Valen: A Collector's Item

Virginia Hunter

The car was silent as Peter drove. Valen sat in the passenger seat with her arms crossed. She tapped a finger on her arm thinking of something to say. Peter was feeling the same thing. He kept glancing at her ready to say something but then chickened out.

"Nice day out, huh?" Valen lifted her chin toward the sky, but it was in fact not a nice day out. Grey clouds had rolled in threatening to spill its contents.

"If you like cloudy days."

"I do."

Silence.

"I prefer storms though."

Peter softly smiled. "Yes, I know."

Silence again.

"Does the sun ever make you angry?"

Peter furrowed his brows but chuckled at his confusion. "Sorry, what?"

"It makes me angry sometimes. Just in your face, blinding you."

"Do you look directly at it or something?"

"No." Valen directed her eyes out the passenger window not knowing what else to say.

The silence returned from neither party keeping a conversation flowing. Valen was never a fan of small talk anyway. She also wasn't a fan of silence which is why she turned on the radio to fill the car with sound other than the air conditioning.

The first song to play was "She Loves You" by The Beatles. Valen immediately changed the station which then played "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri. One last change and the new station played something country that sounded safe until the man started saying he wanted to kiss the girl all over and Peter turned it off.

"No good songs on." Peter awkwardly laughed, only looking out at the street.

"Guess not." She laughed as well but her eyes looked down at her bracelets. She fiddled with the beads hoping Shuri got the message to Bruce about not being back for a couple of days. Shuri was the only way Valen could communicate with him since she gave up her phone.

The pair remained quiet until Peter turned into a gas station when his tank was still full. He pulled into a parking spot but left his car running. There was no sign he was going to get out.

"What are you doing?" Valen asked. She wondered if his junk car was about to die and they'd have to find a new way to their destination.

"We're picking someone up." Peter looked out the windows trying to find the newcomer.

Her stomach dropped with a guess in mind. "Who?"

The back door opened and a duffle bag was thrown to the other side. Ned then scooted into the middle and rested his arms on the sides of the front two seats. "Hey guys!"

"Ned?" Valen turned in her seat pleased it was him but still surprised.

"I'm so glad the band's back together."

"No offense, but what are you doing here?"

"Peter explained what had been going on and mentioned you two were headed out of state for the weekend. He invited me to tag along. Here, I bought some snacks while I was waiting." Ned placed a plastic bag on the console full of gas station chips and candy.

Valen looked at Peter who started to pull out of the gas station. "So it's not safe for me to go alone, but it's safe for someone who has no abilities to tag along?" Valen turned back to Ned. "No offense."

"None taken."

"He can help drive." Peter answered.

"I can help drive." Valen's pointer finger poked her chest. She was a little offended by his fake answer.