Chapter Text
Veronica sat anxiously in the waiting room of the ER. She shook her foot, shaking the chair she sat in. She dragged her hands across her face as she breathed in and out, heavily. Immediately after shooting J.D., Veronica carried Mac out to her car. Veronica was surprised that she was actually able to carry Mac all the way down to her car.
She’d been in the waiting room for almost an hour now, though it felt much longer. The doctor said that the surgery should only take an hour unless something happened. God something better not have happened.
Veronica then caught sight of the pay phone and sat promptly on the wall. She should call her parents.
She stood up, wrestled some change out of her pocket, and inserted it into the pay slot. She then picked up the phone, placed it up against her ear, a gentle hum seeped out of the speaker. She dialed her home phone and listened as it rang. It wasn’t long before her Mom picked up.
“Hey, Mom,” Veronica said. “It’s me.”
“Veronica, sweety, where are you?” Her mother replied distressed. “Your father and I have been looking, calling around all over for you?”
“I found Mac, Mom,” Veronica’s lip quivered a little as she spoke.
“What? Is she okay? Are you okay? Have you gone to the police yet?”
“Relax, Mom. We’re okay, I promise. I had to bring Mac to the ER. She—”
“The ER?!”
“Yes, Mac was shot, they’re taking care of it,”
“What on Earth happened, Veronica?”
Veronica was silent for a moment then, “Mom,” She said, a little teary eyed, “know I would never do anything to hurt you or put you in danger. Know that, Mom.”
“Veronica, sweety, what is going on?” Her mothers voice was getting increasingly worried.
“Don’t worry, Mom. It’s all over now. I’ll be home as soon as possible, bye,” She then hung up the phone. Though it was brief, the conversation with her Mom relaxed Veronica. She couldn’t explain why, but it just did. She wiped the tears from her eyes, then went back to the waiting room and sat back down.
A few minutes passed, then a door opened. Veronica’s head perked up to see who it was. It was the doctor. She stood up as the doctor walked over. Her heart started racing in her chest. Whatever he said to her could either be the best news she could possibly hear or the worst. She held her hand close to her chest.
“The surgery was successful,” The doctor said.
Veronica let out a huge sigh of relief. A soft smile crept across her face.
“She’s resting in a room right now, she’ll have to stay here for a few days. But you can go and visit her. She’s in room one oh six, straight down and on the left,” He pointed to the door he had just walked out of. “I’m sure she’s waiting,” The doctor patted Veronica’s shoulder then walked past her. Instantly she marched to the door and threw it open.
She walked down the hall, looking at the room numbers on the doors as she passed them. She stopped at 106. She placed her hand around the handle and held it there for a moment. Her heart raced. Mac knew she was a murder. How was she gonna react? Terrible thoughts danced throughout Veronica’s mind. She feared Mac would never want to lock eyes with her again and if she did, she would look at her with the most disgusted and disgruntled gaze.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath then opened the door. She walked in and saw Mac lying on the bed staring off into space. Veronica assumed she was thinking about everything that had happened to her. How her life had been changed forever.
“Hey,” Veronica said, closing the door behind her then walking over to the chair that sat beside Mac’s bed.
Mac looked up at her, snapping herself from whatever thought she was buried in . “Hey, Ronnie.”
Mac calling her “Ronnie” brought a soothness to Veronica’s heart. It’s been a while since she’s heard her call her that.
“There’s probably a lot you want to talk about right now I’m guessing,” Veronica said.
Mac didn't look at Veronica as she spoke, “Did you really kill Chandler, Kurt, and Ram?”
Veronica looked down at the floor, she knew she was going to ask this yet she really hoped she wasn’t going to. She looked back up, “Yes, I was involved in their deaths.”
“How involved?”
“I had given Chandler a cup of drain-o thinking it was a prairie-oyster and—”
“How did you mix those up?” Mac’s voice had a slight sharpness to it.
“The cups had lids. J.D. was messing around and put drain-o in one of them a-and I grabbed it and gave it to Chandler,” Veronica looked down again, even more ashamed to say the next part. “Then J.D. told me to forge a suicide note and, uh, well, I did. I grabbed her copy of The Bell Jar and wrote up a bunch of lies just so I wouldn’t get in trouble.”
“What about with Kurt and Ram?”
“The day the rumor began to spread about me and them, J.D. wanted to play a little prank on them—to scare them. Show them I was his girl. So I seduced the two of them into meeting me in the forest telling them I’ll make that rumor true. In our prank, J.D. told me we were going to use fake guns to freak them out but, um, they turned out to be real and I made a fool out of myself. I didn’t k-kill any of them but I did write their suicide notes too…”
“Did you make up the fact that they were gay for each other too?”
Veronica's breathing staggered, “Y-yes.”
Mac flipped her head to face Veronica, “That’s horrible, Veronica. All of this is horrible,” She raised her voice slightly, just enough that a doctor wouldn’t rush in to see what was the matter.
“I know,” Veronica cried. “I know, I know. It haunts me every day. Every time I look at myself in the mirror I’m reminded of the blood on my hands. All of this happened because I didn’t wanna get my lunch tray slapped out of my hands. I feel so terrible and so sorry but I know words aren’t going to be enough to heal the gaping wounds I’ve created,” Veronica grabbed Mac’s arm, tears streaming down from Veronica’s eyes. “Sometimes Mac I think about just killing myself too but I know it’ll only cause more problems.”
“Veronica,” Mac placed her hand on Veronica’s cheek, “it’s okay, it’s okay—”
“No it's not!” She cried, pushing Mac’s hand off of her and stood up. She turned away from Mac. “I don’t deserve you—You’re perfect, I’m not. I deserve punishment.”
“I’m not perfect Veronica, I trotted along with the Heathers and their reindeer games. I let them push me around and do bad things to other people.”
“Yeah, well I did worse things to people, Mac. Have you ever looked into the eyes of a dead person, Mac? It changes you, twists you in ways you never thought imaginable.”
“I saw my parents lifeless bodies,” Mac dropped, referring to when she saw them at the morgue.
There was a brief silence.
“J.D. manipulated you,” Mac continued. “You didn’t kill them, he did. Besides, a true killer doesn’t feel bad for what they did. You think the Night Stalker feels bad for killing all those people?”
Veronica turned around and stared at Mac with eyes swollen with tears. “Mac…” She stuttered out.
“Ronnie,” Mac smiled as she looked back. “I forgive you.”
Veronica moved closer to Mac and bent down, tears streaming down her face. Mac reached up and wiped them away. Their faces inched closer together until their lips embraced. They stopped and Veronica wrapped her arms tightly around Mac.
“Thank you,” She said, cradling her.
“Yeah,” Mac replied, strainingly. Veronica was pushing right on her wound.
“Oh, wait, sorry,” She quickly backed away realizing what she had done. “I’m sorry, did I hurt you?”
“Yes,” Mac said, but then grabbed Veronica and wrapped herself back around her. “But I don’t care,” They held each other close, careful not to let either one of them go. Not again. Not ever.
…
A cool breeze danced through the wind of a hot summer day. The entire senior student body sat in cap and gown in rows of folding chairs out on Westerburg’s football field. It was graduation day, a day students simultaneously couldn’t wait for and dread.
Veronica sat anxiously in her seat. It was almost her turn. At Westerburg it was tradition to say a few words to everyone, whether it be thanks, where you plan on going in life, or whatever, they made you say something. Veronica, truth be told, didn’t really want to do that. But, she had to. Problem is, she had no idea what she wanted to say. She couldn’t just do a normal thanks, everyone in front of her already had.
Suddenly her name was called. Veronica rose from her chair and navigated the rows of chairs until she found herself climbing the stage to collect her diploma. She’ll just have to wig something on the spot.
Veronica shook hands with her principal, received her diploma, and then found herself in front of a microphone facing her entire class and their friends and families. She took a deep breath in and let it out, her exhale being picked up by the microphone.
She cleared her throat, then, “This year has been quite the ride, from good things, to bad things, to bad right horrible things—And I’ve seen them all,” She paused briefly. “I’ve done stuff I regret and am doing whatever I can to mend those wounds I’ve created. I’ve betrayed a life long friend in order to be more popular, so hot guys will notice me at parties, so I’ll stop getting my lunch tray slapped out of my hand,” She looked at Martha, who sat in the front row. “Truth be told, being popular is overrated. I’d much rather be me than put on a bunch of makeup and make my hair as puffy as possible just to make a statement. Besides in the real world, the losers are the most famous. Look at all the actors, singers, painters who were bullied growing up. It’s why I'm not gonna be afraid to be me. I don’t like horror movies, they scare me too much. My favorite school lunch is the pasta and I’m tired of pretending it isn’t. I love cheesy teen magazines. I hate sports. And goddamnit do I love women, screw men. See y’all suckers at the reunion,” With that Veronica stepped away from the microphone and off the stage, returning back to her seat. A wave of silence followed her.
Shockingly, Veronica didn’t feel embarrassed by anything she’d said. She felt proud she said it. She turned around in her seat to look at Mac. She found her, locked eyes with her, and blew her a kiss. Highschool was over now, all this bullshit was done. She was free. Mac was free. They all were free.