Scarred Hearts

10 | She succumbed to the other side

On the next day, when classes were over, Valeria walked up excitedly to Mina's desk. She was going to show Mina around town, and then introduce her to Noah and Kennedy. Perhaps that was why Mina had been so nervous the entire day, although she had no reason to. Noah and Kennedy were great.

"Hey, ready to go?" Valeria asked, her smile impossible to contain.

"Hmm, about that..."

"Everything OK?"

"Actually, something just came up. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Is everything alright?" Valeria asked, concerned. Mina was acting so strange, she wasn't even looking her in the eye.

"Everything's fine."

"Are you sure? If there's anything I can do to help-"

"It's a family thing. Forget about it."

Valeria watched as Mina hurriedly left the classroom without as much as a goodbye.

"Alright then," Valeria murmured to herself, following suit and heading toward her locker.

Maybe Mina had a genuine issue she wasn't comfortable sharing with Valeria. After all, they barely knew each other. It was understandable that she might keep certain things to herself.  Whatever was going on with Mina, Valeria hoped things would work out the best for her.

Stowing away the things she didn't need in her locker, Valeria shot a disdainful glance at the chemistry manual she'd be needing later that day for the assignment with Nicholas.

"Hey there," Roger greeted as he passed her in the hallway.

"Hey," she said back as she saw him go away.

Well, her plans with Mina were no longer, and she still had some time to kill before Kennedy and Noah were out of class. So what that hell.

"Roger?" she called after him.

He halted and turned back. "Yes?"

"Is the offer still standing?" she asked, referring to his invitation the previous day to watch the football practice.

His smile answered before his words did. "Come on."

♥♥

As the team geared up for football practice, Valeria took a seat in the front row of the bleachers.

"Valeria," Mr. Jones greeted when he caught sight of her. "I'm surprised to see you here."

"Mr. Jones, hi."

He walked toward her like he was in his element, radiating energy with every step he took, before leaning casually on the railing. "I hope you're not here to jinx Grayson. He might be a handful, but I need him at his best, not like yesterday."

"I'm just here to watch the practice. Besides, I already had a great time seeing him clean those windows." She smiled as a form of gratefulness.

"I had to do something. Some of these kids really need to be taught some humility. If I could, I'd have every entitled one scrubbing the school top to bottom."

"Our school would be in quite a state if you managed to do that."

"No argument there." He turned, hands on his hips, gazing at the football field. "You just look at this field. Isn't it beautiful?"

Mr. Jones appeared enamored with the field as if its perfection could make him melt. Valeria observed it—an impeccably arranged and groomed field in flawless condition. But at the end of the day, it was merely another patch of grass like any other to the eyes of those who understood nothing about football fields.