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“You know what’s the worst thing about Heaven?”
Veronica groaned, rolling her eyes, and shut down the tv. “What, Heather?”
“We can’t cuss. How awful is that? If I want to say fork you, I should be allowed to say it!”
“I guess all that shirt about God not liking curse words was true. Why are you here anyway?”
It was Heather’s turn to groan now, as she flopped down the couch. Chandler was once again bored, Veronica knew it. Usually she avoided the Control Room because she said watching the life of people who were still alive depressed her, made her wish for everything she was missing in life. But if it meant bothering Veronica Sawyer? Then Heather was more than ready to make that sacrifice.
“Heather went to do Yoga with Martha Dumptruck- dumb, I know- which means I am left alone. So I thought I’d come by to bother you!”
Veronica rolled her eyes, “You know Heather, if you would have been nicer to other people when you were alive, maybe now you would have someone to hang out with.” She chuckled when she remembered what JD had told her before her death.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing, it’s just… JD had said that the only place where Heathers and Marthas could get along was in Heaven. Turns out he was wrong.”
“I wouldn"t be sure about that, Heather seems to be really into Martha.” Chandler commented, faking a gag. “Speaking of psycho boyfriends, you’re not stalking them again aren’t you?” She asked grinning, walking over where Veronica was sitting in front of the tv.
“N-no! Of course not. That’s weird.”
“Uh, sure.” Heather said, turning the tv on again. And then they appeared, on screen, right where Veronica had left them. Or, almost. They still had clothes on where Veronica was watching earlier.
“Ah, my eyes, my eyes!” Heather yelled dramatically, covering her eyes. “I think I’ve been traumatized for non-life.”
Veronica bit her lip. She forgot how attractive JD looked while naked. And, to be honest, Heather Duke didn’t look too bad herself. Her hair looked so soft, and more dark than the last time Veronica saw them.
“This is gross, why are you still watching that?” Heather commented disgusted, watching as JD ripped Heather Duke"s corset. A shame, really. Heather"s boobs looked very attractive in it. Veronica immediately blushed at the thought, shaking her head.
"Awe," Chandler pouted, "that corset must have cost her a fortune! Your boyfriend is a dick, Veronica."
"Ex." She reminded the dead Heather with a hint of sadness in her voice.
“How can you miss him? I mean- seriously Veronica. Duke shot you, and now she’s forking your ex-boyfriend on his 18th birthday. Could you be more pathetic?”
"You think I don"t know?" Veronica snapped at Heather, suddenly standing up. "Don"t you think that if I missed JD this much when I was alive I wouldn’t have broken up with him in the first place? I don"t know Heather, I see them and think maybe it wasn"t that bad after all, and then I see the murders and remember why I left him!"
Veronica started gesturing around the room, feeling like she was going crazy. She hated that place, she hated Heaven. She didn"t even think that was possible.
Why was she even in Heaven, after all she had done? And why did she miss JD so much? It made her feel weird, guilty. This wasn"t the first time Heather had caught Veronica spying on Heather and JD, and probably wouldn"t be the last.
Ever since she found out that they were allowed to access a Control Room (one for each neighborhood), with a television to check on the living world, Veronica had always made sure to book the room everyday just for herself. She got lucky that only Westerburg students lived in their neighborhood who, much like Chandler, didn"t want to spend their afterlife days watching the living.
Everyone considered her weird for it. Heaven worked like the perfect society, always sunny, everyone living in their own small comfy house, even daily activities like yoga or outdoor cinema. Heaven felt like life on earth, but better.
Veronica hated it.
She closed herself in that room, and watched all the sweet moments JD and Duke shared with longing and jealousy. She closed her eyes and imagined it was her who JD was reading books to, not Heather. And then hated herself for it, when she saw all the cruelty they did to the world.
Veronica would be lying if she said she didn"t watch when they had sex, at first she felt guilty about it. She felt like she was breaking their privacy. Now she didn"t care anymore. Every time Veronica remembered that Heather Duke had shot her, how she had taken her whole life from her, then Veronica would think that watching them having sex wasn’t as bad as she thought at first.
Besides, she didn"t mind watching either of them naked.
Was Veronica Sawyer a pervert? Probably. But she was dead. Nothing mattered anymore.
She laid down on the couch under Heather Chandler"s eyes. "Don"t you ever miss Heather Duke? At all?" She asked Heather, who scoffed.
"No. You might have been the one to kill me, but Duke stole my place and my power as a poor, lame copycat, and then murdered everyone else so she could keep it! What a crazy bench. Why, do you?"
Veronica shrugged. "I know she killed me, but sometimes I do. God I"m a mess." Veronica said frustrated, bringing her hands to her hair.
"Well, no offense, but I"m in no mood to put up with you and your unsolved issues. I came here to bother you, not to be your private therapist." Heather stated, and exited the room.
"You never are." Veronica mumbled in response once Heather was out.
"You know I turn eighteen in February right?"
Veronica turned her head to the tv, watching their interaction. JD and Duke were both panting, naked in bed, looking at each other as if they were the only thing that mattered in that fucked up world. Part of Veronica missed when JD would look at her like that, even if she knew a murder would have come right after.
"You might have mentioned it once, or ten, times."
"I want jewellery; earrings, a necklace…"
"A ring?"
A ring? Was JD basically proposing to Heather? Veronica immediately sat up, waiting for Duke"s answer. Her left leg was shaking, as Heather kept looking lovingly into JD"s eyes.
"If you want."
Veronica, during her first night with JD, had thought a lot about where their relationship would have taken them. Broken up in a few weeks? High School Sweethearts? Wedding? Obviously she had thought about the possible proposal as well. It would have been romantic, like in a fancy restaurant. Or maybe in their shared apartment, with the notes of her favorite song playing in the background.
Obviously all those fantasies were crushed the day after. Yet, she thought, a wedding proposal after sex, and at eighteen years old (while Heather was still minor) seemed like the most "JD thing" ever.
Veronica laughed sadly, wondering if that could have ever been her in Heather"s place, had she not decided to break up with him.
She thought about it, but the answer came to her as soon as she questioned it. And the answer was no.
Maybe Veronica would have lied, maybe JD would have forced her to murder other people. Who knows, maybe he would have gone as far as raping her. She gulped uncomfortably at the thought, but a part of her knew she was right.
Veronica could have never had what JD and Heather had right now and, surprisingly, she was fine with it.
Obviously she still missed JD, and hated him for all he had done. She still hated Heather for killing her, and for screwing her now ex-boyfriend (she was more jealous than she"d like to admit).
But after all, Veronica admitted to herself, came to think about it, there was no one else who could have fit better with JD. Now they were a danger to the world, and to anyone who simply annoyed them.
But it wasn"t Veronica"s problem anymore. She was dead.
So she shut the tv and closed the door behind her when she left the room, knowing damn well that she"d be back there the day after ready to seek refuge from the boredom of Heaven, into what may or may have not been with JD. And, who knew, maybe with Heather Duke as well.