A/N: So soon... I can feel it in my bones, but I have a few things I need to cover first... like Veronica's birthday, which is sometime in late August? so. there's that. A little of what this chapter focuses on. And the first two days of classes. I sort of knocked out a bunch of things in this chapter. Its so awesome and cute. It's kind of like oh hey friends who abandoned us all summer, look at all of the fun we had without you... lol.
Chapter 13: Back to School
The seven met for breakfast early Monday morning on the first day of classes. Veronica honestly could not remember a time in her life when she had six people she could call friends, simultaneously. It was actually quite nice. She took a seat next to Mac and Logan sat on the other side, with Dick soon to follow next to Logan.
They were still missing Piz and Wallace and the girls laughed assuming they had overslept, which their attire when they arrived seemed to confirm. They sat quietly, Piz with an upset look on his face that he had to sit across from Veronica at the table, not next to her. He couldn't say anything, either, since Parker was in the middle of telling a story about her summer.
As soon as Parker finished, Veronica excused herself for her Monday morning class. As soon as she was completely gone, Logan took over the table, "so, Dick and I just got this amazing beach house and we've decided that our first party there is going to be for Veronica's birthday in two weeks. I was thinking beach/surf themed, kind of going with this," he said, pulling out his phone and showing the picture he took of Veronica the day they went surfing, passing it around the table.
"Veronica doesn't surf," Piz said, matter-of-factly, happy that he knew something about Veronica that Logan didn't. Logan ignored him and kept talking and Parker handed him Logan's phone with the picture of Veronica, surfing, in the tiniest bikini he had ever seen. His eyes practically fell out of his head.
Logan laughed at the poor guy's expression, "So, we're going to need a huge cake, and some sparklers, wood to build a bonfire outside, Dick's got the drinks covered, balloons, tons of balloons; she loves those things. I want to make a video of her life to play on a large screen in the background. Oh, and this is a surprise, so no one can tell her."
Logan waited for his phone to be passed back to him. He wanted this party to be the best party ever. "As for food, I was thinking all of Veronica's favorites: lasagna, egg rolls, mashed potatoes and tacos," Logan watched Mac write down every word he said, knowing she was going to research everything and get back to him. Some days he enjoyed being filthy rich; he could throw extravagant shindigs like this and not have to worry about the cost.
He continued to rattle off things that he knew Veronica loved that would be great for the party, oblivious that he was pissing Piz off by knowing so many details about her that he did not. Parker was excitedly making suggestions, loving parties herself, that would make the night even better. Wallace helped where he could, knowing certain other things about Veronica. The night was going to be a success.
Veronica knew he was looking for a place, and he had brought her to several of his choices, but she didn't know which one he ultimately picked. Though she had no real reason to be included in the decision making process, she was flattered that he included her anyway. She figured if they were dating, she'd probably be spending a lot of time there anyway and he wanted her to feel comfortable. This party would be the first time she would see his new place, she just didn't know it yet.
When they met up in class on Tuesday, he said nothing of the party and took the seat next to her. "Good morning," he said with a smile, despite the early timeslot of the class.
She looked over to him and returned the smile, "Hey. You are aware that it is 8:30 a.m. right now, not p.m., right?"
He nodded and laughed. "So, what are you doing after class? Maybe we could get an early lunch in the cafeteria and hang out until everyone else gets out of class?" he asked hopefully. Well, assuming that the class actually ran for the full two hours, it was the first day. As every student hoped, first days brought reading of syllabi and then early dismissal, usually.
"That sounds good. I've been wanting a smoothie all morning. It's too hot outside today," she said, drawing attention to the outfit she selected. He noticed the short denim skirt she was wearing first, making her legs appear so much longer. She had paired it with a tight, pink tank top. The necklace around her neck was the one that Lilly had given her and her hair was pulled back into a pony tail, an attempt to get it off her neck.
Could it be that his tough Veronica had a bit of girly-girl left in her? "Well, we will just have to get you a smoothie then," he said with a laugh before the professor walked in and hushed the class. If Veronica was going to insist on wearing skimpy outfits in class, then perhaps Logan could be persuaded to come to morning classes more often.
Despite the students' desires, class ran for the full two hours; a full discussion on the origins of American thought. Great. They left the room and walked to the cafeteria, Logan's arm loosely around her waist. Although they weren't official, yet, she didn't mind him being so close to her. It was kind of nice. "Look, there's Piz," Veronica pointed once they had gotten their drinks, "we should go sit with him."
The first thing Piz noticed when the pair approached his table was the location of Logan's hand on Veronica's hip. "Hey Piz," she greeted warmly, taking a seat across from him at the table and putting her bag down. Logan followed suit, sitting next to her. "How was your summer? It seems I've been a little busy lately and haven't gotten a chance to talk to you," Veronica asked, genuinely interested in how her friend was doing.
A lesser man would have found Piz to be a threat, but Logan didn't mind Veronica's interest. He knew they were friends, and he was okay with that, especially after how they spent their summer. It certainly wasn't Piz walking around with his arm around Veronica; nope, that was Logan. He sipped his smoothie silently, letting the pair of them talk.
"Logan and I had a lot of fun this summer, too," Veronica said after hearing what Piz had to say, "didn't we Logan?" Veronica wanted to bring him into the conversation too, hoping that they could be something in the same zip code as friends.
Logan nodded and put his now half-empty cup on the table, "Yeah, we did." He thought back to how much fun the summer was, probably one of the best of his life, even with all of their arguments.
"I loved the carnival," Veronica continued, "I got Logan to ride the carousel." She showed Piz the awkward picture of Logan on the carousel horse that she had taken. "He looked so funny, like a giant," she continued as Piz handed the phone back to her, barely looking at the picture.
Logan smiled, "That was a good night. I have an even better picture of Veronica, though," he said, bringing out his phone and showing a photo of Veronica with a pout on her face in under a sign that said "you must be this tall to ride."
Veronica rolled her eyes, "he rode it without me, and made me wait," she remembered. It was more so funny than upsetting, though, as she had obtained and consumed an entire cotton candy while he was gone. The other pictures taken that night were not shared over the lunch table.
Soon enough, more of their friends showed up. Parker had a class during the usual lunch hour and was unable to make it. The rest discussed their morning classes and thoughts on how well they predicted they would enjoy them. Eventually, Logan and Veronica had to go to their next Tuesday class, leaving Piz with yet another scowl on his face that they were leaving together.
"Welcome to News Writing," the Professor said to start the class off, "I'm going to discuss the syllabus, your assignments for the semester and give you a quick warm-up assignment and then you will be free to go," she said with a warm smile and began handing out the stacks of paper.
Finally she wrote the "warm-up" on the board, "I want you to interview the person sitting next to you by asking them these questions," she said, tapping on the board, "and turn them in before you can leave."
Logan and Veronica looked at each other and smiled, this was going to be easy. Logan began his mock interview first. "So, Veronica, what is your name?" he asked with a straight face. She didn't have to answer as he scribbled something down on the paper, clearly answering all of the ones he declared pointless. "Question 10, why are you in News Writing?" he asked, not sure of that particular answer.
"Journalism minor," Veronica responded, simply. She had always enjoyed Newspaper in high school and figured she'd give college journalism a try, and found she enjoyed that as well.
He nodded and wrote her answer, "Final question, if you had a million dollars, how would you spend it?"
Veronica thought for a moment; how would she spend a million dollars, "I don't know," she said, honestly. She wasn't left in want of anything and was content with how her life was, "I guess I'd pay for college and get my own apartment and then invest the rest?" It was more of a question than an answer, but truthfully, that's all she could think to do with it, "oh, and get my dad a really awesome Christmas present.
Logan smiled, knowing that it was never about money with Veronica. She was always so sensible and he knew that she would never date him just to have her hands on his money. In fact, he was sure that if she did get her hands on it, she would wisely invest it and probably make him even richer. That's certainly one of the things he loved about her.
Then Veronica interviewed Logan, skipping the basics until the final two questions as he had done, "Why are you in News Writing?" she asked, actually curious to hear his answer.
"So I can be closer to you," he said with a wink, remembering what she said when she transferred to newspaper in high school, "Seriously, though? Journalism minor, English major. I was thinking of becoming a writer, but I wasn't sure what kind I wanted to be, so I thought I would cover all my bases. I have a theatre minor too. I was considering writing screen plays. Maybe be on the other side of movie making. Hmm, I guess this means we'll have quite a few classes together over the next two years, huh?" He silently thanked his academic advisor for pushing the journalism program.
Veronica wrote down the answer, impressed that he was taking his future so seriously. She could cross that talk off of her list of things to ask him. House, career, Logan was certainly getting his life together, she thought. "Okay," she said looking at the time, "final question, if you had a million dollars, how would you spend it? Wow, that's a silly question," she added, knowing that it wasn't so much an 'if' with Logan.
He laughed, "Only a million? Where'd the rest of it go? I guess I'd buy a house on the beach and then hire a cute little blonde detective to find what's missing," he playfully tapped her on the nose. They handed in their assignments and left. "Work?" he asked as they exited the building.
"Yup, I guess I get to do afternoons now instead of mornings," she replied thinking of her summer schedule. "See you tomorrow?" she asked, unsure, not familiar with his Wednesday schedule.
He nodded as he walked her to her car, "sure. Tomorrow. Lunch in the cafeteria?"
"Sounds like a plan," she said and got in her car and drove off to work.
A/N: So I kind of punked out with the ending... it just sort of fizzled. Sorry. So, it was kind of hard to find a future plan for Logan since the show never really discussed that. I always thought he liked English and grew up around the movie industry so... screen writing maybe, writing novels maybe, he surely isn't short on inspiration. Also, upcoming is Veronica's big birthday blowout. Its going to be awesome. And, I just had a brilliant thought come to me as to who should be Piz's date to the party since he obviously can't bring Veronica. Bonus points to anyone who guesses. Seriously. Or not. Reviews are awesome. I can't believe this is chapter 13.