, big boy!'

A couple of surfers tackled the waves, one being a bit more successful than the others, and Veronica groaned when she recognized them. No way she was going to face Duncan Kane and his friends right now. Still, she liked to look at them, taking on the waves, laughing and yelling at each other with excitement before another wave broke into them. They looked so damn relaxed and elated, and for a moment, she enviedthem.

They never looked her way and she knew she should have been happy with that. But somehow, she'd rather have them notice her, at least acknowledge her existence – something that Duncan had been incapable of the last couple of months.

When they drifted closer to the beach, probably making their way to the shore, she decided it would be best to leave. Only Logan, the best surfer of the group, was still riding the waves, seeming even happier now than he'd looked before when he'd been surrounded by his friends. She couldn't help but stare at him. What she'd give right now to be as careless as Logan Echolls.

A frantic cry and the spell was broken. 'Get it off me, man!'

She turned around to see her worst nightmare come true: Backup had tackled Dick Casablancas and thus sealed her fate: public humiliation it was.

'Backup, here boy!' Thank god she trained him well, she thought as her dog came running back to her.

Duncan looked positively startled at the sound of her voice, and her appearance seemed to freak him out even more. She knelt down to put Backup on his leash again and in an attempt to hide her burning cheeks.

'Hi,' he mumbled, fixing his gaze on the horizon to avoid her eyes.

'You should keep that dog on the leash, man!' Dick scrambled to his feet, his wetsuit now covered in sticky white sand. 'It's crazy!'

The others snickered, but Dick didn't even seem to notice they were laughing at him.

'He's not crazy, he's just young. He wouldn't hurt a fly.' Not that she felt particularly sorry for Dick, though. God, that guy was annoying.

'Well, I'll see you guys later,' she said, trying to keep her voice breezy. She turned around as fast as she could and pulled the leash tightly to draw Backup away from the group of surfers.

'Hey, wait up!' The voice calling out to her wasn't a familiar one. When she turned around slowly, a guy she didn't recognize casually strolled over. 'I don't think we've met before. I'm Troy, by the way. What's your name?'

'Veronica,' she mumbled.

'Well, I certainly hope to see more of you, Veronica,' he said, a grin flashing over his face. She gritted her teeth in frustration. As if having your dog attack one of your ex's friends wasn't bad enough, another of his friends flirting with you in front of him was definitely even more embarrassing.

'Uh… yeah, maybe,' she answered vaguely before turning around again. Whoever this new guy was, he certainly had some catching up to do.

She got in through the backdoor and halted for a moment to listen. The house was eerily quiet. That probably meant her dad had had a call from the office and her mom was already asleep, either lying in bed or on the couch in the living room.

The living room was empty, and Veronica went upstairs to press her ear against her parents' bedroom door. Not a sound, which probably meant that Lianne had been taking sleeping pills again. Without them, she was a lot more restless. When she walked back to the living room, she noticed an empty bottle of whiskey tucked away under the couch.

Whiskey and sleeping pills, then.

She sighed. Being confronted with this side of her mother simply hurt, because it came with a deep-rooted feeling of rejection. Apparently having a loving husband and daughter wasn't enough for Lianne, since she still craved her past lover's affection. The thought alone made her sick and angry.

She opened her schoolbag and searched for her wallet. A plan had formed in her head, although she'd been a bit nervous to carry it out. She opened her wallet and searched for the fake ID's she had made for Lilly and her, before hell broke loose. She wasn't quite certain this would work, but if anything, it was her best shot.