First actual story I've written within two years! I'm stoked! Okay, so I am very rusty in all things writing, so bare with me for a few chapters. This is an AU where J.D. lived in Sherwood when he was younger and was best friends with Veronica. Also, his mom never committed suicide. I will be following the move/musical events, and turning the bad parts, where people died, with semi-good parts instead. Don't worry, J.D. is still a little messed up, but all is good.

Disclaimer: Heathers belongs to other people, not me. I just like the story line a little too much.

EDIT: My datemate is helping me with proofreading and editing chapters. We are trying to get out new chapters every few days, so have patience!

Dear Diary,

It's been 2,190 days since J.D. left Sherwood, Ohio. He doesn't deserve to be missed, but here I am counting the days since I last saw his face. Maybe I just have a problem with letting people go. God, talk about being pathetic.

Veronica sighed as she put her pen down beside her diary. She didn't want to start writing about how much she hated herself. She leaned back in her chair and stared at her ceiling. Senior year of high school starts tomorrow and she wanted nothing more than to disappear. All she could do was hope that somehow, somehow, her classmates were tolerable. Most likely not, but a girl can wish.

"Veronica?!" her mother's voice bellowed from downstairs. She quickly got up from the chair, ignoring the slight dizziness the action caused. She jogged to her door and pulled it open.

"Yeah?" she yelled back. She wanted to make sure there was a good reason to go downstairs instead of wallow in her self-pity. Instead of an answer, Veronica heard someone making their way up the stairs. The creaks of the stairs told her they were half-way up. She walked out of her room and peered down from the banister.

"Martha?" Veronica questioned. The bigger girl stopped walking and looked up with wide eyes.

"V-veronica!" she stuttered out. Alarms went off in Veronica's head. Martha Dunnstock never stuttered. The girl practiced public speaking while growing up to get out of her awkward phase. She did grow out of it, but no one in school gives her a chance to prove it.

"What's wrong?" Veronica moved to the top of the stairs, a concerned look on her face. Martha hurried up the rest of the stairs, grabbed Veronica's forearm, and pulled the girl into her room. Veronica let a small surprised squeak out.

"What the actual fuck?" Veronica asked as soon as Martha closed her bedroom door. Her friend looked like she had seen a ghost. Her skin was pale white, her eyes were wide and looking at anything other than Veronica, and there was sweat forming on her upper lip. "Martha, what did you do?" Veronica squinted her eyes a bit.

"Nothing, I didn't do anything. Why would you think I did something?" she replied fast. When Veronica saw Martha on the stairs the girl looked somewhat composed, but now she was losing it.

"You're talking fast and playing with the hem of your shirt, something is up." Martha's hands quickly dropped to her sides. "Just tell me what is going on." Veronica said exasperated. She didn't like being in the dark.

Martha stopped shifting her eyes and just stared at Veronica. She was sweating more now as she furrowed her eyebrows in deep thought. It looked like she was at war with herself. Veronica was growing impatient, this wasn't like her friend.

"Co-"

"Jason's mom called my mom today." She blurted out. Veronica's heart stopped.

"What?" She asked her friend, her eyes growing wide as well. "J.D.?" Martha always called J.D. by his first name. Veronica asked her why she always called him Jason, Martha would just say that she felt weird calling him J.D. Apparently she saw it as a special thing between Veronica and him.

"Yeah, his mom called and said they were planning on moving back. They don't know when, but she told my mom hopefully soon." Martha swallowed, obviously knowing how this would affect her best friend.

Veronica felt like she was in a dream. Her eyes glazed over as her thoughts went into overdrive. Moving back? It's been six years and now he's coming back? Why did she call Martha's mom and not hers? She didn't even know the two moms knew each other. How did he look like? Was he the same as before? A headache was starting to form as one question after another popped into her head.

"You should sit down." her friend said, but Veronica felt like her voice was a million miles away. She felt cold hands softly grab her wrist and move her to her bed. She was too busy panicking to do anything on her own. Martha forced her to sit down on her bed. The girl was obviously worried about Veronica. Her eyes kept darting from her to the wall.

"I didn't know how you would handle the news." she finally said. Veronica wanted to reply, but she was in shock. "I know how much he meant to you. I was afraid you would have a heart attack." Martha looked at the floor.

"I don't know how I feel right now." Veronica slowly said. She was afraid her voice would crack, but luckily it just sounded shaky. She moved to lay down on her bed. Martha sat on the other side of her bed, her eyes showing concern for her friend. "What if he forgot about me? He had to, since he didn't care to contact me all this time."

"I don't think he would've. He was practically in love with you." Martha chuckled, laying down next to Veronica. She looked at her friend and smiled. Her thoughts had slowed down, and now there was just a dull ache in her chest.

"Oh, please. Did you see eleven year old me? There is no way he was in love with that." Veronica rolled her eyes. "Plus, we were too young to know how to love someone outside our family. Maybe he just liked me a lot." she reasoned, more so with herself than with Martha. Martha rolled her eyes and got up from the bed.

"I'll let you believe what you want to believe." she said as she headed towards the door. "Let's go watch the Princess Bride! I left it downstairs." Martha looked at Veronica and smiled. She smiled back at her and quickly got off the bed. The ache in her chest was subsiding all together.

Maybe everything would be okay.

Everything was not going to be okay. Three weeks into the school year and Veronica somehow found herself to be one of the most popular girls in the school. The Heathers took her underneath their wing and taught her how to actually fit in.

"Veronica, we got to motor." Heather Chandler said as she grabbed Veronica's arm and pulled her out of the bathroom. The other two Heathers were waiting just outside the door. Heather Duke was glaring at her while Heather McNamara gave her a small smile.

"Finally. I was about to proclaim you two dead and take over the group myself." Duke gave a smile that told Veronica she was not joking. The girl was green with envy of Heather Chandler. Veronica figured that out on the first day of being in the group.

"Oh, shut up, slut." Chandler rolled her eyes. She let go of Veronica's arm and straightened out her plaid skirt. "I heard there was a new kid and I wanted to see what he looked like." She casually said as her eyes searched the hallway they were in. Veronica's skin started to tingle. New kid? Their town was so small that the only new kids they got were freshman.

"Why do you even care?" Duke was inspecting her nails. She didn't really care about any boys besides Ram Sweeney and Kurt Kelly. Veronica wondered how exactly these two girls became friends. They were constantly fighting and causing drama for the other. Of course, Duke followed Chandler, but sometimes she would try to take charge and make things complicated between them.

"Maybe I'm tired of all of us sharing the same dick, Heather. I need new meat." She gave a smirk and continued her search. McNamara just stood next to Veronica on her phone. Her fingers were quickly tapping the screen as she texted someone. She's been glued to her phone lately, Veronica would have to ask her about that later. Hopefully she met someone, hopefully out of this shitty school.

"What if he is a lame ass? You want to suck nerd penis?" Duke looked up at Chandler. It wasn't a very good comeback, but at least she tried.

"Then Veronica could have him." Chandler shrugged. Veronica side-glanced at her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She said, smoothing out her blazer to calm her nerves. What if J.D. finally came back? If Heather became interested in him, then Veronica would have to sit on the sidelines and watch her 'best friend' try to get in her ex-best friend's pants. That thought alone made Veronica inwardly shiver.

"You passed up every chance that Ram and Kurt gave you to sleep with them. I figured you're either a prude, gay, or like to take advantage of virgins." Chandler said. "Aha!" She found who she was looking for and started to walk towards them. Veronica followed after her, silently rolling her eyes at Heather. She tried to look over the girl to see who she found, but couldn't find anyone that stood out.

Heather weaved through people like it was nothing. Veronica was having some trouble not being squeezed to death by people bigger than her. She was considered to be pretty short, so it was easy to just step on her.

"Shit, lost him in the crowd." she sighed and stopped in the middle of the hallway. Veronica almost collided with her. Luckily, she stopped in time. The bell rang signaling that it was lunch time.

Chandler figured that he might be in the cafeteria (or what they called the café), so she just started walking again without saying anything. Heather Duke was busy talking to some football player to notice that her leader had started moving again. Veronica didn't say anything as she followed Chandler. McNamara was hot on her heels, head down looking at her phone. Every so often her eyes would look up for a second to make sure she wasn't going to bump into someone.

As they entered the café, Veronica's eye was caught by someone sitting in the corner. He was wearing all black and picking at his food. He look like he was wearing a long trench coat. She furrowed her brows, who wears that anymore? As if he felt her staring, he looked up. He stared back before winking and going back to his food. Veronica's skin broke out in goosebumps. This was the new kid. He didn't look like J.D., but there was something about the way he looked at her.

Heather Chandler commented on her drooling, saying that the guy wasn't cute enough for her to suck his dick. Veronica felt like she did when Martha told her J.D. was coming back. She felt dazed and far away from everyone. Her eyes stayed on him, trying to figure out what it was that bothered her.

While she was staring, Ram and Kurt made their way towards him. She couldn't hear what was being said, but before long punches were being thrown. That was enough to snap her out of her daze.

The new kid blocked Kurt's punch with a book that was beside him on the table and punched him in his stomach. Kurt stumbled back onto a table in shock. Before Ram was able to defend his friend, the new kid turned and punched him right in the face. Kurt got off the table and charged. The guy in black grabbed his arm and kicked him right in the balls, leaving Kurt to crumble on the ground in pain. The fight continued on before someone came and broke it up.

The new kid walked away from the two boys on the ground, smirking that he was able to throw the last punch. He was headed towards her. Her head started swimming, is this J.D.? Why was he coming this way? She should just run away? She hands started to get clammy as he continued his way towards her. It seemed like time slowed down for them. Their eyes stayed locked to each others, both trying to understand what the other was feeling. Veronica's emotions were usually worn on her sleeve, so it wouldn't be hard for him to see that she was nervous. His mouth cracked into a smile as he got closer to her. He stopped within a few feet from her. It felt like everyone was staring at them. Finally he spoke:

"Veronica!"

Shit.