𝕊𝕥𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 ℂ𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 ➶

𝔽𝕚𝕗𝕥𝕪-𝕆𝕟𝕖: 𝔻𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤-𝕌𝕡 𝔻𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘

It took longer than most for Valentina to realize it, but Fran was most definitely avoiding her. The only time she saw the girl nowadays was the wee hours of the morning and the late, late hours of the night.

The distance between them had grown to a point where they no longer felt like friends. They were roommates. Nothing more, nothing less.

A guilty part of her wondered if --somehow, someway-- she knew that Val was responsible for Garrett falling for Morticia and not her. But, after a while, she dismissed this as impossible. But, then, the million dollar question was... Why? Why drop her like a bag of kittens into a river?

The most obvious answer was that she'd simply grown closer to other people.

She and Larissa were like two peas in a pod... And Larissa still hated Valentina's guts for "stealing" Morticia and Gomez from her, so maybe she made Fran choose between her two friends. That seemed out of character for Larissa, though.

But Francoise had also started dating another normie boy, one by the name of Donovan Galpin. He was all she could talk about, right before she stopped talking to Val all together.

Valentina suddenly became cripplingly aware of how lonely she really was. Other than Fran, the people she sat with at lunch were most definitely Tish's friends and not hers. Ever the wallflower, she hadn't branched out at all. Before, she'd felt no need to. She had Francoise. But now she had no one at Nevermore...

Well, that wasn't quite true. She used to have CC, even if they had drifted apart after she temporarily transferred out of Nevermore Academy. And she always had Gomez and Morticia, but she felt like she was using them every moment they spent together.

Being an ex that they clearly wanted back put her in an unusual position. Somehow it was even more awkward than simply a friend third-wheeling.

She did her best to keep her distance. A goddamn difficult task when they were trying to close that distance like two Olympic runners sprinting towards a finish line. Sometimes it was simply impossible.

Take today, for example.

She'd taken the shuttle from Jericho with the intention of going dress-shopping for the upcoming Rave'N. She and Fran had made plans to do this together weeks ago, but now she was dress-shopping with her new boyfriend.

Unfortunately, Val still needed a dress. She'd thrown away her one from the year before. The garment had too many bad memories attached for her to keep it, let alone wear it again.

She debated simply skipping the school dance, but that wasn't an option. She'd made the mistake of suggesting that at lunch and everyone at the table piled onto her.

So. Dress-shopping. Alone.

Or so she thought.

She'd made the mistake of stopping at The Weathervane for a soy latte and some sort of pastry... When in walked in none other than Morticia and Gomez.

"Valentine!" Gomez called across the coffee shop before she could duck her head and pretend to be someone --literally anyone-- else.

She considered correcting him, but decided against it. She'd already broken his heart. She could allow him this pet name. It was the tamest, most platonic of the ones he could have chosen from, anyway.

"Gomez," she sighed. Then, "Morticia. What are you two doing here?"

Tish wore a conspirator's smile. "A little birdie told us you were going dress-shopping alone."

Goddamn it, Fran!

"I'm not dress-shopping today."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"A girl can't go out for a cup of coffee in peace?"

"A beautiful girl? All alone? It's a crime! Punishable by death!" Gomez chimed in. That overdramatic son of a...

"Gomez," Valentina replied, a warning clear in her tone.

"Yes, valentine?" He crooned, unable to take a hint.

He wasn't alone in this respect, though, because Morticia interrupted with a simple, "If you're not going dress-shopping, then what are you wearing to the Rave'N? You've given up your hairbrained scheme of not going, right? Because we will come get you. You'll be attending, even if you'll be doing so in your pajamas."

"I'm dress-shopping. Just not right now."

"Why not?" Gomez asked, making Val wonder what she'd done in another life that she deserved to be tag-teamed by these two. "No time like the present!"

"I still need to ask my mother for the money." It was a lie, but not an obvious one. She'd already discussed the Rave'N with her mother and been given a budget. Really, it was just a few allowances given in advance, though. She was spoiled, to be sure. Just not spoiled rotten.

"You're in luck! I'll pay for the dress."

"Gomez, I can't ask you to do that. We're not dating, and we're not going to the Rave'N together." She was going stag, the only one out of their friend group --besides Larissa-- to do so.

"Think of it as repaying a debt. I should have been the one to buy your dress for last year's Rave'N. Not Deuce."

Warning bells rang in her head like fire alarms. "I didn't know you knew about that."

"You weren't exactly sneaky about it, valentine... Rumor was that you dragged him all over town in search of the perfect dress."

Great. Something new to feel guilty about. "Why didn't you say anything?"

His grin was rueful in a way that made her feel a little sad. "How could I?"

She looked away, suddenly flushed with shame.

Morticia eventually broke the silence between them with, "So! Where should we go first?"