WTUD Chapter 8 Part D
“It was Pam. Pam posted the test for you. She hates you because Duncan is still hung up on you.”
Logan felt his stomach twist as he watched Kimmy’s confession. His mind raced, trying to think of anything Duncan might have said that would imply he still had feelings for Veronica. However, as far as he could recall, Duncan had never mentioned Veronica - ever.
He knew Veronica and Duncan had first period together. It would certainly make for an awkward situation after this little revelation. He decided he needed to watch his friend closely from now on.
What was the most troubling part of the breaking news was Duncan’s well hidden feelings. If he was still in love with Veronica, why would he ignore her? Why would he have even dumped her last year? Why would he allow everyone to treat her so horribly if she had actually done nothing wrong? Logan had been under the impression for the past year that the tiny blonde had done something to his friend, therefore he took the firm ‘bros before hos’ stance and shunned Veronica, as Duncan had done. Perhaps he was mistaken?
Yes, he definitely needed to watch his best friend more closely.
The bell rang soon after the news report wrapped up. Logan practically ran out toward Duncan’s class, hoping to catch him before he left.
When he reached the room, the last of the students were exiting. Duncan was not among them, however, a petite blonde was.
Veronica appeared tired, rubbing at her temples, distracted. She noticed Logan standing outside the door and dropped her hands.
“Go ahead, I know you want to,” she sighed defeated.
“Want to what?” Logan asked, genuinely curious as to what she was talking about.
Veronica rolled her eyes. “Rub it in, mock me. Something. What have you got up your sleeve?”
Logan shook his head, a shy smile spreading across his mouth. “No. Nothing like that.”
She didn’t look convinced. “Then why are you here?”
He opened his mouth to answer, but realized that he most likely shouldn’t confess his real reasons for showing up outside the class. He absently scratched behind his ear as he thought quickly for a cover. “Duncan and I were supposed to have a game night tonight. I just wanted to make sure he was still coming over. That’s all,” he stated hesitantly, finishing with a small shrug.
“Well, thanks for the warning. I’ll make sure I’m scarce,” she informed with a shaky sigh.
Logan’s mouth tugged into a frown with the thought. “No, you don’t have to do that. I can cancel.”
She raised an eyebrow that the concession. Hell, even he was surprised that he offered to accommodate her. He attempted to shrug it off as they started walking down the hall. “Well, I’m sure it’s uncomfortable to be around him. Especially after that.”
Okay, so he was trying to be subtle and failing, but he couldn't help but wonder if Veronica actually still had feelings for Duncan. He wasn’t sure why, though part of his brain reasoned it was natural curiosity that propelled him to prod the girl for hints as to her emotions toward his best friend.
Veronica let out a hollow laugh. “It’s always uncomfortable around him. I think we’ve said all of five words to one another since he dumped me without bothering to tell me.”
He nodded mutely, trying to decipher if her statement had any hidden meaning. This was something that bothered him. The old Veronica was so easy to read. She smiled when she was happy, cried when she was upset, blushed when she was embarrassed. The new Veronica could mask her emotions even better than him. She said one thing and meant something else entirely.
“But, I mean, if he’s still in love with you and you’re still in love with him, then you guys could get back together and have your happy little puppies and hearts romance.” Okay, that came out a little more bitter and blunt than he’d planned, but he was running out of veiled comments and she wasn’t offering any information.
A wry smile twitched in the corner of Veronica’s mouth as she turned her withering glare on him. “Oh, I see what this is. You’re trying to figure out if I still want to get back with Duncan.”
Yes, she was definitely smarter than him.
A slow rage was building in her and he could see it bubbling near the surface. He braced himself for a verbal assault.
“God, I was hoping that you weren’t as huge of an ass as I thought, but no, you really are evil incarnate. I’m not stupid, Logan. I don’t sit at home and pine away for Duncan. So, whatever mockery you were planning of making at my expense, save it. I’m not secretly still in love with Duncan and I don’t believe for one second that he’s still in love with me.” She let out a noise that was most likely close to a frustrated screech, but Veronica Mars didn’t screech. She continued to glare at him a moment longer before spinning around and heading to her class.
So, that answered that. He stared after her in awe, rooted to the ground. The bell ringing broke him from his gaping speechlessness. He shook his head and grumbled that he was late for Physics.
~*~
He knew this would be the hardest part of his secret inquisition, but if he wanted answers, he needed to make sacrifices.
He walked down the hall cautiously and approached the bottle-blonde. When she turned and faced him, it looked as if she nearly jumped out of her skin in surprise.
“Logan. Hi,” she said smoothly, recovering.
Logan swallowed back the nausea warring within him and plastered on his patented smirk. He needed to know what Madison knew. “Hi, Madison.”
She leaned against the locker, cocking her head to the side as she appraised him with hungry eyes. He resisted the urge to turn around and walk away.
“So,” she drawled, “what can I do for you?” She bit her lip seductively, implying there was plenty she wanted to do for him.
His back teeth ground, but he kept his smile in place. “You remember Shelley’s party last year?”
“Totally,” she said perkily and then pouted. “You skipped out on us early. We missed you.”
“I’m sure you did,” he agreed easily. “So, I keep hearing I missed a lot. Why don’t you fill me in?”
Her brow rose in surprise, but she began to bore him with the unimportant details of the evening - from Shelley’s horrible choice in wardrobe to the tacky decorations.
Finally, he put a hand up to stop her. “Why don’t you start from when Dick got you a drink? I hear that’s when things got interesting. I heard you trashed Veronica’s car.” He strained to keep his voice light and even, as if he found it amusing. Though, he probably would have a few months back. Not so much anymore.
Madison shrugged indifferently. “Yeah, she was whoring it up. She kissed Dick, too. Right in front of me. What a skank? Ya know?”
Logan merely nodded, not trusting his voice.
“But the car? Total icing. I gave her a trip to the dentist earlier when she walked in,” she informed excitedly.
“A what?”
“A trip to the dentist. You know, where you spit in their drink.”
Logan’s jaw twitched. “Why would you even give her a drink to begin with?”
Madison rolled her eyes. “Dick was totally stupid and gave me a drink that wasn’t even diet. I saw her walking by, spit in the cup and then stuck it out there knowing she’d take it. And she did. I mean, I’m on Atkins, there’s no way in hell I’m putting that liquid fat in me.” She batted her lashes at him. “I mean, I take care of myself. I always look good.” She leaned in toward him, but he quickly moved back.
“Right, thanks, Madison.” He brushed past her and down the hall before she could blink.
A chill went down his spine and he shivered due to the previous interaction. Madison always gave him the creeps.
Her words ran through his head as he tried to piece together everything she had told him and everything Dick had remembered of that evening.
“I slipped it into her drink.”
“…stuck it out there knowing she’d take it.”
Oh, shit. Veronica was drugged with GHB. His GHB. That was why she didn’t realize what was going on when he did the salt lick.
The salt lick.
The same GHB he slipped into Duncan’s drink after Duncan rescued Veronica so heroically from the evil clutches of Logan Echolls.
A horrible feeling was settling in Logan’s stomach and he was pretty sure it was called ‘guilt’.
~*~
Veronica threw the car into park in the driveway, but made no move to get out of the car.
“Uh, Veronica, we’re here. You drove, remember?”
Veronica nodded and forced a smile. She did that a lot, he noticed. “Yeah, I just have to run some errands. I should be back in a few hours. You’ll be okay by yourself, right?” She tilted her head to the side, a playful tone in her voice.
Logan couldn’t help feeling that she was hiding something, but he nodded anyway and exited the car. He watched her back out of the drive and head down the street. As soon as she was around the corner he hopped into his own car and started following her.
It was a little wrong, but he felt himself getting sucked into the weird world of Veronica Mars. She had secrets and for some reason he wanted to know them. He smiled, thinking that this was exactly how she felt when she dug up dirt on other people.
He tailed her for almost an hour, making sure to stay out of sight. He knew his car was an eye-sore but he hoped she would be too wrapped up in where she was going to notice him.
When she pulled into the Balboa County Prison parking lot he was at a loss as to why she would be there. Her father certainly wouldn’t allow her to talk to inmates as part of a case and as far as Logan knew, Veronica didn’t know anyone who was incarcerated.
So, he parked and waited. And waited. Half an hour later, he saw her emerge from the foreboding gates. Her arms were wrapped protectively around herself. She looked even smaller than usual and he could tell she was shaking.
Logan continued to watch as Veronica slipped into her car. He started his car in anticipation to follow her, but the LeBaron remained parked. In fact, she hadn’t even started it. After a few minutes, and still no movement, he hesitantly got out of his car.
He walked behind the car, hoping he wasn’t giving himself away, in case she was merely making notes or talking on the phone. However, he quickly realized she was doing nothing of the sort. He could see her bent over the steering wheel, her body shaking from sobs.
He moved fast. He pulled open her door and wrapped his arms around her. He wasn’t sure why, but it felt like the proper thing to do at the time. His fingers ran through her hair as he whispered soothing noises in her ear.
“Logan?” she sputtered.
He leaned back far enough to look at her and absently wiped the tears from her cheeks. “What are you doing here, Veronica?”
Her face suddenly shifted from relief to shock to anger. “You shouldn’t be here, Logan.” She wiped frantically at her face, removing the evidence of her breakdown. She tugged her seatbelt on and then turned back to Logan. “Go home.”
He stood and backed away. As soon as he was out of the way, she pulled her door shut and got out of the parking lot as fast as she could, her car shrinking into the horizon.
~*~
Logan did as she said and went home, fully expecting her to already be there. However, she wasn’t.
He tried to call her, but her phone was off. He paced the living room, anxiously waiting for her to return home so that he could grill her about her trip to the prison and what the hell was going on. Veronica Mars didn’t cry anymore. He knew because that had been his goal for a long time - make Veronica Mars cry - until she no longer cried in front of him, or anyone else.
He threw his phone onto the table and stared at it, willing it to ring.
And then it did.
“Hello?”
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Oh, Duncan. Hey.” Logan couldn’t keep the disappointment from his voice.
“Expecting someone else?” Duncan questioned, playful prodding coloring his tone.
“No, just,” he began, and then realized this was the last person he wanted to discuss his worry over Veronica with. However, there were certain things about Veronica Logan did want to discuss with his best friend. “Nah, nothing important. So, what’s up with you, man?”
Logan could practically hear his friend’s indifference over the phone. Duncan sighed into the phone as he spoke. “Nothing, I was just calling to see what you’re up to.”
Logan paused, choosing his next words carefully. “Nothing going on here. I have the house to myself. Veronica’s out doing who-knows-what. You know how she is.”
Logan waited for Duncan to speak, respond, but nothing came and Logan surged on. “Yeah, I think she’s really embarrassed over the whole thing this morning.” Still no reaction. “I mean, the whole thing is ridiculous, right? Crazy girls and their soap opera drama.” Logan laughed lightly into the phone, trying to make a joke of the situation, silently begging his friend to respond.
Finally, Duncan joined in on the laughter. “Yeah, the girls around here are psycho sometimes.” Duncan’s voice was still tense over the line, but at least now he was saying something. Logan was thankful for that much, though he was still being evasive. Duncan was smarter than a lot of people gave him credit for. He knew when to answer and when not to. Jake and Celeste certainly did have accurate aspirations for Duncan entering politics.
“I mean, Veronica’s living in dreamland if she thinks she stood a chance with you, dude.”
Duncan merely grunted on the other line. Logan wasn’t stupid. Duncan never joined in on the Veronica-bashing and was always evasive whenever conversation of their sophomore romance was ever discussed. This phone conversation was only highlighting the fact that Duncan did, in fact, still have residual feelings for his outcast ex.
For some reason, it bothered Logan. He shifted uncomfortably on the couch. One down, one to go. Logan needed more information about Shelley’s party.
The next part was going to be painful. “Totally, dude. I mean, have you heard about what happened at Shelley’s party last year?”
Duncan’s silence remained, but Logan could hear his tense breathing through the phone line, so he surged forward. “I mean, I don’t know what all happened, but Dick said she got tore up at the party and something must’ve happened to her because she didn’t leave until the morning after.” He made a calculated pause, as if thinking before continuing. “Hey, didn’t you see her at the party? Yeah, after the whole salt-lick thing - you should have totally joined in - you took her off somewhere. What happened? Someone take the mouthy blonde off your hands?”
“Logan, leave it alone.” Duncan’s voice was tight and short. Logan knew his best friend was on the verge, but of what, he was unsure, so of course, Logan did what he did best - he pushed.
“Nah, c’mon, man. I want to know who got a ride on her. That way, whatever girls dated those guys, I can stay far away from. Who knows what they caught.” Logan felt physically ill saying the words. However, he couldn’t make sense of it. He had said the same things many times before. Why was this time any different?
“Don’t. Just don’t, Logan.” Duncan’s voice was deadly low through the speaker. Logan could sense an extremely deep anger brewing within his friend. He knew he should back off, but when did Logan ever back down from a fight?
“I just wanna know,” he said lightly. “I wonder if she’s actually any good? I mean, she’s been around the block. Has she learned any cool tricks?”
“God, Logan! Can’t you just shut up? Leave it alone!” The line went dead before Logan could even fathom a response.
He gaped at his phone, desperately trying to reason why his friend suddenly became so defensive and secretive. Something happened at Shelley’s. And he was determined to find out what.