Valerie, Lizzie, Josie, and Rafael walked together toward the bleachers on the field where the Salvatore School's own sport called Wickery was being held, "Alyssa Chang made a broom fly in physics last year, but Rick Rodgers fell thirty feet during practice, so real-life Quidditch remains an elusive pipe dream." Lizzie explained to Rafael, who honestly didn't seem interested in what she had to say.
"To the point, the school ended up naming it Wickery," Valerie added in, "Mr. Saltzman and Caroline Forbes, Josie and Lizzie's parents, founded the game when they were ten and I was eleven. I'm pretty sure they named it after the bridge and falls here in town." She informed before turning to Lizzie, "You finish the backstory I'm gonna go."
"Wait," Rafael suddenly spoke up, causing Valerie to turn to him, "Where are you going? You're leaving me? I thought you were my tour guide."
Valerie could sense the urgency in Rafael's tone. She felt bad but knew Lizzie wanted alone time with Rafael and she deserved it. Valerie sighed, giving Rafael an apologetic look, "So is Lizzie. She's going to stay with you. I'm gonna go sit with Josie and MG. I'll see you after. Don't worry."
Valerie sent the two teenagers a smile before walking over to Josie and MG, who quickly made room for the girl to sit. Once sitting down, Valerie tucked the stray pieces of hair in her face behind her hear so she could listen in to Lizzie and Rafael's conversation, "I heard what happen to your girlfriend," Lizzie told Rafael in a calm tone, causing the male werewolf to look up at her with a confused expression on his face, clearly confused as to how she knew that, "Oh, I have spies everywhere. I'm nosy in that, like, charming way."
Valerie groaned, placing her face in her hands. The secondhand embarrassment she was feeling at that moment was killing her.
"Thanks, I guess." Rafael awkwardly replied, not knowing what else to say.
"On the plus side, we're all happy to know you're single," Lizzie commented, trying to brighten up the mood, which ended up making things worse. Clearly noticing she was saying the wrong things, Lizzie avoided eye contact with Rafael, "Oh, God. That was my inside voice. I so sorry. Guys like you make me nervous."
Rafael furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he turned to look at Lizzie, "Guys like me?" He asked confused.
Lizzie smiled awkwardly, "You know, hot, angry..." She trailed off awkwardly, "Damaged."
Rafael clicked his tongue as he turned away from Lizzie, nodding his head, "Yeah. I sort of made a point in my life about keeping clear of girls like you. So I guess I'm gonna go find Landon." He told her before getting up and leaving.
Valerie had a sad look on her face when she saw how let down Lizzie felt. Anger consumed her and Valerie abruptly got up before running after Rafael, "Hey!" Valerie shouted out, following after Rafael, who seemed to be ignoring her, "Hello! Rafael! Can't you hear me or are your ears blocked with stupidity?"
Rafael exhaled deeply as he stopped walking and turned face Valerie, "What do you want, Valerie?" He asked her annoyed, "Aren't you supposed to be hanging with Josie or whoever the hell you said you were ditching me for?"
"Lizzie wanted to be alone with you. I was trying to be a good friend," Valerie argued defensively, "She's clearly attracted to you so I was giving her a chance."
Rafael stayed silent, clearly about to go off on Valerie but was trying her hardest not to, "You're clearly dying to say something, why don't you just say it, huh?" Valerie commented, but Rafael didn't say a single thing, causing her to scoff, "You know what? Nevermind. I'm going to go find Lizzie because she's probably having a meltdown after what you said to her."
Valerie turned away from Rafael and started to walk away, causing Rafael to sigh out.
________
Lizzie screamed out in emotional pain as she stood in the Salvatore School's kitchen. Lifting her hands, the teenage witch used her powers to telekinetically made all of the plates in the cabinets be thrown across the room. Screaming out once more, she made more plates shatters. Lastly, she used her magic have a knife zoom across the room and embed itself into the kitchen door.
She forced another knife to go flying as Valerie entered the trashed kitchen, "Lizzie?" Valerie called out, only to have the knife going straight toward her face.
Before it could hit her, Valerie lifted up her, forcing the knife to stop in mid-air not even two inches away from her. She swiped her hand in a downward gesture, allowing the knife to hit the ground. She let out a sigh of relief, turning to face Lizzie, who stood about ten feet away Valerie, a depressed look on her face.
The blonde witch looked as if she were about to cry, which lead to Valerie immediately rushing over to her Lizzie, "Hey, hey, hey. It's okay," She told the girl in a soothing tone as she quickly hugged her, "It's going to be okay."
"No, it's not," Lizzie cried, "I ruin everything. I'm so stupid. I'm broken beyond repair."
"You're not broken, okay, Liz?" Valerie told the girl, "Don't ever say that. You're going to be okay. We should go find your dad. He'll get someone to clean this mess up. Is that okay with you?"
Valerie pulled away from hugging Lizzie as the blonde female nodded her head. Valerie grabbed onto Lizzie's hand before leading her out of the kitchen, in search of Alaric.
______
After dropping off Lizzie to Alaric, Valerie was wandering the hallways, in search of something to do. Valerie ended up deciding to go to the museum to look around, just as she always seemed to do when she was bored.
Valerie opened the both filled with the biography of Hope's father, Klaus Mikaelson, and her own mother, Ophelia Rose.
"Whatcha looking at?" A familiar voice asked, causing Valerie to look up to see Rafael walking over to her.
"A story about my mother's life," Valerie informed him.
Rafael walked a bit closer to her, looking down at the book, "The story of Ophelia Rose, the mythical tribrid and Klaus Mikaelson, the great evil." Rafael read out loud, "What's the whole story? And who's Klaus Mikaelson?"
Rafael seemed to be waiting for Valerie to tell the story. She let out a sigh, hesitant at first to explain everything to him.
"Klaus Mikaelson was Hope's father. In seventeen thirty-four, he came here with his family. He instantly fell in love with my mother, who happened to be proclaimed the Queen of the supernatural community of New Orleans since she was both witch and werewolf. Both supernatural sides turned their backs on my mother when they found out about their affair. She didn't care though. She ended up becoming immortal and both she and Klaus spent nearly spend two centuries together. Well, up until 1919." Valerie explained to Rafael.
"What happened in 1919?" Rafael asked curiously.
"Klaus' father came to wreak havoc on New Orleans. He had been hunting down Klaus for nearly a thousand years. He killed Ophelia and the man who was like a son to Klaus, Marcel Gerard. Klaus and his siblings fled New Orleans without Marcel and Ophelia, thinking they were dead. When the Mikaelsons left, so did their father. Marcel and Ophelia ended up working to rebuild New Orleans in their own image without the Mikaelsons. They ended up doing just that and while doing so, they ended up falling in love. It was one of the worst mistakes I think my mother ever made."
Rafael gave Valerie a confused look, "How is that a bad thing?"
Valerie flipped the page of the book to reveal on one side of the page was a picture of Klaus and Ophelia together in nineteen fourteen. On the opposite side, it was a picture of Marcel and Ophelia in the early two thousand, "My mother did love Marcel, but it was nothing like what she felt for Klaus. Both of the latter at first was only infatuated by my mother because the unimaginable power that came with her. That's what reeled them in. Klaus soon realized she was more than that. They leveled each other out. She never judged him and never betrayed him. She was always on his side, even when everyone else around them was against him. She never left his side. Marcel, on the other hand, was different. Ophelia and Marcel's relationship was nothing compared to what Klaus and Ophelia had. Klaus and Ophelia never realized this, but deep down, the two of them needed each other. The stories about them in this book prove it. When Klaus came back to New Orleans, my mother chose Klaus over Marcel time and time again. While Hope's mother was pregnant with Hope, she was kidnapped alongside Ophelia. The man who kidnapped her used Hope's blood from the womb to turn my mother into a tribrid. When she transitioned into a vampire, no one seemed to mention her transition. The only one who seemed to was Klaus. Marcel always had Ophelia conceal her witch side. Hell, even her wolf side. Klaus got her to embrace all three supernatural sides of herself. He was the only who ever got to see her at her most vulnerable state. Honestly, I wish I could have a relationship like theirs." Valerie froze for a moment as she stared at Rafael wide-eyed.
Quickly, Valerie turned away from Rafael and closed the book that was filled with her mother's backstory, which seemed to be one of the most popular things looked at in both the library and the museum, "I am so sorry, Rafael. I have no clue why I just told you all that." She confessed to him, still avoiding eye contact.
"You just told me your mother love story, which is honestly the most truthful thing I've heard from anyone here today. All the girls are trying to flirt with me, but not you." Rafael told her and Valerie finally turned to him, "Look, Valerie. I'm sorry that I was pretty mean to you earlier. I shouldn't have. I have this anger inside me that I can't control."
"It comes with being a werewolf, Rafael," Valerie smiled at Rafael, "Try having to turn every month from age three to just three months ago."
"Really?" Rafael asked in disbelief.
"Yup," Valerie nodded before it became quiet between the two of them, "Hey, Rafael? How would you like to go to a party with me later?"
Rafael smiled at Valerie, "I would love to."