Candy Store, Nate Jacobs & Maddy Perez

v. i'm not bonnie, you're not clyde [Vera's backstory]

Five: i'm not bonnie, you're not clyde

Veronica Sawyer's relationship with Nate Jacobs started to become abusive during the summer before high school. He chastised her, calling her a prude even though he pressured her into staying a virgin.

He walked her home after school after smashing her bike with his friends.

9Th grade Nate made Vera's life a living hell. He started to get possessive and scary. Especially after becoming captain of the football team, he was obsessed with her looking her best and kept a strict eye on her. She kissed him 'good morning' and 'goodnight' and 'goodbye'. She hated kissing Nate. He'd always bite her bottom lip leaving it bruised.

One thing Nate loved doing was getting Vera ready for school and events. He relished in dressing her up in blazers and matching mini skirts and shaming her for wearing them. He loved that her mom was never home so she was isolated. Then he'd strip her down and dress her up like a hooker so he could grope her. Her bay window was where he sexually assaulted her. But she didn't call it assault. It was friends showing each other love. "Beautiful" was her pet name since he thought she was just as beautiful as the Bratz dolls on her bookshelf. He loved everything Veronica did except for when she disobeyed him and did drugs. For example, Nate started hurting Vera regularly after she refused to join the cheer team, he snapped after realizing she was high as fuck.

"No more."

"Give it back. It's a prescription."

"So you got high as fuck at cheer tryouts? Doctor's orders right?"

"It was either that or get sent to the cuckoo's nest."

"Bullshit! Are you trying to fucking embarrass me."

"Lighten up, Nate. it's not like you're my dad-"

Smack!

He just lost it, slapping her around and destroying her room, surprising her with an extreme bedroom makeover the very next day. She cries herself to sleep every night in that new room.

The catch was, he also made her a room at his house and mostly drove her there instead of his own house. He'd lie in bed with her. The room at the Jacobs house had dark purple walls, monogrammed pillows with her initials, and a lock on the outside. It scared her how he'd turned the room into her own little dollhouse, complete with an entire wardrobe and posters on the wall replicating the ones in her bedroom. Luckily, she only had to spend the night on the weekend.

"My girl will not be a fucking junkie. And you will always be my fucking girl because I made you and I can sure as hell break you too."

Nate became so popular that he'd been able to get the football team to harass her for weeks without his protection as punishment. They wrote things on her locker and grabbed her while Nate watched. Those weeks were hell. He'd still expected her to look perfect when he was ignoring her. And she'd cry in his arms when he inevitably showed up in her bedroom at night to get what he wanted. "The football team pushed me into the lockers." She sobbed to him in her bay window. "They said you were upset with me."

"I know, I know. I was angry. But I forgive you. just don't do it again."

"I won't. I promise." But he always got mad at her and they'd harass her again. But Nate began to hit her himself when he met Maddy. Nate was worse than the football team because he would touch her and leave bruises and take pictures. Vera feared him most of all. She was scared he would kill her.

"Good girl."

If only, it was that easy.

The harsh reality was Veronica got pulled out of class since her teacher reported her bruised wrist. She was sitting right next to me when security showed up with the school nurse.

Immediately, she came up with an obviously rehearsed excuse. "Some girl fell out of her turns and elbowed me in the face at dance practice, okay?" she was 100% confident that it would work until she saw Maddy in the office with her mother. There was no excuse for her clearly broken arm that I'd wrapped in ace bandages. The principal had her sit down beside the other bruised girl. Maddy clutched her hand tightly, but gentler than the way Nate grabbed her other wrist last night. her touch was comforting in comparison. Maddy immediately jumped to her defense, "She wasn't feeling well at the carnival and went home early."

"With Nate Jacobs? After the chili cookoff? I'm going to need you to take off those sunglasses and lift up your shirt."

"Sir... respectfully, you can't force me to undress in front of you."

But apparently the officers could as soon as they got her and Maddy to the precinct. "You're not locking me in a room by myself." Veronica demanded. And that's how she and Maddy ended up in the same interrogation room. One girl sat there silently while the other started throwing things around. The detective brought them coffee and Maddy threw it at the one way glass.

When the door opened, Maddy was standing protectively in front of Veronica. The detective started approaching them. Veronica never really fit into Maddy's friend group but she got to know a lot about her from Nate. "If you literally step any closer, I will fight you."

"Miss. This is standard procedure. I need both of you to remove your sweaters now. And if you don't, we will remove them for you.

"Really bitch, how?"

"I know you're really upset right now, and you don't want to hear this. But trust me when I tell you that the person that did this doesn't love you... either of you."

The worst part was that they took pictures after cutting off their clothes and then proceeded to put them into separate rooms. There was a lot of screaming. They had to hold Maddy down while they moved Veronica out of the room. They put a bright blue cast on her. The doctor kept telling her that it would heal in ten to twelve weeks. In retrospect, I probably should have made her go to the emergency room.

Meanwhile, Nate Jacobs was being interrogated about the assault on both girls.

"So you grabbed her?" the officer said.

"I grabbed them by the arm to drag them away but I didn't choke Maddy or break Veronica's arm. I asked Maddy why she was acting that way and what Vera was doing. I don't want to get her taken away but Veronica's mom left her and my dad's her legal guardian so I've been looking out for her, making sure she's okay but she gets so emotional. She's my best friend but sometimes she takes things too far."

"And Maddy?"

"I don't want to get her in trouble but she had taken a lot of drugs."

"What drugs?"

"I don't want to get her in trouble. I don't want you to take Veronica away."

"Nobody is going to get in any trouble."

"Molly."

"As in MDMA?"

"Yeah, but I don't know if it was pure. I don't do drugs so I don't know. But Veronica didn't take anything. She just freaks out sometimes. I was trying to calm her down."

"And after that conversation, was that the last time you spoke to Ms. Perez and Ms. Sawyer that evening?"

"Yeah."

"And just one more question." The officer said. "Was there anything particularly alarming about Heather's recent behavior?"

"No. Why?" Nate asked. "She's been sick all weekend."

"Heather Chandler overdosed on Sunday morning."

"What?"

"Her best friend Veronica found her and called the police. Started crying about a suicide note." in that moment, Nate had a flash of rage directed at Veronica.

It was a lie. Veronica followed Jules to meet Tyler in person. It wasn't a very good idea in retrospect but she truly believed Jules would go missing that night and she'd wake up to an Amber Alert for her.