Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

September 1st, 1989

First day of senior year.

“Veronica, get down here now, you're going to be late for school!”

“I'll be down in a moment mom!” Veronica yelled, “Just finishing writing my diary entry.”

Veronica didn't like school. No, scratch that, she hated it. Her classmates were a bunch of assholes, the teachers were incompetent at best, and downright malicious at worst, and there was a very clearly defined social ladder, which she found herself at the bottom of.

So, safe to say, she wouldn't mind showing up late to school. But, unfortunately, Veronica's parents would absolutely freak out if she didn't get there on time, so off to school she went.

“We are so proud of you, honey!” her mom said, “I cant believe you're already a senior! Time passes by so fast.”

“Have a good first day of school, kiddo!” her dad says, “We can't wait to hear all about it.”

“Remember to be careful, honey”, Veronica's mom says as she pushes her out the door, “You don't want to get caught by the sherwood slasher!”

Ah, yes, the Sherwood slasher. Over the last few years, someone has been going around town, killing many old and rich people in a seemingly random pattern. While no one had been killed for a few months, the police had still not caught the individual behind the killings, despite extensive investigations. In her opinion, it was because the cops were lazy, corrupt and incompetent. Ever since the killings started, parents had been using the slasher to get their kids to behave, despite no kids having been killed at this point. But in the parents point of view, why not use him to scare them into compliance? It was the perfect way to make your kids do something with minimal fuss.

“Sure, mom.” Veronica scoffed, “As if that would happen. We all know I'm not his target demographic. He only goes after rich kids and old geezers, there's a very small chance he comes after me, especially when I have such a short walk to school.”

“Oh, we know, honey.” her mom frets, “But we can still worry for you. Good luck, and have a great day at school!”

“And don't get slashed!” her dad chuckles.

Veronica rolls her eyes, and turns around to head to school.

-----------------------------------------------------

When Veronica arrived at school, she immediately noticed that almost nothing had changed from last year. The crowded halls, the smelly kids, the weird spots on the floor. Yep. This was certainly Westerburg high school, alright.

As she starts darting through the crowd to reach her locker and grab her school items, Veronica can't help but wonder if this is what the rest of her life will be like. Will life never get better? What if high school never ends? Will she always be-

“VERONICA!!”

“Aaaugh! Who- Oh. Hi, Martha."

Martha, her biggest, oldest and, let's be real, only friend, smiled up at her. “Sorry, Ronnie, I didn't mean to scare you. You were just spacing out, I had no other way to get your attention.”

“N-no, that's okay, Martha. I probably should have been paying more attention to my surroundings, anyways.” she stutters.

“...right. Anyways, Ronnie, did you hear that Angela is running for class president this year?”Martha asked.

“Wait. The Angela that wears braces, reads fantasy novels, and cries when her favorite characters die? That Angela?”

“Yep, the very same.” Martha confirms.

“Wow. I mean, kudos to her for trying, but I don't really see how she has a chance. Especially when she's going up against Heather Duke.”

“I think she has a real chance, Ronnie. Sure, she might not be that popular, but I think she has enough smarts to run a decent campaign! Who knows, maybe if she wins, she can make real changes around here. This could be what we need to be treated better!" Martha exclaims excitedly. 

Veronica smiles sadly down at her and shakes her head. “I wish I had your optimism, Martha. I do think she has a fair chance. Unfortunately, she is running up against a heather, and there is no chance one of them would lose to a nerd like us.”

Right then, the hallway quiets, and the crowd parts like the sea before moses. And in the doors stand 3 girls dressed like the colors of a traffic light. 

“Speak of the devils, and they shall appear”, Veronica mumbles.

The three girls, the Heathers, strut down the hallway like they own the school, and everyone in it. Well, if you think about it, they basically did. No one stands in their way, no one talks back to them, everyone follows their lead, and no one can even pretend to challenge the level of popularity they have over the students of the school.

The first to pass by is Heather Mcnamara. She is blonde, is of average height, and likes to wear yellow. She is the captain of the cheer team, and is the only Heather who Veronica would consider to have some element of kindness in her soul. She is the only one who had ever been nice to Veronica in any interaction in high school, even if it had been for just a brief moment. That didn't mean she was nice though. She was excellent at pulling you in, taking out your darkest secrets, and then exposing them to the rest of the school. She's like a poison; quiet, deadly, and unnoticeable until it is too late.

Next is Heather Duke. She is the shortest of the three, but also the bitchiest, kind of like a chihuahua. She is like a sledgehammer; slow and clumsy, but is capable of immense damage when it hits you. She runs the yearbook committee, is the current class president, and wears green. There was a rumor going around last year that she had gotten implants, but she had no way to verify if that was true or not. Veronica just chooses to believe that the rumor is true, even if it was just to give herself a false feeling of superiority.

And finally, there is Heather Chandler, the almighty. The demon queen of Westerberg high. She is a mythic bitch. She is an imposing figure, taller than most, and is all sharp edges and knives; sharp, quick, and deadly. If you say anything that she doesn't like, she will ruin your life. And yet, everyone drools after her, like a group of dogs that are eyeing fresh meat. Curry her favor, and you will never be bothered again. Face her wrath, and your life will be a living hell. It's fitting that her color is red.

Normally, they pass by without looking at her or acknowledging her presence. But today, something different happened. As they passed by, Heather Chandler looked over, roamed her eyes up and down her body, and smirked at her.

Wait, what?

Veronica's face flushed as she stared back. It only lasted a moment, before she turned her head and continued walking, like nothing had ever happened.

“Did you see that!?” Martha exclaimed “She looked right at you!”

“Yes, I know, Martha." Veronica mutters. “I don't know what just happened.”

“She noticed you! This means you have a chance!”

Her face flushes. As anyone who is close to Veronica knows, she has big, giant, fat crushes on the Heathers, specifically Heather Chandler. And who can claim her? They are super hot. In fact, she's pretty sure they were her bi awakening. I mean, everyone else has a crush on them, so why can't she?

“You know that's not true Martha," Veronica sighs. “Heather is probably straight. And you don't know she was looking at me. Maybe she was just happened to turn her head in this direction. And besides that, they are horrible people. Why would I want to date them?”

“Because you have bad taste in woman.” Martha states. “And you know that she was looking at you, stop lying to yourself. There was no way that was a coincidence.”

“Yes,I know” Veronica groaned, “But that doesn't mean that I should go after them.”

“But-”

“No, Martha, and that's final.”

“Okay, fine. I'll stop bothering you about them for now.” Martha sighs. “Oh, Ronnie, I have been meaning to talk to you about-”

Riiiinnnnnnnggggggggg

“Oh, sorry, Martha, but I have to get to class. Talk to you at lunch?”

“Sure.” she says. “Have a good day! See you at lunch!”

“I'll try,” Veronica says.

-----------------------------------------------------

As Veronica sits through one boring class after another, and she counts down the hours until lunch, she thinks about the Sherwood slasher. Like, a serial killer here? In medium sized town Sherwood? Why would they stay here, where it would be easier to get caught? Why not in a big city? And what is the connection between the killings?

You see, the Sherwood slasher has been killing people regularly for almost 4 years now. Almost all of their killings are focused on the rich part of town, and most are boys, but there is almost no connection besides that. The killings seem random and spur-of-the-moment, but they haven't gotten caught yet, so they must be a professional.

She just finds it fascinating. She had actually met one of their victims before they were killed, an old woman named Grace, who was an asshole. She thought Veronica was a store employee at the supermarket, and raised a fuss over her refusing to help with groceries. Maybe that's the connection, all the victims were assholes to the killer, and that's why the killings all seemed spontaneous and unplanned.

Other than that, she's got nothing. It's not like her thoughts will be used to solve the case in the future, with how incompetent the police in Sherwood are. I mean, you could steal a car in front of them and they wouldn't be able to catch you. But now's not the time to be ranting about the slasher, she should be focusing on class.  

-----------------------------------------------------

As Veronica waits in line for her lunch, she wonders what kind of radioactive slop they are going to try to pass off as food today. Will it be the mystery meat? The ‘meatballs’? The gravy that looks weirdly green? Who knows!

As she gets her serving of ‘food’ (it's the meatloaf today, probably one of the only good meals they have), she sees kurt and ram out of the corner of her eyes. They are the resident bullies of the school, and help enforce the Heathers regime. Kurt is the quarterback of the football team, and he is the smartest player, but that is like choosing the largest rock out of a pile of grains of sand. Ram is a linebacker, and he is so dumb that she saw him put a d in the word orange once.

“Great," Veronica muttered to herself, “Just what I needed today. Just ignore them and you should be just fine.”

As she passed by them, she accidentally bumped into ram. “Hey, watch it” he yells.

“Sorry, sorry” Veronica stammered as she rushed past. Thankfully, they don't seem to be in a bullying mood today, as they just sneer and turn to someone else. “Phew, that was a close one.”

Relieved that she got to keep her lunch today, Veronica searched for an open table. When she finds one, she sits down, and starts eating her lunch. It's not bad, but it definitely could be better.

“Oh, hey there, Veronica. May I sit with you?”

Veronica looks up, and standing in front of her is Angela. “Oh, hey Angela. Sure, go right ahead.” she says.

“So, have you heard that I am running for class president?” Angela asks excitedly.

“Yes, I have. I'm very excited for you, even though I don't really think you'll win.” Veronica says.

“I know,” Angela sighs. “I just think I'll be able to do something to help the people down at the bottom of the totem pole. And, hey, if you never try to do anything, nothing ever gets done, so I might as well try it, right?” She winks.

“Yep.” Veronica says. “We're leaving for college soon, so we might as well try to change something for the future students so they don't get as messed up as we are.”

“Exactly.” Angela replies.

Veronica goes back to eating her food in silence when suddenly, a loud crash and laughter fills the cafeteria. Veronica turns around and sees Martha covered in food, with her lunch tray on the ground and Kurt and Ram sneering over her.

Oh, hell no! No one is going to do anything to Martha under her watch.

“Hey, asshole, pick that up right now!” Veronica yells at Ram.

Ram jolts in surprise. “Wait, are you talking to me?” he asks.

“Yes, I am” she says, “I want to know what gives you the right to pick on my friends. You're a high school has-been waiting to happen, a future gas station attendant. With the way you've been going through life, you'll be lucky to not die a drug addict when you're 25!”

Ram is silent for a moment, with a stunned look on his face, and Veronica swells with pride. Maybe she managed to win a confrontation with Ram for once! But then he pokes her head. “You have a zit right there,” he sneers.

Veronica deflates, and everyone starts laughing. She runs out of the cafeteria, not noticing the heathers staring in her direction, and hides in the nearest stall. “Stupid, stupid,” Veronica berates herself, "You knew this would happen, and yet you still tried to fight them! Will you ever learn?”

She grows silent when she hears the bathroom door open, and some girls walk in, chatting. “Did you see that nerd try to stand up to ram?” One of them sneers.

“I know! I bet she thought she actually stood a chance at doing something!” Another laughs.

“As if,” the third one scoffs. “Martha dump truck is too big of a target for ram to miss out on. No amount of grandstanding will ever change that.”

‘Oh, great,’ Veronica thought to herself, ‘it's the Heathers. I can't leave while they are in here with me, or else the bullying will get so much worse. I guess I will have to wait it out.’

Just then, the bell signaling the end of lunch rings.

Riiinnnnnnnnggggggggggg

Well, this is just great. Veronica is going to be late to her next class, and the heathers don't seem to be in any rush to leave. She guesses they don't care enough about school to get to class on time. Must be the perks of being rich and popular, I guess.

“So, Heather, how do you feel about having extra competition for class president this year?” Heather Mcnamara asks.

“I feel like it isn't a big deal, Heather,” Heather Duke replies. “She won't win, and I'll convince her to drop later today if she doesn't realize that.”

“I can come with you if you need any extra help convincing her.” Heather Chandler says.

Veronica sighs, bored, and opens her diary to start writing when she hears another stall door being opened, and someone starts retching into it. “Ugh, heather, you have to get this bulimia problem sorted out!”Heather Chandler complains, “It doesn't look good for us, and it is soooo ‘87.”

“Heathers right, Heather” Heather Mcnamara says, “You should probably go see a doctor.”

“Yeah, Heather. Maybe I should.” Heather duke replies.

Heather Dukes bulimia had been the subject of a large number of rumors at the end of last year. Even Veronica, who had no friends who were interested in gossip, had heard about it. It always made her feel bad for Duke. It helped humanize Duke for Veronica. If one of the biggest and most popular bitches in her school had issues like that, it made Veronica feel better about her own issues, no matter how minor they seemed in comparison. 

“How do you guys feel about Courtney's attitude recently?” Heather Chandler asked. “Its been getting to be too much, don't you think?

“Ugh, she's been so bitchy today!” Heather Mcnamara complained. “She even tried to start some shit between us in geometry today, saying something along the lines of me being a tranny cheerleader who's only popular because I'm a charity case!”

“That's rich coming from her,” Heather Chandler snorted. “But, if she's bothering you, you can always send her my way. I doubt she'll continue after we have a… friendly chat together.”

“Ugh, can't we just find a way to get rid of her? She is more trouble than she's worth at this point.” Heather Duke complained.

“If there was a way to do that easily, I would have done that already, Heather. It's just too much effort for someone as small and unimportant as she is. And besides, her fake rumors help us more than they harm us, and they're getting quite funny at this point.” Heather retorts.

“Yeah, remember when she said you were a martian lizard from outer space, heather?” Heather Mcnamara chuckles.

“God, yes, she's so stupid!” Heather Chandler laughs.

‘That's rich coming from them,’ Veronica thinks. ‘They're just a bunch of hypocrites’. And then Veronica hears the bathroom door opening, the jingles of chimes, and the sound of boots walking in. “Ah, Heather and heather” *bleurgghhh* “...and Heather.”

Great, it’s Mrs. Fleming, the crazy hippie teacher/guidance counselor who doesn't seem to know what her job description is. She's always been Veronica's least favorite teacher, as she seems to relish and seek out giving punishments to students.

“You should be in class. Detention for one week, all of you.” Mrs. Fleming says.

“But can't you see that Heather is sick? We're helping her!” Heather Chandler protests.

“Doesn't matter, if she was really sick she should have gone to the nurse.” Mrs. Fleming replies.

Veronica gets an idea. One skill that she had hidden from everyone else was her ability to do excellent forgeries, indistinguishable from the other person's handwriting. She picked it up during middle school after she got detention for the first time, and had been refining her skills ever since. Maybe, if she helps the heathers get out of detention, they will stop other people from bothering her for a while. So she ripped out a page of her diary and forged some hall passes for her and the Heathers.

“Actually, Mrs. Fleming, we have hall passes. For the yearbook comitee….” Veronica trails off.

Mrs. Fleming analyzes the passes with a look of annoyance, and then sighs. “Alright, you can go. But get out of here and get to where you're going!”

Veronica smirked as she walked out of the bathroom, and then jumped when she felt the paper being ripped out of her hands. She turns around and sees the Heathers looking between her and the paper. They start looking her over, and she starts to sweat. What are they thinking?

“This is quite an excellent forgery.” Heather Chandler says. “Who are you?”

“Veronica. Sawyer.” she stammers. “I crave a boon.”

“What boon?” Heather Chandler asks.

“Um… just let me sit at your table, just once.” Veronica says. “If people think you tolerate me they'll leave me alone.”

She starts to deflate as they start laughing. “Before you answer, I also do homework assignments, hall slips and absence notes.” she tacks on.

“What about prescriptions?” Heather Duke interrupts.

“Shut up, Heather.” Chandler snaps.

“Sorry, Heather.”

Veronica blushes as Chandler grabs her face and starts shoving it around. “For a greasy little nobody, you do have good bone structure.” She muses.

“And a symmetrical face,” McNamara adds. “If I took a meat cleaver down the center of your skull, I would have matching halves.” Veronica gives her a weird look. “That's very important.” She adds nervously.

At this point, Chandler is still holding onto Veronica's head, and is biting her lip at her. She flushes even more, and she bets her face resembles Heathers blazer at this point.

“You know, she could be beautiful.” Chandler says to the other heathers. “Maybe some mascara, and some lip gloss, and definitely a new set of clothes, and she could be presentable enough to be seen with us.”

Veronica flushes, but this time with embarrassment at her outfit choice for today. I mean, what was she thinking, wearing a scarf, indoors! During the fall, no less! No wonder they don't want to be seen with her like this.

“Does that sound good to you, Veronica?” Chandler asks her.

“Yes!” Veronica blurts out without thinking. Oh, great, what has she gotten herself into this time?

-----------------------------------------------------

“... Veronica Sawyer? Check. Angela tarlson? Angela? Are you here, Angela? No? Alright, absent.”

As Veronica sits in Mrs. Flemings class, she can't help but feel bored and distracted. So, she pulled out her diary, and began writing.

Dear diary: you won't believe what happened to me today. Today started out like any other day; I was almost late to classes, I got bullied by Kurt and Ram, and met Martha. But, after lunch, I met the Heathers in the bathroom, and they didn't kill me! But that's not the craziest part… you see, they said I had good bone structure (whatever that means), and gave me a makeover.

Veronica smiled as she looked down at herself. She had to admit that the Heathers really knew what they were doing. Gone were her scarf and long dress: she was now wearing a blue blazer (for color coordination purposes), and a gray skirt. That, along with the makeup, made Veronica feel very hot, a feeling that was pretty new to her.

I have to say, they did quite a good job. I've actually seen boys looking at me now, which I have to get used to. Not only that, but the teachers are nicer and more attentive to me now! They probably should have been paying more attention earlier, but I'm not going to complain.

That's not to say it's all positive, though. Apparently I have to hang out with the football team (ugh), and I have to dump Martha.

Veronica frowned as she thought back to that conversation from earlier.

“You can't be friends with Martha dumptruck anymore, Veronica.” Duke said.

“What? Why?!?” Veronica exclaimed.

“You're a heather now, Veronica.” Chandler scolded. “We have rules that you have to follow. And one of those rules is that you can't be seen with losers anymore, end of discussion.”

I'll have to talk to Martha about that. Maybe we'll set up more hangouts after school, if she's up to that.

After she finished, Veronica stared out the window, wondering what her life would look like now, with all of her new opportunities. Would she get a boyfriend? More friends? Will her life stop being an infinite cycle of-

“Veronica!”

“Huh? What?”

“Class is over! Go to your next class!” Fleming exclaims.

“Sorry” she mutters, embarrassed. She hadn't even realized how much time had passed by. Was she spacing out that much?

Veronica's next class is gym, with all of the football freaks and nerdy geeks. Ugh. She considered skipping, but it's only the first day, so she might as well go, out of the kindness of her heart. 

On the way over, Veronica noticed Heather Chandler walking the other way with some blood between her legs. Huh. That's weird.

“Hey, Heather. You have some… stuff between your legs!” Veronica calls out.

“Oh. Thanks for telling me, Ronnie. I must have missed it. It's just that time of the month, I guess.” Heather says.

“Oh, gross Heather, I didn't need to know that!” Veronica cringed. 

Wait… did she say Ronnie? Veronica squeaks and stumbles, face flushed, as she turns around. But Heather is already gone. ‘Oh, well. I guess I'll ask her about that another time.’ she thinks, and she turns around and continues on to her next class.

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Rinnnnnnnnggggggggggg

Oh, thank god, the day is over. Veronica thought it would never end. She'll give today an… 8/10. Sure, there was the typical bullying, and it dragged on way too long, but her social standing has been permanently changed for the better, so that was nice. 

As Veronica steps into the bathroom for one last time before she leaves, her nose wrinkles as she notices a sour smell in the air. “Ugh, who died?” 

Looking through the bathroom for the sense of the smell, Veronica can't help but feel nauseous. It reeked like nothing else she had ever smelled here at westerburg, and she had smelt some truly heinous things, like rotton eggs, stink bombs, and at least 3 different dead skunks.

“I swear to god, if there is another skunk planted here by the football team, I'm going to lose it.” Veronica mutters to herself.

As she reached the last stall, she noticed a liquid seeping out. It looked strangely red. It looked like… blood.

As she smashed open the door, she shrieks “OH MY GOD!” There, sitting on the toilet seat, was the dead corpse of Angela.

It was a gruesome sight. Her clothes were ripped to shreds, exposing her naked body. Dozens of stab wounds and a slit in her neck caused the blood to slowly ooze out of her body, slowly dripping and pooling on the bathroom floor. There was a bloody gag in her mouth, and her eyes were flushed out in terror. There were signs of a struggle, with bruise marks having been left all over her body. Some of her hair had been ripped out, and her glasses laid in a broken heap on the floor, besides a few bloody teeth.

Veronica felt lightheaded at the gruesome sight. She stumbled and almost fell over, barely catching herself on the bathroom sink. Her ears rang, and she barely registered the other students rushing into the bathroom. As the teachers ran in to see what was going on and handle the commotion, all she could hear were the screams of the other students, and all she could see was Angela's dead body, burned into the back of her mind.

Chapter Text

*Tick* *Tick* *Tick* *Tick*

As Veronica sat in the teachers lounge, she could help but feel …. annoyed. She knew she shouldn't feel annoyed, but she couldn't help it. She knew why she had to stay here (the police needed everyone to stay in the school for questioning), but that didn't mean it wasn't boring, because it very much was. Sure, she could journal, or read something, but that could only entertain her for so long, and it had been over 4 hours already. God, when is she gonna catch a break?

Since she was the person who found Angela in the bathroom, the police had taken a special interest in her during the questioning. She had been pulled over 3 times by Sherwood's finest today, and she had to answer the same questions Every. Single. Time. Mundane questions like: when did you find her? (After school). Were you friends with her? (Not really). Do you suspect anyone? Did you see anyone leave the bathroom? (No and no). 

So, forgive Veronica for being annoyed. She had been more than patient, and she just wanted to leave already. Although, knowing her parents, they already had an interrogation prepared that would be even worse than this one. Ugh, fuck her life.

The door to the lounge opens, and an officer walks in. “Excuse me, Mrs. Sawyer? We need to see you for some closing statements, and then you should be free to go.” he says.

“Finally. You know, I was wondering if you guys were going to keep me here forever,” she jokes.

“Oh, no, we have no reason to do that to you. You’ll probably be pleased to know that you are not on the suspect list.” he smiles. “If you thought you had it rough, you should see some of these other kids. The way they're acting, you would think they just went through a war zone!”

“Oh, I'm sure it wasn’t that bad.”

“I assure you, it was. We’re being very thorough, you know. It’s a very big deal for us. These killings have gone on long enough, and this is the biggest lead we have ever had for finding out who the slasher is. We are not going to waste it,” he growls.

“So, it’s confirmed that the slasher did this?” Veronica asks.

He shrugs. “While it’s not confirmed, it’s basically impossible he didn’t do it. It matches all of his other killings, but we won’t truly know until we get the autopsy report back in a few days.”

“Why are you so sure the killer is a man?” Veronica asks.

“What do you mean?” he replies.

“I can’t help but notice that you always use male pronouns when you talk about the slasher, so I can’t help but assume that you think they are a man.” she says.

“It’s because of the physical force involved,” he explains. “I've yet to see a woman strong enough to do the murders that he’s done. Besides, it’s not like any woman would have the guts to do what he did. They’re too emotional!”

“Alright.” Veronica mumbles as he continues on his rant. No wonder the police haven't caught the person yet. Not only were they incompetent, but they were misogynistic as well. Veronica knew many girls in school that would have the physical strength to strangle someone else, especially an elderly person. All of the cheerleaders and female athletes would probably be able to do it, most likely with little effort. Especially Heather Macnamara, with her well toned muscles, strong thighs, and long arms that would easily be able to-

Wait, hold on a second! God, Veronica, now is not the time to be thinking about that! Not only is it not appropriate for school, it’s especially not appropriate now, when you’re about to talk to the police! Get a grip over yourself.

As she walked into the students lounge, she noticed the police chief, officer Braxton, smiling at her. He was an average sized fat man with an addiction for donuts and other sweet treats. He gave her the creeps. “Hey, Veronica,” he said. “Are you ready to wrap this up?”

“Yes, please” Veronica groaned.

After a long and, honestly, quite boring interrogation, she was cleared to leave. As she walked out to her parents car, Veronica couldn't help but notice how normal she felt. Sure, she was disgusted by the dead body, and that scene was most likely going to stay with her for the rest of her life, but she didn't really feel sad. Scared and anxious, sure, but sad? Not at all. ‘Hmmm’, she thought, ‘I'm going to have to unpack that later.’

Right after she entered her parents car, she started getting bombarded with questions and concerns. “Are you okay?” “What happened?” “Are you getting arrested?” “Why are there police here?” “Did you-” “Are you-” “How-”

“Oh my god, SHUT UP!” Veronica screamed. 

Her parents were stunned into silence, shocked looks on their faces. Veronica rarely, if ever, raised her voice at anyone, let alone her parents. On the rare occasion that she did yell, it communicated quite effectively that she was well past her limit, and was looking for a reprieve from whatever it was that happened to be annoying her.

A moment of silence passed as her parents stared at her with concerned looks on their faces.

“Can we not talk about it right now?” Veronica grumbled “My day has already been bad enough as is, and I'm sure there are plenty of opportunities to tell you all about everything that happened in the near future.”

Her mother's face morphed into a warm smile, understanding covering her face. “Of course sweetheart. Everyone has bad days. Just tell us about it when you're ready, alright?”

Veronica smiled. “Thanks mom, I love you.”

“Love you too.” Her mom replied.

Veronica then shifted to look out the windowsill, staring out at her reflection. The car ride home was enveloped in silence, the only noises being the rumbling of the car against the pavement and the curses her mom threw at the other drivers.

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When they got home, Veronica immediately went up the stairs to hide in her room, but was stopped by the sound of her mom calling out to her. “Veronica, one of your friends called asking for you earlier looking for you. I think she said her name was Heather, and she wanted you to call back when you were available. I left her number on the table by the phone” She told her.

“Wait, really?” Veronica replied, shocked. “Which one?”

“I think she said her last name was Chandler!” Her mom called back.  

“Alright. Well, thanks for telling me mom, I'll call her back in a minute.” 

Why had Heather Chandler called her? She couldn’t be that concerned about her, surely? Veronica had only been one of her friends for a couple of hours at this point, and Heather was a bitch who only cared about her own feelings, so it couldn’t be that she actually cared about her feelings. And Veronica was pretty certain that she hadn’t given out her number to anyone, so how did she know how to call her? All questions she could ask her later.

When she was all cleaned up, Veronica sat at the table and dialed the phone number. It rang a few times, before she heard it being answered with a click. “Hello?” She heard Duke ask.

“Duke? What are you doing at Heathers house?” Veronica gasps in surprise.

“Veronica? How did you get this number?” Duke replies.

“Apparently Heather called my mom earlier, asking to see me.” Veronica explains. “And, again, what are you doing at Heathers house at this hour?”

“Oh, we are doing an official heather sleepover tonight. Macs here too.” Duke says.

Veronica hears shuffling coming from the other side. “Hi, ronnie!” Mac exclaims.

“Hey, Mac,” Veronica smiles. “How are you doing?”

“I’m doing great! How about you?” Mac asks cheekily. 

“Better than I expected.” She replies. “I thought that I would be sadder than I currently am, honestly.”

“That’s great to hear, ronnie.” Mac exclaims. “We were worried for you. Even Chandy was, even though she doesn’t want to admit it.”

“Alright, that’s enough.” Someone mumbles in the background. Veronica hears a scuffle, like they are fighting for the phone, before Heathers voice comes through over the sound of protests. “We have important matters to attend to.”

“Hello Heather.”

“Hello ronnie,” Heather smirks. "Do you know why I wanted to talk to you?”

“Not really.” Veronica admits.

“Wow, Veronica.” Heather shakes her head. “Don’t you remember? You're going shopping tomorrow with us at the mall at 4, in order to replace your absolutely atrocious wardrobe.”

“Oh, that's right. Sorry for forgetting about that.” she apologizes.

“It’s forgiven, as long as you remember to show up tomorrow.” Heather chuckles. “I think anyone would forget about that once they’ve seen a dead body at school.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Veronica groans. “How are you feeling about that, by the way?”

“We don’t particularly care.” Heather says. “I don’t personally get what everyone is so sad about. Everyone dies eventually, so I don’t see the problem with someone dying early, especially a nerd like her. The way we all see it, nothing of value was lost. We always could use a culling of the surplus population.”

“Jesus Christ, Heather.” Veronica exclaims. “You can’t say things like that! What about her friends or family? Don’t you care about them, at all?”

“That's the thing. She didn’t have any friends, Veronica," Heather says dryly. “And I don't know her family, so why should I feel bad?”

“But-”

“God, what’s your damage, Veronica? Do I look like Mother Teresa to you? I. Don’t. Care. That’s it. Stop asking me about her.” Heather snaps. “Remember, we are going to the mall tomorrow, at 4. End of conversation. And, also, goodnight, ronnie.” Heather says sweetly as she hangs up.

“Goodnight, Heather.” Veronica sighs. Jesus, who stuck a stick up her ass today? She knew the heathers were bitches, but she didn’t imagine it would be like this. If they were going to be like this, she didn’t know if she should stay in this arrangement.

Veronica sighed and looked out the window, and was surprised to see that it was already dark outside. Today had passed by so fast she didn't even notice the sun setting. She still couldn’t believe how much her life had changed since she woke up this morning. And the scary part was that she couldn't tell if it was for better or worse.

--------------------------------------------------------

Veronica walked into the bathroom, tired after another long day at Westerburg. God, she couldn't wait to be out of this hellhole, and off to college.   

As she opened the stall, something lunged out at her, and she found herself being choked by Angela's strong hands.

But that was impossible, she told herself, Angela was dead! She knew she was! And yet, here she was, being choked on the bathroom floor by Angela's corpse. 

You did this, you did this to me. The corpse whispered in her ear, blood dripping down onto her face. You know who did this to me. You could have stopped it.

Veronica was in tears, writhing on the floor, trying to gasp for breath. She was feeling the air leave her lungs, and was trying to say something, anything, but the words wouldn't come out. ‘What does she mean,’ she thought, ‘What is she talking about?’

It's all your fault, the corpse hissed. I was still alive when you found me. You could have saved me! You're a murderer! Murderer! Murderer!

Veronica suddenly found her strength, and elbowed the corpse in the stomach. It screeched in pain, and let go of her. Veronica used that opportunity to scramble away from the corpse, shaking from exhaustion.

That's not true! She screamed, closing her eyes. They said that you were dead! I couldn't do anything!

Liar! A voice in her head roared. You're a liar! Murderer! Murderer! a chorus of voices chanted. It's your fault! MURDERER! MURDERER!

That's not true, That's not true! She screamed over all of the voices, feeling hands start to grip her all over. Get out of my head!

Suddenly, the voices stopped, and the hands disappeared. She opened her eyes, and found the bathroom empty. She rushed to the stall, and found no one there. Oh, thank god, she sighed.

She took a step forward, and heard a splash. She looked down, and found that the bathroom was beginning to flood with a dark, black liquid. She screamed, and rushed to the bathroom door, but she couldn't open it. She banged, pounded, and screamed for someone to let her out, but it would not budge. She frantically scanned the bathroom for another way out, and found a vent on the ceiling.

Yes! She had a way out of here! She waded through the now knee high water, and climbed on top of the stall. She pushed and shoved on the grate, but it wouldn't budge either. 

Suddenly, a hand grabbed onto her, and attempted to pull her into the water. She held onto the stall for dear life as more and more hands grabbed onto her body, attempting to pull her into the murky depths below. Eventually, they forced her into the water and held her down as she thrashed against them. As she was held down she could once again hear the chants getting louder. Murderer! Murderer! MURDERER!

Veronica gasped as she sat up in bed, her heart racing. She looked around frantically, looking for anything resembling hands or a corpse, but she was safe in her room, with no creepy corpses or hands in sight. She looked at her bedside clock and it read 6:15. So, she had 30 minutes to lay down and process before going off to school.

“Jesus, what a crazy realistic nightmare.” She groaned, lying back down. “I haven't had a dream like that in years.”

The more and more she thought about the nightmare, the more confused Veronica became. She knew Angela wasn't alive when she found her, and she was pretty certain her brain didn't have any weird guilt complexes about that. And why did Angela say she knew who the killer was? She had no idea who they could be, and none of her friends really seemed like they fit the bill. Martha wouldn't hurt a fly, and sure, the heathers seemed a little crazy, but the worst she had ever seen from them was some minor bullying, not physical violence. And none of them had a clear motive for killing Angela either, so it seemed stupid to suspect any of them.

Veronica continued to ponder this while she went downstairs, where she met her parents. “Hi, honey.” Her mom says sweetly. “How are you doing?”

“I'm fine.” Veronica responds. “Just don't feel like doing anything today.”

“Then we have some good news for you!” Her dad said excitedly. “School's out for the next week!”

“The police figured it would be too dangerous for the kids to return to school, so this was the best option.” Her mom explained.

“Yeah, I figured.” Veronica sighed. She reached up into the cabinet and grabbed a box of cereal (fruit loops, one of her favorites), and headed to the living room. “I'm going to go relax. If you need me, you know where to find me.”

She then plopped onto the couch, turned on the tv, and started eating, already mentally preparing for her outing with the heathers later. Today is just going to be so very.

--------------------------------------------------------

Veronica sighed as she looked into the mirror. She had been trying to make herself look like she was living up to the heathers beauty standards for over 30 minutes, but she was failing miserably. Her hair didn't want to stay combed, her clothes weren't good enough, and her makeup looked awful. She could at least blame the makeup on her inexperience, but everything else was just not cooperating. And the heathers were going to arrive soon, so she couldn't fix everything fast enough in order to make them satisfied with her appearance!

It was just so frustrating. She knew her problem was because she was treating this outing like a mock date, instead of the regular outing she knew it was. She just wanted to impress the heathers, even though she knew this wasn't a date, because if she impressed them now, they were more likely to like her back in the future. Veronica knew they were out of her league, so she would use every chance she had to show her crushes that she could be a good partner.

God, she's so gay. And she's so fucked. How is she going to survive this?

She's startled out of her thoughts by a very loud horn being honked in her driveway. “VERONICAAAAAAAAA. GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!”

Wow, Heather can scream very loudly when she wants to. But also, what the fuck is she doing? Can't she just come up to the front door instead of yelling like a crazy person? Still, Veronica quickly rushes out of the house, and throws herself into Heathers bright red Porsche.

The first thing she notices are the heathers looking at her in disgust. “What the fuck is that on your face?” Heather spits out.

“Makeup?” 

There is a long moment of silence. Then, an explosion. “Makeup? MAKEUP?!? That is the ugliest shit I've seen someone wear in years! If that is what you call makeup, you must think that a normal face looks like a fucking moldy blob! I never, ever want to see you try that shit ever again, do you hear me?!?” Heather screams.

“Y-yes ma'am.” Veronica stammers.

“Good.” Heather says, pleased. “Now, you'll let heather duke fix your face so we aren't seen walking around with a living wart, and then we can get out of here. Does that sound good?”

Everyone nods. Heather smiles, satisfied with their obedience. “Well, hurry up, we don't have all day!”

--------------------------------------------------------

After they parked at the mall, Heather turned towards them. “Here's the plan: first, we'll go get Veronica some new clothes, then we'll go get Mac some new athletic gear I know she wants but won't tell me about,” she said pointedly at Mac. Mac squeaks in surprise at her piercing gaze. “And then, finally, we'll go get some new jewelry for Duke and me. Any questions?”

“Are we getting any food here?” Mac asks.

“No, I got the three of us a reservation at Deja vu later. I trust that you'll be able to get your own food, Veronica?” 

“Yes, I will, Heather.” Veronica affirms.

“Good. Now let's get started.” 

The first store they go to is gap. Veronica didn't know why they chose to go here instead of the department store, but the heathers insisted it was because the department store wasn't fancy enough for their standards. It might also have had something to do with Macs cousin owning part of the company, which was a bit of a surprise. When she tried to push back, saying she couldn't possibly pay for everything, she was shut down.

“We're going to pay for you, dumbass.” Duke said.

“Wait, really?” Veronica asks, surprised. That seemed way too nice for the heathers.

“Don't be such a pillowcase, Veronica.” Heather mumbled. “We know you can't pay for anything yourself, so we're going to do it. But only because we'll look bad if other people see you wearing the same things everyday. Now c’mon, we have a nice bag of clothes for you to try on.”

The first outfit was quite simple, just a black top with a blue frilly skirt. As she looked herself over in the mirror, Veronica thought it looked quite good on her, and it was quite a nice color combination as well. After she left the changing room, the heathers looked her over, commenting on how the colors complimented her complexion and figure. “I think you should keep it.” Heather says.

“I agree, it looks really nice on you.” Mac comments. Duke nods in agreement.

Nodding her head, Veronica goes back into the room to change into her next outfit. The second outfit is a low cropped blue dress, which goes just below her knees. When she looked in the mirror, Veronica was shocked. Holy crap she looked good. It was short enough to show some cleavage, but just high enough to leave plenty to the imagination. It hugged her curves tightly, bringing them out in all of the right ways. It was perfect.

When she walked out, all three of the heathers immediately blushed. They knew Veronica would look good, but they didn't know she would look so hot. Heather began unashamedly checking her out, Mac started fanning herself, and Dukes eyes were bulging. Veronica smirked, and started doing a few poses, and the heathers felt like they might faint.

“So, is this good?” Veronica said cheekily.

“God, yes.” Heather breathed. “This is definitely a keeper.”

Veronica smirked at their reaction, nodded, and began strutting away, purposefully putting a sway in her hips. 

Veronica tried on a few more outfits, but none of them got the same reaction as that dress. In total, she walked away with 2 Blazers, 4 skirts, 3 tops, 2 pairs of leggings, and a new dress. All In blue, of course. There was a little shock for her when she saw the price tag. “$3,000! How can clothes be this expensive?!? And why do you want to pay for this? I’m returning this stuff now.”

But before Veronica could walk back into the store, she was grabbed by Heather, who had a surprisingly strong grip. “No, you’re not.” She states. “You needed new clothes, and we only wear the most expensive clothes from the biggest brands. We are all rich anyway, so we don’t even notice the prices. And I got these for you as a gift. You wouldn’t want to reject a gift from me, would you, Veronica?” Heather says, flashing her puppy eyes at Veronica.

“No, I guess not,” Veronica mutters.

“Good. Now let's get a move on.”

The next store they went to was Nike, in order to get some new athletic tracksuits for mac. And apparently Heathers aunt owned half of Nike. Veronica knew the Heathers were rich, but she didn’t know they were that rich. At this point, they could say they owned McDonalds and she wouldn’t be surprised.

“Is this a thing you guys do regularly?” Veronica asks while they wait for Mac to come out of the dressing room.

“Shopping?” Heather asks. “Not really. Most of the time we do…. Other things.”

“Like what?” Veronica asks.

“Oh, you know, normal things. Like going to the movies, or eating out.” Heather says after a moment of silence.

“We also do movie nights a lot.” Duke asks.

Mac appears before Veronica can question them on their suspicious behavior further. And when Veronica sees her, she is rendered speechless. Mac is wearing a bright yellow top and shorts, showing a generous amount of her long legs, and some of her toned stomach is exposed, showing her abs.

Mac asks something, and the heathers respond, but Veronica doesn't, still too stunned to speak. “What do you think, ronnie?” Mac asks her, jolting Veronica out of her silence.

“I- um, I think it looks good.” Veronica squeaks. She hears Duke snickering, and shoots her a glare.

“That's great to hear, ronnie,” Mac giggles. As she turns around to go back into the changing room, Veronica can’t help but stare at her ass.

“What was that, ronnie?” Duke snickers.

“Yeah ,why were you staring at Mac like that, Veronica?” Heather asks with a smirk.

“I just thought she looked good, that’s all,” Veronica retorts.

“Don’t worry, ronnie. We know,” Heather smirks, “I would be more concerned if you didn't find her attractive.”

“Oh. Okay. That’s good, I guess.” Veronica says.

They spent over an hour watching Mac try on a variety of athletic gear, including swimsuits and cheer outfits. Veronica was a blushing mess the entire time, the entire experience turning out to be overwhelming for her little gay self. Even though she appreciated seeing Mac in athletic gear, she was grateful when they were finished and heading on the way to the jewelry store.

Apparently the heathers didn’t own this store, which was more surprising to Veronica than if they did at this point. As they stepped into the store, she noticed how expensive everything looked. There were carpets all over the floor, chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and there were even some people dressed like butlers waiting to be called on. Heather and Duke immediately headed to the displays, leaving Veronica with Mac.

Mac immediately turned towards Veronica, and smiled at her. “How are you feeling about this trip so far, ronnie?” she asked.

“Pretty good. I still can't get over these prices, though.” Veronica admitted.

“Aw, you’ll get used to it eventually.” Mac said cheerfully. “You’re definitely staying with us for a while. Heather likes you, I can tell.” She winks.

“Really? How can you tell?” Veronica asks, surprised.

“She hasn’t blown up at you for disobeying her authority and asking nosy questions.” Mac replies simply. “She would’ve already exiled you if she didn’t like you.”

“That’s… reassuring.” she replied.

“Yeah, no problem.” Mac says sweetly. “If you need any help, call me. I'll be more than willing to help you with anything you need.”

Veronica blushed. “Thanks, Mac.” She mumbles, turning away from her.

They stay in the store for around an hour, with Veronica looking in all the displays, but not getting anything. Heathers decided to get some earrings that looked like crescent moons, which she thought looked pretty nice on them. They were also giggling about something to do with the earrings, but Veronica couldn't quite make out what they were saying.

Satisfied with the outcome of their trip, they head back to Heathers car. After a terrifying ride back where Heather broke at least 11 different laws and ran 3 red lights, Veronica was dropped off safely at her house.

“Thanks for the ride.” Veronica says. “I had a lot of fun.”

“No problem, Veronica.” Heather replies.

“Have a good night, ronnie!” Mac calls from the backseat.

“You too. Have a good time at the restaurant!” Veronica calls back.

Heather honks once, before peeling out of the driveway. Soon, they were gone, having disappeared around the corner. Veronica sighs, and trudges back into her house. “Welcome home, Veronica.” Her mom greets her. “Did you have fun with your friends? I can see that you have a lot of bags.”

“Yes, I did. I got a whole new set of clothes.” Veronica smiles.

“Well, it’s great to see you branching out with some new friends.” Her dad says. “We’ve been worried about how you were handling everything, but it seems like we don’t have to.”

Oh, right. Angela. She had completely forgotten about her over the last few hours. She had been having so much fun that she had completely slipped her mind. “Yeah, you don’t have to worry about me.” Veronica chuckles. “I think I'm doing just fine. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I'm just going to hang out in my room.”

“Alright, sweetie. Have good dreams.” Her mom says.

“And don’t let the bedbugs bite!” Her dad jokes.

Veronica smiles, and then grabs a few bags of chips, and trudges upstairs to her room. She lays in her bed and tries to fall asleep, hoping that she wouldn’t receive the same dream as the night before. She smiles as she drifts off to sleep, thinking of the heathers and Macs nice, strong legs.

Chapter Text

As Veronica takes her morning walk, she thinks about the last few days. It had been a few days since Veronica went to the mall with the heathers, and she felt she hadn’t really done anything of note since then. She had mostly laid around the house, ate food, and slept. Of course, she had gone out for a walk a few times over the last week. And every single time, she would pass by the local 7/11, and there would always be a motorbike parked in the lot. She didn’t know anyone who owned a motorbike, so she investigated, like ‘a snoopy little shit who doesn’t know when to quit while she’s ahead’ (direct quote from Duke). After some very basic investigating, she found out it belonged to a tall, gangly boy in a trench coat who always seemed to be holding a slurpee, which she found to be a little weird. She did find him pretty cute from a distance, and almost approached him one time, before deciding that was a bad idea.

Other than that, things had been quite boring over the last few days. But she was enjoying it. It had been quite a while since she had felt truly calm and free from stress, so she appreciated this opportunity to just relax and sit back for a while. Unfortunately, her peace would be disrupted today, as today was the date of Angela's funeral. Her parents were forcing her to come along with them, just as a sign of respect and solidarity for Angelas family. Even the heathers were going, and they had communicated their displeasure about this multiple times to her over the last few days.

“I still can’t believe we’re going to that stupid slut’s funeral!” Heather yelled over the phone. “We didn’t even know her! Of all the things for my mom to put her foot down over, this is the worst.”

“It’s not that bad,” Veronica reasoned. “It’ll just be a little boring. I really doubt your mom is going to make you stay there for the entire time, maybe an hour at most. Besides, we’re all going, so it’s not like you’ll be all alone and bored the entire time.”

“That’s true,” Heather conceded. “I’m just annoyed that she’s deciding to put her foot down now, and all for a girl she didn’t even know. It’s not like she ever does that for me. It just feels like she cares more about this girl she just heard about than me just because it looks good for her. I just wish she would care that much about me.” She mutters.

“I’m sure she does care about you. She just shows it in an… interesting way.” Veronica reassures.

“Yeah, right.” Heather scoffs. “She only likes her money. I’m starting to reach my limit with her attitude. If she doesn’t change her attitude for the better soon, I might try to find a way to get rid of her. But that’s enough about my shitty home life. Did you hear about-”

If Veronica was being honest, the amount of times that heather had wondered about getting rid of someone was starting to concern her. She had said that about anyone who seemed to annoy her, from the pizza delivery man to other students at school to the weird kids at the college she went to for parties. It just felt like a weird thing to be constantly saying. She knew Heather had an odd way of showing emotions due to her upbringing, since she lost her father at 12 years old and had an absent mother, but it still seemed like something she shouldn’t be saying. Especially with the slasher still at large.

As she passes by the 7/11, she once again notices the motorbike in the parking lot. She looks into the 7/11 to see if the boy is in there, and sure enough, he is in there, holding a slushie. He was already looking in her direction, smiling at her. He waves, and she half waved back before turning and continuing on her walk. She feels his stare on her back long after she has walked away, and she shivers. He seems nice enough, and he’s definitely pretty hot, but something about him seems off, like she isn’t seeing the full story. She shrugs, and continues walking, enjoying the fall scenery.

--------------------------------------------------------

How does one get ready for a funeral, Veronica wonders. Now, obviously you needed to wear black (which she was), and you needed to wear something akin to formal wear. And she had those parts down, but that was the easy stuff. She just wanted to know if she needed to do anything extra. Maybe curl her hair? Put on some fancy makeup?

Veronica takes a long look at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a pitch black suit, with some red streaks along the collar and shoulders. She was also wearing some simple, black triangular earrings. ‘Eh,’ she shrugs. ‘I look good enough right now, I don't need to do anything fancy.’

She trudges down the stairs, and meets her parents in the living room. “Are you ready to go, Veronica?” Her dad asks solemnly. She simply nods, and he puts his hand on her shoulder to guide her to their car.

After a short ride, they arrive at the Sherwood memorial center, which was inside the old St. Catherine Lutheran church. St. Catherines had been closed 5 years ago after the head priest had been killed. It was later found out that he had also been having sexual relations with a few underage girls. This had caused the church to lose almost all of their clergy members, either to St. Peter's on the other side of town, or them deciding to quit going to church altogether. Veronicas family was one that decided to quit going to church altogether, which she was grateful for. She had never believed in God anyways, only pretending to in order to keep her parents happy, so she was relieved she no longer had to spend a few hours sitting bored in church each sunday.

As she stepped inside, Veronica couldn't help but be amazed at the buildings architecture. It was very large with sweeping columns leading up into a huge painted dome covered in window panes lording over the large chamber, with rows and rows of pews leading into a stage with a large ornate set of carved bleachers for a choir to sing in. There was a massive cross of Jesus sitting on the middle of the opposing wall, shining due to the light from the windows, and the side walls were littered with paintings of major Christian events and figures. There are multiple chambers that could be seen splitting from the large room, housing a variety of rooms that used to be used for confessionals, but were now used to prepare dead bodies. You could probably fit a couple thousand people in the room during peak hours. It seemed like overkill for a medium sized town in the middle of Ohio.

“Do you think they were compensating for their small dick sizes?”

Veronica yelped in surprise, and turned around to find Mac standing right behind her, dressed in a pitch black suit with black crescent earrings. “I mean, it seems like it.” She continues, “This just seems like it’s really large for a medium sized town in the middle of Ohio. It’s not like we’re in Alabama. They were probably disappointing their wives in bed and created this to feel better for themselves. I bet the only people who actually find it impressive are all the little people."

“Hey, I think it’s pretty cool.” Veronica defends.

Mac stares for a moment. “I forget that you are poor sometimes, but you always find the perfect time to remind me.” She says.

“We’re actually middle class, thank you very much.” Veronica retorts. “And just because you are rich doesn’t mean you have better taste than everyone else. That’s a stupid way of thinking.”

“No, it’s realistic.” Mac responds. “I’m rich, so I get to see more of the world than you do. I’m just saying that this church isn’t very impressive in the grand scheme of things, and that it was a sad attempt to impress people by the designers. Sure, they may have impressed the little people like you, but they don’t impress the actually important people, like me.”

“Everyone is important, Mac.”

“Sure, but some are more important than others. People like me and listen to me because I'm rich. I’m worse at school than you, and not nearly as smart, but people listen to me, because I’m rich. That makes me more important than you. Despite what people say about me, I’m not stupid, Veronica. I know I don’t deserve to be where I am more than you do, but I know how to use my position in order to help myself and keep myself on top. And now we’ve decided to help you out, and show you a little bit of our world. You’re on track to become a big person now, Veronica. You don’t want to throw that away, do you?” Mac asks.

Veronica shakes her head. “Good.” Mac says, satisfied. “We really like you Veronica. You have a lot of potential.”

Just then, the other two heathers arrive. They were both wearing black dresses and their matching black crescent earrings they had bought at the mall earlier this week. Heather looked as confident as ever, but Duke seemed to be nervous about something, with a small sheen of sweat covering her forehead and her eyes darting around the room.

“Are you okay, Duke? You seem to be scared of something.” Veronica asks.

“Shut up, Veronica!” Duke yells.

Veronica flinches back, startled. Duke rarely raised her voice, and that was Heathers line. Duke took a breath, and exhaled. “Sorry.” She muttered. “I’m just under a lot of stress right now.”

“It’s okay, Heather.” Veronica smiles. “I get it. If you need any help, or someone to vent to, I’m always open.”

Duke eyes her suspiciously. “...thanks.”

“I think your parents are calling you over.” Heather says shortly. Veronica looked over, and sure enough, her parents were waving her over.

“Alright. I’ll talk to you guys later.” Veronica calls back as she walks over.

“Bye, ronnie!” Mac says.

Veronica smiles and turns her head back, and sees an odd sight. Heather and Mac were comforting Duke as she shakes, giving her shoulder rubs and whispering things in her ears. ‘That’s odd’ she thought as she sat down, ‘They never show any emotions out in public. Whatever Duke must be going through must be really bad.’ 

Once she was sat, Veronica realized she was seated in an interesting position. Her family's assigned seats were right next to Martha, but right in front of the heathers. This meant that she was in a precarious situation. She couldn't talk to Martha in front of the heathers, especially when they were sitting right behind her, but she couldn't just ignore Martha. Of course, Martha reached her seat first. “Hey, ronnie! It's been a while since we last chatted. How are you doing?” She asked.

“Good.” She responded, “So, I have to tell you that-”

“Well, well, well,” Heather interrupts. “What do we have here? What is Martha dumptruck doing talking to you, ronnie? I thought we talked to you about this.”

“What is she talking about? Veronica, what does she mean they talked to you about this? Is there something I need to know?” Martha asks, panicked. 

“Yeah, ronnie~” Heather purrs. “Don't you have something to tell her?”

 “Not right now.” Veronica growls. “I'll tell you later, Martha."

“Oh, don't be such a pillowcase, Veronica.” Heather chastises, turning to Martha. “What she means is that she won't be talking to you anymore, dumptruck.”

“As if! Ronnie would never do that! I know for a fact that she has a very strong moral compass, and she would never do that to a childhood friend of hers. Who are you to say and make decisions like that for her?” Martha retorts.

“I'll tell you my answer to that question in 5-6 business days. Unfortunately for you, I'm rich, so I only work once every few years. I'll have an eta on my response to your question in a few months. But I'm sure you could ask Veronica, and she'll tell you the answer right now. Isn't that right?” Heather says with a glare.

Everyone stares at her. Veronica hesitates for a moment before answering. “It's true, Martha." She says glumly. “We won't be able to be friends anymore. And it's because…” She hesitates for a moment longer. Heather motions for her to continue. “... you'll crush me under your boulder sized belly.”

Veronica immediately regretted her words. Martha's eyes widened in surprise and betrayal. She stammers for a few moments while tears start spilling down her cheeks, and she lets out a few sobs. “You’re terrible,” she chokes out as she runs towards the exit of the building, sobbing the whole way. 

Veronica sits stunned in her seat for a few moments before she moves to get up to chase after Martha, to make amends and explain herself. But she is stopped by a strong hand on her shoulder pushing her back into her chair. She turns to see Heather shaking her head. “Its too late for that, ronnie. She won't want you back, even if you did apologize. And you won't apologize, right?” She asks pointedly.

“... no, heather.” Veronica mutters defeatedly.

“Hey, look on the bright side! That was one great insult. We're going to have to use that one on her later.” Duke quips.

“Mhm” Veronica agrees. Great, now she feels even worse. She didn't mean to hurt Martha, she just wanted to be friends out of school, but now they won't be friends at all. Especially after she insulted her like that! Jesus, what was wrong with her? She could have let Martha down softly, but she went full scorched earth instead. No wonder the heathers liked her.

And then, because the world seemed to hate her, she heard her parents clear their throats. Of course, since they were sitting right next to them, they saw the whole interaction. When she looked over, they looked absolutely livid. She was so fucked. She could already tell they didn’t like the heathers, and she couldn’t blame them. This would be a horrible introduction to any of your daughters friends, even if they didn’t know the person that they just bullied was their daughters close childhood friend.

As the service started, Veronica couldn’t help but shrink in her seat. She could feel the variety of stares centered on her, from her parents judgemental ones, to the heathers expectant ones, and even the curious stares from strangers who heard the full interaction and wanted to know what just happened. At least the service was starting so she didn’t have the full attention of everyone on her anymore, and she could contemplate to herself in peace. 

As the service went on, Veronica noticed that most of the other people didn’t really seem to care all that much. Almost all of them looked extremely bored, and many were whispering amongst each other; she could even see Kurt and Ram sleeping, along with their dads. The only people who really seemed to care were the other nerds, like her. They were probably the only ones who actually knew about her, which made sense, as most others were only here because it made themselves look better. It made her feel even worse about her lack of a reaction to Angelas death, because she should be one of the ones who was genuinely upset, but she just wasn’t.

And, because the universe seemed to hate her, she was scheduled as one of the speakers. Which meant that she had to think of something to say. Great. This is just…. so great.

While she was listening to the other speakers, Veronica could hear Duke whimpering behind her. She looked over to her parents to check if they were looking over her way (they weren’t), and turned back to check on her. “Hey, are you okay?” She asks.

“I’m fine, Veronica.” Duke mutters. “This place just brings out some bad memories.”

“Well, if you want to talk-”

“No, Veronica, don’t even start.” Duke interrupts her. “I can handle myself, and I already have someone I can go to for help. You’re not needed.” 

“Shut up heather!” Chandler snaps. “We don't need to hear your whining right now. Just focus on the speakers.”

Duke deflates and glares at her, but complies nonetheless. Veronica almost comments on the unfair treatment, but decides against it and turns back around. She sits, bored, waiting for her turn to go up and give her remarks. “May Veronica come up to the front, please?” The pastor finally calls after another hour of waiting. 

While Veronica walks up to the podium, she looks through the crowd. Most of them still seemed to be bored with the proceedings, and even those who weren't didn't seem to be paying attention to her. Martha was also still missing from the audience. “Hey, everyone.” She says. “If you don't know me, I'm Veronica, and I was the person who found Angelas dead body in the bathroom." At that, she heard some muttering from the crowd, and she started squirming. “I don't really know why I was chosen to speak at this event, as we weren't really friends, but I guess I have a few things to say. Even though we weren't really friends, Angela was one of the only people in the school who was always nice to me. She was a very hard worker, and I always looked up to her work ethic. While I didn't truly know her, I can tell that she was a kindred spirit, who was taken from us too soon.” As she said that, her eyes locked with the heathers. Heather stared back resolutely, Duke still seemed to be squirming about something, and Mac had a slightly guilty look on her face. ‘Interesting’. “Thank you for coming out today, and I send my condolences to Angelas friends and family.” She gave a small curtsy, returning to her seat to the sound of small smatterings of applause.

The funeral service didn't last too much longer. Her family gave their remarks, and when they were finished, they asked if anyone else had anything to say.

No one stood up.

After that, most families headed home; but some, like Veronicas, went to the cemetery to see the body lowered into the ground. It was raining hard, like the universe itself was crying at the premature loss of a young life. It was surreal to see the coffin being lowered into the ground. To think that was a person, someone with so much potential, was almost too much. And to think that somebody decided to end her life unilaterally? It made it so much worse.

Angela's parents wailed as they saw their child being lowered into the ground. Everything, from the crying to the pouring rain, combined to create a sorrowful mood unmatched by almost anything else. 

Veronica stayed long after everyone else had left, including her parents. She sat there, staring at the headstone until the sun began to set. ‘To a life that was cut short. We know she is now making everyone up in heaven happy with her beautiful smile. We will never forget you, and we will forever miss you, our little cuddlebug.’ It read. Veronica decided, then and there, to make a promise to Angela. “I will search until I catch whoever did this to you,” she vows. “That I promise to you.” She then turns and walks away, leaving the headstone alone in the dark, left to be forgotten through time.

--------------------------------------------------------

As Veronica walked all the way home through the pouring rain, she reflected on the past week. Everything had changed so fast, she barely had time to register what had happened. She stopped and stared at the sky. The rain felt cleansing as it dripped down her face, like it was washing her worries away. “Everything will be fine.” She whispered to herself. “There's nothing to worry about. Everything will turn out fine.”

As she looked forward to start moving again, she jumped. Standing under the light in front of her was the trench coat kid from the 7/11. The street light, when combined with the rain, seemed to make him glow in the darkness.

In other words, he looked really, really hot.

“Greetings and salutations!” He smirked. “Whats a pretty girl like you doing out here at this hour in the rain?”

“I'm coming back from a funeral.” She quipped. “What about you? Why are you out here too at this hour? Trying to catch pneumonia?”

“Ha!” He laughed. “Of course not. I'm just… enjoying the weather. I live just down the block, so I come out here all the time. I'm assuming you don't live near here though, correct?”

“You’re right. I live on the other side of town. Can you provide a ride for me?” She asked.

“I don't know. I can't really see you in the darkness over there. Maybe if you come a little closer I can give you a more… accurate assessment.” He smirked.

“Alright.” Veronica shrugged. She slowly moved closer and closer to the light, and had almost reached it when-

*HOONNNNKKKKK* “Hey, Veronica! Come over here! I can give you a quick ride home!”

Veronica looked over into the darkness, and there was Heather Chandler, hanging out of the window of her bright red Porsche. “Hurry up, I haven't gotten all day!” She yelled. 

“Alright, alright, I'm coming!  She yelled back. “So,” she turned and said to the boy, “When am I going to see you again?”

He smiled. “Quite soon, I reckon. It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Veronica Sawyer.”

“It was nice meeting you too, Mr.?” 

“Kid. Just call me Mr. Kid.” He said.

“Wow, not giving me your name? That's pretty ballsy.” Veronica joked.

He shrugged. “I never give out my name in first meetings. Not everyone needs to know who I am. It's nothing personal.”

Veronica nodded. “I get it. It's nice being unknown sometimes. It can be quite useful. Goodbye, Mr. No Name Kid.” She waved to him, and headed to Heathers car.

Heather flinches away from her when she opens the car door to get into the front seat. “God, can you not get water all over my car? This leather shit aint cheap!” She complains.

“What, you want me to make the rain stop? It’s not my fault that it’s pouring out. And if you didn’t want water to get all over the inside of your car you shouldn’t have offered to pick me up!” She retorts.

“Well, fuck me for trying to be nice for once, I guess! I’m not the one who decided walking home in the middle of a rainstorm was a good idea! Do you know how dangerous that can be? You can be too stupid for your own good sometimes, Veronica.” She hisses. “And who was that no good freak you were just talking to, Veronica? Was he some ghetto trash you just happened to pick up on the side of the road?”

“Hey, don’t say that about him! He seemed quite polite, thank you very much.” She responded, offended. “I didn’t feel any sense of danger from him, and I've seen him around before. I do, in fact, know what I’m doing, despite what you seem to believe.”

“If you know him so well, who is he, then? What can you tell me about him?” Heather questions.

“... I don’t know.” Veronica admits.

“He didn’t even tell you who he is? Well, well, well.” Heather says smugly. “Looks like I was right about Mr. School shooter, after all.”

“He just… didn’t give off that vibe.” Veronica mutters. “And you can’t say anything to me! I’ve heard what you do at parties. How can you give me any kind of purity test when I know for a fact you’ve made much worse choices, and met much worse men in the past?”

Heather leans into her face, eyes narrowed. “How dare you say that to me! You know nothing about what I’ve had to do in order to keep myself safe! Do you know what I can do to you? How I can ruin your life? Do you really want to get into an argument with me?!?”

“Oh, yeah?” Veronica spits back, leaning in closer. “Why haven’t you done anything then? If you’re so powerful, if you’re so strong, why don’t you do something to shut me up? Hmmmm?”

Heather was about to retort, before she widened her eyes. Veronica also widened her eyes, finally realizing the position they were in, faces merely inches away from each other. Her eyes darted down Heathers lips, and when she looked back up, she could have sworn she saw Heathers eyes doing the same thing. “We don't have time for this. We’re going to continue this conversation later, got it?” Heather said harshly, showing no opportunities for argument. Veronica sat back in a huff, and nodded. The car filled with an uncomfortable silence, and she looked out the window as Heather started driving. The car was silent throughout the entire drive back to Veronicas house, neither of them wanting to speak about the argument and what had almost transpired only moments earlier. When they got to Veronicas house, nothing was said. Veronica just left, and ran into her house, with little more than a wave in Heathers direction. As Veronica got into her house, she looked back and saw that Heather was already gone. She expected it, but she still felt a little sad about it.

“Is that you, Veronica?” Her mom called out.

“Yes!” She called back.

Her parents walked into the living room from the kitchen. “Good.” Her dad says. “We need to talk to you about those girls you were talking to earlier.”

So they were talking about this now? Great, that’s just what she needed right now. “What do you mean?” Veronica asks.

“You can’t associate with them.” Her dad says bluntly. “The way they made you treat Martha was despicable. That is no way to treat anyone else, no matter how much they may dislike each other.”

“We just think they’ll be bad influences on you, sweetie.” Her mom explained. “We think that you’ll be better off in the long term if you cut them out now. Alright, honey?”

“Yes, mom.” Veronica sighed. “I wasn’t with them much, anyways. I’ll try to distance them from myself. Can I go to bed now?”

“Sure, honey. And don’t be mad at us, okay? We’re just doing what’s best for you. You may not see it now, but it will help you out in the long run.” Her mom says.

“Alright, mom.” Veronica sighs and heads up the stairs. “Goodnight.”

As she laid in her bed, Veronica ruminated on the day she just had. Specifically, the interaction between her and Heather. And, even more specifically, the moment when she swore they were about to kiss. She wished Heather had leaned in and kissed her during that moment, instead of dodging the conversation. Of course, Heather probably wouldn’t kiss her anyway, but that’s neither here nor there. She just wanted her so bad, it felt like she was going crazy. But that line of thought led her to her parents. 

Ugh. Her parents. She was so tired of them acting like she was still a child. She was seventeen years old, for Christ's sake! She was almost an adult! She could make her own decisions about who she decided to hang out with. She knew that the heathers were mean, and yeah, they were being jerks to Martha. But that didn’t mean that they could just ban her from associating with them! That was ridiculous! All they made her want to do was be with the heathers more, not less. And that’s probably what she was going to do, anyways. She could still meet with them, but she could pretend they were someone else. Maybe someone like Betty? She knew her parents liked her, at least. Yeah, she could do that.

Veronica looked over at her bedside clock and saw that it read 11:30. It was time to go to sleep. So she drifted off, thinking of plans to fool her parents, and dreaming of Heathers big, full lips.