𝕊𝕥𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 ℂ𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 ➶

𝕋𝕨𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕪-𝔽𝕠𝕦𝕣: 𝕌𝕟𝕤𝕠𝕝𝕧𝕖𝕕

Vincent wasn't a difficult boy to locate. He was one of the most popular boys at Nevermore Academy! After Gomez and Deuce, of course. But Gomez being taken and Deuce being a player, he was a lady's safest bet.

Naturally, he was almost always in the midst of a group of giggling girls who were all doing their best to flirt with him. They were all teenagers, though, so really it was just a contest to see who was the least awkward.

Valentina just needed to keep an eye and an ear out. Luck would have it, she found him in the third room she checked.

"Vincent," she called from across the room. Then, once they made eye-contact, she waved for him to follow her. He nodded, so she ducked out again before any of his posse could give her the stink eye.

She was halfway down the hallway when he caught up to her. She thought they would just walk and talk, but he was quick to pull her into the nearest empty classroom.

"Valentina," he said, "Did you find any hard evidence?"

"What? No," she replied, puzzled. "Gomez said he didn't do it."

"And you believed him?!"

She did. They had a deal. Gomez Addams was a lot of things, but a cheater? No way.

"I just wanted to talk about your upcoming date with Blair."

"What? No. No no no no no. I said you got to set me up with some rando if you helped me solve Deuce's murder. His killer is still out there!"

"You don't even know for sure whether or not he's dead!"

"I saw--"

"You've been wrong before." Vincent visibly seethed with anger, baring his teeth and clenched his fists by his sides. What kind of boy would hit a girl, though? She felt safe crossing her arms and remarking, "And I did help. I helped you eliminate Gomez as a suspect!"

"He could have lied, just like you did." Valentina stiffened and gaped at him like a fish out of water. "You think I didn't know? You're a terrible liar. And if I could tell from under the bed, then Gomez definitely could tell two inches from your face."

"I didn't lie!"

"Why, though? What did Deuce say that you might not want to share?" Here, he paused, studying her expression. Then, "Valentina, did he... Do... Anything?"

She thought back to that nightmarish kiss. Her first. And now a memory that would always haunt her. "I don't want to talk about it," she whimpered.

"Valentina--"

"I don't want to talk about it!" Her voice was too loud, too shrill, but she didn't care so long as it got Vincent to shut up and drop the subject.

Which he did... For no more than a minute.

"Look..." He whispered, surprisingly delicate. "No matter what Deuce may have said or done, he didn't deserve to die for it. Maybe I'm wrong, and he decided to take a last-minute, week-long vacation to New York without telling anyone. I want to be wrong--"

"No, you want it to be Gomez, so you can be the big man on campus," Valentina hissed, out of nothing more than wicked spite.

Maintaining eye-contact, he continued as if she had never interrupted him. "--Because it means my friend is still alive."

And didn't that just make her feel like the scum of the earth? God, she was such an asshole.

"I'm sorry," she murmured after a long beat of silence between the two of them.

"I am, too," Vincent answered before letting out a defeated sigh and running his fingers through his hair. "I'll ask out Blair. We had a deal. Just... Be careful around Gomez, okay? He might not be a killer, but he is a loose cannon."

And, at a loss of what else to do or say, Valentina just nodded.