invisible string | s. uley ✓

6 | monopoly

"Figured we ought to get your homework for the week finished," he told her. "You've got that big history test on Monday."

"Oh, I've already finished my work," she told him, sitting a little straighter. "I'll look over the study guide Monday before class."

"You finished?" he asked, eying her skeptically.

"Yeah. It's in my backpack if you wanna check it," she said, shrugging.

Jasper walked to her yellow backpack with purpose. When Valeria decided to do her homework on her own, it often meant there was more work for them as they had to correct her mistakes. Jasper helped with History, Rosalie with Physics, and Edward with English.

Valeria hummed to herself, cleaning up her supplies as Jasper dug through her messy backpack and found her study guide. His eyes scanned it quickly, a frown growing on his face.

"Val, these are all right," he said, sounding surprised. There weren't even eraser marks showing that she had to change a wrong answer.

"I do know some things sometimes," Valeria said, crossing her arms.

Jasper shot her an unimpressed look. "Or Google knows things."

Valeria sighed. She knew she couldn't admit that Sam had helped her with the study guide, so she'd have to go along with Jasper's assumption. "Mr. Ruffalo didn't say we couldn't look things up."

"Yes, but you know Carlisle wants you to do the work and learn on your own," Jasper told her. Valeria was going to be going to school for a long time as they continued to try and blend into towns for the rest of her existence. Carlisle, at least for her first time or two around, wanted Valeria to work hard on her own and pass her classes with minimal cheating.

"History is important, Valeria," Jasper said, taking a seat on her bed. "You need to learn from it and not just search the internet for simple answers. Knowing things of the past can help you have a successful future — something that will be rather lengthy for you now"

Valeria sighed over-dramatically and flopped down next to him on the mattress. "Look, I get that you were a super badass Union spy who infiltrated the Confederate army, and that history is fascinating to you. Really, you're awesome. But I just... don't care. I don't need to understand why they can't just print more money in order to have a nice existence."

"They can't print more money because—"

"Jazz," she said, shoving a pillow over his face. Unfortunately, suffocating him was impossible. "I just said I don't care. I wanna paint my pictures and watch my silly movies and beat Emmett in Mario Kart for the rest of my life, and I'll be content."

"First off, you've never beaten Emmett in Mario Kart," Jasper pointed out, pushing the pillow off his face. "You're very bad, even on easy mode."

"Okay, but I wipe the floor with him in Mario Party. And I beat him the last time we played Monopoly," she reminded him.

Jasper scoffed and shook his head. "You were stealing money from the bank when no one was looking."

Valeria opened her mouth to defend herself, but a loud voice sounded from down the stairs.

"YOU DID WHAT!"

Valeria quickly sat up, realizing that Emmett now knew she cheated at Monopoly. "Thanks a lot, Jazz," she muttered bitterly. Then she groaned when they heard Emmett running towards them.

"I can't believe you're cheating at goddamn Monopoly!" Emmett shouted, throwing her door open. "What's next? Killing babies? Tax evasion?"

"Uh, I don't know how taxes work, but isn't half of Jasper's purpose in this family that he helps us commit fraud and falsify documents and not pay taxes?" Valeria asked, tilting her head as she studied Jasper. "You know, you're actually really sketchy, Jazz."