Obsession Starts with a V

Chapter 9

Veronica woke up with a start. Where was she? Did someone just call her name? Why did she smell like smoke and beer? And why on earth was something sharp poking her hand?

"You vampire loving geek! Wake the hell up!" A voice screamed to her from somewhere far away.

"Samuel! Watch your language! Why don't you take your lazy butt upstairs and wake her up yourself?" A man's voice screamed back. It was Max's voice. Suddenly everything made sense. She was in the guest bedroom in Sam's house, Sam was calling for her, last night she was at a concert (which explained the smell), and was still clutching the guitar pick in her hand. The bedroom door swung open and Sam stormed in with a smirk on his face.

"It's one in the afternoon, and your mother's already called here three times asking how last night went." Sam stated.

"I haven't been asleep for that long?" She looked at him with a confused face.

"Uh, yeah you have. You fell asleep in the car, didn't even twitch when Michael carried you inside, and you didn't make a single sound as he flopped you on the bed. Star was the one who tucked you in. I have to compliment you on how much of a heavy sleeper you are. Did you have a little but too much music last night?"

"I could never have too much of that," she grinned in reply.

"Well," Sam shrugged, "my mom just finished lunch if you want some. She made BLT's and you can raid the pantry for chips."

"Is Max home? He sounded like he was in a bad mood." She asked as she got out of bed and followed Sam downstairs.

"Yeah, but he's asleep. That's probably why he sounded so irritated. Never wake the dead, unless you want to get chewed out." Sam laughed at his own joke.

Veronica scrunched her nose in confusion. "He's still asleep?"

"Yeah, he works the nightshift at his video store. That's when most of the business comes in so it's just easier than hiring someone else. Plus, he's not much of a morning person unless there's a reason for him to be up."

"Good morning!" Lucy cooed when the two walked into the kitchen. "Or should I say, good afternoon!" Lucy tried to hide her awkward grimace when she looked at the disheveled Veronica who had a bad case of morning breath and a perfume of stale smoke. "When you're done eating you can take a shower honey. I'll go get some soap and a towel set out for you." Lucy gently patted Veronica on the head before walking out.

"My mom's not too keen on smoking. She hated the smell of it." Same explained.

"Mine too. It makes a guy look so cool though," Veronica mused.

"Yeah, lung cancer and hacking up gunk is quite attractive." Sam pulled out a bag of chips from the pantry and sat down at the small table next to Veronica. "Sometimes David will come over and smoke in the house right in front of her. It irritates her, but she won't say anything. David scared the piss out of her."

"She's afraid of David?"

Sam looked at her and decided to change the subject. "Tomorrow afternoon the Frog Brothers and I are going to raid the Boardwalk. Did you want to come with us?"

"Sure! Hey, what ever happened with the comics?" Veronica remembered the crude and risque comics the brothers gave to Sam and how she and Sam paid them back.

"I don't know, they never mentioned anything and I didn't want to bring it up. I haven't really talked to them much since."

"They're probably plotting your death." Veronica casually said as she bit into her sandwich with a loud crunch.

Sam looked out the window with a worried expression. "Maybe we should cancel tomorrow."

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