❝𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐'𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴?❞
In which Valerie Carver wants nothing more than a change in her monotonous life, only to have her entire world flipped upside do...
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~ one. the hellfire club ~
***
March 21st - mark the date. The third day in a row Valerie told herself to end things with Patrick, only to chicken out at the last minute. The decision made sense initially; it was the last day before Spring Break so the awkward stage would be postponed for at least two weeks, but then she remembered the Championship Basketball Game was that same night. With Jason ranting and raving about it breakfast, lunch, and dinner, she didn't know how she could forget but, without the Cheer Calender to revolve her life around, she must have lost track. Breaking up with Patrick beforehand could affect his performance and afterwards would be the definition of a mood-killer, leaving her with no choice but to hang on at least another day.
"Good morning, Hawkins High!"
As was tradition, every Friday morning was host to a Pep Rally to celebrate the Hawkins High Sports Teams (which, in reality, only meant the Tigers and Cheer Squad). It still felt weird to watch Chrissy and the other cheerleaders perform without her... but a good weird. Not worrying about perfecting every step of the routine meant she could actually enjoy a Pep Rally every once in a while.
"First off... hey," Jason said into the microphone, reciting the words Val had already heard twice that morning. "First off, I'd like to thank each and every one of you. Without your support, we wouldn't be here. Give yourselves a big hand."
From birth, Val and Jason made a subconscious decision to never share the same talents as each other. For that reason, although public speaking was most definitely his forte, the entirety of his speeches was always written by her. He possessed the charisma to hold the crowd's attention but, without her words, the morale at Hawkins High would be in serious trouble.
"And, of course, of course, I have to give a special shout-out to the best and prettiest fans of all time: the Tiger Cheer Squad. Chrissy... Chrissy, I love you, babe."
Chrissy, sat up front with the other cheerleaders, blew him a kiss, much to the audience's approval. Val couldn't remember a time when Jason and Chrissy weren't together. Even the memories of before they knew each other had Chrissy in them now. The King and Queen of Hawkins High made perfect sense... unlike her and Patrick. But Val didn't want to think about that.
"You know... I think I can speak for all of us when I say it's been a tough year for Hawkins. So much loss. And sometimes I wonder, How much loss can one community take? On dark days like this, we need something to believe in. So, last night, when we were down by ten points at half to Christian Academy, I looked at my team and I said, Think of Jack. Think of Melissa. "
Oh, God. He was going off-script. The last time that happened, Jason ended up suspended from the team for a week for offending half the teaching staff. This was precisely why the writing was Val's job.
