Ding-dong! Conner opened the door to see a dark-haired teenage girl wearing couture clothes and an uninterested expression on her face standing behind it. "Hi, Veronica! Betty said she would send you over!" Addressed diva simply rolled her eyes and muttered, "Whatever.", as she stepped inside the house, making grossed-out faces as she looked around.
Conner was going over to a friend's bachelor party tonight, and had asked Betty to babysit. However, Archie was taking the blonde out on a dream date for their anniversary. When Conner heard what they had planned, he felt bad for saying Archie was not good enough for her, and told them he understood.
As luck would have it, Betty's best friend/rival for Archie, Veronica Lodge, was desperate for money, having had her allowance cut off by her wealthy father for going way over her credit card limit. Betty referenced her for the job, glad that not only would Conner get to go to his party, but she wouldn't have to worry about Veronica trying to sabotage her date with Archie.
Conner explained things to Veronica. "Betty tells me you're no chef, so I left twenty dollars on the fridge for you to order pizza. Make sure Becky and Molly are in bed by seven, and Dylan by nine. And no matter what they tell tell you, none of them are allowed to eat any sugar after six."
He looked over at Veronica, who seemed more focused on whatever was on TV than what he had said. "Are you even listening?" "Yeah, yeah...pizza, seven and nine o'clock, no sugar, got it.", she repeated, her eyes glued to the television set. Conner rolled his eyes as he threw on his jacket. "Bye, kids! See you later!", he called out as he went out the door.
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"Why is the Countess mad at Lady Margaret again?", Becky asked innocently. Veronica was introducing her, Dylan and Molly to Gerkington Hall, a highly-popular historical-drama series on TV about a family of wealthy aristocrats in the early twentieth century. "The Countess is mad because she thinks Lady Margaret stole her fiancé, Lord Jonathan,", Veronica explained. "But the real reason he left was because he found out the Countess was only marrying him for his money."
Dylan rolled his eyes, unable to hide how much this whole thing was boring him to tears. Becky, on the other hand, was hypnotized by the thickened plots of love and betrayal, the grand costumes of the characters, and the realistic performance of the actors. It was hard to tell how Molly felt about the show. Her eyes were on the television screen, but than again, a lot of things made her stare for an extended period of time.
Just then, the doorbell rang. It was the pizza delivery guy. Veronica paid him(and flirted with him for about fifteen minutes) before going to give the kids their dinner. Dylan got himself two slices of pepperoni and started to head towards the kitchen table when he suddenly stopped, getting an idea. "Hey...can I eat this in my room?" Veronica shrugged her shoulders. "Eh, I don't see why not.", she said, not seeming to care at all. Doing a fist pump of victory in his head, Dylan quickly hurried up the stairs before she could change her mind.
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Dylan had just finished savoring the latest bite of pizza when Veronica stepped into his bedroom. "Hey, your dad just called to see how things weeeeeeerrre..." She trailed off as she stood in the middle of the room and looked around. She seemed confused and kind of weirded-out. Her reaction made Dylan sit up. "What is it?" Veronica looked at him kind of funny. "This is your room?"
At that comment, Dylan felt a little annoyed. What did she mean by that? "What's wrong with it?", he asked, not afraid to show that he was upset. Veronica tucked a stray hair behind her ear, brown eyes darting back and forth as she struggled to find the right words. "Its just...I thought you were nine years old. This..." She motioned around. "This isn't exactly a room I picture for a nine-year-old boy."
After she left, Dylan took a look around his bedroom. Veronica's right., he thought. My room is so babyish. Of course, his bedroom hadn't been redecorated since he was six. Bright blue wallpaper with Superman patterns covered the walls. His closet was decorated with kiddie stickers and those little ribbons parents gave kids for doing the most trivial of tasks. The cowboy toybox sat against the wall, stocked full of action figures and plastic BB guns. On the desk next to his bed was a baseball bat-and-ball lamp, and even the bed itself was encased in a red plastic racecar.
I need a more grown-up bedroom., Dylan thought. After all, I'm gonna be a double-digit kid in just a few weeks. I'll need somewhere more mature to sleep by then. I'm not going to be a ten-year-old trapped in a six-year-old's room. Its time for a change.
YOU ARE READING
Second Chances
FanfictionAfter Wally passed away, Conner went AWOL for twelve years. Now M'gann has been reunited with him, but there's a new obstacle in their way-his kids.
