#veronica asking martha to be her date to prom

[pepper-steam-milkshake]

thinking about the homoeroticism of heathers

[rye-views]

Heathers (1989) dir. Michael Lehmann. 7.6/10

Mr. Moseby.

I love Que Sera Sera.

I dig several outfits.

Jason Dean cute, but fucked up.

Winona consistently this vibed character.

Fav character is the female stoner.

Spoiler: [About Veronica Sawyer playing croquet with her popular friends, Heather Chandler, Heather Duke, and Heather McNamara. The leader of the group, Heather Chandler, has Veronica use her forging skills to write a hot letter from Kurt Kelly to Martha Dunnstock, in an attempt to bully her. Veronica doesn’t want to, but does it, causing Martha humiliation after confronting Kurt about it. Jason Dean (JD) watches the whole scene as he and Veronica eye each other. At this time, Veronica bumps into an old friend, Betty Finn. They briefly talk and go over some old photos of them that Betty had. Heather Chandler goes around the cafeteria to ask students to answer the lunchtime poll. Veronica convinces her to ask the question to students of other social groups that aren’t popular. The group talks with Heather Duke as she has to purge after eating. Veronica talks with JD about the poll and has a good conversation with him. The jocks, Kurt Kelly and Ram Sweeney go to bother him and JD pulls a gun on them, shooting blanks. Veronica is more interested in him. Heather mentions giving Veronica her shot by taking her to her first Remington party. Veronica has lunch with her parents and mentions a boy she could potentially go to prom with. Before the party, Veronica and Heather Chandler are at the gas station store. JD talks about him moving around a lot and his dad is from Big Bud Dean Construction. At the party, Veronica doesn’t want to mingle as guys talk to her. Heather Chandler makes out with David. Veronica refuses sex to a guy and tells Heather Chandler that she wants to leave. Heather is upset that she’s being a cooze and Veronica ends up vomiting on her. Heather promises to ruin Veronica on Monday and Veronica brushes her off and leaves. At home, JD shows up and they have sex on the croquet lawn. The next day, they enter Heather’s house. Veronica wants to make a hangover ‘cure’ made with milk and orange juice to make her puke. JD wants to use drain cleaner to kill her. Both concoctions are made and Veronica grasps the mug with drain cleaner instead of her own by accident and serves it to Heather. JD saw it and doesn’t stop her. Heather is skeptical, but JD convinces her to drink it and she dies after falling onto and breaking a glass table. JD convinces Veronica to make it seem like a suicide by writing a suicide note in Heather’s handwriting. Pauline Fleming talks to the school board about how they should have the students gather and have a vent sesh. They instead agree to give the students an hour break. Heather Duke no longer purges. The school sees Heather to have been deeper than they believe because of the suicide note. Veronica and JD watches he portrayal of her death on TV and believes it to be so fake. Veronica meets JD’s dad. She attends Heather’s funeral and everyone prays their thoughts next to her coffin. Heather McNamara asks Veronica to join her on a double date with Ram Sweeney and Kurt Kelly. She reluctantly agrees as long as they don’t go cow tipping. Kurt and Ram bully some nerds in the meantime. The date is cow tipping and Veronica eventually escapes as JD shows up. Heather is left having sex with Ram. The next day, Veronica finds the yearbook team creating pages for Heather’s death. The other students begin to bother Veronica and she learns that Kurt has been spreading a rumor that he and Ram both had Veronica in her mouth. She calls Kurt and agrees to a threesome with Ram. JD convinces her to use guns with Ich Lüge bullets, which would tranquilize them, but makes them look like they were wounded. They create a suicide pact note for their failure to be proud of their homosexuality. JD also brings in goods that make them seem gay. Veronica meets them in the woods and has them strip. At the count of three, JD shoots Ram, killing him. Veronica fails to shoot Kurt properly and he escapes. JD chases him back to the site and shoots him. The cops arrive and they run. One cop chases the sound of them and eventually sees them making out in the car. He leaves them alone and comes back to deem the situation a

double suicide. Veronica is bothered by being stupid enough to believe that the bullets were fake. JD convinces her that this is what she wants and she denies. A funeral happens for the boys and they are loved. Fleming officially gets approval to have a vent sesh. It’s recorded on television. JD’s dad shows a video of a building explosion since that’s what his job requires. JD talks to Veronica about his mom committing suicide by waving bye and entering one of the buildings right before it blew up. Veronica breaks up with him after he shoots his stereo. JD goes to Heather Duke and shows a childhood photo of her with Martha and blackmails her to take over leadership of the school. He also gives her Heather’s red bow hair tie. She does it gladly. Veronica plays croquet with Betty and they talk of their lives. The Heathers show up and Betty leaves. Martha spills a drink on herself and writes a suicide note. She posts in on herself and jumps in front of traffic, but survives with injuries. Heather Duke tells Veronica that she’s just trying to be like the cool kids. Heather and Veronica listen to a radio broadcast as Heather McNamara talks about what makes her sad these days. Heather McNamara leaves class to go to the restroom and Veronica follows in time to stop her from overdosing on pills. She consoles her and they are okay. JD has Heather Duke get students to sign a petition for him and she gifts him her copy of Moby Dick. Heather Duke gets everyone to sign by making them believe it’s for anything they want. Veronica refuses to sign. Veronica comes home to her parents saying that JD stopped by to say that Veronica might be considering suicide. Veronica goes to sleep and dreams about JD coming in and taking a knife to make it look like Heather Duke slit her wrists. He underlines specific parts of her Moby Dick book to emphasize what she thinks about. She fails to stop it from happening and a funeral happens. She meets Heather Chandler, visiting from the afterlife and saying how boring it is. Veronica wakes up and journals. JD enters her room and sees her hanging from a noose. He says he loved her, but he’s going to blow up the school since he has the petition for a mass suicide with everyone’s signatures. He leaves when Veronica’s mom comes upstairs to bring her down for dinner. Veronica’s mom sees her body and mentions what she regrets and Veronica reveals that she’s alive and the noose was tied around her waist. At school the next day, JD plants bombs around the school and heads to the boiler room. Veronica follows him and puts him at gunpoint as everyone else goes to the pep rally in the gym. JD finds out she’s alive and fights her. As she goes unconscious, he finishes up planting his bombs. She wakes up and fights him again. She shoots his hand and tells him to tell her how to stop the bomb. He eventually cuts the wire, allowing the timer to stop. Veronica shoots him more and heads out. In the front of the school, JD shows up to her and shows a bomb on his body. He talks to her and then blows himself up. She enters the school again and takes the scrunchie from Heather Duke and asks Martha if she wants to watch movies instead of going to prom since her date flaked.]

[gravecinema]

Why Heathers is the Best High School Movie of the 80's - 06/03/2020

The 1980’s brought forth many a high school movie. The most famous movies were the John Hughes movies such as Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. These are all great movies in their own right, but it was a movie by director Michael Lehmann and writer Daniel Waters in 1989 that would prove to be the defining high school movie of that decade. That movie was Heathers.

Heathers is anchored by a career performance from Winona Ryder. Winona Ryder has said she was motivated to make this movie because of her strong feelings about girl cliques, the pervasive bullying that goes on in high schools and the "hellishness" of the high school experience. With a character name of Veronica, she is the black sheep in the group of four popular girls at school, with the other three girls are all named Heather, which is where the title of the film comes from. Unlike the more teen-friendly John Hughes movies, Heathers is an R-rated dark comedy covering the themes of body image, depressive isolation, date rape, murder, suicide, and toxic relationships. Veronica is just trying to be like one of the other Heathers at the start of the movie, even though she hates the peer pressure of doing things she’s morally against. All that is about to change though, when she starts a relationship with the new bad-boy student at school named JD, played by a young Christian Slater.

Christian Slater has a star-making performance in the movie, and his character of JD is the main driver of the plot. JD uses his influence on Veronica after hooking up with her to push her towards killing everyone whom he considers to be a bad element in the school, while having the idea of making them all look like suicides. Even though when they kill the first Heather it can be considered somewhat of an unintended accident, JD starts to like the idea of killing everyone that he feels deserves it. JD is an immensely tragic character, which is part of what makes him such a great antagonist. After witnessing the suicide of his mother when he was a kid, JD carries that trauma along with being an outcast wherever the next place his dad moves him to. He is also the only character in the movie to successfully commit suicide at the climax of the film. He’s a character that especially has a much deeper meaning today after school and mass shooting events such as Columbine in 1999.

One great strength of Heathers that always stands out to me is the memorable lines from the fantastic script by Daniel Waters. It contains great quotable lines such as “Fuck me gently with a chainsaw,” “Dear Diary, my teen-angst bullshit now has a body count,” and “Whether to kill yourself or not is one of the most important decisions a teenager can make.” The best and most memorable line of all though has to be when the father of one two football players who they believe were killed in an apparent gay suicide pact is giving a eulogy. “My son’s a homosexual, and I love him. I love my dead gay son.” You’ll be quoting Heathers for a while with friends long after you’ve seen it.

Heathers also has a memorable and distinct soundtrack with a score by David Newman. An opening and closing song of “Que Sera, Sera” also provides a nice theme for the movie. It bookends the start and ending of the film and gives the story a nice whimsical feel to it. The only other featured song used in the film provides the main message of the whole movie. The name of the song: “Teenage Suicide (Don’t Do It).” Fairly on the nose if you ask me.

One thing that always stands out to me when I watch this movie is the wonderful display of 80’s fashion. The blazers, designs, and hairstyles could only have come from the 80’s. The character of JD is the only one who looks the most timeless out of the bunch, since a dark trench coat never goes out of style. The most interesting costume choice though is whatever the hell the spirit of Heather Chandler was wearing in a dream sequence. I guess that’s the beauty of dream sequences. You can do weird stuff in them.

The best thing about the costume design in Heathers aside from its 80’s-ness has to be the use of colors. The five major characters each have a prominent color and by extension a certain emotion attached to them. Veronica is dressed in pure blue, the alpha Heather Chandler is dressed in power red, Heather McNamara in innocent yellow, Heather Duke in secondary green, and JD in evil black. One thing I love about this is that it shows character transitions at certain points in the film. After Heather Chandler is killed and taken out of the top of the high school hierarchy, Heather Duke stops wearing green and adopts the color of red in her wardrobe to signify her stepping into the role of the new Queen of the colony. The red hairband that she takes after Heather Chandler’s demise also represents a sort of crown for this role. This symbolism is further cemented when at the end of the film Veronica takes the hairband off Heather Duke and puts it on herself proclaiming that there’s a new sheriff in town.

The real staying-power of Heathers rests in the major themes that it tackles. Even though the script plays the movie up as more of a satire with how the high school faculty is represented in their reactions to the suicides, the major commentary on teenage suicide and toxic relationships carry heavy weight. It shows how peer pressure can carry a heavy influence on the major social groups in school, and how being an outcast from that group can cause major depression and lead to suicidal thoughts. The scene where Veronica stops Heather McNamara from committing suicide in the bathroom is the main showcase of this. It tackles the questions of why a teenager would feel that they have no choice but to commit suicide, and also why doing so would be stupid. We also see the outcasted Martha attempt to commit suicide, only to later reveal that she was unsuccessful in her attempt, which prompts Heather Duke to mock her even more for being a failure at that.

The relationship that starts between Veronica and JD is a textbook example of how one partner can have a toxic effect on the other, leading them both down a path of self-destruction. They practically beat you on the head with it as JD literally self-destructs at the end of the film. Veronica is ultimately saved by her rejection of JD and his codependent bullshit. She sees the futility of the path JD is taking and is doing her best to get away from it. JD lost the love of his mother when was young and shows his disconnect with his dad. He then shows a need for the love of Veronica and her acceptance of him with his views and choices. When she stops giving him both, that’s the trigger that leads him down his final path of self-destruction. It was only through the direct actions of Veronica that he is prevented from taking the rest of the school and the people that he hates with him.

There were originally several alternate endings for the film than the one they ultimately decided on. The original ending from scriptwriter David Waters had JD being successful in blowing up the entire school, and then ending the movie with everyone getting together in a sort of prom in heaven where everyone got along and accepted one another just as JD proclaimed while trying to blow up the school. When that was rejected for being too dark since they all died, the writer then had Martha stab Veronica when she was trying to make peace with her at the end, claiming that she is a Heather while Veronica is denying it. In the end, we ultimately got the ending that was used in the film when Martha accepted the peace offering, and the movie ends on a more upbeat and hopeful note.

The more upbeat ending was a good choice, since the cult following that would grow with the movie over time would eventually lead a successful stage musical adaptation in 2014. The musical is great at expanding on the themes from the movie, using the power of musical numbers to help highlight them. The great and iconic line of “I love my dead gay son” even gets its very own song. I recommend listening to the West End version of the show, since that version replaces one song with a better one and adds two of the best songs in the whole show. Musicals always have songs containing certain emotional themes and the “Fuck you” song is always my favorite song in any musical, and “I Say No” is the best “Fuck you” song from a musical that I’ve heard in a long while.

Heathers will always be a great movie and one of my favorites to rewatch. The themes contained within will continue to resonate with high schoolers today. While there are other high school movies made during the 80’s that teens can also identify with, none of them quite have the biting satire and dark themes that Heathers provides. For me, Heathers will always be the best high school movie of the 80’s.  

[fangirl-imagines]

80s Movie/TV Shows Masterlist

Back to the Future:

Dating Marty McFly would include...

Marty McFly dating a girl in his band would include...

Marty McFly falling for you in the ‘50s would include...

Imagine dating Marty McFly and Jennifer being jealous

1955//Marty McFly x 1950s!Reader

Breakfast Club:

Dating Andy Clark would include...

Imagine comforting Andy after he looses a match

Dating Clair Standish would include...

Dating Brian Johnson would include...

Imagine getting picked on by Bender but Brian standing up for you

Christmas with Alison Reynolds would include...

Some Kind of Wonderful:

Dating Keith Nelson would include...

Ferris Buller’s Day Off:

Imagine Ferris Buller asking you to the prom

Dating Cameron Frye would include...

Naughty or Nice - Cameron Frye Christmas fluff

The Heathers:

Haunted//Heather Chandler x Reader

Dating Veronica Sawyer would include...

Dating Heather Mcnamara would include...

Imagine your engagement party with Heather Chandler

Being friends with Martha Dunnstock would include...

Imagine JD taking care of his girlfriend when she’s on her period

21 Jump Street:

Dating Tom Hanson would include...

Imagine Officer Hanson coming to your graduation years after arresting you

Imagine finding out your new friends Tom and Doug are actually undercover cops

Imagine having a crush on the new kid, Doug McQuaid

Teach//Tom Hanson x Reader

[sprnklersplashes]

not beyond repair (19/20)

AO3

Veronica thought she had everything ready for her senior prom. Dress, check. Make-up, check. Shoes, check. Date, ride, hair. Check, check, check. And to top it off, she had had Heather going through everything with her and Martha the other day, the two of them sitting on her floor and nodding so much it was giving them whiplash. So she was sure she had prepared herself for every possible outcome.

Except one, clearly. Her mother and her ever-present camera. Veronica hadn’t even made it all the way downstairs in her dress before her mom started snapping photos of her and Martha in between gasps of amazement and overly-enthusiastic compliments.

“Okay let me get one of you and Martha before your dates get here,” her mom says, practically dragging Veronica over to the fireplace. She may well be rolling her eyes, but there’s a warm buzz about the room that’s been following her around all day, and she feels like nothing can really chase it away. Since she woke up that morning, even the usual worrying she’d felt following her around recently had evaporated, even if it’s just for the next 24 hours, giving her one day off. So she wraps her arm around Martha and smiles for the camera, willing to accept an overabundance of photos as the price for one golden day.

“Oh, you girls look so gorgeous,” Martha’s mom sighs, also armed with a camera. She nudges Veronica’s mom, her eyes beginning to glisten. “Oh Ella, where did the time go?”

“Hell if I know,” her mom sighs. “Doesn’t it feel like yesterday they were clinging to our legs because they didn’t want to go to kindergarten?”

“Mom!” Martha hisses. “Gosh… Please don’t be like that when Heather gets here.”

“I won’t embarrass you in front of your friend, Martha,” Mrs Dunnstock says. “And I’m sure her mother’s thinking the exact same.” Martha nods stiffly, her lips rolled into a thin line. Heather’s mother has become something of a dark inside joke for their group, and even more so for Martha and Heather. “Oh, Ronnie that dress really is lovely on you.”

“Thanks, Aunt Mel,” she says, pulling at the skirt again. She’s forgone pretty much every accessory she had thought about, going just with her butterfly necklace and a thin silver bracelet she found on her dresser. She touches the butterfly again, her lips curling into a smile and her heart picking up as she traces the outline.

“That’s the necklace the boyfriend got her,” her mom explains to Mel, in a voice Veronica guesses is meant to be low and quiet enough for them not to hear. Needless to say, it failed. Still, her mom gets this soft, tender expression when she talks about JD, specifically to anyone else, maybe because she’s glad they’re still together, maybe she feels responsible for them. Whatever the reason, it brings Veronica more happiness than she thought it could.

A knock at the door stops the photoshoot in its tracks, and sends Veronica’s heart racing, her skin prickling as butterflies take flight in her stomach.

When she goes to open it, the small silhouette calms her a little, but she’s still beaming when she opens the door.

“You look amazing!” is what Heather first says to her. She’s one to talk, clad in a light yellow dress with a glittering skirt, the dress hugging her petite figure and her hair cascading down her back like a waterfall, her lips and cheeks pinker thank usual. A yellow gemstone hangs on a silver chain around her neck, glittering in the setting sun, and a gold bracelet shines on her wrist. But even without all that, she’s practically sparkling herself.

“So do you,” Veronica tells her, giving her a quick hug, careful not to wrinkle her dress.

When they turn to Martha, they find her with her mouth hanging open and her cheeks beginning to turn pink. Her eyes move so, so slowly over Heather, committing her to memory, and they shine the minute they set eyes on her. Veronica grins behind her hand, especially when she sees Heather gasping beside her, equally as transfixed by Martha as she is by her.

“You look amazing,” Martha tells her, her voice shaking and breathless with a hint of disbelief. Heather shakes her head, grasping Martha’s hand in a gesture that feel so intimate that Veronica feels bad for watching.

“So do you,” she tells her, stroking her cheek and running her hand over Martha’s curled hair. “I… I got you something.”

“Heather-”

“I know it’s not a corsage,” she says weakly, taking a small box out of her purse. “But you’ve got a lot of flowers already, and I thought you might like this.” When she opens the box, there’s a silver ring inside, a pink gemstone sitting in the centre of two minute diamonds. It’s nothing short of gorgeous. Martha’s trembling hand flies to her mouth, just about hiding the growing smile. “My dad helped me pick it out. It’s from his store.”

“Heather…” She whispers. Veronica knows to avert her eyes as Heather slips the ring onto Martha’s finger. “Thank you.” She doesn’t need to guess what the seconds of silence that pass between them mean. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” The words are whispers of whispers but charged with so much meaning that even Veronica feels it. If Heather hadn’t already drilled into her that she can’t lest she mess up her eyeliner, she’d be crying for them.

And then, just as she’s turning to follow the two of them into the living room, there’s another knock at the door. One that stirs up butterflies in her stomach and leaves her breathless. She steps back from the living room, squeezing her necklace once for luck. She takes a second to check her reflection in the mirror, her face framed with loose strands of hair that artfully escaped her loose low bun, before turning the handle and opening the door.

“Woah,” he breathes. She can only describe his expression as awestruck, his eyes wide and bright, the smile on his face dazed but so sincere, his mouth opening slightly and closing without words. As if he needs any. She can’t remember a time where she like this before, a little dizzy and a little giddy, bashful and bold at the same time. When eyes meet hers, they overflow with admiration and pride and wonder. They tell her everything he can’t say and she hears every word.

The sight of him does the same to her. His hair falls gently over his forehead and he’s clad in a black suit and light blue shirt, no tie and the top button undone a little, which takes her mind to the cheekiest of places and the whole thing leaves her breathless. Beneath his shirt is a flash of a familiar silver chain and the ring he’s worn since he came back to her is still in its usual place on his thumb. Prom or no prom, he’s her JD, and she utterly loves every part of him.

“You’re pretty woah yourself,” she teases, their fingers brushing against each other and tangling playfully.

“You look stunning,” he tells her, his voice still a little shaky. Warmth rises in her cheeks, even more so when she takes her hand. “Absolutely stunning.”

“Thank you,” she replies, the words admittedly a little weak. She lets go of his hand to run her finger down his cheek and trace all the way down to his collar. “You look amazing.” She presses her finger into the corner of his mouth as he grins.

“Here.” He takes a box out from behind his back, revealing a white lily on a thin blue ribbon.

“Oh my gosh,” she breathes, shaking her head a little as a laugh escapes her body. She looks up at up, into his shining eyes, and she wishes she could just live in this moment. His hands are delicate and gentle, if a little nervous, as he slips it onto her wrist, all the while he bites his lip in anticipation. “It’s beautiful, J.”

She pulls him into a kiss, one that’s threaded with sweetness and bliss and one that, were there not people waiting in the living room and on the porch, she’d have let go one forever.

“Ahem, parental figure in the room,” a familiar voice says behind JD, dry and sarcastic but just as warm as it always has been. Claire smiles, just as much pride in her eyes as her own mother had. “You look amazing, Veronica.”

“Thank you,” she tells her before leading her into the living room. “Come on, everyone else is in here.” She doesn’t fail to notice how she tucks her shirt further into her jeans as they go and tucks a lock of hair behind her ear.

“You look nice, son,” her dad says from across the room, raising an eyebrow. JD’s hand tightens around hers while his other one grasps the hem of his jacket and he takes in a sharp breath. Veronica shares a sly look with Martha and Heather, the three of them stifling a giggle.

“Thank you, sir,” he says stiffly, nodding behind him. “This is my-um… This is Claire.”

“You’re the foster mom, aren’t you?” her mom asks, shaking Claire’s hand enough to take her arm off.

“I was,” she says, her eyes flitting to JD and her face growing soft and her smile proud. Beside her, JD smiles back with gratitude in his eyes. “Permanent mom-figure now.”

“Oh, of course, the adoption,” her mom says. “Well, maybe you can tell us over coffee once we get these kids ready.”

Behind them, Martha’s mom has already started taking photos of her and Heather, the two of them more wrapped up in each other than in the camera, Martha holding Heather tightly against her and Heather nuzzling in as much as she can, her arms firm yet gentle around her waist. The smile on Martha’s face is so bright, so carefree in a way that’s completely new and completely wonderful. The sun streams through the window and the two of them glow in its light.

“Okay, Veronica, JD, you two get in front of the fireplace there,” Veronica’s mom says. “Come on before we lose the light.”

“Hey, do you think you could send me a copy of these,” Claire asks, quirking an eyebrow at JD. His mouth falls open in response, and a silent you wouldn’t falls from his lips, Claire the only non-oblivious adult. “I’d love one for the mantle.”

“Oh, I hate her,” JD whispers in a tone that implies anything but.

Laughing, Veronica positions herself against him, one arm around his waist and her head carefully resting on his shoulder, mindful of her hair. JD takes her free hand and squeezes tightly, pressing a gentle, quick kiss to her hair, a bold move in front of her dad, and it only makes her smile grow wider and her heart warmer.

The photo might be fun, but it’s not really necessary, she thinks. Nothing could make her forget this.

“Have a fun night, kids,” her dad tells them as he pulls up in front of the school. “But not too much fun.” He turns and shoots JD a look while he’s pressed into the corner of the backseat. “You hear that, son?”

“Crystal clear, sir,” he replies, his hand fidgeting in his lap as he no doubt remembers the ‘have her home by 11’ speech that Veronica had to negotiate to 12, and then to 1. Eventually he had relented, patting her on the shoulder and telling her to stay out as late as she wants. Within reason, of course.

“Wow,” Veronica whispers as they step into the hall. Outside they hadn’t done much outside of a banner draped across the front door, but inside, she can’t help but feel impressed. She still recognises it as the gym she’s played basketball on for years, but the low lights hide the chipped paint and the mirror ball slowly turning above them gives the room an air of elegance not known to Westerberg High. White and silver balloons roll around the floor, some boys throwing them between each other and stabbing them in girl’s ears, pissing them off and making them laugh in the same breath. Matching streamers hang from the rafters, as do little stars and moons, turning from silver to a rainbow of colours when the light catches them.

She never thought she’d describe her school like this, but it’s beautiful. Clearly, the prom committee have outdone themselves.

“Why don’t I get you a drink?” JD offers as they come to their table.

“Gentleman,” she replies with a peck to his cheek. “Thanks.”

Just as she turns to take her seat, she spots a dazzlingly lovely red dress and blonde hair swept up and held not by a scrunchie, but by a silver and ruby clasp. She shakes off everyone following her, including Kurt, her date, Veronica would guess, sending him off to chase some poor kid around. Even in the half-light, Veronica can tell there’s loneliness written on her perfectly made face, and when she turns to Martha and Heather, she can tell they both feel the same. Especially since one half of her seems to be missing.

“I’m just going to go talk to her,” Veronica says, pushing the chair further into the table before she can change her mind and looking to the two of them. Martha nods and after a moment’s hesitation, so does Heather. It doesn’t take long to reach her at all, and it takes even less time for Veronica to realise she doesn’t actually know what she wants to say.

So she figures she’ll begin with “hi” and go from there.

“Hi,” Heather replies with an uncharacteristic uncertainty. “You… look good.” Veronica steps back out of instinct, a shield raising before she can stop it as she waits for the catch. Chandler just rolls her eyes, a laugh escaping her. “It’s just a compliment, Veronica.”

“Well… so do you,” she replies. “And this…” She waves her arm, gesturing to as much of the room as she can. “This is really cool.”

“Thanks,” she replies, looking behind her. “So you’re with… with JD?”

“Yeah.”

“And Heather’s here with… Martha.” Just Martha. Who knew that would make Veronica feel more satisfaction than an aced SAT would? “They’re cute together.”

“Yep. She’s her date.” She grabs her own hand tightly, something silent passing between them. She hopes it’s an understanding, and she’s daring enough to believe it. Heather made her, for a while at least, and maybe she liked some of it. Even if she is a mythic bitch.

“I have to go find Heather,” she says. “Who knows where she got to. If you see her-”

“I’ll send her your way,” Veronica agrees, jokingly saluting her, to which Chandler huffs a laugh.

“Thanks.”

When Veronica makes her way back to the table and to her friends, it’s with a newfound peace of mind and having left her mistakes behind her.

As the night goes on, she finds new memory after new memory to hold on to; from fondly watching Heather and Martha steal kisses in unlit corners, to watching a bunch of boys from her grade dancing in a way that would definitely get them suspended if there were teachers here and if they weren’t so close to finished anyway. As she laughs, dancing with JD, she doesn’t find it surprising at all. If she had to ask herself in sixth grade to guess who would be attempting the splits with ah half-open shirt at senior prom, she’d have definitely guessed these guys. All accompanied by the gentle singing of the alcohol in her veins (one drink per hour, she’s limiting herself) and a tangible excitement that sparks in the air as students who haven’t spoken in years converse like casual friends and girls who brushed past without a second glance tell her how nice she looks. Barriers don’t matter tonight, not when they’re all together like this, and it dawns on them one by one that it might not happen again.

As one song fades, she hears the bouncing beginning to Dancing Queen, and her excitement skyrockets, her eyes finding Martha’s in an instant and the two of them jumping to the dancefloor with barely a thought for their dates. It’s their song after all, the one they danced to in her mom’s living room at barely four years old. JD and Mac watch them as they jump with no rhyme or reason, her head thrown back from laughing so hard, her arms coming around Martha in a hug that contains nearly two decades worth of friendship. Martha twirls Veronica under her arm and they fall into something that resembles a jive, tripping over their heels and acting out the motions they learned as kids in the most dramatic way possible. As they twirl around the floor like no-one is watching, Veronica briefly wonders how different her life would have been if they weren’t friends. Then she realises how grateful she is that she’ll never know that.

When falls into JD’s arms when it’s over, her cheeks hurt from laughing so much.

It’s then that she spots Heather Duke, skulking half in shadow, biting the inside of her cheek and a wistful envy in her eyes. As she comes down from her high, Veronica feels something clench in her chest, something close to pity but not as condescending. She doesn’t like pitying people, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t feel bad. Especially when someone is alone in the middle of a crowded room.

She squeezes JD’s hand and kisses his jaw before walking over to her, her steps tentative as nerves begin to make themselves known. Heather Duke was always a complicated case. Sure, there were moments, a lot of moments, where she made Veronica want to tear her hair out, but also moments where she made her laugh. And moments where she wanted to hug her but was too busy hiding under her new persona to do it.

“Hey,” she offers half-heartedly. Duke blinks and looks behind her before turning to Veronica, her mouth half-open.

“Hi,” she says rather suspiciously. Unlike Chandler, that’s where Duke ends.

“You look really pretty,” Veronica tells her, meaning it. With her emerald dress and her hair half-up, she’s worthy of the Prom Queen crown.

“I don’t,” she scoffs. “But thanks.”

“You do,” she says so firmly that Duke is taken aback by it before smiling weakly and running her hand through her hair.

“Thanks. So do you.” Veronica nods stiffly, kind of selfishly wishing she hadn’t come over at all and that she was back with JD. She takes a look over his shoulder and sees him dancing with Heather and Martha, trying and failing to twirl both of them under his arms and being pulled down as a result. She hides her laugh behind her hand and looks back, only to find Heather looking in the same direction.

“Heather seems happy,” she says, looking at her near-empty glass. “With you guys, I mean.” Her jaw sets. “I just mean….”

“You could go over and talk to her,” Veronica offers. Heather shrugs, her hand curling into a fist and her face uncertain. After a moment’s hesitation, Veronica reaches out and taps her shoulder. “I mean… think about it?”

“Maybe,” she sighs. “I should go. I need to find Heather. My Heather.” And then, her hand comes up and squeezes Veronica’s wrist gently. Although she could never really know what Duke was thinking and had given up a few days into their “friendship”, she likes to think she hears a ‘thanks’ in there. “See you around. Have a good night.”

Veronica smiles a little as she watches Heather go, letting out a contented sigh.

When she returns to her boyfriend, she wraps her arms around his waist and leans her chin on his chest so she can look up at him, up at the broad, amazed grin across his face and the glint in his eye. Briefly, she thinks about when they first got together, how quickly he hid himself behind dashing smiles and affection. And maybe he’s still a little like that at times, and that’s perfectly okay with her. That’s what they work on, together.

“What?” she asks him as he runs his knuckles up and down her back.

“Just thinking about you,” he says, no trace of irony in his voice. “Just about you and how great you are.”

“Oh, stop,” she sighs, rubbing her cheek against his jacket. “You’re so mushy.”

“I mean it,” he tells her earnestly. “You’re out here, on your senior prom, making up with Heathers.” He kisses the top of her head firmly. “That’s why I love you, you know.”

“Oh it is?” she teases, butterflies fluttering in her stomach. “What are the other ones?”

“We’d be here all night,” he says. “And that’s not what senior prom is for.”

“What’s it for then?” His hand curls around hers as an answer and pulls her onto the dancefloor just as the music slows to an old song from long ago, one about steadfast lovers and everlasting affection. Veronica, old romantic that she is, can’t help but feel moved by it. She never really understood love songs that much attention before, just enjoyed them for what they were, but recently, she’s started feeling them right in her heart. Even more so when she’s this close to him.

He twirls her under his arm, letting the skirt fly around her, and pulls her close against her. His smile grows smaller, but not dimmer. In fact, amongst all the lights and the mirror ball and the street lights brightening up the scene outside, it’s his smile that shines the brightest. She presses her finger to the corner of his mouth playfully and he kisses the palm of her hand in response, the gesture bringing an overwhelming sense of calm over her. As they sway gently to the song, she thinks about him, every minute of him, from the day she saw him on the first day of seventh grade, to the day she first met his dad, to losing him, to finding him again, to the time between then and now where she grew a little bit more in love each and every day. She thinks about the first time he kissed her in the playground, then the first time she kissed him in his room. Two different kisses at two different ages, one tentative and sweet and sad, one wild and brave and brilliant. She wonders how many other couples could say what they can; that they had two first meetings and two first kisses.

“Do you ever think about us?” she asks him. Despite being in the middle of a dance floor and bumped into every couple of seconds, they’re alone in their own world, belonging just to each other.

“I think about us a lot,” he replies. “Is there anything specific?”

“Well, just that I met you twice,” she begins. “And it’s sort of my fault you got sent away.”

“Ronnie-”

“I don’t regret it,” she tells him. “Not if it helped you.” His breath catches, his chest stuttering underneath her hand. “And… I got you back.”

“Probably the better version of me,” he says, tearing at her heart a little, even if it might be true. “I don’t like to think about what would have happened to me if I had stayed with my dad.”

“Then don’t think about it,” she says, toying with the hair at the back of his neck. “Just be with me.”

“Always.” Now it’s her turn to catch her breath.

“But seriously… do you ever think about how out of all the places, in the whole country, your dad moved you to Ohio? And in all the towns in Ohio, you moved to Sherwood?” she asks. “And then again, out of all the places in all the states in the whole system, you ended up moving back here?” Back to me she adds silently. “Do you ever think about that?”

“Of course I do,” he admits. “I’m not a big believer in coincidences. And I don’t know how I feel about fate or God or destiny or anything like that.” She shakes her head because for all her fantasy, neither does she.

“So what does that make us?” she asks. “If it was no coincidence, and it’s not fate… then what do you think?”

“I think,” he begins, growing quiet as he looks at her, taking a second to push a lock of hair away from her face and twirl it around his finger, a knowing smile creeping across his face. “I think I must have done something really good to know you, Veronica Sawyer.”

“Want to know what I think?” she asks.

“Of course I do.”

“I think maybe the universe knew we weren’t done back then,” she replies with a shrug. “I don’t mean like fate or destiny… I just think that we were cut short back then. And the universe gave us a chance to pick back up.”

“That’s beautiful,” he says, his voice cracking a little. He nuzzles into her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “That’s another reason why I love you. That beautiful way you see the world.” His fingers intertwine with hers and his thumb strokes the back of her hand. “And people.”

She presses her cheek against his shoulder, smiling into the crook of his neck, his heart beating slowly and steadily against hers. His arms tighten around her and his cheek rests on her hair as they two of them rock slowly together. She might, from time to time, wonder about the years they could have had together. But she also knows she wouldn’t change a thing about them. As far as romances go, she thinks this one might be her favourite. Besides, they’ve got years now to make up for lost time. She pulls away and looks up into his eyes, a little bit dazzled even now.

“I love you,” she tells him, her knuckles brushing against his cheekbone as the song begins to fade. She may never say those words in that way to anyone but him. He owns them now. “So much.”

“I love you too,” he says, and it sounds a lot like a promise. “You know… I should tell you something.”

“Oh?”

“I think leaving my light on that night was the best decision I have ever made.” She takes in a deep breath, blinking against the tears in her eyes.

She pulls him into a kiss, one that tastes like only he does-like something a little rough and ruined, beautiful with a little damage, passion and comfort, shoulder to cry on, friend to laugh with, keeper of secrets and the key to her heart. Her Jason Dean.

When she’s kissing him, she doesn’t feel the crackle of electricity or the goosebumps trailing on her skin, nor does she feel the desire to shove him against something, or the spine tingling thrill she used to associate with being so close to him. No, instead, she’s just happy; the kind that settles in your veins and wraps around you like your old blanket. The kind that’s deeply comforting and oddly familiar. It tugs on the corners of your mouth and pulls it into a smile without you realising. The kind of happiness you may not notice while it’s there, but you’d never want to be without.

Sure, there’ll be plenty of time for thrill and goosebumps and passion later. But for now, she’s just happy.

                                                                                               *****

“One, two, three, say graduation!”

“Graduation!” The camera flash momentarily blinds Veronica, until the world comes back into focus after a few seconds, the dazzling sunshine celebrating along with the class of 1990. Because against all odds, they did it. They graduated.

Veronica removes her arm from around JD’s shoulders and runs to let her mom hugs her close, telling her once again how proud she is. She’s decided not to argue or squirm or blush, because this time she’s proud of herself too. And of them. Her amazing best friend, her wonderful boyfriend, and her lovely almost-best friend. She sees Claire squeeze JD’s arm warmly, telling him something Veronica can’t hear, but the smile on her face tells her everything, as does his equally ecstatic expression. His has a hint of disbelief in there as well, but that’s fine. She’ll hug that out of him later.

“Oh, you guys!” Speaking of disbelief, Heather is probably too busy being in shock to be proud of herself. And although she had had a rough patch, like they all did at one point or another, she’s earned those shining eyes and red cheeks. She throws her arms around Veronica and Martha, pulling them into a hug that’s surprisingly strong for such a tiny frame.

As the four of them talk amongst themselves, Veronica looks past Heather’s shoulder for a moment, noticing Ryan, their valedictorian, high-fiving his friends, Kurt and Ram celebrating in a way that’s probably more suited to the football field. Although she shakes her head at them, her mood is as bright as the sun is, and she guesses it’ll remain that way.

Heather and Heather pass by them, flanked by pleased parents in nice suits and floral dresses, Duke’s mom stroking her back and Chandler’s practically leaning on her to get a better look at the diploma. The two look over at the same moment, both offering friendly smiles and half-waves.

“Hey,” Veronica says, nudging her Heather, whose gaze is held by her old friends-slash-new acquaintances. “Go talk to them. We’ll be fine.” Heather looks from her to JD and lastly to Martha, the question holding in her green eyes. Martha smiles, easy and soft, and gives her hand an encouraging squeeze.

“Go on,” Martha says. “I’ll see you later.”

“Okay,” Heather replies, taking a moment and looking around before swiftly kissing Martha’s cheek. She turns to Veronica, dimples forming in her cheeks. “I’ll see you tonight.” And with that, she runs up to her old friends with a bounce in her step and greets their parents with the kind of puppy-like energy that’s hers and hers only.

You might think that it would feel like nothing had changed, seeing Mac with Duke and Chandler, like the deadly trio was back again, maybe Veronica should worry. But she doesn’t because there’s nothing to worry about now. Not when their Heather looks over her shoulder to wave at them again and when Heather Duke nods at them without malice.

What a beautiful world, she thinks.

“Can’t believe we made it,” Martha sighs, turning her diploma over in her hands.

“All those long nights paid off,” Veronica tells her, rubbing her arm up against hers. “Told you it would.”

“As did you refusing to take a damn nap,” JD reminds her fondly. “Does that mean you’ll take one now?”

“I’ll take all the naps in the world now,” she promises, laughter lining the edges of her voice. She looks up at the field, taking in the Rottweiler logo hanging proudly behind the stage. “So long Westerberg.”

The three of them, soon re-joined by their Heather, find a spot on the grass, the same spot they ate lunch on at one point. While the adults converse and take advantage of the refreshments, they pass the time with banter and teasing and laughter, all of which then turns into fondly remembering their favourite times at Westerberg.

“Punching Kurt and Ram,” JD says with only a little sarcasm. Veronica turns to him, raising an eyebrow in mock-severity. “Made an impression on my very first day.”

“J-”

“He’s right though,” Martha says with a shrug. “He’s right and he should say it.”

“No he’s not,” she jokes, resting her chin on JD’s shoulder.

“I don’t know what my favourite memory is,” Heather says, cocking her head. “Maybe making cheer captain. Or…” Her fingers creep along the grass towards Martha’s and their fingers intertwine. “My first B on a test.” Veronica giggles into JD’s shoulder as her friend’s cheeks turn the palest shade of pink.

“What about you, Ronnie?” Martha asks. Veronica frowns, cocking her head as JD’s hands run up and down her arms. When she thinks about all four years of high school, not all of them are pleasant. She won’t miss her and Martha hiding out in the library during lunch, or scurrying down hallways to avoid Heather Chandler’s wrath, nor will she miss zoning out during classes or Miss Fleming’s too happy, too sweet morning speeches and faux concern for those in need. In fact, when she thinks about the happiest times of her high school life, very few involve the actual school. They just involve the people with her. The times that made her smile the most weren’t the biggest and loudest ones, but her and Martha giggling on the bus during a freshman field trip, she and JD sitting on the window ledge, or just weeks ago, when the four of them sat out there and exchanged bad jokes during lunch. Mundane and forgettable to everyone else, yet it holds the most meaning for her.

But that’s too sentimental and sappy for the hour at hand, so she mentions the Christmas sing along session they had in English class freshman year, prompting a curious JD and a cheer from Martha and Heather that echoes though the air.

Soon it’s down to just her and JD, Heather and Martha both leaving, hugging her despite knowing they’ll see her hours later. The conversation between her mom and Claire begins to dwindle and that’s when they know they only have a few minutes left.

“Hey,” she says, nudging him a little. “I’m proud of you.” He smiles, his cheeks turning pink as he ducks his head a little.

“I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Yes you could have.”

“Maybe.” He presses a feather-light kiss to her fingers and curls her hand into a loose fist. “Or maybe I had someone pushing me.” She huffs a laugh and, after a moment, closes the space between them entirely and sits in his lap, her legs on either side of him. “I’m proud of you too. Not every guy can say he has a super smarty-pants girlfriend who’s going to Duke.”

“Stop,” she sighs, running her fingers through his hair. “Not every girl can say that they have a super supportive, sweet boyfriend either.” She quickly kisses his lips and presses their foreheads together, a silent ‘I love you’ passing from her to him. “Or a boyfriend who is way smarter than everyone gives him credit for. Including himself.” Even though her eyes flutter closed, she still feels his smile.

When she opens her eyes, she sees her mom hovering at a distance and looking over at them, pointing at her watch when she notices her. Groaning quietly and pouting, she climbs off of him with warm cheeks.

“That’s my cue to leave,” she sighs, pulling him up to his feet. “I’ll see you tonight?”

“Definitely,” he replies, tapping her nose before they go their separate ways.

Her relatives start arriving for her house party just as the sky is turning pink and her mom is laying out bowls of rainbow coloured salad and freshly opened bread rolls and bottles of champagne line up on the counter. She hands Veronica a glass, chuckling at her raised eyebrow and mouth hanging half-open.

“It’s an occasion,” she tells her with a tap to the cheek. “And it’s in the house anyway.”

JD and Claire arrive while she’s in the middle of a rather one-sided conversation with her aunt, and she can’t be happier as she excuses herself.

“Am I glad to see you,” she sighs, hugging him lightly as she lets them in.

“Hi hon,” Claire says, giving her a one-armed hug, the other arm holding a basket covered with a white and blue tea towel. “I was raised never to come to a house empty handed. So I made blueberry muffins.”

“And I ate one,” JD adds. “Just to make sure they’re good. And they are.”

“Thanks, Claire,” she chuckles. “Come on, we’re just through here.”

When Claire hands the muffins to her mom, she’s nothing short of thrilled, asking her if she makes a habit of saving house parties or if it’s just a one-off. Laughing, Veronica tugs on JD’s hand and pulls him away from the kitchen, leaving their respective moms (or mom and mom-figure) to themselves while they brave the backyard.

“So… this is the boyfriend,” her uncle says, his smile friendly and his eyes wary.

“Jason Dean, sir,” JD says, holding his hand out.

“Well, you picked a fine young man, Ronnie,” her uncle says, shaking JD’s hand warmly. “So how did you two meet?” Luckily, he laughs when they give two conflicting answers and exchange slightly-alarmed looks.

One day they’ll come up with a good cover story for that.

The evening rolls on with friends and food and laughter. Veronica crushes Martha in a hug when she arrives, as do some of her relatives. And when Heather comes, she makes a beeline for the three of them, squeezing Veronica and even JD lightly before throwing her arms around Martha. Veronica shares a knowing look with JD as the two take a little longer to break apart but who could blame them?

The music from the radio is carried outside on the wind, the songs just about audible underneath the dozens of conversations going on around them. JD twirls Veronica around and traps her in a dance, kissing her head as she rolls her eyes and laughs, which turning into shrieking as he picks her up and swirls her around, her arms tight around his neck and her face buried in his shoulder.

“Asshole,” she laughs as he sets her down. She holds his shoulder tightly until the world comes back to her level. He simply kisses her head and responds with an affectionate ‘you love me though’.

Well she can’t deny that, can she?

He drapes his jacket over her when it starts getting cool, just as her mom is rolling out the dessert options. The four of them grab plates and pile them with food (including one of Claire’s muffins) and settle on the patio, disregarding the chairs and table in favour of cross-legged on the ground, even with the stones and gravel against their bare legs. JD’s arm circles around her shoulders and she leans against him, fitting against his chest like she has so many times before. Like she’s made for it. They cycle through a game of Never Have I Ever with varying degrees of blushing before Veronica grabs her dad’s cards and they go through every card game they can, bringing back the old favourites from summer camp and last days of school. They laugh at everything and nothing and look forward to the future while not quite saying goodbye to their pasts. All around the garden the air turns calm and contented as the sky trades the blue for pink and orange and the setting sun paints a gentle golden hue over the scene. Or maybe that’s just in her head. Either way, she doesn’t think the world has ever felt as right as it does now, the puzzle pieces that is her young life slotting into place. She’s not looking over her shoulder, nor is she thinking about how things could be better. Because how could they be better? JD kisses her head in a way that’s as natural as taking a breath and she laces their fingers together, their joined hands resting on her stomach. As they laugh, their voices reach up and mingle in the wind, carried up and mixing in the cotton candy coloured sky above them.

And at that moment, Veronica realises that she’s one of the luckiest people in the world, to have people like this to miss.

[hamilton-one-shots]

I don't think I'll be able to catch up with the High school AU (frickin school). Where do you advice me to start from that isn't the beginning? Basically I don't have time but I wanna read this as you upload xD

Hmm… I think where you start depends on you. I’ll summarize the whole thing for you and you can choose where to start and I’ll give you that chapter number. 

Alexander has intermittent explosive disorder, which is never really specified, and moved to this school because he got kicked out of another one. He meets John, whose painting a mural on the school and wants to fight. John doesn’t and only responds when he ruins his painting, pushing him before ignoring him again. Alexander goes inside and to class, jerk tries to fight him and John stops it because it’s stupid. Alexander gets attached and follows him around until he helps him draw. Same jerk (TJeff) makes fun of John and fights him. Laf (Alexander’s brother, who just wants Alexander to not hate him) joins and they make him leave. Laf and John are friends, John comes over and Alex draws with him. Next day, John tells Alexander that he lives alone (bc its not my writing if John’s dad isn’t a homophobic, abusive, asshole) and nobody else knows. Brief cut to TJeff creeping on Laf, then back to Lams. Alex kisses John. They go to a pet store with Laf (he has a car) and get two turtles (Alex got kicked out bc he got angry bc worker said little ones don’t live, John got that one and one that he liked) and Laf gets a kitten. John joins them for dinner, Alex has trouble eating a full meal. Next morning (Sat) he makes breakfast for him and John and they shop bc John’s taking him to an art gallery. Herc has an appointment at his family’s shop with TJeff and Laf joins for support. TJeff pays to see Laf modelling his suit (Laf had the final say), then to model dresses. Herc knocks him out bc a few creepy comments, Laf takes the blame, TJeff doesn’t do anything about it. John takes Alex to art gallery, introduces him to Mads (business partner) and lets him walk around. Alex harasses auctioneer bc jealous of Mads, then is basically put in time out with John. John saves a pigeon (Alex stans birds). They go to Herc’s place and get drunk, Mullette does the do and John hates the idea. The next morning, they go to the gym and John and Herc lift while Laf and Alex watch, then they get in a boxing ring (John boxed to help with anger issues years before and is undefeated) Alex wants a try and Herc jokes, telling him to picture Jefferson, so Alex punches John in the face and they go home. Alex shows John his secret rat named Pip and makes him lunch. Smaller turtle dies and they have a mini funeral. They go to Alex’s room and talk a bit about John’s hatred of sex (not elaborated on until later) and make out, they eat dinner and sleep. Laf and Herc are on a date (Herc made Laf a dress for it)(dinner and making out in the back of an empty movie before going to Herc’s place). At night, there’s a fox and John feeds it while Alex watches in awe. At school, Jefferson helps Alex answer a question he wasn’t listening to and acts nice, but weird. John has to not be there the next day bc his triplet’s siblings bday, so Alex worries. TJeff tricks Alex into signing up for school play, Laf takes his place. Next class, TJeff tells Laf he wants Alex, Laf roasts him, TJeff calls him a whore for wearing a skirt, Laf takes it to heart and cries in the bathroom. John finds him and makes him feel better, they go eat. Herc tries to make Laf feel better, Alex gets angry because Herc should fight for him, they argue, John and Laf shut them down, Herc takes it well, Alex runs off, John chases him. Alex makes him leave (a difficult task) so he won’t accidentally hurt his feelings. His journal is missing. John finds it. TJeff read it before and tells Alex about it, saying he should have sex and that John learned how to kiss from him. Alex asks John about it. Thaurens was a thing a year ago until TJeff tried to take things too far, his dad found out and kicked him out, John cries over it and unconsciously digs his nails in his arm, leaves. Alex goes with Herc and Laf to talk, accidentally reveals that something happened and tells more so they won’t talk to John about it (it doesn’t work). Alex sneaks to John’s apartment, afraid he’ll hate him for telling everything, and spends the night cuddling with him. Next morning, Laf’s cat kills Pip, he feels awful and tells him before school (John is gone). Alex throws a fit and his phone, goes inside and has a breakdown in class. Laf has his breakdown then, before class, and Hercules comforts him before they go to class. John shows up bc Maria (his side bff) told him about Alex’s breakdown and Alex goes home bc fever. John goes with him and Martha and George, they ask him about what happened and Alex asks for John. He goes and says he was visiting a tree planted in his mom’s honor, leaves to visit his siblings after a while. Laf goes to afterschool drama and TJeff wants to do BMC and be the SQUIP, Laf suggests a vote to get on his nerves, Heathers wins. They’re paired to practice lines before auditions and TJeff threatens his relationship with Herc. They perform Blue (Laf=Veronica, TJeff=Ram and Kurt). Laf goes home and tells his parents what happened w/ Pip when they ask, they let him go to his room. He talks to Herc and goes to the gym with him. He’s bummed bc TJeff and Herc cheers him up, then takes him to McD’s for ice cream. Herc tells Laf how he had sex before he was ready with a girl in Ireland bc past Thaurens made him think about it and Laf tells him about Veronica and JD (TJeff, obviously). Herc pushes his jealousy away and takes Laf home with him, stopping by TJeffs house and honking as loud as possible before driving off as fast as possible. TJeff looks like shit in the morning and John walks with Mullette, all enjoying his misery. Alex is home sick. Laf deals with him in class alone and TJeff complains about how they made his sister stay up all night and Laf almost feels bad. He asks about Alex and messages him himself. Alex gets emotional support and Laf’s old phone from Martha, lowkey thinks TJeff is mean bc he’s like him and asks him to not be mean to Laf. TJeff kind of does and stays flirting with Alex. He makes a deal to be nice to Laf, Herc, + John if he’s “nice” back to him or else he’ll mess with John, Alex agrees to keep him safe. TJeff makes him promise to go over, Alex panics and agrees, keeping it from everyone. He cuddles John more than before, more afraid than before. In drama, they perform Dead Girl Walking and Herc accidentally sees it, keeping his jealousy to himself. They have a talk with John about his mental health and he insists he’s fine, convincing them both. Alex freaks out and goes to his room to message TJeff, John tries to help him, but Alex screams him into an anxiety attack and he has to sit in Laf’s room with Herc and Laf’s cat (Rosie). Laf gets the secret out of Alex and takes his phone, messaging TJeff, who threatens him in return. Alex freaks out and tries to get his phone back to fix it, accidentally hitting Laf in the face. Herc pulls him off and they go back to Laf’s room once he calms down, making Alex explain to John. They assure him it’ll be okay and separate. Lams talks about John’s family and makes out, John show him a drawing of him that makes him cry, and they sleep, and Mullette goes to Herc’s house bc his mom came home from Ireland. She embarrasses him as her son and Laf thinks it’s adorable. TJeff schedules an appointment at Herc’s shop for the next afternoon, they tell John and agree to keep it from Alex. They go to school and TJeff gives Alex a chance to change his mind about breaking the promise, he doesn’t and TJeff assaults John, Laf hurts him before he can hit again and he gives up, going away. Alex panics and admits what TJeff did to a teacher. TJeff asks John to make Alex come back, forcefully, then seductively, admitting that he only did everything to win him back. John goes to the office with the others and they talk to the teachers. Laf and Alex go home, George is fuming bc Alex almost let it happen, Martha calms him down, Alex tells them everything at home. Herc and John go to lunch and John says he wants to try talking to TJeff bc he apparently liked him, so he thought he’d let him off easy. TJeff sits with them bc full cafeteria and Herc goes away when John says. He offers to leave him alone if he and John get together, but John refuses. Alex talks to A. Burr bc he’s in the political society and he wants to make an art program to surprise John. He and Laf watch musicals. John goes with Herc to his shop to support him while TJeff and John Jay (his pleasant friend) look for prom tuxes. Herc tries to distract him from John, but he ignores him and asks John to model for him, same price as he paid for Laf. John agreed and tried on a few things, then Herc and JJ made TJeff leave. Herc and John have a cool bro moment, then John leaves to babysit Maria’s daughter, Susan. Alex and Laf get slushies and go to the park, Lams trading cute selfies for a bit, and John asks Alex over. They go to the car and Rosie escapes to chase a squirrel. Alex chases her up a tree and gets her. Laf calls her and she jumps back down. Alex climbs down and the tree stabs him with a branch. They go home and Laf fixes his meg before taking him and letting him hang out with John. He and Susan get along, then she goes to bed. Lams talks about their families and cry about their dead moms, then make out until Maria comes for Susan, then they go to sleep. Alex finishes his food for the first time in the morning, distracted by the excitement of meeting w/ Aaron and John’s family later. John secretly follows TJeff’s orders, wearing skinny jeans and giving Alex the cold shoulder after class. They meet in the bathroom and TJeff says John can’t say he loves Alex and he has to draw him a portrait and he’ll leave them alone for the day. John claims he didn’t hear Alex and apologizes, then turns off his phone so he doesn’t have to deal w/ TJeff. Herc finds out and makes John promise to tell Alex. Alex and Aaron meet at lunch and bring in JJ, who flirts w/ Alex bc TJeff said so. John meets with TJeff in the bathroom again and tells him his phone’s “dead”, TJeff says that he can only call Laf bitch for the day. Last period, John gets his phone and texts Alex, apologizing for acting weird, then tells TJeff to meet him to get his drawing. Alex is relieved and TJeff gets angry bc John ignored him on purpose. Lams texts cute messages and TJeff comes in, making John meet him in the bathroom. John lies to Alex and Alex finds where he is on Snapchat, planning to find and surprise him with a kiss (something John had done to him multiple times). TJeff says he’ll leave them alone if John admits he loves him and kisses him, Alex walks in and gets angry, bodyslamming TJeff to the ground. TJeff gets up and kicks him hard in the face, forgetting that John was there and being terrified when he remembered. John shoved him against the wall and held him above ground, making him promise to apologize to everyone and leave them all alone. Herc and Laf get there and TJeff apologizes, then John breaks his nose (like he did when they broke up) and they leave. John takes Alex (still dizzy from the kick) to his house and goes to TJeff’s house to tell his parents what he did. Lucy (TJeff’s sis) tells John how he actually loves him and John gets over his anger, promising to see Lucy more often before going home. His siblings are there, making friends with Alex and they watch movies and eat. Mary (youngest, cutest sis) and Alex have a cute off and Alex gets upset when Mary wins, fighting an anger spell in John’s room. He joins and makes him feel better, then they get messages from Laf and Herc, talking about a partyat his place for his mom the next night. They go back downstairs and eat and play video games, then go to bed. In the morning, rev squad texts about party and make fun of each other, Alex makes Lams breakfast and John makes everyone else breakfast, then Alex goes with Burr and JJ to a cafe to talk about art program plan (holding a freshman dance to raise money) while Laurens 1-5 go to Herc’s shop and John and Laf try on dresses. JJ invites TJeff bc he’s popular and can help. Turns out, JJ drugged Alex to get rid of him (TJeff had nothing to do w/ it), and John was furious, getting Alex and taking him to his apartment to calm down. Alex is high as hell, Burr helps clear TJeff of suspicion. Alex eventually gets to sleep and wakes up sober, goes w/ John to Herc’s for party once he makes sure Laurens 2-5 are home safe. They play a drinking game and John gets wasted, Herc does, but gets sober in shock when his mom says she’s pregnant. They sleep. John is first awake and hungover, makes breakfast and is devastated that he can’t eat bc he shovels down food and his stomach said no. Alex helps him eat and eats his breakfast, they schedule a date for that day and John wears a dress bc why not. They go to the zoo, John feeds cute animals and Alex freaks out when he takes him to the bird house (basically a huge indoor jungle w/ birds everywhere). Theodosia is talking about birds to a crowd, a homophobe makes a scene and Lams are the only ones left when it’s broken up. Theo (reveals she’s an artist) lets Alex hold her bird and he’s frozen in awe, then the bird (Peep) flies into John’s hair, then into Theo’s hair and they thank her before leaving to a pizza place, eating before heading to John’s apartment. Theo accidentally messages Burr for a ride bc Alex told him about her and they talked a bit before, he takes her home and she thanks him w/ cupcakes and showing him her art, which is great. Her asshole bf (Mark) comes home and makes Burr leave. John tells Alex about a great art show during Spring Break in SC and Alex says they can make happy new memories, just like when he was a kid. Lams watches a movie and Alex gives John a massage, then tickles him and John slips it on him, then gets up and they make dinner together, then eat and sleep. Burr, Theo, and her friends (Martha and Francis) talk about the art thing, then about how awful Mark is when Theo leaves, Burr finds out that he’s blackmailing her into staying. He messages Theo on FB with the alias “Sammie B” and they talk about meeting for the art thing, then Martha tells Burr that Mark’s blackmailing Theo with nudes she sent while drunk. Burr promises that he won’t do anything bad and talks to TJeff (he got him in contact with Theo) about everything, keeping it vague, he promises not to say a thing either. Theo messages “Sammie” in the middle of the night, afraid of being alone at home and they’re just cute. in the morning, TJeff says he got a venue for the dance, only available next Friday. Burr tells Alex and they agree that a costume party is best. At school, TJeff finds Mary wandering and tells John, who dragged JJ to the bathroom and broke his nose, only leaving bc Mary, and John takes her home. In class, the three freshman ask Laf to get them a part in Heathers and he agrees to help after hearing a sample of their voices. Theo invites Burr to watch. In the library, the girls shut down TJeff’s flirting and they all agree to a Disney theme. Alex calls John, worried bc he hasn’t answered any texts and thinks he’s hiding something, so he ditches the rest of the day and goes over, learning that John’s father was at the house and hurt him badly. He’s angry, but doesn’t do anything bc John begged him not to. Tjeff, Laf, and Burr watch the girls practice Candy Store before their audition, both performances being amazing, and they get the part. Alex is angry bc what happened and tries to hide it by making dinner while John takes a cold bath, then can’t help it and leaves w/o saying anything, leaving his cellphone. John has a panic attack when he finds out that Alex left, not being able to handle being left alone when he said he just wanted and needed him to stay, and messages Laf to come help, accidentally messaging TJeff. He comes and calls Laf when he finds out that John called him on accident, both staying. TJeff knows just how to make John feel better since he helped him when they were dating, so he lowkey implies that he should leave Alex. They stay with him until Laf accidentally brings up Alex’s phone and John panics, so he leaves to find Alex to help him feel better. He runs into Herc and they both go looking for Alex. TJeff takes John to his house ,at his request, to hang out with his sister Lucy. Laf gives up and gets Rosie to spend the night with Herc, she smells Alex and they find out he got a bus and went to the Schuyler estate, writing a detailed description of what John’s father did to him and publishing it on Facebook. They pick him up and yell at him for what he did, then take him home. Herc stays with John, nobody wanting him to stay alone, and Laf takes Alex home, taking pity on him when he starts having a panic attack. In the morning, Alex confronts John and they talk, then argue. TJeff tries to act like the hero, but John isn’t having it and has him stay out while he and Alex argue, telling him that he only forgave TJeff bc he didn’t assault him, John freaked out the second he touched him and broke his nose and he only forgave him and freaked out bc he was previously repeatedly assaulted. They kee arguing until Alex says he can just date TJeff and runs off, John chases him and they make up, skipping school. Aaron got proof that Mark was abusive and got him arrested. Theo thanks him and they admit feelings for each other, so they’re together, but no labels bc Mark scared her about it. Alex and John go grocery shopping with Susan and are very cute and eat dinner together, then they take Susan home and the day ends. The next day, they go to school and John is taken to the local police station for questioning. He lies and says nothing happens that Alex just panicked and wrote that and is let free (his friends have mixed opinions, but John has a reason). Meanwhile, Theo and Burr go to Jefferson Hall (the dance venue) to get an idea of how they’ll decorate and it’s fancy AF, then they go to Mulligan’s and pick their costumes (Theo looks like a queen). They go to Burr’s and his grandma comes and embarrasses him until they leave to take Theo to drama, where they’re getting fitted and Laf and TJeff are having a stupid (friendly) argument over wine. TJeff makes a period joke and Francis almost kicks his ass, but Laf saves him and drags him onstage for DGW Reprise. After, the girls + Laf + Burr have a sleepover at Theo’s, talking about how Martha and Francis think Herc is cute and Theo and Burr make cupcakes and Herc sends Laf sexy (not explicit) pics to embarrass him (it works) and Laf finds out he might be nonbinary. In the morning, Francis (a trans girl) cries bc she has stubble, but Laf helps her shave. That day goes by fast. Laf almost kills Herc telling him he’s his datemate now, not bf. That night, TJeff goes to John’s apartment so he and Alex can work on the dance details. He brings Lucy (who’s kind of spoiled) and she makes friends with Susan. Late at night, Alex + TJeff are lowkey cuddling in their sleep and John takes pictures, using them to make them not fight. The next morning (V day) TJeff takes Lucy to school and takes John to Mulligan’s, paying for his costume for the dance. He takes him home and John gives Alex his present (photorealistic, colored drawings) Then they make out and more. Later, TJeff comes bc John left his wallet in his car and John says he doesn’t have feelings for him, Alex knows its a lie and offers to start Jamilams. They agree and set boundaries and TJeff takes John out to Lucy’s school, he teaches an art class, then they go to TJeffs place and watch a movie, TJeff telling him about why he was so awful and desparate to get John back. They go to pick up Lucy and TJeffs moms bf talks trash about John as they leave, getting Lucy, then taking John to the apartment w/ Alex. Burrdosia has a cute date and Theo gets used to dating a decent person. Everyone working on the dance goes and decorates the hall that weekend, John hanging out w/ Laf, Lucy, Susan, and Maria. Alex is a little jealous of Thomas, but not too much. Thomas and John go on a date the next day, going to a nice restaurant, then to a movie, where John gets drunk. TJeff takes him home, does not kiss him or touch him much bc hes drunk. TJeff brings Lucy home, then goes to John, who shows him his broken rib from his father and makes him swear not to tell. They go to sleep and go to school. Laf takes the girls to get costumes after school and practice, Alex and TJeff get theirs on Wednesday. John offers to get Alexander’s costume tailored bc its too big, but TJeff stops him and does it himself. The next day, John and Laf try on their dresses (queens) and John hangs out with Thomas. At the dance, it’s great and John cries when he finds out about the surprise. He leaves to fix hsi makeup and is taken away by James Reynolds, unable to fight bc JJ spiked his drinks when he wasn’t watching. He almost raped him, but Thomas found them and stopped it, then called the police. John goes to the hospital bc drugs, not wanting anyone but TJeff there, even in the morning, when they went to the gym. Alex eventually came over and hung out with them once John was okay w/ it. Alex gets an anger spell and leaves, jealous of TJeff and sure that John would pick him over him anyday. John tries to chase him and feels heartbroken, unsure of what he did wrong, but sure that he did wrong. TJeff helps him feel better. Alex knows he fucked up, Martha helps him feel better. John doesn’t want to talk to Alex and ignores him, fighting intrusive thoughts that tried to make him hate him and staying home sick the next day, making Thomas go to school. Alex goes home and tries to make it up. Laf seeks wisdom from the kind gay (John) and finds out they’re genderflux, from agender to boy. John calls Alex over and they talk their problems out and have a movie day, Alex wrote John a long ass love letter. They have a cute night and go to school the next day, all talking about their relationship again, then go on w/ life. They watch the school do Heathers on Friday and it’s great, Next day, TJeff’s moms bf hurts Lucy and he takes her away, agreeing with his mom that he should get sole custody of her and takes her away. They go to John’s apartment and Lucy goes w/ Maria during show and during night. John gives Thomas a back massage and they do the do. Next morning, Thomas moves into the apartment next to John’s w/ Lucy, then goes to his last show. They all (Jamilams + Lucy and Susan) go grocery shopping after and deal with a homophobe, then go home and the boys eat and hang out while Maria watches the girls. That Friday, they have a threesome, then go on the trip to SC. On Sunday, John visits his moms grave. The rest of the week, John goes to his art show and has a lot of success. Then they go back. Burr got top surgery over break and Theo was worried bc she didn't know.

[pjminyng]

Kissing Booth | Somewhat Pure!AU Jdronica

"Don’t really care if I win that giant stuffed animal but keep playing the carnival game you’re running just to see you AU"

Loosely based on the prompt. AKA Westerburg High holds its annual spring fair

High key doesn't remember if I ever posted this before but here it is again if I did.

THE LIBRARY (MASTER-LIST)

Veronica was never one for social events, but ever since she's become friends with the Heathers, she didn't have much of a choice. It's been 9 months since they had become friends. The heathers were still stone hard bitches, but they had slowly begun to rub off on her. Even Heather Duke. Ever since the whole 'accident' had happened at their school, things began to look up. Sure, Heather Chandler, who had died from being drugged at a Remington party is still dead; but after the queen bee had passed, everyone had become nicer; beautiful even.

Kurt and Ram came out as gay, Heather Duke got help for her bulimia and Heather McNamara got math tutoring. Veronica, she had taken Heather Chandler's place, leading the student body, but not in fear and jealousy like the mythic bitch had. Her friendship with Martha and Betty Finn had been mended, the cliques of nerds and jocks began to disappear. Surprisingly, the jocks were into the whole concept of Dungeons & Dragons. Of course, there were still the friend groups and people you would sit with at lunch, but it had become more diverse. Perhaps, Westerburg had become a nice place. Finally.

It was the beginning of May and Westerburg high was holding their annual spring fair. And just like the last 4 years, the Heathers, partnered with the cheerleading team, had set up a kissing booth. And McNamara had somehow convinced Veronica to join. Veronica was never a fan of booths like these, enjoying the rigged games and shitty food booths a lot more. But it is what it is, they were raising money to send the cheerleading team to competitions in June; $5 for a kiss on the cheek and $10 for one on the lips, with the additional $2 for every 10-second increment. Veronica made a mental note to hold this against McNamara when the time comes.

"Veronica, are you even listening to me?" Duke raised an eyebrow at her friend. They had never got along, always at each other's throats, but they'd live.

Veronica couldn't help but roll her eyes. "What are you babbling about now?" She asked, waiting for the fair to end already.

Duke scoffed. "I was just saying to Heather, that we should all draw straws to see who has to kiss the nerds who visit us,"

Heather McNamara nodded excitedly, liking the idea of the game.

Veronica sighed. "Heather, I have nothing against the so called nerds at this school, they're nice."

"Well you don't have anything for them either," Duke huffed. "Either way I'm not kissing a nerd."

Dear Diary, Heather Duke is still a pretentious bitch

Veronica sighed. "Fine Heather we'll play your stupid game," she shook her head and took a straw from McNamara's hands.

Duke grabbed one as well and the three of them compared their straws. Of course, Veronica's was the shortest.

"Nerd kisser," Duke teased, giggling.

"Shut up Heather," McNamara frowned. "Veronica was nice enough to play your game, so you don't have to be a mega bitch about it," she defended her friend.

Veronica smiled and nudged McNamara, silent thanks as Duke rolled her eyes again, realizing her bitchy attitude. But also realizing the power that Veronica had to ruin her.

"Sorry Heather," Duke apologized grudgingly. "Sorry, Veronica."

Veronica smiled and nodded, turning her attention away from her friends who reapplied their lipgloss. She looked at the money jar, the glass surprisingly filled to the brim and threatening to spill over.

Dear Diary, I guess being kissed by a cheerleader or one of the most popular girls in school is still important

The fair was slowly dying and Veronica leaned against the table, fiddling with Heather Chandler's scrunchy. She always kept it on her, something to remember her friend by. Regardless of how big of a bitch Heather Chandler was to everyone in the school, Veronica saw her more human sides at times. She sighed, remembering when they had first become friends. What a shit show.

"Greetings and Salutations," Veronica heard the familiar deep voice, their breath tickling her neck.

She couldn't help but crack a smile, turning around to face the person to which the voice belonged to.

"Brought you a slushy," They cracked a crooked smile, holding out the styrofoam cup for Veronica.

Veronica smiled and took the cup, taking a sip of the sweet drink. The familiarity of cherry flavored ice dancing on her tongue.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Veronica grimaced, holding her head in pain. Brain freeze.

He chuckled and took one of her hands, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand. McNamara smiled at the two, giggling at the sight as Duke rolled her eyes and ignored the two.

"Young love," The Heathers said in unison, contrasting tones from the different girls.

Veronica quickly recovered and put the cup down, smiling at her boyfriend. "What are you doing here?"

"Thought I'd pay you a visit," He shrugged. "I was bored. It was either come to a stupid Carnival and see my favorite girl or blow up the school," He teased.

Her eyes widened and smacked his chest lightly. "You're not funny," she shook her head, a small smile on her lips.

When Jason Dean had first moved to Sherwood Ohio, he was damaged. Badly damaged. After moving around to 10 different high schools, dealing with a shit head of a father, and watching his mother explode into millions of pieces; one could say his mind and life was pretty fucked up. However, Veronica Sawyer changed that, she taught him to see the good in things, that life isn't just war, that people could be beautiful.

That was until Heather Chandler forced her to dump him in October, in front of the whole student body. It infuriated JD, the laughs of the students echoing in his ears and he vowed to blow up the school. Before anything got out of hand, the radio had announced the death of Heather Chandler. The same night, Veronica had crawled through JD's window, apologizing for everything. Still hurt, JD didn't want to forgive her but knew that Veronica was in no state for more grief. After all, her best friend and worst enemy had died.

As the school year went by, they had gotten back together. Of course, Veronica found the homemade bombs in his room, which she made him throw away. Slowly after that, JD began to improve, his murderous tendencies and thoughts disappeared. Instead, they were replaced with school and Veronica, the one thing in his life that made him happy. Besides slushies. If he went into the past and told himself that he'd be dating and going to prom with the most popular girl at Westerburg High and not have killed her friends, he would've laughed in his own face and blown up a few toasters to piss his father off.

But here they were, rubbing noses and ready for graduation more than ever. "How about we go get some chili fries after this, what do you say?" JD smiled.

"I'd like that," Veronica giggled. God, she hated herself, he made her feel like a little school girl, kicking a field on butterflies in her stomach.

JD smiled and leaned in to kiss his girlfriend before Heather Duke slipped a piece of paper between the two.

"$10 for a kiss," Duke pushed the jar towards the two.

"Really Heather?" Veronica raised an eyebrow at her friend who shrugged.

"Nah don't worry about it, consider it going to a good cause," JD smiled and threw a twenty into the jar.

McNamara squealed happily and grabbed the jar, hugging the money tightly. Duke shrugged and looked away, not wanting to witness the PDA.

"You didn't have to do that," Veronica smiled softly.

"Yeah I did, besides, I'd give anything up to be with you," JD smiled cheekily. "Including the plans for a mass school bombing,"

Veronica rolled her eyes and kissed him gently, smiling against his lips. "You're a fucking psycho, did you know that?" She teased, mumbling against his lips.

"Well the extreme always seems to make an impression,"

[sprnklersplashes]

not beyond repair (18/20)

AO3

“So my mom made a proposal,” Veronica announces. She’s leaning against JD’s chest, the two of them half-lying on the grass outside their school and their hands joined and his arm around her shoulders. His cheek rubs against her hair gently, and her thumb strokes the back of his hand. The weather is as close to perfect as Sherwood, Ohio ever gets; the sky is as blue as the blazer she’s sitting on and the grass is so perfect it looks like it’s out of a cartoon. There’s a warm buzz in the air that’s practically tangible, weaving its way into Westerberg High life and turning what were sad-eyed, sullen and slow walking teenagers into bouncing, giggling little messes. The sweetness of summer and freedom is so close they can almost touch it, and for the seniors, that means graduation is closer than ever, something they wouldn’t be able to forget even without the constant announcements of caps and gowns, extra credits and practice ceremonies.

Veronica’s still not sure how she feels about it.

“What?” Martha asks, Heather’s head in her lap and her fingers running through the other girl’s hair.

“It’s this graduation party at my house,” she explains. “My parents had it planned for months and it was just going to be my family.” Martha nods, having already known about it. It would go without saying that family includes her. “But my mom asked last night if you guys wanted to come.” She nudges JD gently in the ribs and nods over at Macnamara, pulling some blades of grass out of the ground. “And your parents can come too if they want. What do you say?”

“I say ‘hell yeah’!” Heather squeaks apparently rejuvenated after being half asleep for most of their lunch hour. “I mean, I don’t know for sure if my parents can come, but I’m definitely going.” Martha kisses her finger and taps Heather’s nose with it, making her scrunch up her face in a way that makes Veronica want to reach over and squish her cheeks. It’s getting harder and harder to make the connection between Heather Macnamara-head-cheerleader-whose-dad-is-loaded-and-who-would-ace-blackmail-if-it-were-a-class and Heather Macnamara-her-best-friend’s-girlfriend-who-doodles-flowers-in-notebooks-and-helps-colour-code-her-flashcards. Back in the day, Heather was definitely the one of the group she got along the most with and was the closest to what she would call a real friend, but even then it felt like there was a sheet of plastic between the two of them and stopping any real bonding. But now, Veronica’s squeezing her hand and shooting little finger guns at her like they’ve been doing it all their lives.

“J?” she asks, pulling his hand into his lap to play with his fingers. “Are you in?”

“Of course I’m in,” he replies, kissing the top of her head and hugging her tighter. The corners of her mouth turn up as he nuzzles into her. “I wouldn’t miss it.” She hums contentedly and continues idly playing with his hand. “So your entire family?”

“More or less,” she sighs. “Perks of being an only child, your parents decide to put all the effort into you.” She squeezes his hand and leans back into his embrace. “That’s why I need you guys there. So I don’t go insane with my extended family.”

“And there I was thinking you actually liked our company,” JD jokes.

“Eh, you’re okay,” she answers teasingly before tilting her head back and planting a kiss on his jaw. She checks the time with a pained groan, bumping her head against JD’s chest before wriggling out of his hold, which isn’t easy considering how he’s tangled himself around her. “Come on. I still have to go to my locker.”

“Me too,” Martha agrees, gently shaking Heather awake. The other girl pouts as she follows Martha to her feet, even if it lessens a little when Martha presses a whispered kiss to her cheek. She rests her cheek on her shoulder as they walk back into school, their bodies pressed close together and their hands clasped. If anyone notices, they think nothing of it.

Inside, kids are sitting on window ledges or cross legged against the walls, jackets off and the freshman girls with their sleeves rolled up to compare tans. It’s Ohio, after all, the first spot of sunshine does insane things to one’s mind. Especially since the weatherman and the growing clouds promise it won’t last.

“Oh, nice,” Veronica sighs, coming to her locker. Someone from prom committee stuck a flyer on it, reminding them of the upcoming event. At least it’s a poster and not an insult, she tells herself as she opens her locker and starts exchanging books.

“Well that’s one way to show school spirit,” JD remarks, taking the flyer off the door and examining it. “If a little tacky.”

“You think prom is tacky?” Veronica asks, ducking her head so he won’t see her face fall.

“Not prom,” he replies. “The amount of glitter on this poster.” She brightens at that, her calm restoring as she closes the locker and takes his hand to pull his arm around her. “I guess the freshman art club lent a hand.”

“Oh, that reminds me, Martha what colour’s your dress going to be?” Heather asks, swinging their hands together. “Because I don’t want us to clash, but I’ve already got my eye on a few.”

“Oh… I don’t know,” Martha replies, scratching behind her ear. “I guess I haven’t looked at any yet. But you should wear what you want.”

“But since you’re my date, I don’t want to wear the same colour as you,” she sighs, her chin leaning on her fist and her mouth screwed the way it normally is when she’s thinking hard.

“Well, why don’t you show me what you’re choosing from when I’m at your house on Friday,” she suggests, rolling her eyes just enough for Veronica alone to notice. “That way I cane make sure I don’t clash with you.”

“Okay!” she beams, her worries flying out of her head. She shares a gentle smile with Martha and their hands brush against each other’s.

“I’ll see you guys later,” Martha says, turning to JD and Veronica as they come to the bottom of the stairs.

“See you later kids,” Veronica replies.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” JD adds, earning him another poke in the chest from Veronica. It can’t have been more than slight pressure, but he lets out a squeak and rubs his ribcage with a pout.

“I should fear for my safety around you and your elbows,” he remarks, twirling her under his arm as they start in the direction of their class. He swings their joined hands slowly, a slight frown on his face. “So… about the prom… do I need to know what colour your dress is? Or am I not allowed to know anything about it until the big night?”

“I think you’re confusing it with a wedding, J,” she says. “I guess not. Why would you need to know?”

“Well if you’re my date, don’t I need to buy you a matching corsage?”

“You don’t have to.”

“Okay, let me try this,” he begins. “Since you are my wonderful girlfriend, who I love and to whom I want to give the most amazing prom experience she could ever wish for, shouldn’t I need to buy you a corsage?”

“You’re sweet,” she giggles. Sweet is an understatement really. “You don’t need to.” She looks up just in time to see his smile faltering, so slight and changed so suddenly anyone who didn’t know him like she did would think they imagined it. So she squeezes his hand, losing this battle with no qualms. “But if you want to… I might go with something blue.” She tugs on her blazer. “My lucky colour, I guess.”

“You always look beautiful in blue,” he tells her warmly. She leans her pink cheek against his shoulder, slightly conscious of the eyes of passers-by, even though Fleming isn’t around and hardly anyone from their grade is either.

“I didn’t think you were into prom,” she remarks.

“You didn’t?”

“Just, you never mentioned it,” she replies, slightly regretting it now, even if his amused grin should put her at ease. “We never talked about it.”

“I just…” He trails off and after a moment’s hesitation, pulls her over to the window ledge, sitting up with one leg curled underneath him. He takes her hand as she sits beside him, running his thumb over her knuckles and his face creased in gentle confusion. “I just assumed we were going together.”

“Yeah,” she says, shaking her head. “It’s stupid.”

“Ronnie-”

“Well, I just don’t really know how all this works,” she says. “Even now. You’re my first boyfriend and this is my first time going to a dance with a boyfriend.” She shrugs, toying with the chain of her necklace. “My only reference is romance movies and I don’t think they’re entirely realistic.”

“Aw.” He tickles her cheek and under her chin, making squirm and swipe her hands at him.

“Don’t aww me,” she tells him, shaking her head fondly.

“So… were you expecting me to ask you to prom?” he asks with a grin.

“A bit redundant now.”

“Not the question.” She rolls her eyes, looking over at him. Her JD, his hair pushed back, his eyes sparkling as he waits for her to answer. He almost looks excited, her dork of a boyfriend asking permission to ask her to prom.

It’s moments like this that remind her what being in love is.

“Yes, then.” Although she begins to regret her decision, when he gets up, swirling around in a grand fashion and making the sophomore girls across the hall from them look up from the homework they’re working on last minute.

“J-”

“Sh,” he commands, holding his hand up. She leans back against the window, laughter breaking through her falsely unamused exterior. JD clears his throats and takes in a deep breath, beginning with a straight back and a facial expression to rival Mr Darcy. “Miss Veronica Sawyer. Since the day I laid eyes on you in seventh grade, I knew you were the one for me. You captivated me with your mismatched scarf and your jean jacket, and I knew I wanted to stare into your… into the endless pools of your eyes forever.” She buries her face in her hands, her face red from embarrassment and from holding back her laughter. “And now that we have found each other again, I must ask you a most serious question.”

“Okay what are you and Claire watching?” she asks him between laughs, shaking her head fondly.

When he gets down on one knee, she loses control entirely, barely managing to prop herself up on her elbow all while looking at his completely too serious expression.

“Veronica Sawyer, will you be my date to the prom?” he asks with shining eyes, struggling to keep himself composed as well.

“Oh my God.” She buries her face in her hand, trying to catch her breath and pull herself upright. Every time she’s close to it, she falls again as her cackle continues to echo down the hall. There’s an ache in her chest and God does she love it. “You’re such a dick.”

“I might be a dick, but I’m a dick who is on my knee here,” he reminds her. “And this position is not comfortable, so…”

“Yes,” she interrupts, taking his hand and pulling him up. “Yes, I will go to prom with you.” He pulls her up against him, rubbing their noses together. Her toes tingle as she curls her fingers into his jacket, giggling against him. “You’re such a loser.”

“Oh really?” he asks, raising an eyebrow. She presses her finger lightly against the dimple in his cheek.

“Yep,” she replies, running her fingers through his hair. “Big, dumb, sappy romantic loser.” She presses a short and sweet kiss to his lips. Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t stop smiling, nor could she chase away that giddy warmth in her chest. “That I am very lucky to have.”

                                                                                               *****

Veronica has thought about her dream prom dress more times than she would care to admit. Less now, of course, but in her preteen and early high school days, most of her daydreams involved finding her perfect dress, having her hair done and coming down the stairs looking like a princess, preferably with a wide-eyed boy at the bottom of the stairs. That fantasy was discarded as she grew older and wiser and her classmates became beasts that even she couldn’t ignore. But for a year or two, the idea of her perfect prom had kept her young imagination entertained and active for hours.

So when she walks into the dress store for the first time, she doesn’t mind the flurry of excitement in her chest. She almost feels like her twelve year old self is beside her, holding her hand and jumping up and down as they enter. With its spotless white carpet, sky-blue walls and the silver lights twisted into intricate and enchanting patterns, her own little hometown seems a world away.  

“So Heather said she’s either going to wear yellow or white,” Martha says, running her hand along the rack of dresses, pulling at the ones that catch her eye. “So I can’t wear anything that clashes with that.”

“I’ll place bets on her wearing yellow.” Veronica pulls one off the rack, pale pink and thin straps, the top covered in tiny flowers. Holding it up, the lights shine through the net skirt and the flower petals impossibly soft between her fingers.

“That’s pretty.”

“Yeah, it is. Go try it on.” She takes it off the rack and presses it into her best friend’s arms, chuckling somewhat proudly at the confused expression on her face.

“You’re not getting it?” she asks.

“Nope,” she replies, shaking her head. “Pink doesn’t really work for me. Works for you though.” She winks, pulling her into the changing rooms and falls back into one of the white wicker chairs, her long legs dangling over the edge. “Now go. Be pretty.”

She does look pretty in that dress, even as she crosses her arms over her chest and pulls herself inwards, her eyes wide and anxious and silently pleading as she looks over at Veronica.

There’s a strange mixture of anger and compassion in Veronica’s heart. She thought that at this point, maybe she’d gotten over it, but she still finds herself clenching her fist when she’s reminded of how Martha views herself, and who exactly is responsible for it.

And then there’s guilt. A little punch of guilt that comes in, right in the middle of everything. The price of popularity, however temporary, she thinks.

“You look amazing,” she tells her, standing up and taking her hands. Sincerity creeps into Martha’s smile and hope into her eyes as Veronica admires her on her own before twirling her around to face her reflection in the full length mirror. The Veronica in the mirror rests her chin on her Martha’s shoulder, her arms coming around her waist and squeezing tightly. “So…”

“I…” Martha toys with the straps, shifting nervously on her feet. “I don’t know.” She runs her hand down the skirt with a shrug and squeezes her waist. “I mean, it’s pretty. I just don’t know if it’s for me.”

“Okay.” She takes hold of Martha’s hand. She looks stunning in it, but she doesn’t want to press. If it’s not for her, it’s not for her, she reasons. “There’s still a shot load of dresses out there to choose from.”

“For you too,” Martha reminds her with a poke in the chest. “You’re not getting out of this.”

“Wouldn’t ever dream of it,” she replies, giggling, the twelve year old taking over with almost no resistance from her. She follows Martha out of the changing room with bouncy little steps and a light tingle in her chest. Her cheeks start to hurt as she tries to school her features and give a calm front in front of the other patrons, but by the time Martha starts lifting dresses and raising her eyebrows suggestively at her, they can think she’s mad for all she cares. Together, they twirl around and get lost in the world of glittering skirts and spaghetti straps, playing at being princesses in the mirror and matching dresses to shoes to bags. If she closed her eyes, Veronica might be able to think she was back in her bedroom, adjusting a tiara on Martha’s head and tripping over a too-long skirt.

“Hey, this would look really good on you,” Martha suggests, lifting a dark blue one off the rack and holding it up against her, tilting Veronica’s chin up to get a better look of it. “Are you going to wear that necklace to prom?”

“What, this one?” she asks, touching the ever-present butterfly at the case of her throat. “I… don’t know. Maybe. I never really thought about it. Sometimes I sort of forget I even have it on.”

“You should,” Martha tells her. “It’s pretty. And it would look really pretty with this dress.”

“You know, I sort of feel like you’re pushing me in the direction of this dress,” she remarks, taking it off her. It is lovely, a shade or two darker than her necklace and silver sequins clustered around the waist. She finds that the more she looks at it, the more she likes it, with minute details calling out to her, one being the impossibly soft material of the skirt beneath her fingers and the pattern weaved by the little diamonds along the single strap.

In fact, she’s so busy being captivated by it that she doesn’t even register the bell ringing as the door opens, nor does she pick up on the new customers until she catches a flash of a red blazer approaching her.

Yet strangely, she doesn’t crumple in on herself the way she used to, nor is she overcome by a desire to impress. She definitely doesn’t look at them with a wistful awe like she did in her pre-Heathers days. Instead, she merely smiles in Heather’s direction, even as Martha stiffens a little beside her.

“Are you… getting that?” Chandler asks. It’s only when Veronica looks up she sees Duke behind her, holding plastic-covered dress close to her chest, her lips rolled into a thin line and her eyes trained on the floor. She’s seen Duke looking like that before, in the privacy of a bathroom cubicle, where she thinks Veronica can’t see her.

“Yeah… probably,” she answers, looking down at it again. She reaches out and taps the back of Martha’s hand gently, brushing her fingers against hers.

“Well…” Here we go. “You should. It’s pretty.”

Wait, what?

When she looks up again, she doesn’t find the poison-laced smile and raised eyebrows she’s come to associate with compliments from Heather Chandler. Instead, she offers an offhand shrug, her face halfway to a smile. A real one too, even if it look false on her face.

“Thanks,” Veronica says. Heather nods, drumming her fingertips on her arms. Behind her, Duke takes a deep breath, her face softer than Veronica’s ever seen it, before tugging on Chandler’s elbow.

“Mac isn’t with you?” Duke asks just as they’re turning to leave. It comes out so quickly and haphazardly that it all sounds like one word and Veronica takes a moment to sort through and separate it into something coherent. Even Chandler seems surprised at what she said.

“She didn’t want to see what I was wearing,” Martha answers. “She wants to be surprised.”

“Oh,” is all she says, nodding quickly and holding her own dress tighter.

Thankfully, they take the tight, tense air with them as they leave, their heels hitting the floor in a confident rhythm that doesn’t match their fidgeting fingers and unsure faces.

“Are you okay?” Veronica asks, noticing Martha’s eyes following the two of them out the door.

“Yeah,” she says, turning back to the rack with an unfamiliar determination and picking one off, one she had hastily dismissed mere minutes earlier with a wistful look down at herself. Now she holds it up in front of her, taking in a long, deep breath, her jaw set. “I’m going to try this one on.”

“Really?” she asks, breaking into a smile. Martha nods, a spark in her eye that Veronica hadn’t realised she had missed until now. “Good.”

She’s just pulled the single strap of the dress over her shoulder when Martha knocks on the door, quick and apprehensive and tinged with impatience. Despite the door between them, she can almost see her beaming smile and wringing hands, see her biting her lip like she’s trying to hold herself together.

“Come on. I don’t want to look in the mirror without you.”

“Okay, I’m coming,” she laughs, shaking her head a little and running her hand down the skirt. From her perspective, it’s pretty perfect, but she’s looking from the neck down. She tucks the label in, pulls it down one last time and steps out, met with a sight that makes her catch her breath.

“Woah,” they say at the same time. If it was the Heathers’ arrival that made Martha pick that dress, then thank God for them, because it’s amazing. Pink and purple flowers are weaved onto the white fabric, her hair falling over her bare shoulders, a deep purple ribbon around her waist and a full, flowing skirt. It’s uniquely Martha, she thinks, like God hand-picked that dress for her.

“You look amazing,” Veronica breathes, gently taking her arm and moving it away so she can look at it properly. Martha looks down, half hiding her smile.

“You should see yourself,” She responds, taking Veronica’s hand and turning her around to face the full-length mirror.

The girl in her reflection looks everything and nothing like her. Same long limbs and pale skin, big brown eyes and dark hair she can never truly get under control. Everything is the same as when she left the house that morning, except for the fact that she’s in the most lovely thing she’s ever worn and might ever wear in her life. Everything she loved about it on the hanger comes alive on her, the diamonds on the top winking at her every time she moves, the ruffles on the skirt move like ripples on a lake and when she turns it spins around her, floating on the air and pulsing like butterfly wings.

She lets herself be arrogant for a moment and appreciate the colour against her skin, how the skirt hugs her waist before flowing outwards. She lets herself think ‘damn’ and turn around a little to look at the back, lets herself be in love with the way it shimmers under the overhead lights. She lets herself smile and gasp and be excited for herself. She lets herself believe she looks beautiful, and she won’t feel bad for it.

“Told you,” Martha says, brushing her hair off her shoulder. “You think this is it?” Veronica takes her hand and wraps her other arm around Martha’s shoulder, smiling back at their reflections.

“Yeah, I think it is.” She squeezes her best friend’s shoulders tightly, rocking them a little. “As long as you’re getting that one too.”

“I think I am,” she says, pulling at the skirt again, half-gasping and half-laughing. Martha’s never been one to hide her feelings, but she probably couldn’t now even if she wanted to. Neither could Veronica. They exit the store with broad grins and borderline infectious giggles, their dresses neatly folded in white paper bags, throwing suggestions for shoes and accessories like they’re frivolous pieces of paper as they bounce along the streets.

The twinge of sadness kindly doesn’t make itself known until she returns home. But when it does, she feels it.

Dear diary, Veronica writes that night, retreating to the best source of comfort she knows. She looks over at her wardrobe, where her prom dress sits in wait, a plastic sheet protecting it from any dirt or dust that might dare to spoil it. She clicks her pen in and out again. I’ve spent my entire life waiting for the day I leave. I started researching colleges when I was fifteen. I knew where I wanted to go when I was sixteen. I threw all that work into getting out when I was seventeen. And now I’m eighteen and all I want to do now is stay.

She turns her head, not sure why until she catches sight of two of the photos on her nightstand. One of her and Martha eating ice cream cones on the beach in the era of braces and bad hair, one of her and JD, her sitting behind him and kissing his head while he laughs at something. She turns the photos over in her hands, both memories just about clear in her head, and takes a deep breath.

I changed this year, she writes. More than I thought I could. Everyone did. The Heathers leave us alone for one. Martha has a girlfriend now and I’m in love with JD, and I’m happy. I never wasn’t, but it’s a new kind of happy. I guess I didn’t realise it existed until I had it. She chews on the edge of her pen, breathing through the heavy weight sitting in her chest. She doesn’t feel like crying, not exactly, but when she looks up on her calendar and sees the days marked until graduation, there’s a flash of panic inside her, followed by a little melancholic kick. She looks out at the town she grew up in, one that for better or worse has marked her soul. A car ride away is the girl who’s held her hand since before she could walk and the boy who now holds her heart. And while she doesn’t regret applying to college, she starts to wish that it wasn’t so soon. And I don’t want it all to end yet.