"It's okay, it's his loss."

"You deserve better."

"He's just a total jerk."

Veronica pauses before turning the corner. She inches just a little to her left to take a closer look at the huddled group of teenage girls, all surrounding a sobbing mess of stick-straight blond hair. She peers closer.

Caitlin?

"It's so totally wrong for Logan to do that."

"Like, every guy should know that girls do the dumping."

Veronica catches her breath.

Logan dumped her - Logan Echolls, the man who does a lot less dumping than he should - has severed himself from the insufferable Caitlin Ford.

Veronica licks her lips as a wave of emotions surge through her chest. Finally, Logan dumps the pathetic shadow of Lilly Kane. She feels happy at the knowledge - for Lilly's sake, of course.

"He could've given me a real reason, you know?" Caitlin's whimper echoes through the hall.

He had plenty of reasons, girl. Veronica grits her teeth.

"But no, he kisses me, sleeps with me, and tell me it's over before I even get my clothes back on."

Veronica's arches a brow. Now that was a little cruel.

Submerging her face into the flitting shadows of the early morning hallway, she leans her head back against the brick wall.

Logan has heeded her warning. His reputation - and by a vague connection, Lilly's - is safe. She is now fully free to unleash the list of Caitlin's illicit lovers on to the public knowledge of Neptune High.

Veronica steals another glance at the heap of heiresses.

Then why does she feel an unpardonable hint of empathy for the sobbing creature?

A loud cheer has her whipping around to face the main hall entrance.

Amidst the raised limbs of the 09er male multitude, the guy who broke her heart and the guy who further smashed it march down in mock triumph. Why care for the ruined souls we've caused when we can start the day with a rambunctious posse, right?

She shakes her head, ready to end her stakeout. But a flash of brunette curls catches her eye before she turns away from the approaching tsunami of testosterone. She shifts to her right for a better view.

Her heart sinks.

Within a minute, Carrie Bishop's youthful laughter floats over the male voices in her proximity even while her arm stays grounded around Logan's. The ease of his gait indicates how willingly he's allowing her to stay right where she is. It took him less than a twenty-four hours to replace his arm candy, one as entitled as the other.

Veronica sighs.

Well, what do you know, Logan Echolls never does anything halfway. Why break a heart when you can obliterate it?


"Hey," Amber spoke softly, willing her surroundings to ignore her.
Logan turned tentatively, almost as if unsure of what he thought he'd heard. Another moment had him turning around completely to face her.
She flashed a very small smile at the tall figure leaning back against his locker.
"Yeah?" His voice sounded much milder than his usual theatrical tone.
"This - well, this is a little embarrassing to say," she mustered slowly, her voice still barely above a whisper, her eyes darting everywhere to check for any unwanted audience.

He didn't look away.

She breathed in. "I need a favor."
"Yeah?"
She licked her lips. "My dad's birthday is coming up."
His silence prodded her on.
"And I wanted to give him something really personal and special, like a scrapbook," she continued, gaining back her usual confidence. "The thing is, some of the pictures I need aren't with me."
She looked him straight in the eye. "They're with you. I remember leaving them there the last time we worked on that family tree project together."
He nodded wordlessly.
"So - could I drop by after school to get them?"

For two seconds, they stared.
Then, out of the unexpected blue, Logan laughed. He laughed with the triumphant menace of a wolf before its prey.

She stepped back involuntarily, but not before he grabbed her firmly by the shoulders.
He levelled his gaze, his voice now anything but gentle. "Is that what you do to scam guys into sleeping with you? Listen, girl, you gotta try harder than that."
Amber gulped, her reconciliatory spirit fast condensing back into fierce disdain.
"I'll bang every other chick in this school before I'll be caught dead with you." His words cut into her soul like a dirty knife through pristine white cake.

The very moment he deposited her back on the ground, her right hand flung up to deliver the hardest slap of her life.
And while Logan Echolls gaped with a hand to his privileged cheek, she resolutely marched away.


"Wow, did not see that coming. What a 180 in their interaction. Solve this. Fast!" - i3tomorrow
"Gr8t works!" - tigerlilyprincess
"Why yu make logan such an a-hole?" - cukiedohgal

She ignores the notifications on her screen.

"Really surprised at the turn of events. What happened to Lo?" - ALTLcholls
"Cant accept Logan would do that" - fishwoman

She scoffs at the computer lab screen.

"Also surprised at the return of animosity between them. I'm sure he has his reasons. Maybe there's been a misunderstanding? I hope they clear it up soon and not do anything they'll regret." - PerfectPrincess

Veronica slaps down her laptop screen in vicarious frustration.

"Didn't see that comming. Hope they make up soonn?" - aegyo
"I can't imagine Logan ever doing that. It's just not like him." - honeybee17

Oh yeah?

She rolls her eyes at the protectiveness of the rabid fangirls. Thinking the best of someone doesn't make it true, munchkins.

"Where did that come from? Really expected villain to be someone else in this chapter." - V3nd3tta

Et tu?

Despite his three separate attempts at greeting her, Veronica ignores her chatmate for the rest of the night.

The next morning, Troy Vandergraff wheedles a date out of her. She almost smiles. Why not, right?

The next evening, she stares at the ceiling, wondering why her date ended with a handshake instead of a kiss.

V3nd3tta: You there? Long time no talk.

She stares at her screen.

V3nd3tta: I know you're online. You okay?

So he's a psychic now too? Everyone claims to know everybody else too much these days. She turns off her computer.


From a distance, she watches Caitlin shunned from every 09er lunch table. Wallace comments on the state of the fallen.

Veronica never got around to publishing the list she had. But when her dad fulfilled his PI contract to track down the stolen Echolls credit card, Caitlin's multiple infidelities quickly came to light. Now even the girls hate her.

You never know how long anyone's gonna stick around in life - even the brightest star tonight can be plucked from the sky tomorrow.

So when Troy kisses her and asks her to homecoming dance, she says yes. She smiles and waves like a good girlfriend while he leaves the building. Then she wanders into her room wondering why she's not twirling and floating in giddy teenage happiness. Her dad really deserves a normal daughter, sometimes.

She idly scrolls down a boring news website.

Something beeps.

V3nd3tta: Hey there. I'm sorry.

She bites her lip for a moment.

M2r5hM2ll0ws: Yeah?
V3nd3tta: I'm sorry for sounding like I know better. I clearly don't.
M2r5hM2ll0ws: 'kay.

What else could she say, really? It's not like she could claim she never thought so.

V3nd3tta: You have every right to write what you want.
M2r5hM2ll0ws: Of course I do. Freedom of speech and all, you know.
V3nd3tta: Look at you, lawyer in the making.
M2r5hM2ll0ws: And you...a superficial politician :D
V3nd3tta: Look at us getting headstarts on our careers. Such prodigies.

She smiles despite herself.

V3nd3tta: Rough day?
M2r5hM2ll0ws: Hm, depends.
V3nd3tta: Always the safe answer
M2r5hM2ll0ws: Well, I had a date
V3nd3tta: But you're still alone on your computer after it. Gotcha.
M2r5hM2ll0ws: Hey, not all girls are easy, okay?
V3nd3tta: No kidding. Took a while to get a hold of you.
M2r5hM2ll0ws: You know what?
V3nd3tta: What?
M2r5hM2ll0ws: You still haven't ;)
V3nd3tta: Oh, I know that. Your username is highly misleading.

Now she smiles for real.

M2r5hM2ll0ws: Why? I don't sound white and fluffy to you?
V3nd3tta: I wouldn't dare profess to know much. But I'd say cute and spunky more than white and fluffy. More grit, less giggles.
M2r5hM2ll0ws: Well, you're quite the therapist.
V3nd3tta: Had plenty of my own to learn from.
M2r5hM2ll0ws: Required or volunteered?
V3nd3tta: Whaddya think?
M2r5hM2ll0ws: Depends if the therapists are hot or not.
V3nd3tta: LOL
M2r5hM2ll0ws: :)

She uses the lull in their conversation to slip into her pajamas.

V3nd3tta: Hey, you still there?
M2r5hM2ll0ws: Paranoid much?
V3nd3tta: Maybe
M2r5hM2ll0ws: Still here. What's up?
V3nd3tta: Honest question
M2r5hM2ll0ws: Ugh, those words usually precede something monstrous and ugly.
V3nd3tta: True, true. Nevermind.
M2r5hM2ll0ws: Hey, it's fine. What's on your mind?

It took another minute for him to formulate his reply.

V3nd3tta: I have no problem with what you wrote in your story.
M2r5hM2ll0ws: Yeah?
V3nd3tta: But you...you were kinda adamant about Cassie's infidelities last time. What changed your mind?
M2r5hM2ll0ws: About punishing her?
V3nd3tta: Yeah
M2r5hM2ll0ws: Well, I guess...how could I when she's a victim too, you know?
V3nd3tta: Victim?
M2r5hM2ll0ws: Yeah. The public way he dumped her was harsh.
V3nd3tta: Who did?
M2r5hM2ll0ws: Logan, her boyfriend.
V3nd3tta: I see

She doesn't type again.

V3nd3tta: So, in your story...Logan's single now?

She thinks for a moment.

M2r5hM2ll0ws: He can be
V3nd3tta: Can?
M2r5hM2ll0ws: A guy is only single for as long as he lets himself be.
V3nd3tta: Good point
M2r5hM2ll0ws: Of course
V3nd3tta: Shucks, so humble
M2r5hM2ll0ws: It's my middle name
V3nd3tta: Ah, doesn't sound too feminine
M2r5hM2ll0ws: Hey, spunk over sweet, right?
V3nd3tta: :)
M2r5hM2ll0ws: :)


A/N: Thank you to everyone who warmly welcomed me back. I hate waiting for updates for too long; and I'm so sorry for putting everyone through that month-long hiatus. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Do let me know your thoughts :)