Plan B
28 weeks
Mrs. Murphy announces that Logan has won the internship to work for Woody Goodman. She puts his winning essay on the wall.
Before leaving class, she flips through it.
She heads over to Logan, who is of course surrounded by girls congratulating him.
"Freedom: That's what it's all about. But talking about it, and being it, that's two different things." she quotes as the girls surrounding him run away.
"Whew. You came up all deliberate-like, I figured you wanted to be first in line to ask me to the Sadie Hawkins dance, not recite my prize-winning essay." Logan jokes.
"Actually, I'm quoting Easy Rider, which you, Felix and Eli all have made me watch, repeatedly." she states glaring at him.
"That's funny, it sounds a lot like my essay."
"Logan."
"Ronnie."
She rolls her eyes at him. "So have you been able to get in touch with Hannah?" she asks as they walk.
"All the letters come back unopened, thanks by the way for finding the address."
"Your know, I'm not sure, but I think when they start shipping your girlfriends off, you're officially a bad boy." she jokes. "Do you want to write her but have me mail it. Maybe it's just your letters." she says honestly.
He laughs softly. "I tried that. Letty sent her a letter, same thing."
"I'm sorry."
"Its okay."
"I heard the FBLA won the drawing to host the Sadie Hawkins dance. Dances are the best fundraisers, the band made like three grand at last year's." Jane says when she and Wallace join her at the lunch table.
"This face? Right here? My over-the-moon face." she jokes.
"You and Weevil going?" Jane asks.
She laughs. "Getting Eli to a school dance is like pulling teeth. I'll be working it though. Taking photos."
Wallace laughs.
"What about you? Anyone on your radar?" she asks Jane.
"Well, I've got a dilemma. I'm torn between this sweet band dork and this all-hands Nubian prince."
"Oooh. Tell me more about this band dork." she jokes.
"Hey, querida. I need to talk to you." Eli says.
"Excuse me guys." she says getting up.
"What's going on?" she asks as they walk.
"I need your help. Hector has stopped answering all of our calls and when I talked to his mom, she said that she hadn't seen him in awhile."
"Define a while."
"Two weeks."
She looks at him in shock.
"I'm worried..."
"Eli, what is it?"
"Hector showed me...he has this video of me on his cell. Of me beating Curly Moran. Not just him, seems Molly has a copy of it as well." he tells her placing his hands on her stomach.
"Why didn't you tell me about the video?"
"You have more important things to worry about, mama."
"Dammit."
"How's your dad doin'?" Wallace asks during study hall.
"Fantastic. So good, in fact, they took him off suicide watch yesterday. Banner freakin' day in the Cook household, let me tell ya." Jackie tells him.
"How are you doing?"
"Okay..."
"This is study hall. Do you two know what we do in study hall?" Mr. Wu asks coming up to them.
"Gimme a minute, I think I know this one..." Jackie says turning in her seat.
Mr. Wu walks away and the two of them actually start studying.
Cassidy and Mac walk down the corridor, and he stops to look at the Sadie Hawkins dance banner.
"What are you doing?" Mac asks.
"Um, you know, just standing here, wondering what I've done to make you ashamed of me. It's the age thing, isn't it? You know, me and my full blush of youth, and you and your...advancing years."
"I'm standing in the middle of the hallway holding your hand, dorkwad."
"Yes, but have you asked me to the dance?"
Rolling her eyes, and with a big grin. "Cassidy do you want to go to the Sadie Hawkins dance with me?"
"Yes and if the dance blows half as much as I'm guessing it will, we can cut out early. Go straight for the good stuff."
"Ooh, my." she says acting like a southern lady waving her hand in front of her face.
"I'm talking about Neptune's Best Pizza Quest. You, get your mind out of the gutter." he says letting go of her hand and walking to class.
"Hey. I need a second." she calls after Logan.
"I'm sorry, I can't be late for my first day. Call the county courthouse, ask for the assistant to the honorary deputy mayor. Have her pencil you in."
"Logan..."
"Ronnie. Ask not what Logan can do for you, but what you do for Logan." he jokes.
"That's gonna get old real soon."
"Let me know when that time comes. What's up?" he says stopping finally so she can catch up.
"Out of curiosity when was the last time you saw Hector?"
"Hector...hmmm. A couple weeks. Felix, Thumper and Weevil are really the only ones that talk to me, remember?"
"Dammit. No one has seen him or talked to him in over two weeks. It doesn't look good for you, Felix or Eli if he suddenly goes missing."
"Crap."
"Yeah."
After Logan is jokingly sworn in, he tries to leave to fire Lamb.
Woody tells him he has introduced an incorporation plan, and he wants Logan to sort the mail into pro/anti incorporation piles.
Keith arrives as Logan starts shifting though the mail.
"Logan, what are you doing here?" he asks.
"Had the winning essay." he says.
Keith nods and follows Woody into his office.
Woody start to ask him to drop all of his other cases to free Terrence from the murder charges when Logan interrupts.
He shows them a DVD that was among the mail. It is footage of inside Woody Goodman's house. The recording shows the house as Woody and Gia sit at the table eating. The camera pans along the wall over photographs of the Little League team Woody coaches.
"So this is staking out, huh? Looks sexier in the movies." Logan snarks.
"Keith..." Woody says.
"I'll look into it." he states.
At his house, she tells him that no one has seen Hector.
"Maybe one of us should talk to Molly." he says.
"Que?"
"She's been around and Hector did say that he was in love with her. Maybe she knows where he is.
"Or her family had something to do with him disappearing. He was working for Liam."
"I know, querida."
She pulls him down to join her in the bed, so that they can hopefully get some sleep.
"This serves as a preemptive apology for the conversation that's about to take place. Okay...So...Beaver and I occasionally, you know, uh, make out. So not that I'm an expert in this sorta stuff, but four months, typical high school boy, there should be some...under the...bra action, no?"
"Let me consult my Idiot's Guide to Wanton Behavior. Basically, you're asking me because I'm the sluttiest person you know?"
"Um, 'slutty' is your word choice. Mine was 'worldly'."
"Okay, I'm not the best person to judge here. Four months and nothing beyond kissing."
"Nothing."
"Okay it's weird but my history is Duncan and Eli."
"And?"
"Duncan waited a couple months before under clothes action while Eli..." she stops and places a hand on her stomach with a soft smile.
"So weird."
"But not a bad thing, just relax."
Eli plants a a bug Molly's bag when he asks her about Hector.
She claims to not to know a thing.
"You know, I think its funny how Hector is missing and you don't seem to care. Since he was working for you family. Its also weird that the witness that 'came' forward is under your family's thumb."
Molly doesn't say a word just grabs her bag and leaves.
Jackie and Wallace sit together in study hall.
"Did you just check that girl out?" Jackie asks when a girl walks past them in a tight sweater.
"I was admiring her sweater." he jokes.
"Her second skin rack-magnifying sweater?"
He just smirks. "Anytime a hot girl wants to wear a tight sweater with a zip down the middle? I'm on board."
She notices a bunch of 09ers bothering a boy, that everyone knows is mentally disabled. Annoyed she gets up and goes over to him.
And asks him to the dance.
Sitting back down, "You know that was a supafly move right?" Wallace says.
"Maybe." she says with a smile.
Logan is looking around the office when he comes across an ink stamp with Woody's signature on it.
He stamps it onto a piece of paper and pockets it with a smirk.
Woody comes in and decides that they need to go to the gym.
It seems fine for a while, he acts as Woody's spotter.
Woody admires his arm muscles, squeezing them for a little too long.
"You know, looking at you, reminds me of the good old days, when I was young and ripped. Betcha have some fun with the ladies, huh?" Woody says when he finally removes his hand.
"Uh, the ones that survive." he snarks and looking at his watch claims its time for him to go home.
"Hey, Ronnie. I'm not sure but I think our mayor was just hitting on me. Call me back, I'm actually weirded out right now." he says on her voice mail
She and Eli listen to the bug in his bedroom.
"Molly get me a beer." Liam calls.
"What's wrong with you?" Danny asks.
"Weevil asked me about Hector." Molly says.
"Why would he be asking you about that punk?" Liam asks.
"Seems he knows that Hector was working for us and he hasn't been around for two weeks."
Liam and Danny just laugh.
"He even claims that Dr. Grittith 'came forward' on our orders." Molly snarks.
"Noooo. The doc did that on his own hoping to get in our good graces. Instead it pissed us off." Liam states.
"I know." Molly says.
"Don't worry kiddo. Soon you wont have to worry about any of them."
"I'm not sure what we can do with this. They don't admit a thing." she says with a sigh.
Eli just sits there with his head in his hands.
"Has Hector's mom reported him missing?" she asks.
"No. I don't think she trust Lamb to actually look for him." he tells her.
She puts her laptop into her bag. "Come on. We are going to report him missing than go see Logan."
"Why are we going to see Opie?" he says grabbing his jacket and following her out of the room.
"He left a weird message on my voicemail that I need to talk to him about."
Sacks shows them into Lamb's office.
"Look up Eli Navarro. There's gotta be something outstanding we can book him on." Lamb calls to Sacks when he notices them in his office.
"Well, if I did it, it's outstanding." Eli snarks earning him a smack from V.
"Still pickin' winners, huh, Veronica?" Lamb snarks eyeing her pregnant body a little to long for his liking.
"I told you, if I ever start picking losers, it's all you. We need to report someone missing."
"Who's missing?" Lamb asking sitting down.
"Hector Cortez." Eli says.
"So the guy that your friends Logan Echolls and Felix Toombs just ending being proved didn't run off the road suddenly goes missing. Hmmmmm." Lamb snarks.
"Stop being an ass and just take the information Deputy Lamb." She snarls.
Lamb scoffs and after a few minutes of glaring he finally gets all the information that he needs.
"Let's go." she says to Eli pulling him out of the office.
Logan lets them in.
"Took you long enough.' he says.
She rolls her eyes. "Explain."
"Okay...I was bored in the office and Woody invited me to his gym. It was fine I spotted him for some reps and I don't know. I was putting the bar back when Woody started feeling my arm. You know how a girl will put her hand on you arm and flirt about how strong you are?" he says looking at Eli.
"Ummm..yeah." he says rubbing a hand over his head.
"That's what Woody did."
"But..." she sits down not knowing what to say.
"Okay I get why that would weird you out." Eli states sitting down next to her.
"Woody was a couch for baseball..Maybe it was more...I don't know. Maybe..." she can't even think straight.
"My thoughts exactly."
"You should tell my dad. It might be nothing but he does jobs for Woody."
"I'll talk to him." Logan states hoping she believes him.
The Sadie Hawkins Dance
Jackie waits for Charlie to arrive.
"Hi Charlie." Jackie says with a smile when he and his mom arrive.
She turns and find V nearby with her camera. They share a smile.
"Would you two like a keepsake photo?" she asks.
"Yeah." Jackie says moving her and Charlie to the area for photos.
"Hey Charlie, how did you end you with a babe like this on your arm?" she asks.
"She asked me." he says with a smile.
She takes the photo at that moment.
Cassidy and Mac dance together as Cassidy tries to chat.
"You need to be quiet." she says placing her head on his shoulder. "Just enjoy the moment."
Cassidy smiles and places his head on hers.
As they night goes on Gia continues to babble to Logan, who is completely uninterested in anything that she has to say.
He watches as Ronnie makes the rounds taking photos of the dance.
"I'm kinda surprised that she came or is even still in school." Gia remarks seeing who he is looking at.
"Really? Why do you say that." he says not even bothering to look at her.
"I mean she's pregnant. Shouldn't she be home resting." Gai says.
Logan laughs, "Ronnie doesn't know how to relax."
Charlie and Jackie dance dance until his mother interrupts to take him home.
"Thank you for this." his mother says as they leave.
She stands there watching them go before heading out herself.
"Jackie..." Wallace calls out to her, catching up when she stops.
"Go back to the dance." she says.
"Jackie.." he pulls her to face him and leans in and kisses her.
She pushes him away.
"Don't make me be that girl.' she whispers before running off.
Wallace goes back into the dance where he is met by an upset Jane.
"I know you and Jackie kissed. I want to go home." Jane states.
He apologizes. Jane calms down and they go back to dancing.
Mac and Cassidy head out to leave, holding hands as the walk through the empty quad.
"So do you want to go to your house?" she asks.
"Dick is home." he states.
"We could go to your room. I doubt he will bother us there." she says leaning forward to kiss him.
He pulls away from the kiss and lets go of her hand to rub the back of his neck.
"You know what let's go get some pizza. I'm suddenly starved." she says.
"Sure." he says walking to the car.
She looks after him and wraps her arms around herself, trying to figure out what is wrong with her.
"So my dad likes having you at work. He says you've got potential. I think that was the word." Gia states turning towards him.
He just scoffs.
"The demolition ceremony's gonna be fun. Are you nervous? What if you push the plunger and nothing happens?"
"You mean like if there were total silence? Let's try to imagine it." he says finally turning toward her.
"You know. For a friendship to work, you have to be completely honest, which is something I have absolutely no problem with. But you...you run from the truth."
"Only when it's coming after me." he snarks.
"Do you know what I think? I think you use sarcasm and anger as a way to keep people from getting too close to you."
"You are absolutely right." he snarks.
"Tell me what you think about me. Be completely honest." Gia says as Ronnie comes to the table to add money to the cash box. Grinning with glee he opens his mouth to let her have it.
"Dance with me." Ronnie says grabbing one of his hands and pulling him away.
He laughs darkly as a slow song starts to play.
"When I dreamed of this moment, 'I've Had the Time of My Life' was always playing. Well, what can you do." he tries to joke.
She ignores him and wraps her arms around his neck, and they begin to dance.
"Where's Weevil?" he asks.
"Probably sitting on my car waiting for me to leave." she says with a smile. "Can you keep a secret?"
"Ronnie, who do you think you are talking to?" he says with a smile.
She pulls his head down to whisper, "I know what I'm having."
"Seriously."
She nods smiling.
"Tell woman."
"You can not tell a soul. Eli doesn't want to know, he wants to be surprised and dad won't let me tell him cuz he thinks he might let it slip. But I need to tell someone that I know can keep it from Eli."
"And you though of your good friend Logan before everyone else. Lay it on me."
She looks around to make sure that no one is paying attention to them and whispers, "A boy."
Logan smile gets huge. "Do I get to teach him how to surf?"
"You better." she says with a grin.
"Hey you." she says walking into the parking lot to find Eli next to her car.
"Hey querdia. You ready to go home?"
"Yeah." she says leaning into him. "You riding with me?"
"I'll follow." he says brushing a kiss across her lips.
Woody enters the office, "I have good news." he tells Keith.
"It was my ex gardener that did that video. My wife fired him a few months ago and he wanted to frighten us."
"How did you find out?" he asks.
"Had a guilty conscious and told me. Could I have that video back?"
He hands Woody the disc and Woody leaves.
He waits a few moments before starting the copy of the video he has saved on the computer.
Jane notices him looking at Jackie sitting alone.
"She brings it on herself." Jane tells him.
"Jackie didn't kiss me." he tells her.
"What?"
"I kissed her. She pushed me away."
"You..." she looks at him in shock.
"I still have feelings for her. I'm sorry." he says leaving the table.
He walks over to Jackie.
"Go away." she tells him.
"I broke up with Jane."
"Jane is one of the sweetest girls in this school and if you sit here right after dumping her...it will prove that I am the bitch that broke you up."
"I..." Marisol and Thumper join them. Marisol sits down with Jackie and just glares at the boys.
"Come on man." Thumper tells him and brings him over the PCHer table.
She and Cassidy eat lunch together.
Taking a deep breath, she turns to him. "Is it because you aren't attracted to me?"
"What?" Cassidy says looking at her in surprise.
"Is that why you don't want to go further? I'm nervous too if that's it. I don't know what to do either."
"Your kidding right?" he says standing up.
"I talked to Veronica..."
"You went to Ronnie about this!" he yells getting those around them attention.
"I wanted to know that I wasn't doing anything wrong..." she says softly.
"You weren't. Good luck getting laid." he scoffs walking away.
Refusing to give anyone anything, she collected her stuff and quickly leaves the quad.
She and Mac are in her room.
"Mac..." she says rubbing her back as she cries.
"I...didn't..."
"Shhh. Its okay...You didn't do anything wrong, okay." she wipes the stray tear out of her eyes. Damn hormones.
"V...your gonna miss..." Eli says walking into her room.
"Out." she says looking at him with a glare.
He backs out of the room with his hands up.
"I warned you." Keith says as he sits down.
"What's up?" Felix asks. He and Thumper had gotten there only minutes after Eli. They were sitting waiting to watch Logan blow up the stadium.
Woody was doing a long winded speech at the moment.
"V is busy with Mac." Eli says.
"Dude, Cassidy dumped Mac this afternoon. You didn't know. Its all over school. He blew up at her for some reason during lunch, telling her to have 'Good luck getting laid' or some shit like that." Thumper tells them.
"Damn." he, Keith and Felix whisper.
Woody finally finishes his speech.
Logan takes his spot in front of the plunger and pushes down.
The stadium collapses.