𝕊𝕥𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 ℂ𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 ➶

𝔽𝕠𝕦𝕣: ℂ𝕣𝕪𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕝 ℂ𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕣

Valentina didn't leave her dorm room for the rest of that weekend, not even for meals. She was just waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the Principal to break down her door. She'd be the first Zhang to be expelled from Nevermore. What a mark to leave on her family's history.

All hope was not lost, though. Her mother never got caught, nor did her grandmother or great-grandmother. How did they evade suspicion?

If she wanted to know, all she had to do was ask. Before her mother had left, she had said, "Remember, my little cherub, I'm only a crystal ball away."

CC was staying with her normie girlfriend in the nearby town of Jericho over the weekend, so Valentina had all the privacy she could ever want.

Rather than stew in her anxiety any longer, she got up out of bed and shuffled over to her desk, where the crystal ball was already seated on its stand.

Her mother answered almost immediately. It made her wonder if she was waiting nearby, just praying her daughter would call some time that weekend.

"Baby!" She crowed excitedly. "Baby, baby, baby... How was your first week?"

"Admittedly, not great. I may have gotten myself in a spot of trouble. I don't know quite yet, though."

"Oh no... What happened?"

Valentina thought of Morticia's dark gaze directly right at her. Maybe the poison hadn't taken, seeing as she couldn't see her face. Maybe she looked at Gomez afterwards and fell in love with him all over again. Maybe...

"I have some questions about-- about my powers. I thought you were the person to ask, seeing as they used to be your powers."

"Baby, you're making me worry. What happened?"

Might as well come right out and say it. Putting it off would only make things worse. "I... I shot the wrong person with my Cupid's arrow."

Surprisingly enough, her mother just laughed. "Oh, my little cherub, that happened to me many a time! That's one of the reasons I signed you up for archery lessons before your powers developed. My mother didn't, and I had to learn on living, moving targets. Don't worry about it too much!"

"But the person I hit already had a boyfriend. What if I just ruined their relationship?"

If she sympathized with her daughter's victim, none of that sympathy showed on her face. "You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. Just think of all the happy marriages you'll be organizing in the future! They'll be so glad you made all your mistakes while you were still in high school."

The more Valentina thought about it, the more she felt like throwing up. Maybe Gomez and Morticia would have lasted throughout high school and beyond. Maybe they wouldn't have. But she'd never know for sure now that she'd meddled in their business.

"I'm saying goodbye, Mother. I'll see you again," she said coldly, deactivating the crystal ball before she could get a response.

Just in time, too, because that's when the door burst open. Her private time was up.

"Holy fuck, Val!" CC shouted as she all but kicked down the door. "Did you hear?!"

Valentina tried to act innocent, but she immediately broke into a sweat and her heart jumped up into her throat. Her anxiety was making her sick to her stomach... Or maybe that was just the hunger pangs. "Did I hear what?"

"Morticia Frump was struck by an arrow at lunch yesterday! Apparently, the shooter was aiming for Larissa Weems, but she took the blow for her!"

"Oh my God!" Was that a good enough impression of someone shocked and appalled? Her roommate didn't look suspicious yet, so it must have been. "Is she going to be okay?!"

"Hm? Oh yeah. The arrow didn't hit anything vital," CC replied, carelessly waving a hand, as if to dismiss her concerns, before striding over to her wardrobe. "Gomez, on the other hand, is losing his fucking mind! He's completely unhinged, like some desperate, howling demon. He's scaring everyone who comes to visit Morticia in the school infirmary."

"Oh jeez."

"Uh huh! Apparently he's taken an oath of vengeance, swears he'll find and kill whoever's responsible for harming his beloved. He's even offering a cash reward for any relevant information on the perpetrator."

Valentina didn't know what to say to that, just let her mouth hang open. CC didn't even look at her, though. She was too busy shoving clothes into a duffle bag.

"I'm going to stay over at Shiro's room tonight with the rest of the fangs. We're gonna speculate who it is, bring whatever we come up with to Gomez. Even if we split the money evenly across the entire group, that's still a big lump sum for each of us. Do you know anything? You'd tell your dear roomie, right? I'd give you a cash tip if you did."

She swallowed hard before letting out an awkward little laugh. "I would if I could! But I haven't left this room all weekend."

That certainly grabbed her attention. She turned and looked at her, stunned. "Goodness gracious, why?!" Shit, was that suspicious?

Valentina shrugged just one shoulder. "I'm really homesick... And I haven't exactly made a ton of friends just yet."

"That's because you're playing the part of a wallflower. You gotta get out of your shell, get out there and talk to people!"

She shrugged again in response, refused to make eye contact, just grabbed one of her many stuffies and hugged it tight to her chest.

CC sighed. "Do you wanna come hang out with the fangs?"

"No, no... I'd stick out like a sore thumb. Tell them I said hi, though, okay? And good luck discovering who shot Morticia."

She looked very relieved when Valentina didn't take her up on her offer. It was still nice of her to even make it, though.

"Will do! I love a good whodunit!"