Just Neighbors | spencer reid

028

My head nods to the beat of the music entering my ears as I rotate the pencil in my hand. My mind completely wandering from the homework in front of me. Suddenly the music stops as my headphones are pulled from my ears.

"Valerie you're going to end up deaf, listening to your music that loud."

"My ears are fine mum." I mumble, grabbing the headphones back from her.

"They are now but keep it up and they won't be in the future." She scolds, "Now come downstairs, I want you to say hi to someone."

"I'm trying to do homework."

"Bring it with you, he's been waiting to see you again."

Again?

I follow her downstairs and see a tall, older man standing in the living room. His back is to us as he looks at the family pictures on the mantle. He hears us as we come down the stairs, turning towards us.

"Valerie! It's very nice to see you again." He smiles, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I give him a closed, fake smile. "Nice to see you too Mr. Davidson."

"Call me Lenny, sweetheart."

I just nod and take a seat on the couch, putting my homework on the coffee table.

"Lenny will be staying for dinner tonight." My mum announces, a bright smile on her face.

Even though I wasn't happy about him being here, it was good to see a smile on her face. It's the first real one I've seen since dad died.

"Okay, I'll try and finish my homework before dinner's done." I say, pencil in hand.

"Oh would you like some help? I'm very good at-" He pauses to look at the papers. "Algebra."

"That's a wonderful idea!" My mum answers for me, "I'll just be in the kitchen."

She places her hand on his shoulder, dragging it down his arm before walking to the kitchen. He places himself next to me on the couch, invading my personal space. I scoot away a bit but he stays close.

"Okay Valerie, so what's the answer to this one?" He reaches over me, pointing to the problem I had already done.

"x is 32 and y is 13. I already did the work, see?" I use my finger to motion circles around my work.

He lets out a chuckle, "Ah I see now." His hand places itself on my thigh, patting it. "You're a very bright young girl Valerie."

I keep my eyes trained down on the paper in front of me. His hand then squeezes my thigh.

"Valerie did you hear me?"

I swallow harshly, my mouth dry from dehydration. Lenny's hand moves to my jaw, gripping it tightly and tugging my face up to meet his. His breathe was horrid as it hit my face, hot and smelling of whisky.

"I asked you a question little girl."

"I'm not-" I wince at the sharp pain in my lung, "I'm not a little girl anymore."

He laughs in my face, harshly letting go of my jaw. "On the outside I can very well see you're not a little girl anymore. But on the inside you're still a weak little girl."

"I'm sure you like that right? At least part of me is still a little girl." The left side of my mouth twitches up slightly into a smirk as I tug at the chains on my wrists.