UNEXPECTED

Back to school

Valentina's p.o.v.

I spent most of the winter break worried about Taylor. I was ignoring phone calls from everyone, especially Macy.

It seemed like everyone was calling each other to talk about what happened to Taylor. Some people were saying how it was the bad neighborhood. Others were saying how Taylor just was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Crazy right?

She was in her own house!

None of her family however got hurt. She has brothers and a couple of sisters, I heard. However, her parents and them went to a movie on that night.

I've been watching the news for updates on Taylor, since I couldn't see her. Nothing new, no suspects, no witnesses.....nothing.

I couldn't believe this happened, this was definitely gonna be the topic at school today.

I turned to look at my clock by my bed.

7:30 AM

I haven't gotten dressed yet and I had only 30 minutes.

I really wanted to stay here for the day, and not go to school.

I don't know why I was so worried about Taylor. Maybe because she's not a bad person?

Maybe because ----

A knock at the door startled me.

"Val?" It's my dad.

I already know where this is going.

"I'm almost ready for school!" I tell him, trying to sound cheerful, lying through my teeth.

He opens the door a little bit, and sees me still in bed. My hair is tangled, I'm still in my pajamas, and I'm in my bed.

His gives me a worried look. "You only have about 20 minutes, or you'll be late," He says.

He has on his cop uniform, with the badge he showed me about a month ago.

"One more day?" I ask sheepishly.

He crosses his arms and sits at the edge of the bed.

"Valentina, you already had two weeks of no school. If you keep this up the jeep will be taken away," He said.

He stood up and tried to take the blankets off of me.

But I wasn't ready yet. I grabbed hold onto the blankets.

"No, no, no, no, I'm not ready!" I yell childishly.

I really didn't wanna go. My stomach felt queasy because I was feeling nervous, and I felt a slight headache coming on.

He stopped pulling, but held on to the blankets.

"Is this about the girl from your school who got shot?" He asks quietly.

I stare at him for a second.

He stands still waiting for my answer. But instead, I roll over deeper into the covers, turning away from him.

"One day," I say softly. "Just need one day." My eyes close praying that he will leave me alone.

It doesn't work.

I feel a dip at the end of the bed.

Suddenly the covers are ripped apart from me completely. I'm now fully exposed, and irritated.

Why can't he just leave? I'm a good student. It's not like I'm dropping out.

"Are you close to her?" He asks, concerned.