third person pov
"she thinks i'm a bad influence— am i a bad influence?"
"ion think so, no."
"yeah but if my best friend mom thinks so.. that has to mean something right? i mean, she doesn't even want me at her house."
"you're stressing too much, relax."
as soon as valerie reached home and fell into her bed, she pulled out her phone and called ashtray. she hasn't realized it, but anytime she couldn't talk to victoria about how she was feeling, she talked to ashtray. he was the only other person she felt okay telling.
valerie smiled, her phone sat on the pillow next to her head, her phone on speaker so she could hear what he said.
"yeah, okay." she responded lowly, hearing whatever background noise there was from his phone.
"hey, what are you doing for new years?" she asked him, remember that was coming up soon.
"ion know.. whatever comes up, you?" he replied.
"new years party, there's gonna be one.. probably, at least." she said, knowing mckay would probably throw one, if not his brothers.
"you gonna go with victoria?" he asked her, hoping she'd say no.
"if i can.. with her mom and all." she sighed, that going to her head again. "oh, and troy and roy."
ashtray froze, walking to his computer desk. he knew something was going on between roy and victoria, but troy was a known playboy.. he wouldn't pass at this opportunity to get at valerie.
"troy?" he spoke again, sitting down and putting his phone on speaker.
"yeah.. he's roy's twin?.. and roy's most likely gonna be with vic, so." she said, playing with her hoodie zipper.
"yeah, no shit. they gon pick y'all up or something?" he asked, moving his chair back and forth.
"don't know, it's in like two weeks, playboy." she said, smiling at the nickname she gave him.
"playboy?" he questioned, finding it ironic that he thought of troy as that a minute ago.
"yep. if you were so quiet and moody all the time, you'd be a player." she said, shrugging to herself.
"bullshit." he chuckled out.
she went to respond, but cut herself off when she thought about asking him to go with her. she hesitated, not wanting to plan something if no one threw a party.. and not wanting to be embarrassed if he said no. so, she just changed the question around.
"if there is a party, who are you going with?"
"fezco? you?" he responded, that being the only two he'd go with anyway.
she smiled to herself, biting her lip to stop herself, cringing. "okay."
after that, the two talked about random things, occasionally saying a joke and then changing the topic based off of the joke.
ashtray was waiting for the perfect time to ask her about relationships. he remembered when she told him she liked someone, and he wanted to know who it was.
"so, do you like anyone at school?" valerie asked him, and he smirked to himself since she asked before he had to.
"yeah." he answered, shocking her.
"what! who?" she said, flipping her body around to grab her phone.
he chuckled her sudden loudness, "mind your business." he spoke sarcastically, making valerie roll her eyes.
"seriously, who do you like, playboy?" she asked again.
he mentally cursed himself for being a pussy and not saying 'you.' "ion know, who do you like, valerie?"
she bit at her lip, wanting to just explode and say him, but she didn't.. and she sighed because of it. "who said i like anyone?"
"you did, when you stayed at my house." he smirked.
val's jaw dropped, praying she didn't tell him while she was tired. "no- did i say who?"
"so you do." he said, making her groan in annoyance.
"maybe i do." she said anyway, and immediately went back to him. "now, who do you like?"
ashtray rolled his eyes, what do i have to loose? he thought to himself. "maybe it's you, who knows?"
a slow smile appeared on valerie's face, her heart beating faster than it was before. that was a first step, and it was all she wanted. "sure." she said sarcastically anyway, not quite knowing how to reply to him.
she picked up her phone again, reading the time. "well, i'm tired. so i'm gonna go to sleep." she spoke, yawning.
he nodded, even if she couldn't see it, "alright."
she got under her covers, "goodnight."
she waited for him to respond, making him roll his eyes. "night." and soon as he did, she hung up and eventually fell asleep with a smile on her face.
———
the next day, valerie had woken up late, and missed the call she had gotten from victoria. it confused her, she knew her phone had been taken away, so she immediately raised up and tried calling her back, but there way no reply, like she excepted.
she sent her many messages, some asking if she was okay, and others asking what she needed and how she had her phone. but there was still no reply.
she knew it was a bad idea, but she was worried about her best friend. so, the girl got up, changed and brushed her teeth, and left out her front door without eating or telling her parents where she was going.
she walked fast to victoria's house, praying it wasn't nothing bad but also hoping it wasn't nothing at all, since she had walked there as soon as she woke up.
once she reached her house, her moms car was in the drive way, making her groan and throw her head back. she pinched the bride of her nose, thinking over the ways she could talk to her friend. and finally, she decided to climb up the tree next to her house, slowly going onto her roof and making her way over to her bed room window. at one point in time, she almost slipped, making her let out a loud gasp and grab onto the wall next to her.
she sighed, "fucking victoria." she mumbled to herself, finally reaching her bedroom window.
she couldn't see due to the blinds, so she prayed neither of her parents were in the room at the moment and knocked on it four times. she leaned back on the wall, catching her breathe as she waited for the window to open.
once the window opened, a tired looking victoria stood there. valerie peeked her head to the side, letting out a sigh of relief when it was victoria and not her parents.
"my moms-." victoria started, her voice low and raspy. "yeah, i know." valerie cut her off, pushing past her and into her room.
luckily, victorias room door was shut so valerie just had to be quiet and she would be fine.
she looked over at victoria, noticing her stressed-looking state, she slowly stepped forward and and pulled her into a hug. "you okay?"
vic sighed, "yeah."
but again, that shaky voice told valerie she was lying. what valerie didn't know was that roy had asked victoria out about two weeks ago, out of nervousness.. she said she'd think about it. but she was scared because of the fact that roy was really touchy, it was clear he wanted to fuck her. and victoria didn't want to loose her virginity yet, so she put a pause on acting all 'couplely' with him, that way he didn't think she was okay with him being touchy.
between the stress of keeping her friendship, and still trying to get with the boys he likes without giving in a letting him fuck her, she broke down. she felt like she was doing something wrong, and that's the reason she called valerie. she snuck in her moms room, found her found and called her best friend. but once she didn't get a reply, she broke down and cried, not knowing what else to do.
"vic.. something wrong, what is it?" val asked again, still hugging her, and rubbing her back gently as a way to comfort her.
the sound of quiet cry's made valerie pull away from the hug, looking at her best friend in this state had her stuck. she didn't know what to do, and mainly because.. she didn't know what was wrong.
"vic-." she was going to try again, but victoria finally spoke up. "am i doing something wrong, val?"
this confused valerie, so she followed victoria over to her bed as she sat down. "what?.. what do you mean?"
vic wiped her tears, through all of the emotions she was feeling, for some reason she was getting angry with valerie. "i mean, what am i doing so wrong? i got a fucking matching tattoo with my best friend and now i'm grounded for who knows how long, and i got asked out by the guy i like but it's clear he wants to fuck me and now i'm scared to say yes because he might think i'm saying yes to having sex with him too and it's just so-."
valerie cut her off and her voice got louder, "woah, slow down.. roys pressuring you into having sex?"
victoria sighed, "i don't know? is that what he's doing? fuck, whatever."
valerie furrowed his eyebrows, seeing that victoria was getting annoyed with her too. "vic.. maybe you shouldn't get with roy."
victoria turned to her, "no. no, you don't get to tell me what decisions i should make anymore, alright?"
"why are you mad at me? i didn't do-." val tried, but victoria stood up. "because! god, valerie, you try to make all my decisions because you think you can fix everything but you can't!"
valerie was taken back by this, but stood up as well. "calm down, victoria. just because you're stressed doesn't mean you can take it out on me!"
"i'm not taking shit out on you! i should though.. i mean, you're the reason i'm grounded and stuck in my house twenty four-seven.. maybe you are a bad influence." victoria yelled.
the two stopped at the sound of footsteps, but valerie was already making her way to victorias window, what she said was enough.
"victoria, who's in your room?!" valerie heard as she climbed out of victorias window without a word.