Forever and A Day | one tree hill

twenty-six.

Valentina wins the state championship. The game isn't even close. She scores thirty-seven points, grabs twelve rebounds, and shuts down the other team's best player in the final quarter.

And then Valentina is back at school, and she's back on Earth, and it's weird. People clap for her in the hallway. Teachers give her these knowing, encouraging smiles. And Sophia, well, Sophia is riding the coattails of the win like it's her own personal parade float.

"I think this whole thing should be about me," Sophia declares one day at lunch, gesturing vaguely with a chip. "My inspirational presence on the bench was clearly the catalyst for your success."

Kristen snorts. "You spent half the championship game trying to figure out where the other team got their shoes from."

"Details," Sophia waves a dismissive hand. "The point is, Val wouldn't have done it without my... moral support."

Valentina just rolls her eyes and goes back to picking the lettuce off her sandwich. She's still riding the high of the win, but there's a new pressure settling in. The pressure of what comes next. College scouts. Senior year. The future.

"So have you slept with Peyton yet?"

Valentina nearly chokes on her sandwich at the sudden change in topic. She looks across the table at Sophia, whose face is a perfect picture of feigned innocence.

"What?" Valentina manages.

"Slept. With. Peyton," Sophia enunciates, as if Valentina might be hard of hearing. "You know, the horizontal tango. The bump and grind. The-"

"Okay, I get it," Valentina cuts her off, her face flushing. "And that is none of your business."

"It's totally my business," Sophia argues. "As your moral support, I need to know if you're emotionally fulfilled."

"You're ridiculous," Valentina says, but she can't help but smile. "And for the record, no."

Kristen's eyes widen. "Seriously? It's been like, two months."

"We're taking things slow," Valentina says, a little defensively. "And Peyton's never been with a girl before, so...we're taking it slow."

"Taking it slow is boring," Sophia says.

"It's not boring," Valentina says, her voice softer than she intended.

And it was nice. It was stolen kisses in the hallway between classes. It was quiet nights in Peyton's room, listening to records and talking about nothing and everything. Valentina wasn't used to such intimacy without any pressure for it to lead somewhere else. And she found that she liked it. She liked it a lot.

"Are you smiling at the simple thought of your girlfriend?" Sophia teases.

"Shut up," Valentina says, but she doesn't stop smiling.

~*~

"I'm having a bachelor party," Nathan tells his older sister, and Valentina quirks an eyebrow.

"Isn't that something that is typically done before a wedding?" Val asks.

"Yeah, well, we're having it now," Nathan says, "Tim's in charge."

"Okay, two things," Val says, holding up two fingers. "One, that's a terrible idea. And two, why are you telling me this?"

"Because I need your help," Nathan says, "I need you to keep Tim from planning a... Tim party."

Valentina sighs, "Okay, fine. What are you gonna do?"

"Brooke is throwing Haley a bachelorette party," Nathan says, "So I figured we could do something... normal."