Nico Vaughan, the junior class "Nice Girl" wants to be free from her abusive and obsessive ex-boyfriend.
Valen Henford, the school's resident "Rich Guy meets Bad Boy" wants to spend his senior year with the girl he's been in love with for years.
W...
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"Keep a little fire burning. However small. However hidden." (Cormac McCarthy).
|◁ II ▷|
/Valen looked around the huge park, nervous. He turned towards his parents who were sitting in the pavilions. They waved to him and continued talking with the friends they had to meet there. Business stuff, he was told. That was why they had to drive two hours away. But his parents found a playground their friends were willing to work at.
Valen didn't want to play by himself, though. He waited patiently beside his parents, not understanding the concepts or words they were discussing. Boring. His mother took his hand carefully after a minute and excused herself.
"Lionel, Matthew and Kimberly, I'm going to take Valen to the swings for a moment," she smiled. Valen always loved his mother's bright smile.
Helen brought Valen to the swings, and she pushed him a few times. They laughed, and Valen was happy. So happy.
But after a few minutes, the swinging stopped. Helen crouched in front of him on the swing. "Valen, baby. Me and your daddy gotta work with our friends while we're here, okay? We've got important things to do, and we're helpin' people."
Valen's little heart dropped. "But—"
"You are always gonna be our most important, baby. I promise," Helen assured him, leaning forward to kiss his forehead. "You are the best thing that has ever happened to us. You can't understand right now, but you came to us at a hard time, and we are forever thankful and blessed because of you. We both love you so much, baby."
Helen gave him one last hand-squeeze and walked back to her seat. Valen watched as she was pulled back into her work, her serious work-face coming back on. From his swing a few feet away, he could hear the way she spoke change.
Valen sat on the swing, not moving. He twisted every once in a while to look back at his parents. They had work. He was important, but they also had other important things. If he was most important, why did they have to work? Why were they always busy?
"Hey," a small voice greeted him.
Valen turned to see a small girl with messy hair and pretty green eyes. She waved at him, and he noticed a small bracelet on her wrist. A purple one.
"Wanna play with us?" she asked him.
Valen nodded quickly, jumping off the swing. "Yes. Thank you."
She smiled at him, and he couldn't help but smile back. She was pretty, and she was sweet. So kind. Like his mother told him to always be, but somehow more. Better. Because sometimes "kind" and "nice" aren't real, but with this girl, it felt real.
