Stories In Progress (Fan-fiction First Chapters)

Veronica Mars: Ghost Writer

Chapter One: Neptune the God of the Sea

One would be mistaken to think that Neptune High located in the town of Neptune in sunny California good old USA was like any other American high school, well they would be wrong. Neptune High has several things that set it apart from other ordinary schools the first was the student population was primary divided between the haves and the have-nots that were commonly referred to as 09's and 02's.

The second was that the wealthiest family in the town the Kane's had suffered the murder of their teenage daughter Lily who was the 'Queen bee' of the ruling clique. This had led to several other consequences for the school but the one most important for now was the out-casting and subsequent attack on the murdered girl's best friend one Veronica Mars. Veronica had been Lily's best friend since childhood and she had dated Lily's brother Duncan for almost two years.

Young Veronica's life had changed tragically all in the span of a few months the previous year. Her boyfriend dumped her without a word or explanation, her best friend was brutally murdered, her father lost his job as Sheriff when he focused on Lily's rich father as the prime suspect, and then the whole school turned against her on the say so of her once friend and movie star's son Logan Echolls who was Lily's off-again on-again boyfriend. Her home life was just as bad as school with her parents constantly arguing, her father losing his job, and her mother drinking and hiding it.

The cherry on the cake came when just before Christmas last year Veronica in an act of defiance against her so-called friends gate-crashed a popular party and was subsequently roofied and raped. Because Veronica was unable to testify as who did it and with all the money being with the kids on the other side, the investigation went nowhere. The new Sheriff didn't even try as he was too busy receiving commendations when a man came forward and confessed to Lily's murder. Veronica received no justice which left her family in turmoil and her father an ex-law enforcement officer didn't know what to do.

Eleven months to the day after Lily's murder saw the students of Neptune High return from their summer vacation. Once more the car park and entryway were filled with the have and the have-nots mingling in one of the few places they were forced to. The quad that served as the entryway to the main school doorway was busy on the first day back after almost two months with no student presence other than those lucky few who needed the dreaded 'summer school'. The grey and white stone building now had splashes of colour as different cars and people littered its front facade. The concrete walkway was covered in new and old students treating it as they thought it deserved as already on the first day there was a graffiti tag and rubbish tossed about.

As Veronica gazed at the returning students she held in a sigh, another school year another frustrating encounter. She would give almost anything to be one of the returning masses; even if she had lost every privilege of being a popular kid just to be one of the ordinary kids would be heaven right now. As she leaned against the main entrance door with her self-cut short blonde hair and stylish white strapless party dress Veronica watched as kids she knew and didn't made their way inside.

She was about to follow the crowd in to what would be her Junior year classes when she realised a crowd had started to form in the carpark at little ways away from where she stood waiting. Seeing something new after the monotony of the last few months lead Veronica to leave her post by the door and wander out. Knowing her restriction allowed her access to most of the carpark Veronica moved around the gathered crowd that were mainly 09's so she could see what was causing the commotion.

Once she had cleared the first several people Veronica knew the entertainment was focused on the flagpole that graced the quads main entrance. From memory Veronica had a vague recollection of the motorcycle gang known as the PCH using this area as a display piece when they wanted to humiliate someone who had pissed them off enough but not enough for a beat-down. Low-and-behold once she got a good look at the flagpole Veronica saw a naked young man duck taped there.

The teenage boy appeared to be around the same age as Veronica and his dark skin and hair meant he was probably African-American. Odds are being up on that flagpole meant he was not an 09ner as they tended to just buy their way out of trouble with the PCH gang. The scrawl across his chest made his supposed crime easy to guess as the word 'snitch' was very prominent. It was one of the more common crimes that the PCH retaliated against especially when it came to people from their own neighbourhood.

Sighing in resignation and knowing there was nothing she could do; Veronica gazed at him in sympathy. If she had her way she would go over there and get him down and stop the idiots taking pictures and videos as they laughed. Veronica had had all the humiliation she could stand last year after Lily died and her so-called friends turned on her. Those months up to Christmas were especially hard as days of taunts and ridicule had taken their toll on the once naive girl. Veronica had seen first-hand how cruel the kids at Neptune could be even kids she had never interacted with had caused her trouble last year.

After one more look at the idiot masses Veronica swore to herself that she would stay outside in solidarity with what she thought was a new kid. Veronica made her way closer to the stone base as the first bell signalled classes would start soon which led to several onlookers going in the main doors. Now with a clear shot to the wall and student Veronica dodged those too lazy to leave as she came up to the stone ledge and started to climb up. Just before she reached the wall to hop up she finally noticed something strange. The boy whose name she still didn't know was staring right at her.

Stopping in shock Veronica paled as she gazed at him. Quickly spinning round she turned to check behind her as her mind knew he must be looking at someone or something else. Seeing nothing and no one there she slowly turned back to face the teenager and saw his eyes follow her movements. Double checking Veronica slowly shifted further left and watched as his eyes tracked her movement. Stopping Veronica stepped fully in front of the boy and gazed straight into his brown eyes with her blue. Her voice when it came was almost shrill she was so astonished by what she had realised.

"You can see me?"