My day at school.. was just blurry bits of tangled memories . . . until chemistry.
It was my last period of the day. I honestly hated the class and had no idea what was going on. I was passing barely because the teacher took pity on me, but I never did my work correctly. Exams would destroy me when they came... I had a while before then though.
The teacher seemed announced something about group work? I was half asleep and usually I ended up slugging behind in groups anyway, but not today. Little did I know, that girl had been waiting for an opportunity to speak to me.
"Hello Valerie!"
Loud melodic voice penetrating my ears. My eyes widened, and I squinted. Valentina... The cute goth girl. She... dyed her hair. It was a dark crimson color, kind of like wine. Her dark clothing almost made her seem somewhat vampire like. Blood red hair, dark clothes, dark eyes... Yes, a hispanic vampire.
"Your hair is different," I observed.
She laughed a little. "You're right. My papa finally let me dye it."
She sat next to me, and I stared at her confused. "What's going on?" I asked. She laughed again, her eyes twinkling. Have you ever heard someone laugh at a pet or baby's antics? Her tone resembled that. Maybe she viewed me as a child.
"We are just writing down electron configurations, don't worry. I'm good at this. Were you asleep?" Her accent was pretty heavy. I hadn't noticed it before. Part of me wondered where she was from, but I was a bit too scared to ask.
"So, Cleo told me you walked with her this morning? Did you have fun? She's so fond of you; it's nice to see her happy with someone again."
I felt my face warm a little. Fond? "She told you th...that?" I mumbled. Valentina focused on writing down our answers but acknowledged my question with a nod.
"Please be careful with her by the way. She's very sweet, however, everyone has peculiarities about them, you know?" She dropped her pencil and slid her paper into my direction, presumably so I could copy the answers. I quickly scribbled the meaningless letters and numbers for my work. To be honest, I didn't even try hiding the fact that I copied. It'd be too much work.
Valentina grabbed both of our papers, stood, and turned them into the teacher with a smile. . . Science nerd? I wouldn't have guessed.
She sat back down and looked at her phone. Her home screen was from a cartoon I didn't recognize, and she didn't seem to have many apps. She logged onto some study site and began to go through cards for a 'Heritage Spanish 3.'
I felt a bit awkward just sitting there. I thought about using my phone but my conduct in this class was already low because I slept so often. I muttered, "Do you like chemistry?"
"I love chemistry actually. I plan on going into the navy to work on nuclear power plants. It's the cleanest energy honestly. It sucks that there's so much debate on it in the media. We could be producing so much if our politicians weren't so useless, you know? What do you want to be?"
I clicked my nails together and stared at my lap. What did I want to be? "I'm not really sure... I'm not good at anything. I'll probably be a NEET..."
Valentina's eyes widened for a second. "I'm sure you're good at something. I don't know you well so I'm not sure about your hobbies, but Cleo clearly likes you for a reason. Most NEETS I've met are pretty miserable. I don't think you'd want to turn out like that."
Her comment was ineffective. Being miserable was already my forte, so continuing the streak well into adulthood seemed to be the best option.
The bell rang causing the silence to crumble. Valentina stood. "Let's go to the club meeting."
I forgot about that. It was kind of a pity. Sleep seemed really appealing at the moment. But at least I'd get to see the angel.
Valentina walked quickly, so I was forced to as well. Usually, I kind of trudged but behind her I felt like I had to run. She walked with a purpose, and it seemed to take everything for me to keep up with her. How exhausting.
We entered a circular room with chairs surrounding a stage. There was a piano in the corner of the room and some sheet music lied on the floor. Band room? Orchestra room? Maybe it belonged to choir. I'd been going to this school for so long, yet I still didn't know my way around to well. I guess that's what happens when you're disoriented the entire time.
"No one else is here yet," Valentina seemed happy. "My second period is actually here with Cleo"
"What class is this?" I mumbled.
She seemed a little surprised by my question, but she just smiled, "Choir... Hey Valerie, can I ask you a question? You don't have to answer if you don't want to."
I nodded. No one asked me anything. Ever.
"You are sad, aren't you? You remind me of my brother, and he used to be really sad all the time. I just want to make sure you're okay."
"Yeah, I think I am. I'm used to it."
Valentina was quiet. Her brain was probably filled with thoughts. Maybe she wanted to help. It would be a futile effort, but I could feel a bit of hope when speaking to her. It was very easy to be calmed by her words. I almost felt guilty though. My sadness wasn't her problem.
"Just so you know I don't mind if you need to talk sometimes. Nothing overwhelms me. I'm not sure I can help even though I want to, but know I'm here," reassuringly she spoke. Her smile was so soft. I hadn't noticed before. Now that I was looking again; she had really white teeth. A black lipstick mark seemed to cover some of her front teeth.
"You have lipstick on your teeth," I muttered. My eyes wondered down to my hands, and I wondered if I had been staring at her for too long. "Thanks by the way." I added quickly.
She laughed. "No problem. Thanks for the lipstick thing. I'm so bad at wearing this stuff you know? I only bought it because it was half off. My mom owns-"
"Hey guys!" An angelic voice cut into Valentina's statement, silencing her immediately. Cleo entered the room. Her eyes were glistening, and she seemed to stand so tall over us like this... Not physically... But she just seemed to shine over us like the sun. Her eyes were almost catlike, and it seemed to pierce me like thorns. My heart felt as though it was skipping around.
She approached me with a few other girls behind her and embraced me. She smelled like rose scented perfume. I was a bit too surprised to hug back, but Cleo seemed to not mind. Her lips came into contact with my head. My face felt like it was burning. She held my hand and smiled at Valentina.
"Thanks for keeping her company. I forgot to take into account that you guys shared your last period together. Would you believe I walked to that class to pick her up only to see that she wasn't there. I was so nervous that she forgot about our club meeting."
"No problem, sorry. Next time, text me, Sylvester," Valentina almost hissed.
"I shouldn't have to text you, Valentina."
Their voices were scary. Valentina wasn't as dominating as Cleo, and I could see that she was not going to attempt to argue with her. Still, the vibes between the two seemed to be salted with bits of rage.
"Let's commence our club meeting and begin with introductions~"