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— Valeria sat down sat down at the dinner table, she quietly ate her food as Jeremiah and Steven laughed at whatever Steven was showing Jeremiah.
"Steven I swear to god," Laurel started causing Valeria to turn to face her. "If you look at that phone one more time, I'm putting it in the screen basket."
Valeria smirked at Jeremiah as Suzannah started talking to Steven. She winked at the boy who smirked and grabbed his phone, throwing it into the screen basket ignoring Steven's complaints.
"Okay okay okay, we get it, you've been working out." Steven rolled his eyes at the boy, then turned to Valeria. "This was your idea wasn't it?"
"Well if we must obey mother." Valeria teased as Steven laughed and nodded at the girl.
"Okay I see how you are Ms Monroe." Steven teased as Valeria laughed. She shook her head, returning to her meal as Steven turned to Conrad. "So when you leaving for training camp man?"
The table went silent as the words left Steven's mouth. Valeria took a breath before turning to Steven to answer.
She knew Conrad had been going through issues, especially since she and Jeremiah talked daily.
"He actually quit, right Conrad?" Valeria smiled at the boy who nodded.
"Uh yeah I did." He silently thanked the girl as Steven and Belly seemed surprised.
"Wait, really you quit?" Steven asked the boy who nodded.
Valeria could tell she was out of place here. Well, she knew when Jeremiah and Conrad had left her third wheeling today but when Suzannah offered her lunch and she couldn't say no.
She looked at her phone, noticing the time. She could still watch a movie with her mother tonight before bed.
"Oh uh, it's getting late I should go." Valeria mumbled as she stood up taking her bag with her. "Thank you for the lovely food Suzannah and it was a pleasure meeting you all."
Valeria started to walk off, Steven following behind her as Jeremiah talked to Belly. "Hey uh wait up." Steven called as Valeria turned around to face him. "Are you going to the party tonight?"
"Uh, maybe. Why?" Valeria asked the boy as he got slightly flustered. She smiled at the boy who stuttered for a while before taking a breath and smiling at the girl.
"Well me and the guys were going and you seem pretty chill you know?" Steven smiled at the girl who giggled. She turned around, looking between the door and her phone.
"I'll think about it." She handed him her phone as he smiled, typing in his number before handing it back to the brunette. "I'll text you if I get there yeah?"
"Yeah." He smiled before walking back to the table. Maybe this summer will be different. She left with a smile on her face, biking back home to change.
As she entered her house, she heard her mother on the phone with her ex husband. Valeria knocked on the doorframe causing her mother to put out her cigarette and mute the call.
"Ah! Mi sol! You're back." Gabriella smiled at her daughter as she kissed her cheek, ignoring the calls emitted by the phone. "How are the fishers?"
"I met Laurel Park today." Valeria said as she took a cup of water from the pitcher, taking a sip with her birth control pills before sitting down on the counter. "And her children. They seem nice."
"Mhm, is one of them a boy by chance. Your age?" Her mother raised her eyebrow at the girl who groaned before smiling at her mother.
"Yeah Steven. He invited me to this bonfire tonight" Valeria responded as her mother nodded at her.
Gabriella always knew about her daughters hook up problems, in fact she put her on birth control ever since the incident which would've ruined her daughter.
She always wanted one, when she found out she was infertile, she decided to adopt Valeria who was merely twelve at that time. She was lucky that Gabriella chose her, she had spent four years in the orphanage, alone and grieving.
Gabriella saw a part of herself in her, she could never just forget about the perfect child. She didn't care about backgrounds or if she was troubled or not.
She wanted someone to bond to. Someone who would always feel like the daughter she wished she had, so Valerie couldn't be happier to fit that role.
