Valentina’s P.O.V
“Who took my money?!” I heard Ron, my stepfather’s voice from downstairs, I was in front of the vanity table, brushing my dark hair, my morning just barely started and it was already terrible. “I had four hundred in this wallet last night and I can’t find it, who the hell stole my money?”
“I didn’t do it, Dad,” I heard Norah, my half-sister deny and I rolled my eyes, as the word “not again” echoed in my mind.
“Me neither.” Nathan, her twin brother added and the next thing I heard was Ron’s thunderous footsteps running up the stairs, I gasped as I ran across the room to turn the locks on my door.
Since both of his children had denied taking his money, that makes me the culprit, I heard a loud bang on the door and I jolted in fear almost falling.
“Valentina!” He barked as he continued to bang on the door. “Open this door, right this instant!”
My heavy feet dragged themselves towards my piggy bank, the one on the right corner of my room, I needed to hide my money else I would be accused of stealing again.
“Valentina! If you don’t open this door, I’m going to break it down.” There comes the threat, I need to hide the bank, but it’s too big to fit in anywhere, so I broke it and picked out the folded money notes as fast as I could. I heard a loud smash, followed by a thud and the cracking of wood pieces; the door fell off the frame and I screamed in surprise.
Even though Ron had threatened to break down the door, I didn’t think he would do it, my mouth fell open when he stalked towards me, lifted me, and swung me across the room like I weighed nothing.
I was practically weighing nothing; I was thin and malnourished.
“Where is my money?” The question or threat whizzed past my ears as I slammed the back of my head against the closet and it hurts like a bitch. Unintentionally, the money in my hands fell out of my grasp, and Ron’s grey eyes followed them before they trailed back to my face, in response he fisted my hair. “So, you were trying to hide the money you stole?”
“I didn’t steal them,” I choked trying to focus on Ron in front of me. “It’s mine.”
He chuckled, throwing my head against the closet one more time, he bent slightly and picked up the money.
“Where did you get three hundred dollars?” He mocked as he counted the notes with a wolfish grin. “If you weren’t stealing my money, how did you get this much?”
Is he asking me because he didn’t know?
“I work Ron,” I answered back, obviously fed up and tired of his bullshit. “I go to my part-time job every day after school and you know this, you also know that I am not the one who stole your money.”
“Then who?” Ron asked his eyes narrowing at me. “Who else is as unfortunate to steal?”
“Norah!” I snapped back at him. “It was Norah, it isn’t just from you, she had been stealing my money too.”
His eyes darkened with fury just at the mention of Norah’s name, shit! I had gone ahead of myself and blurted it out.
“My daughter would never steal anything.” He said kicking me in the guts and I felt air knocked out of my lungs, I crouched painfully. “You steal from me and now you have the guts to lie against my daughter? Is this how you pay me back for letting you stay in my house, you good for nothing little brat.”
I shield my face away from the heavy boots that stomped on me, it would be bad if I took another direct hit to the head, and I might pass out from the pain. “I should probably kick you out of this house one day and watch how good you’ll survive on the streets.” He threatened again before he stopped pounding me in with his heavy boots. “I am taking the money, and you still owe me a hundred dollars, make sure to return it by the time I get back from work.”
He sent another stiff blow to my back before he left and a small whimper escaped from my lips.
“Fuck,” I groaned in the pain, as I gathered my pathetic self from the cold hard floor, I wiped the blood at the end of my lips. A blinding pain emerged from my head, one that I was going to ignore.
I exited the room, and getting to the bottom of the stairs, Norah smirked at me, chewing gum provocatively.
This wasn’t the first time she would steal from him, and I would be punished for it, and now she purposely waited for me here, so she could mock me. I simply ignored her before Ron comes back to break my skull.
As I got out of the house, my phone buzzed with an incoming call, displaying the name “Vena” I knew only one person by that name in my contact list, and she was the recruiter from the travel agency, I applied to get a job in that agency about three days ago, mainly because I needed more money and my part-time job at the coffee shop isn’t as helpful as I thought it would be.
I needed additional income to buy some textbooks at school so I could prepare for my final examination and graduate by fall.
“Hello!” I immediately answered the phone and transferred her to a loudspeaker so I could hear her clearer. “Hello!”
“Hello, am I unto Ms. Valentina Chandler?” Vena asked curiously and I nodded forgetting the fact that she couldn’t see me.
“Y-Yes, you are,” I was trembling from both excitement and anticipation, the only reason why Vena would call me was because I passed the test, right? “Is there any problem?”
Valentine’s Day“Did I pass the application review?” I asked into the phone, a small smile appearing on my face, I was so confident and happy, ready to rejoice.“Ms. Valentina Chandler, we thank you for applying to our company, we genuinely appreciate your effort and interest, however, we regret to inform you that we are unable to proceed with your application.” I felt my heart sink, that wasn’t the information I was hoping to hear. “We appreciate your interest and cooperation, and we look forward to seeing you sometime in the future.”“W-W-Wait!” I yelled before Vena could disconnect my call “Wait… Why am I being refused? You assured me that I met all your requirements and I would be allowed to work.”“Um…Yes, I did say that, but please forgive me for the misinformation, however, you are right to the point but the main reason why we refused your application is that our company prefers candidates who are at least twenty-one years of age.”“Oh…” My shoulders slumped down in disappointm
Valentina’s P.O.V I could still feel the heat around my cheeks, just some seconds ago, Travis was holding me so close to himself and he looked like he wanted to say something as well. I brushed my hair backward with my fingers, and I couldn’t help but wonder what he wanted to say.If only Ethan wasn’t Travis's best friend, I think I could be bold enough to get close to him, since he is the only person in this whole school who doesn’t bully me. “Valentina!” I heard that very familiar but annoying voice from behind me and I barely controlled the urge to roll my eyes. Reaching my sides, Lucille draped her arm on my shoulder, and almost immediately, I found myself surrounded by her gang, she grimaced at me. “Oh God, you stink.”“You always stink, do you even wash your hair?” Amanda asked curiously, pulling on some strands of my hair, and she covered her nose with her palms.“Even if she does, I doubt her cheap perfumes and shampoo could wash away the stench of poverty.” Lucille joked p
Valentina’s P.O.V“G-Good Mo-Morning.” One of us needed to start the conversation, I guess, I was trembling from both the fear of Ethan and the pain in my head. “I-I am sorry for bumping into you, I didn’t see you, and please can you remove your feet from my phone?”“Good morning?” His voice rang out musically as he stood confidently like he was a god or something, he was similar to a portrait sculpted to perfection, his voice, his face, his hair, every single thing about him oozed with elegance and arrogance.Everything about him was perfect, except for his rotten attitude, he pressed harder on my phone and I heard another sharp snap, I gasped as I stared back at his feet in horror.“Please stop!” I cried out. “At this rate, you are going to break my phone.”“What do you mean? It was already broken.” He murmured stepping harder into it, I could still hear the breaking of the glass that was probably my phone screen. “Stepping so hard on it will make you break it even more,” I explain
Valentina’s P.O.VI have a brain-splitting headache, and I have felt bile rise in my throat for the third time today. I have an interview this afternoon, and I can’t afford to be sick. I was also unable to shut out the pain like I always do, it was difficult trying to concentrate in class as the words just passed through my ears.Yes, that’s right, for three days in a row I have been unable to have a decent meal, and I have been working overtime in the restaurants too; not to mention how Ron had beat me up the previous day.My body is shutting down and I know it.“Valentina,” Mr. Pitt’s voice reverberated within the walls of my ears, and I returned from oblivion. “Can you please read the next paragraph?”Shit!I blinked back as my eyes stared down at the letters jumbled up in my textbook, I couldn’t see clearly, the words were all blurred out.“Miss Chandler?” Mr. Pitt’s voice came back again, this time more strictly and I trembled in my seat, I felt bile rise to my throat and I swall
Valentina’s P.O.V“Woah! This house is so freaking big.” I muttered to myself as I stared around the huge living room, it was like a house out of a movie scene, as soon as the closing bell rang, I quickly changed out of my clothes and I came here immediately.I hope I get the job.“Good day,” My head snapped in the direction of the voice and I got up immediately to greet the man dressed in a neatly tailored tuxedo standing in front of me. He simply nodded and the security men behind me left us alone.“You are Ms. Valentina, right?” “G-Good Afternoon,” I stuttered. “Y-Yes, I am Valentina.”“I’m glad you were able to make it, you are a bit ahead of time, it is quite impressive.” A small blush reached my face at his compliment. “Unfortunately, Mr. Israel is yet to come back from work, however, he requests you wait for him in his study.”He turned on his heels and began to walk away, he didn’t even care if I was coming with him or not, I hurried after him and followed him across the l
Ethan’s P.O.V“Hey Travis,” I called as soon as I noticed Travis stepping into the basketball court that was within the school sports ground, he had been missing all afternoon. I was worried about him; we usually stick together all day but all of a sudden Travis was nowhere to be found. “Where the hell were you? I looked all over the place.”My eyes narrowed at him and he simply shrugged as he went after the ball that I previously dropped, and he went in the direction of the net, since the game wasn’t so serious yet, we could play a friendly match.“You didn’t look all over the place.” He stated calmly as he bounced the ball against the ground. “Did you check the clinic?”My eyes widened in realization, he didn’t actually… did he?“Don’t tell me you stayed with that weirdo girl all afternoon.” I went after him and he dribbled me, taking the ball far away from my reach and shooting it into the net.That was a one-win for him and a loss for me.He ignored my question and I couldn’t help
Valentina’s P.O.VWhat the hell does he mean by that? I thought to myself as I stared down at his hands in horror, Ethan was asking to shake me. Did he not recognize me?My eyes followed his hands and they stopped only when I was looking into his forest-green eyes, and being lost in them. No, he recognizes me, then why?“Ms. Chandler?” I gasped slightly when I heard Mr. Israel’s voice. “Is anything the problem?”I bit down on my lips as I shook my head almost immediately, I received Ethan’s hands, and as soon as I touched his hands, I felt shock waves travel from the point of contact to every single body part I had.“I’m fine, Mr. Israel,” I answered with a forced smile, I don’t know why but Ethan is choosing to cover for me, I should probably get the hell out of here, while I still can.“I am glad, since we are here shall we sit out and have coffee together, while you tell us a little more about yourself.” Mr. Israel said with a small grin on his face, and I felt my heart hammer in m
Travis P.O.V “Hey Travis,” Scott waved to me as he approached my desk, I nodded in acknowledgment as I stared ahead wondering what the fuck Ethan planned to do with all those paints. “Travis, did you hear?” Even though I was planning to ignore Scott, the statement was enough to drag my attention back and I was met with Scott’s brown eyes that sparkled with delight. “Hear what?” I inquired curiously but instead of giving me a proper answer, he chuckled. “Ethan said we should keep it a secret from you.” He chuckled again. “It’s about Valentina too.” “What the hell is going on and what is that paint for?” I was even more curious when the rest of Ethan’s minions began to paint the floor with gum and black paint, while Ethan and Gabrielle supervised the work diligently. “Why are they painting the floor black?” I had no idea that Ethan would be in charge of the rehabilitation of our classroom, and if indeed he wanted to paint anything, shouldn’t it be the walls?“Cole saw the weirdo,