Valerie, I'll be home soon

chapter 5

this morning i wake up and drowsily look at my alarm clock, surprised that it hadn't yet gone off. according to what i could tell from the sun peaking over the trees of my backyard, it should have gone off...

"Valerie!!!! get up!!!!! its 6:15 already! c'mon, get up!" my mom shouts frantically at me, ripping the covers off the bed. i leap onto the floor, shivering at the cold exposure to the air, and run to the bathroom. the next ten minutes are a blur of me trying to put on a sock and brush my hair at the same time, while my mom shoves my cell phone and a snackpack of cereal in to my school bag. when i am finally fully dressed and my hair is presentable, i dash downstairs, grab my lunch out of the fridge, and run outside. Abby is standing at my door, looking extremely exasperted.

"i just saved. your. butt." she says, rollling her eyes.

i give her a confused look. "huh?"

"c'mon, Val. Do you think your mom randomly woke up at the same exact time i show up to your house to walk to the bus stop? or is it more likely that i rang the doorbell, which woke her up?"

I grin. "I dunno. you're the math genius here, you tell me."

we walk the rest of the way to the bus stop in silence, both of us missing the cheerful presence of Ty but not wanting to say something about it.

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"hey Valerie, do you want to go see Ty again today?" Abby says hopefully, holding her bookbag. "my mom wants to drive down there anyway so she can get my glasses prescription changed or something," Abby says with a sigh and a roll of her eyes. "i just got them changed, but i can hardly see a thing."

i laugh. "sure i'll go. I kinda need to see him anyway." i heft my bag. "The teachers clearly don't care what kind of condition your in, as long as you have at least one working limb you have to keep up on school work."

"Yeah, same here. two or three teachers gave me his homework. wow, he is not going to be happy about this."

We are standing at the lockers right before first period. i hear the bell ring and groan, realizing i will be late for agriculture. i give Abby a look until she pointedly says, "your fault!" and dashes off.

i arrive at agriculture three minutes late but get away with it because i am never late. the rest of the kids and i then proceed to sit through 56 minutes of a history of corn (that's only what we call it, not the teacher). on my way out, someone grabs the strap of my bag and i turn around. it's luke.

"hey valerie. i just...uh, i was just wondering how Ty was."

"oh! Um...he's doing good. the doctor said he can get back his mobility eventually, with therapy and everything."

"oh okay. good, tell him i hope he gets better."

"I will. i'm going to visit him today, so i'll make sure to tell him." i duck my head, not sure why i am acting so shy, and abruptly turn.

"Oh, wait, Val!" Luke calls, and i spin back around. he grabbed my bag at the same time, causing it to fall to the ground and all of it's contents to fall out. my sketchbook fell out and onto a page with my dad watching football on the couch. Luke starts picking up my books, blushing profusely. "sorry, " he mutters. then, picking up my sketch book, he does a double take. He looks at me with wide eyes.

"Did you draw this?"

I nod and grab for it, and he allows me to snatch it from his hands.

"sorry," he says again, but then, after hesitating; "they're really good. is that you dad?"