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YAWNINGIN THE BACK of math class, Valentina rubs at the smudged makeup remaining under her eyes from the previous night.
The last 24 hours had been an endless cycle of panic, denial, anxiety, rinse, repeat. Tina Winslow still had not shown up to school, nor had she returned any of the dozens of messages her friend left on her machine.
Mindlessly staring at the trigonometric functions scribbled on the chalkboard in front of her, thoughts of Valentina's other friend appeared. She hadn't spoken to Carol since early on the previous school day, a little occupied with other matters.
Images of that creature ran through her mind all night like a disease, a virus that scorched its symptoms into the cloud that was her brain. She hardly slept that night, the darkness behind her eyelids acting purely as a reminder of the dark figure in the woods.
She also hadn't spoken to Nancy Wheeler since watching her retreat back to her own house. Being a babysitter for Mike and his friends, the Wheeler's household phone number was etched into the phonebook in one of the kitchen drawers, yet the number remained untouched since the last time Mrs. Wheeler had called a few weeks ago.
With blonde hair falling in front of her face, Valentina pushed the wild tangles behind her ears as the wooden door to the classroom opened, revealing the principal of Hawkins High.
Being a straight-A student behind closed doors, Valentina hadn't seen much of the principal before. They'd met a couple times to discuss course selection and occasionally her attendance record, but the girl had never once been pulled out of class for one of these unimportant meetings.
So, when the woman demanded Valentina Varner's attendance in her office immediately, curiosity and concern had her eyebrows drawn tight together.
Gathering her materials into her messenger bag—which didn't take long considering she'd barely unpacked for class in the first place—she scrambled after the impatient woman who led her down the hallway.
Valentina paid little attention to the principal speeding down the hallway until they passed the woman's office, making a turn toward the end of the building where only the gymnasium and locker rooms existed.
"Where are we going?" she questioned, slowing down a bit behind the woman.
Principle Haze ignored the teenager's actions, sparing the shortest of glances over her shoulder as she instructed, "Please wait until the end to ask questions, you're there to answer theirs."
Val was officially lost. Her mind had already been so far away from reality, and she had absolutely no clue what her principal was on about. Whose questions did she have to answer? What questions?
Pushing open the gymnasium doors without a knock, Dr. Haze cleared her throat as the blonde cautiously joined the woman at her side, revealing herself to the four habitants of the large room.
