The Runaway: A Stardew Valley Story

Blackmail

Maru

"You did great, sweetie!" Mom beams. "I keep telling you inherited more from me than you think. You and Seb are both naturals on the dance floor!"

Sebastian, sure. The guy who steps on Abigail's toes every single year. Total natural.

"I wish they wouldn't make you kids waste so much time on superstitions." Dad frowns. "You don't need to worry about children until you have your postdoc out of the way, at least."

"Demetrius, I don't know about you, but I would like grandchildren before I'm too old to have fun," Mom says playfully, but the furrow in her brow is deeper than the ease in her tone.

"Can we not talk about grandkids right now?" I mumble.

Dad nods. "That's my girl. You have your eye on the prize. You're going to be the first woman from Stardew to graduate from Hefton, and that's no small feat!"

The smile I fit into place is robotic and filled with as much sincerity as an AI.

If my parents notice the lie written on my features, they don't say anything about it. Just like they haven't said anything about it for the past three months of my charade. This time last year, I would have been ecstatic to know that I actually got accepted to the most prestigious school in Ferngill. It's all I've ever worked towards for as long as I can remember. How could something so small change the direction of everything I want?

I just couldn't let her cry. That's all, okay? I couldn't stand to watch her cry, and my future shouldn't be in jeopardy because of that! I should have been able to move on from something so silly, right? It is silly, right?

"Maru?"

My attention snaps back to the adults watching me expectantly. "Huh?"

"Mrs. Evelyn asked about homeschooling," Mom prods.

"Oh, right. It's been great," I reply on autopilot. "I have more time for personal projects without the thirty-minute commute, and the courses are much more challenging."

Mrs. Evelyn nods but doesn't look satiated with my answer. "Still, a young girl should be interacting with her peers at your age. It's a shame you didn't get to have all the senior fun. I really do wish the county had enough funds to bus you children to Fairness even if it would just be the three of you."

I assume that "senior fun" means prom, pep rallies, graduation, prom, and rolling the yards of classmates in toilet paper. They're the types of things that equate to the pinnacle of the best four years in someone's life, or at least, that's what I'm told. Stardew Valley High School is a pathetic excuse for academic enlightenment, and the student body that would make up my "peers" are either too stoned, too perky, or too academically challenged to make their acquaintanceship worth pursuing.

Still, Mrs. Evelyn will be expecting a sorrowful response equivalent to her own. I decide to pander as opposed to starting down a rabbit hole. "Yes, I agree. Poor Vincent and Jaz shouldn't be denied access to school simply because they're the only children in town. Penny is an amazing teacher, but she's still in school herself. The Stardew Valley Board of Education should be reevaluating funding for transportation not a new gridball stadi—" Oh, no. I said it, and I can't take it back. "S-stadium..."

Mrs. Evelyn's lip twitches. "Fundings for the athletic department are kept separate from money allocated for the school, young lady. It's not the fault of the school that the Serpents received such a generous contribution."