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Veronica pushed her left sleeve back up over her elbow, getting melted chocolate on it in the process, defeating the purpose of the movement in the first place. She sighed, looking from the pot on her stove, to the girl sitting on her kitchen counter, and back again. “This is ridiculous, Lilly!” There was a hint of frustration in her voice. “I’m slaving away over a hot stove for you, girl, and what am I getting out of it?”
“Well, if you ask real nice, I might give you a kiss.” Lilly laughed, pushing herself off the counter. She got right in Veronica’s face, making faces and kissy noises, until Veronica pushed her face away with a chocolate-spattered hand.
“Ugh, come on. Aren’t we kind of old to be getting excited about Valentine’s Day? What’s up with your sudden romantic phase? And if you wanted to give Logan chocolate, why can’t you just, y’know, buy some?”
“Because,” Lilly answered in a sing-song voice, “we had a bet. A bet that you lost, Veronica Mars. So keep slaving!” She peeked at the melting pot on the stove, stuck a finger in, and tasted it. “Now, if you’ll excuse me,” she trilled, gesturing at the chocolate stuck to her cheek, “I have to go clean up your mess.”
Veronica watched as Lilly skipped off towards her bathroom, then looked back at her pot. It was looking nice and smooth. It should be almost ready to pour into the moulds. But she thought it was missing something. She took a turn around her kitchen, thinking. Salt, maybe? She wasn’t sure if that would incorporate well into the melty mass. She opened the fridge, looking for inspiration. Ketchup? Too obvious, she was sure it would colour the product. But what about this? She pulled out a bottle of brown liquid, turned it over in her hands. The liquid shouldn’t mess with the consistency too much, she thought, and it was already the right colour. As for the taste... well, soy sauce was perfectly acceptable in some contexts but mixed into a chocolate? She shuddered at the thought, which meant it would do just fine.
She poured a portion of the pot into the heart-shaped moulds Lilly had given her. Lilly, in the throes of some kind of lovey-dovey virus, hadn’t just wanted Veronica to make her chocolates. No, she expected Veronica to keep some for herself to give to Duncan. Besides, she was sure Lilly would want to taste the final product when they were done, and it wouldn’t do to give away her secret too early. She then poured a generous amount of soy sauce into the portion still simmering in the pot, quickly putting the bottle back in the fridge and stirring up her concoction before filling the other half of the moulds.
“Looking good! Ooh, you were just made for this, Veronica! What a perfect little housewife! I could just eat you up!” Lilly teased as she inspected Veronica’s handiwork. “Aren’t they adorable?”
“I don’t get you,” Veronica said as she moved the filled moulds into the fridge and turned off the stove. “I’d swear just a week ago you were saying Valentine’s chocolate was for babies.”
Lilly shrugged dramatically, sighing. “What can I say? I guess I’ve had a change of heart. Love is special, Veronica Mars, and I hope that one day you’ll learn that.” She gestured wildly for emphasis.
“You just like watching me make a mess.”
“Guilty as charged, Little Miss Sheriff.”
Veronica just shook her head. “At least pretend to help me clean it up, then.”
Veronica packaged and labelled the chocolates after Lilly went home. She got into school early the next day to put them in the boys’ lockers before they showed up for morning classes. She would have loved to be able to lurk around all day, see how her friends reacted to the tainted chocolates “Lilly” had made, but unfortunately, she had classes of her own to see to.
L ogan didn’t hit his locker until after first period, but he noticed the mystery box right away. ‘ Ah, Valentine’s Day,’ he thought to himself, sliding off the top of the box and popping one of the little brown hearts into his mouth. As he bit down, his face changed. Salty, with some kind of tangy after-taste. That wasn’t right. Not willing to admit defeat to chocolate in the middle of the crowded hallway, he forced himself to finish the small piece of death before slamming his locker closed and heading down the hallway, in the opposite direction from his next class. After a brief pause at a water fountain he marched pointedly into the room he knew Lilly would be having her next class in. He saw her perched on top of her desk, talking to a couple girls he vaguely recognized only as “older”. He plowed forward and dropped the box into her lap. “ Is this some kind of a joke?”
Lilly just blinked at him. “Hey, lover. Kind of in the middle of something, actually.”
“I’m serious. What is this?”
“Hmm, chocolate?” Lilly just stared back at her boyfriend, wondering what his problem was. Wasn’t this supposed to be romantic? She reached down to grab a piece of chocolate out of the box. “See?” she said, showing it to him and smiling. She tossed it casually into her mouth to eat, and her eyes widened. She spat it back out. “What the fuck?” She shoved the box back at Logan and he, instinctively, accepted it back. She looked bewildered for a second, then started laughing just as the teacher came into the room. “Oh my God! Veronica!”
Logan opened his mouth to ask for the explanation that clearly wasn’t forthcoming, but was interrupted from the front of the room. “Mr. Echolls, I don’t believe I’ll be having the pleasure to teach you until next year, so if you could kindly find your own room before the bell rings. Great! The rest of you can take your seats...”
He walked out of class before the lunch bell rang, heading for Veronica’s locker instead of his own. Hoping to get there before she did, corner her before she headed for their lunch table. He took his spot, leaning against her locker and waiting. There she was, heading his way. She didn’t look too surprised at his appearance. He waved. “Hey Veronica. Happy Valentine’s Day. How’s it going?”
She smiled. “Oh, uneventful.”
She shooed him out of the way and he obliged, then she opened the locker and grabbed her bag. “How about you?” she asked back as she closed the locker again and faced him.
“You know me,” he replied noncommittally. “Walk with me, I’ve still got something to grab.”
They crossed the hall in silence, each trying to get a read on the other in the short time it took to get to Logan’s locker.
“Actually, while I have you,” he started as he opened the locker, “I’ve got a conundrum that I’m hoping you can help me with.” He pulled the undesirable chocolates from his locker. “What do these taste like to you, and what explanation can you offer me as to why?”
Veronica glanced down at the box he was offering in her direction, then looked straight into his face. “I guess it’s your lucky day today, Logan!” she announced. She made a point not to bother touching the box. “Those taste just the teensiest bit like soy sauce. As for why, I guess it must be because I mixed a generous amount into the melted chocolate before pouring it. Anything else I can help you with before we eat?” She studied his face as she said this, waiting to see what would happen next. What payoff she’d get.
He blinked, thrown by her matter-of-fact response. “ You can feel free to go ahead and elaborate on that one any time.”
“Because it’s funny?” she answered, clearly not impressing her friend. Then, relenting, she explained the background behind the chocolates, the bet she’d made with Lilly, and finished her story with a smile, adding, “I guess I was just feeling sassy. Lilly didn’t know. Now, if you’ll excuse me,” she ended, figuring she was at her limit for pushing Logan Echolls’ buttons for the moment, “I believe your girlfriend’s waiting to eat with me.” She disappeared down the hallway, leaving Logan feeling completely unsatisfied.
“Veronica!” Duncan called out. She turned at the sound of her name to see him and Lilly waiting for her at their table and ran over to them. “Happy Valentine’s Day,” he said as she sat down to join them. “Got your chocolates. Didn’t think that was much your thing.”
“Oh,” she laughed, brushing it off, “it was all Lilly’s idea, really. Not my preferred battle plan at all.”
He rolled his eyes, moving on. “Hey, have you seen Logan?”
“Nope.”
Logan joined them a minute or two later. He made a point not to speak to Veronica.
Veronica explained her little prank to Duncan after school, not too worried about Logan’s reaction. Whereas Lilly had been kind of mad when she figured it out, Duncan, at least, thought it was nothing short of hilarious.
Logan managed to go almost 3 days without speaking to Veronica, just out of principle. But she’d always known he’d come back around to her charms.