The Things We See

Chapter Three

By the time she reached her house, Valerie was still so deep in thought that she almost walked straight past it. She backtracked quickly though, and within the first few seconds of realising her mistake, her feet were pounding across a familiar front lawn that led to the front door. The rain was still pelting down at full force, and she was eager to get out of it and into some warmer, drier clothes. She fished her key out of her shirt-pocket and hurriedly unlocked the door, almost tripping over herself in her haste to get inside.

"Mum? Dad?" she called out, kicking off her shoes and peeling off her socks. She received no answer, though she hadn't really expected one. It was rare to find her mother home this early on a Thursday, as a nurse she usually went in to work the night shift at the local hospital, and if her father wasn't at home to pick her up half an hour ago she doubted he'd be back when she was. The school he taught at usually finished earlier than her's, but lately he'd been staying back to grade homework assignments and tutor a few struggling students.

Valerie sighed and shuffled into the kitchen, black and white tiles cold under her bare feet. She yanked open the fridge door and pulled out a can of soda, cracking open the lid. It was fizzy and felt odd against her throat as she chugged half of it in one go, but she craved the feeling as much as she hated it. Little birds chirped outside the window, and a dog barked excitedly somewhere in the park across the road from her house.
She climbed the stairs two at a time to get to her bedroom, and dumped her bag carelessly on the ground the moment she opened the door and strolled inside. The soft grey carpet kept her footsteps silent as she moved across the floor, pulling her phone out of her pocket and wondering absently how desperate it would look if she texted the pretty girl immediately.

To Unknown Number:

Val:
Hey, I just remembered I never got your name, and I assume you don't know mine either?

Valerie's finger hovered above the "send" button as she debated whether or not to press it, and after promising to herself that she would finish all of her maths homework, she tapped it and pulled the necessary folders out of her bag.

-——————————-

She didn't get a response for another hour. By the time her phone finally chirped to signal to arrival of a new message, her father was home, albeit three hours late, and getting started on dinner. Valerie almost broke the screen in her haste to see what the pretty girl had said.

Unknown Number:
i suppose i never offered my name, did i?

Val:
No, you didn't. I'm Valerie by the way, if you didn't already know

Unknown Number:
your name was on the side of your bag. i saw it earlier. i'm Cody.

Valerie grinned and saved her as a contact before replying.

Val:
Why is your name the only thing you use proper capital letters for?

Cody:
because its the only thing that deserves the effort i have to put in to making the english language work.

Val:
Alright. Fact learned about how lazy the new girl is

Cody:
shut your mouth, twit

They talked for another hour, discussing hobbies and interests, and occasionally poking fun at one and other until Valerie's father called her down to eat. She didn't notice she had been smiling, but she caught a glimpse of her face as she walked past the hall mirror and all of a sudden her cheeks ached happily.

-——————————-

"How was school?" Valerie sighed and twirled another strand of spaghetti around her fork before answering her father's question.

"It was fine," she replied shortly, through a mouthful of food. Her father cringed at the sound.

"I wish you wouldn't do that," he said, and Valerie shrugged and leaned back in her chair, wooden legs balancing precariously on the floor. The last few beams of fading sunlight lit up the room dully, but as time marched on it got darker outside, and eventually she got up and turned the lights on as she left the room. Earlier in the afternoon, she'd only wanted her father to be home with her, but now Valerie was disappointed that he was so late. Surely he could grade assignments at home, and he didn't get payed overtime to tutor students so why should he stay there?

She pinched the bridge of her nose and slumped back in her desk chair, swivelling it around until she became dizzy- and even then she didn't stop. Her mind was spinning almost as quickly as the room around her, buzzing with thoughts she didn't want to be thinking. Valerie dug her nails into the palms of her hands, planting her feet on the floor and groaning with frustration as the chair stopped moving abruptly, but the world continued to swim before her. She squeezed her eyes shut and pulled at her dark hair, but nothing stopped the uneasy feeling that settled in the pit of her stomach, and that remained there long after the dizziness faded. So she let her thoughts drift away, let them wander to soft green meadows and crystal blue ocean waves and a certain pretty blonde girl wearing a pair of neon orange headphones. And somehow, she forgot about her father not being there anymore, and how she seemed to only talk to her mother over text, and for once in what seemed like an eternity, Valerie Bunch felt ninety-nine percent less alone.

I'm not very happy with this chapter, but here you go. I hope you enjoyed it
Dedicated to PennieWagner for all the amazing advice she has given me on my writing, I think it has really helped me improve! She's an amazing author, and I'd recommend her works to anyone who loves romance.

Your friend
- Kaitlin