Chapter Text
August 31st, 2022
Dear Diary,
Tomorrow will mark thirty-three years since the start of my senior year. The year that changed my life. I know I haven’t written to you for a long time, but Victoria is starting her senior year at Westerburg tomorrow and I just hope that it will go much more smoothly than mine went…although mine was memorable, just for the wrong-
“Hey, mom?” Victoria Sawyer-Peralta asked from the attic. Veronica went upstairs to see what she was calling her about. “What is it honey?” Veronica asked. Victoria flipped to a page in the yearbook, where a polaroid picture fell out. “Well…I found your senior year yearbook and this polaroid fell out. Who’s that guy with you?”
Veronica couldn’t help but let out a surprised gasp. She thought she had that picture stashed away somewhere no one could find it. “Well, mom? Are you going to tell me?” Victoria asked. Veronica sighed. “Okay, it’s about time you heard. So…let’s go back all the way to September of 1989. That is when Westerburg was at its worst. People were excluding one another, being unkind, and calling each other names. Then there were the Heathers. They were at the top of the Westerbug hierarchy. But…Heather Chandler died..”
“Heather Chandler?” “She was the leader of the Heathers, and…calling her cruel would be an understatement. When she died, that touched off a wave of suicides…or so they thought. That’s where Jason Dean (or J.D. for short), the guy in the picture, came into play. J.D. was a friend of mine, but he had problems. He killed Kurt and Ram, the jocks, who weren’t nice people either. J.D. wanted justice, but in the wrong way.”
“Ah,” Victoria said, processing this new information about her mother’s past. It must have been hard to retell. “He…he also killed Heather” Veronica continued, “I had to watch the three of them die, and I also had to stop him from blowing up the school, but…he blew himself up in sacrifice”
Victoria gasped, “Oh no!”. “Yeah…you know how I go to therapy? Now you know the reason why,” Veronica finished. “Wow, what a year that must have been” Victoria said. “Yeah…now, your own senior year is coming up, and I want you to know that even though Westerburg has gotten much better since then, don’t be afraid to tell me anything, or speak up if you see something wrong. And most importantly, you, Victoria Sawyer-Peralta, are beautiful in your own way. Your father and I will always stand by you and be proud of you no matter what,” Veronica said.
“Thanks, mom,” Victoria said, and the two hugged. “Of course, honey. Now let’s go downstairs. It’s almost time for dinner”
That night, as Veronica and her husband, Hector, were in bed, Veronica couldn’t help but not fall asleep. She got out of bed to go get a glass of water, and lo and behold, the ghost of Heather Chandler was there.
“What do you want?” Veronica asked. “To do something I should have done a long time ago…I’ve…blegh…I’ve come to make peace” Heather replied “Look. The reason I have been haunting you for around the past three decades is because I never had closure. I was a stupid, fucked up kid who thought she was all that, and I ended up dying before I had room to grow, so I held a grudge about that. So, everyone…y’know, down there…agreed that if I moved on, I could rest in peace”
“All right…” Veronica said. “I’m so sorry…I should never have made your life Hell. And I’ve gotta say, you’ve been raising your daughter well,” Heather replied. “Thank you, Heather,” “I…I suppose you’re not a greasy little nobody…sorry, I’m still not good with compliments”
“That’s okay,” Veronica said, knowing Heather was trying her best. “Tell Martha and MacNamara that I’m sorry,” Heather said. Veronica nodded and said she would. After her encounter with Heather, Veronica went back to bed, preparing for the next day. It would be a pretty big day after all.