Chapter 2
Valerie’s P.O.V.
“So tell me, Val.” Ashton begins. “Where are you from?”
“Here.” I tell him. “Born and raised. Never left this town.”
“I bet you haven’t seen half the stuff in it.” He says, putting another grape into his mouth.
I shrug. “That’s probably true. You have such lovely insight. You should be some sort of professor.”
“Ha ha.” He deadpans. “I’ll take you somewhere. Name a place.”
I shrug. “Anywhere.”
“That’s not very specific.”
“You never said the answer I gave had to be specific.”
“Don’t be such a smartass.” He says with a laugh.
“I wouldn’t have to be a smartass if you asked smarter questions.”
“Fletina.” He says, looking me dead in the eye.
I burst into a fit of laughter and several heads in the cafeteria turn around and look at us. I cover my mouth and watch Ashton’s amused expression as I try to calm down. Never had anyone looked so puzzlingly beautiful.
“So, do you have any friends?” I ask.
“Of course I do. What makes you think I don’t?”
“Well, we’re sitting at an empty cafeteria table.”
“They probably ditched.” He tells me.
“You ditch a lot?”
He shakes his head. “No, not really.”
I nod and grab a grape off his tray, popping it into my mouth. “I’ve ditched before.” I tell him. “I used to ditch almost every day and then my mom got on my case about it and now I’m here. Sitting in a cafeteria at an empty table with you.”
“You say it like it’s a bad thing.” He says with a smirk.
“Are you always this conceited?”
“No.” He admits. “It’s usually worse.”
I roll my eyes. “You know, you’re-”
“Hey Val! You got a new boy toy?” James asks, wrapping his arm around my waist, and taking a seat next to me.
“Shove off, James.” I tell him with a laugh.
“What? You’re not gonna introduce me?” He asks, pouting his lips.
“Don’t be so immature, James. This is Ashton.” I tell him, gesturing at Ashton.
“What’s up man?” James asks, doing a guy head nod at Ashton.
Ashton does the head nod back and the sacred ritual of male bonding has been completed.
“Watch out for her Ashton.” James says. “She’s a maneater.”
I roll my eyes. “No, I’m not James. You’re just a whore.”
“Whoa!” James says, mock horror on his face. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That you’re a dick.” I tell him with a laugh. “Now go away. I’m having a nice time.”
“Fine.” He says with a laugh. “See you guys later.” He waves and disappears through the crowd of students crowding the cafeteria.
“Who was that?” Ashton asks.
“That’s James. Just ignore him. I’ve known him for a while, but we’re not friends.” I tell him. James was far from my friend, but we were friendly with each other. I don’t have any reason to be rude to him, seriously rude, that is.
“Are you two like, a thing?”
“No, definitely not. He’s just an obnoxious jock and his obnoxious jock friends always hang around me because they have nothing better to do.”
“I think hanging around you is pretty fun.”
“Look at you being so charming.”
“I don’t even have to try.”
“Smooth as butter.”
“Lovely comparison.”
“Absolutely.” The lunch bell rings and I sigh. “Well, I guess I’ll see you in two days.”
“Two days?”
“We don’t have any classes together for the rest of the day, or any classes together tomorrow. You know, I thought they covered this with toddlers. Your classes change every other day and-”
“I get it, I get it.” He says, rolling his eyes. “But maybe we could hang out sometime? And we have the same lunch, so…”
“That is, if you don’t ditch.”
He nods. “That’s true. I still need your phone number, by the way.”
“Persistent little fella, aren’t you?” I ask him with a smile.
“I definitely am.”
I roll my eyes and laugh. “Okay, just give me your phone.” He hands it to my an I type in my number. I hand it back to him and he smiles. “Great. Now that that’s sorted, I’ll see you around. It was a pleasure making your acquaintance.” I tell him standing up and giving him a curtsy.
“The pleasure was all mine.” He says, bowing.
I laugh and wave before turning and walking down the hall.
“Valerie!” He calls.
I turn around and stand on my tip toes so I can see him through the mob of students pushing me around.
“I’ll call you tonight!” He says with a smile.
I nod and smile back before getting swallowed in the sea of students.
I’d have to say today has been pretty successfully.
~~~
The walk home was boring, as usual. The same trees, the same fences, same everything. Ashton was right. I haven’t seen the half of anything. It’s always been the same thing every single day. One thing had been sitting in the back of my head all day. The first question on a stupid worksheet I got in English class.
Who are you?
I didn’t want to overthink anything, because I knew if I did, I’d go crazy. I tend to overanalyze the small things, which is why the second I get home, I lock myself in my room and get out a notebook. I scrawl the question messily at the top of the paper and look at it sternly, like maybe if I glare at it long enough, I’ll get the answer.
But that’s not how life works.
If I want to know who I am, I have to go through all the works of a classic self discovery. And I do not have the time, or the money to do anything like that. I decide to do my homework instead, but my focus is drifting back to the almost empty paper. Those three words are ruining me. I can only imagine what Ms. Jones will have to say tomorrow that’ll ruin my day then.
Who are you?
I hear the front door of my shabby apartment open and walk out of my room. My mom is carrying groceries and I immediately rush over to help her. I grab a couple of bags and set them on the counter and start putting things away.
“How was your first day?” She asks.
“It was fine.” I tell her. “Met a cute boy.”
“Really? What’s his name?”
“Ashton. And he’s very persistent.”
“How so?”
“He already has my phone number.”
She laughs and reaches over me to put some food away. Our kitchen is small and cramped, just like the rest of our apartment, but we make it work. I can’t imagine what it would be like if we had more people living here. I’m glad it’s just my mom and I.
“So, tell me more about him.” My mom says, sitting down at the kitchen table, pulling her hair out of her bun.
“He’s tall. Really tall. And cute. Very, very, cute. He’s got wavy dirty blonde hair and the prettiest hazel eyes. Not to mention he’s got the cutest dimples. He also already planned our wedding, then friendzoned me, then said he’d like to get out of the friendzone.”
“Indecisive?”
“Absolutely.” I tell her with a smile. “But I really like one of my teachers. She’s been making me think. We had this assignment and-” I stop. “You know what? You’ve had a long day. Go get some rest.”
“Are you sure? I’d love to hear about your day-”
“I can tell you’re tired.” I tell her with a smile. “Just go to sleep. I’ll tell you tomorrow.”
“Alright.” She says. “Goodnight.”
“Night!” I call after her. I walk back into my room and sit on my bed again. I’m not going to get any homework done. At all.
“Who are you?” I ask myself quietly, staring at my hands. I fall back onto my bed with a groan. There’s no possible way for me to answer this question. At all. I just need an epiphany. Or something spectacular to happen. Just one moment that can change me forever and help me realize who I am.
Until then,
I’ll stick with the adjectives.