Chapter Text
It was only six weeks ago that high school had promised to be the best time of Veronica's life.
Six weeks ago, she and her friends were still laughing and telling stories about staying out all night in a limo on Homecoming night.
Six weeks ago, they'd ordered lunch to their table every day, and the 09'ers treated Veronica like she was one of them, and she was on good terms with the rest of her classmates.
Six weeks ago, she'd been singing and dancing in her room with Lilly, and sneaking away with Duncan for long make-out sessions in his car, and laughing under her breath with Logan when Lilly and Duncan were fighting over something stupid.
Then Duncan left her.
And then Lilly was murdered.
And then her father went after Jake Kane, and the entire school turned against Veronica, and her dad lost his job, and her mom left . . .
And Veronica sat alone at lunch every day, watching the life she used to love carry on at a distance.
When Duncan had broken up with her, Veronica's mom let her skip a day of school. After she'd seen Lilly's dead body, her dad let her stay home for a week. By the time her mom left, Veronica just rode it out. And now that they were about to lose their house? It didn't seem worth even asking for the time to grieve.
Veronica spent the better part of her first two classes doodling in her notebooks—trying to figure out how to fit everything she had in her room into a smaller space. She fell asleep in the middle of third period, which got her detention, and she snuck away during lunch to call her dad and let him know she'd be coming home late, though she didn't mention why.
For once, she didn't bother with sitting at her usual table alone. She wasn't hungry, anyway. She spent the better part of lunch in the library, hiding away from the world, and only came out for the last few minutes to stop by her locker.
The second she had it open, a hand slammed it shut, accompanied by obnoxious laughter.
Veronica jumped and whirled to face her bully. She let her breath out and gave a fake smile. "Logan. Good to see you're keeping it classy."
"Didn't think you or your family knew what that word meant."
Veronica rolled her eyes and went to open her locker again. She didn't bother to try to hide the combination from him—he already knew it, like she knew his, and Duncan's, and Lilly's.
"Hey, speaking of you and your family. I heard you're moving."
She dropped her hand and turned to him again. "Where'd you hear that? I didn't tell anyone."
"Word gets around. You guys finally get smart enough to leave town?"
"You'd like that wouldn't you?"
"Or . . . Oh! Oh! Did you finally figure out where your mom's been hiding out? You're going to meet her? At least your mom's had the good sense not to be seen with you and your dad anymore."
Veronica rolled her eyes. "We're not leaving town. Just moving into an apartment."
"Well. That is embarrassing."
"My dad did the right thing. I'm not embarrassed."
"No, embarrassing for me. I used to sit with you."
She tilted her head slightly. "If you're so embarrassed of me, why are you still talking to me?"
He smirked. "Good luck with the move. Let me know if you ever need a place to stay, we've got a few extra bedrooms in the, uh, servants' quarters."
Her jaw tightened, and she breathed in to insult him back, but a loudspeaker announcement cut her off:
"Logan Echolls, to the principal's office. Logan Echolls, to the principal's office."
She raised her eyebrows. "Did you put gum in another freshman's hair?"
"A senior actually. Would you believe it, she had a kink for it." He gave a little salute, and he headed off toward the office.
Veronica swallowed hard and watched him go. Logan had always been a little bit of a jerk, but most of the time, he was just funny. Teasing, mouthing off to teachers, making slightly off-color jokes. In their little circle, he knew each of their triggers, the things they didn't like being made fun of—and he'd been careful to avoid them. Now, he knew exactly where to press to hurt her.
And he did. Almost every day. Most days, Veronica dealt with it by either focusing on her studies, or with revenge fantasies she'd never carry out.
Today, she didn't have the energy for any of that. She went into the girl's bathroom, shoved the doorstop under the door, hid in a stall, and sobbed into her hands.
Veronica hadn't told anyone about the bullying. There wasn't really anyone she would tell, other than her dad, and what was he going to do about it? Her dad already knew her social life had taken a hit, but—she hoped—he thought it was mostly because of Duncan leaving her. And, yeah, that had been an awkward week at the 09'er table. But it didn't compare to now.
You guys finally get smart enough to leave town?
It was only this morning that her dad had told her that they were going to have to move. She'd taken it bravely, but it was one wound too many. Veronica had lost Duncan, Lilly, her mom, her friends, and now she was losing her home.
At least your mom's had the good sense not to show her face around Neptune anymore.
The bell rang to start class, and Veronica cried harder, but otherwise ignored it. Most days, she thought about Lilly more, but today, she really, really missed her mom.
Logan's words were just salt in the wounds, but they were what had pushed her over the edge. She considered telling someone about it, if only to excuse her from the class period so she didn't end up with a second detention, but for the moment, she couldn't think of who she'd talk to.
Fifteen minutes into class, she ended up washing her face, going down to the guidance counselor, telling her she was still feeling sad about Lilly, insisting she still didn't want to talk about it, and showing up a half an hour late to her class with a late pass.
She tuned out the rest of the school day, worked on her easier homework assignments during detention, and went out to sit on a bike rack and wait for her dad to come pick her up, since she'd missed all of the buses.
He pulled up by the curb, and she climbed into the front seat. "How was school?" he asked.
"Fine," she said. "Couldn't really focus."
He leaned over and brushed her hair back, kissing her forehead, then he started driving. "You don't have to worry, sweetie," he said. "We're gonna be fine."
"Have you heard anything from mom?"
"No, but I've gotten a couple of nibbles from prospective clients."
"PI clients?"
"Yeah. I think I'm gonna be able to make a real business out of this."
She didn't doubt that—he'd been an amazing detective as sheriff—but she also figured it was going to take him some time to get his business off the ground. He didn't even have an office. The office wasn't exactly what was on her mind, though. "Did you find an apartment?"
He hesitated a half second too long. "I did," he said.
"What's wrong with it?"
Her dad took a deep breath. "Can we talk about it when we get home?"
She bit her lip. She understood why he didn't want to break bad news to her on the road, but she didn't think she'd be any more comfortable in the home she was about to lose.
He sighed and pulled over to the side of the road, and he turned to look her in the eye. "They found Lilly's murderer."
Hot chills ran down Veronica's spine, and she gasped.
"It wasn't Jake Kane. It was . . . Aaron Echolls."
Her breath caught. "Logan's dad?"
Her dad nodded. "A staff member at the Echolls estate called in a tip, the police investigated, they found . . . tapes showing Aaron and Lilly sleeping together. Seems like he killed her to keep her quiet."
Veronica suddenly felt like she was going to throw up. Her eyes stung, and she couldn't pull in a breath.
"Aaron was arrested this morning. Uh, his wife, Lynn, she ran off shortly after. They found her car abandoned on a bridge this afternoon."
"She killed herself?"
"They haven't recovered a body yet, but it seems that way."
She wasn't even quite processing what he was saying. It felt like the rug had been pulled out from her. She hadn't known whether Jake was really guilty or not; she just knew that if her dad had gone after him, the evidence had pointed that way, and she supported that.
But Aaron Echolls. And Lilly had been sleeping with him . . .
"Are you okay, Veronica?"
She shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks for the second time that day.
Her dad reached across and put a hand on her back, rubbing gently while she tried to catch her breath. She felt like she'd just lost Lilly again, in a completely different way.
"Uh, that's not all," her dad said.
"There's more?"
"Well, there could be a silver lining here."
"Silver lining?"
He held up his hands in surrender. "I'm not saying it makes this any better. But, uh, I got a call from social services about an hour ago. Um . . . Logan, he doesn't have anywhere to go."
She blinked a couple of times. She hadn't gotten as far as realizing what it meant that both of Logan's parents were out of the picture. "He doesn't have any relatives?"
"Apparently not."
"He can't stay with the Kanes?"
"I don't know who else social services called, but I'm guessing they don't want the son of their daughter's murderer staying in their house."
Veronica winced. She knew it wasn't Logan's fault, but she really wasn't in the mood to be defending him, after the way he'd been treating her these past few weeks.
"Yeah, it's a rough time for him."
She frowned—she was dreading the answer, but she had to ask. "Why was social services calling you?"
"Well, after calling relatives, I guess they sometimes call up friends to look for a place to stay. You know, it's better than sending the kid into foster care."
Veronica swallowed hard. It went against all of her instincts to feel sorry for him, but she'd heard stories about how bad foster care could be, especially for teens. "They asked if Logan could stay with us? What did you say?"
"I didn't give an answer yet. I said I had to think about it."
"That was an hour ago?" Maybe they'd already found somewhere else for him to stay.
"Yeah. He's, uh, at the sheriff's office now."
Veronica had been thinking about telling someone about the bullying. Now felt like a really bad time. "Well, we can't afford to have another person, can we? I mean, we're about to have to move into a little apartment."
"The county's offering a bit of support money."
"How much?"
"Enough to let us keep the house for a little while, along with covering food and clothing for an extra person."
She could see what her dad was saying about a silver lining.
"I didn't want to agree to it without talking to you first. I know you and Logan are friends, or at least you used to be before, uh, Duncan . . ."
"Don't say it."
He nodded sadly. "At the same time, I know it's been a rough few weeks for you, probably not the best time for a long-term house guest."
"That's true," she said, and she took a shuddering breath. "But we should say yes."
"You sure?"
She nodded. As angry as she was with Logan, he'd just lost both parents on the same day. She didn't want him to get dumped into foster care on top of that.
Her dad squeezed her shoulder. "You're a good friend," he said, and he started the car again.