September first, 1998

2

Veronica hadn't realised how much she depended on her daughter for company until she once again found herself waiting for the school day to finish so she could see her. After everything that had happened in high school, the thought of making new friends terrified her, as she thought she was so destructive that she would would hurt anyone who came near her. She had killed heather Chandler, driven Heather Mac and Martha to attempted suicide, killed Ram and Kurt, and had watched JD, the only person who seemed to truly care about her despite his psychotic behaviour, blow himself up. She felt like a danger to society, so had done her best to cut herself off from it altogether.

Her anxiety became to much, so she decided to jump in the car and drive up to the school an hour before pick up, just so she knew she was closer to her daughter. Her pulse raced as she drove past the 7/11 - in all the years that had passed she never allowed herself to go back in there, and even struggled look at the building itself as too many ominous memories flooded her vision. She cursed the fact that it was on her rout to the school, as if JD himself had planned it so he could haunt her everyday.

It sounded stupid, but she felt annoyed that she could still se Ram, Kurt and Heather, yet had not once seen JD. She had always been too scared to see a shrink, fearing that she would unravel and accidentally expose the crimes she had committed, and in truth she almost enjoyed their ghosts, or whatever they were, popping up everyday. It gave her a strange sense of belonging and company. Mind you, they couldn't really be called friends, since she had killed them after all.

Veronica sighed as she pulled up to the school parking lot, and gazed hopelessly in the distance. She felt ashamed that it had come to this, that she didn't have anything better to do with her day but wait for her daughter to finish her classes.

"Really Veronica," a familiar voice echoed behind her, her sarcastic tone unmistakable. In life, heather Chandler's voice was clean and sharp, able to pierce through the school cafeteria enough to be noticed by everyone, yet it still held an essence of grace and composure so she could be heard and respected. In death, while she did still have a mocking, confident tone, her voice was blurrier, as though she was speaking underwater, but she didn't seem to care as she knew it was only Veronica who could hear her, and she still held the power.

"I know you like your kid, but WHY do you always drag us out here, don't you have any friends?" She giggled obnoxiously as Veronica rolled her eyes.

"Shut up heather" was all she could muster.

"Like it or not, you're all I've got to talk to, well, apart from those dweebs" she said, pointing to Ram and Kurt who had materialised in their ghostly forms  in the back of the car.

"I mean, seriously Veronica, couldn't you have taken down someone more interesting back in your Bonnie and Clyde days? How is Clyde, anyway?"

Heather was sat in the passenger seat next to Veronica, smirking maliciously at her. Veronica's blood began to boil, so she just tried to focus on the bland, dirt encrusted school wall in front of her.

"I see he still hasn't come to see you after all this time, at least we have the curtesy to visit" she chuckled.

"Shut up..." Veronica said again, although this time less confident than before. As her voice cracked, Heather giggled obnoxiously.

"Maybe he's forgotten you. I mean it's no big deal, it's not like you have a kid together or anything"

"SHUT UP HEATHER". At this point, Veronica just sobbed. If heather was alive, she would have taken her right then and there, dragging her by her extensions in the midst of what would have been a vicious fight. But there was nothing she could do, so she just sat there crying, feeling pathetic.

"I wonder if she'll turn out like her father, I mean, she's got Dean blood in her after all, and we all know what their like"

It was true, Veronica had feared this ever since she had found out she was pregnant back when she was seventeen. She remembered how she had passed off her morning sickness for grief and stress, considering she had watched her boyfriend blow himself up, leaving her alone to carry the burden of the truth of their crimes. She remembered taking the test a few months in, as she hadn't really been showing and hadn't been concentrating on her cycle after everything that had happened. She remembered how she struggled to keep quiet and suppress her screams in the bathroom as the test showed positive. She remembered crying over the thought that a child was to be be brought into the world under such horrific circumstances. It's mother was a teenager who had killed people, and it's father had blown himself up. Nothing about it seemed right. She remembered the fear that her child would become just as toxic as its parents.

But then she remembered the vow she made to raise her child in love. The vow she made to protect her son or daughter from the violence in the world, and to teach them to be beautiful on the inside. She thought of what a beautiful person Jenna had turned into, radiating kindness and compassion, and her breathing began to calm down. Yes, Veronica had failed many people in her life, but she had not failed Jenna.

As she began to stop panicking, the ghosts of her murdered classmates began to dissolve, and the glorious sound of the school bell echoed through the air, finally allowing Veronica to reunite with her daughter.