"So." I said conversationally as I lounged on Mia's bed and flipped through a copy of Teen Vogue. I skipped over the page with my own photo on it, trying not to grimace at how photoshopped I was. It barely even resembled me, they'd airbrushed and edited me into a Barbie doll. "Are we going to discuss that weird thing that happened at lunch today?"

Mia scribbled something down on her notepad and then turned back to her textbook. "What weird thing?" She murmured distractedly, only giving me half of her attention.

I snorted. "Oh you know, the whole you crushing on a guy that your brother clearly hates thing?"

Mia sighed and sat up, crossing her legs as she closed her bio textbook. She traced the pattern of the bed spread with her fingernails, her cheeks flaming pink. "Sav, I know he seems a little rough around the edges. He really is a good guy though."

I may have only met Luke once, but he'd managed to flirt with myself, Mia and Jaz all in the same sentence, completely ignore Dallas, and Brooks ... well Brooks just seemed to hate him regardless. I'm sure he did have some redeeming qualities, but if first impressions were anything to go by, he had not won me over.

My moment of hesitation must have eluded to my doubts regarding her comment, because she leaned back into the bed frame abruptly. "You don't get it. There was this party in sophomore year, down on the beach. I had had a little too much to drink and this guy Jett was all over me, trying to get me to go skinny dipping with him in the water. I started crying but the music was so loud that no one could hear me, and then all of a sudden Luke just kind of burst out of nowhere and knocked Jett to the ground." Mia recounted. An uneasy sense of de ja vu crept into my stomach. I pushed it away and locked it in the vault in the back of my mind that would never be opened.

"He asked me if I was okay and we started talking and he was... kind." Mia said softly, turning her attention back to me. Her expression was somewhere between exasperated and hopeful. "He was just kind. We've texted a bit since then, and he's honestly a nice guy when we're talking. I don't know why he doesn't show that side of himself in person."

I processed her words for a moment, pursing my lips. I was tempted to ask whether she'd considered the fact that he was a phoney, but I bit my tongue. I hardly knew the guy. Maybe once you dug deeper, there was more to him. Besides, how nice would it have been to just have someone kind to talk to in LA? I loved Scandalous and everything that came with it, but sometimes it was lonely out there by myself. Who was I to judge Mia for holding on to the thread of hope that that person she had met still existed beneath all the male bravado?

I shrugged. "Okay then."

Mia reared back, clearly shocked by my quick acceptance. "Okay then?"

"Sure. If you like him then I'll accept that. That doesn't mean I'll like him though. Not yet, anyway." I warned her, closing my magazine.

Mia thought about this for a moment, before giving me a nod. "Sounds reasonable."

"Girls!" Sarah suddenly called from downstairs, effectively ending our conversation. "Dinner's ready."

I rolled off of the bed with a grunt and followed Mia into the kitchen where the rest of the McCormack family were already gathering. The dining table was set up beautifully, with a checked table cloth and a bouquet of white roses as the centre piece. Five plates with their corresponding cutlery lay in front of each chair, perfectly aligned. I couldn't help the smile that found its way onto my face. It had been a long, long time since I'd been part of a family dinner.

I slipped down into the seat next to Mia and we were quickly joined by Sarah, Lewis and Brooks, who sat opposite me.

"It looks delicious." I commented as I admired the spread that Sarah and Lewis had created. There were salads, meats, breads and vegetables of every kind, and there looked to be enough to feed a small army.

Lewis grinned. "Well what are we waiting for, dig in!"

The table erupted into movement, everybody reaching for a bowl or plate of food. I loaded my plate with everything, unable to remember a time when my meals hadn't come from a take away store or craft services on set.

Mom and dad had been more of the takeaway dinners type people. They both worked long hours and neither wanted to cook, which I completely understood. But it also meant that mom would eat in the parking lot of some takeaway place, and then I would eat whatever she brought home for me at the table whilst dad watched TV. The two could barely stand to be in the same room as each other half the time, and mom used to say that the only thing they agreed on was that they disagreed on everything.

"So Savannah honey, how was your first day of school?" Sarah asked me as she shovelled a spoonful of potato salad into her mouth. Lewis turned to look at me with intrigue, clearly just as interested to hear about my day.

"Ah, it was fine." I answered vaguely, busying myself by trying to stab a stray tomato with my fork.

"Fine?" Mia scoffed through a mouthful of food. "Mom, dad, you should've seen the frenzy in the cafeteria at lunch. Everybody wanted to take a photo with her or talk to her." Mia gushed, wiping her face with the back of her hand.

"Yes the janitor told me about that." Lewis mused, pushing his spectacles higher on his nose. "I was thinking I might mention something about it at our next school assembly. That kind of behaviour is very distracting for Savannah and all of our other pupils, and it's quite inappropriate if I do say so myself."

I tried not to cringe at the thought of the principal standing up at assembly and telling everybody not to bother me. I wasn't good at laying low, I knew that, but I still wanted to try. Surviving here drama free was my only ticket back to LA and Scandalous. I silently prayed that Mia would jump in and help me.

"Dad, do you want to completely ruin her life? Please, please don't do that." Mia whined, and I exhaled in relief. The girl always did have my back.

"It's fine really, thank you Lewis, I'm sure that everything will calm down in a few days. Sorry about the trouble I caused though. I can't really seem to do anything these days without causing problems." I said bitterly as I pushed my food around my plate.

Sensing that I wasn't just talking about school, the table quietened. I wondered briefly if anyone was going to bring up the inevitable-- my mother had undoubtedly told them why I was here, after all.

"Well," Sarah said after a moment of awkward silence, "who wants pie?"

***

I stared at the text exchange I'd shared with my co-star Andrew and ran my fingers through my hair. I would never understand why girls threw themselves at him just because he was hot. He was a royal pain in the ass on a good day.

I powered off my phone with a sigh and shoved it in my back pocket, reaching up to grip onto the chains on either side of me. I was currently sat on the ancient swing set in the McCormacks' backyard, which had once been my very favorite place on Earth. I'd sat here for hours, swinging back and forth and letting the wind blow away all of my problems. Maybe it would work now too.

Everyone in LA was relying on me. Their jobs, their livelihood, their ability to feed their families all relied on me. If I couldn't get back to filming before the end of the hiatus, all of our cast and crew were going to lose their jobs. Because of me.

Plus, I wasn't ready to leave Veronica Hart just yet. My character was loyal and brave and kind-- a rare creature in her world of spoilt rich kids. I wanted her to find her place, to figure out where she belonged.

I wanted to keep her a part of me just a little longer.