expensive gambles

0.04

ACT I : SCENE IV - "a very needed conversation"

- ROCKEFELLER and Hawthorne waited patiently in the principal's office, Valeria spinning round and round and round in his swivel-y chair, giggling softly as she did. Grayson tried to contain his smile, but such an innocent sight of the girl enjoying her time filled his heart with inexplicable joy. Her pinned-back hair flew in the rapid wind, following her body as she found it difficult to stand, the world around her spinning quickly and drawing her in and out of focus.

Grayson sighed as she collapsed into his arms, still laughing happily as he simply shook his head in disapproval. He gripped her waist, holding her in place as her arms were wrapped around his neck. The position was so sweet, so intimate -

It terrified Grayson Hawthorne.

The sound of the door creaking open forced them apart. Valeria now stood beside the wooden door, her arms crossed below her chest and her feet crossed at her ankles. Her dark eyes were trained to the ground, admiring a peculiar spot that seemed lighter than the rest of them. Grayson was in his previous position, standing tall and confident and powerful and knowing everything he was about to say.

A girl with strange, blue hair cautiously stepped inside. She poked her head through the corner of the door, then quietly walked further into the room until she was standing beside Valeria, far away from the entrance. Her colored hair was tied in a disorderly ponytail, messy pieces falling over her face. The girl's outfit consisted of a black t-shirt with a skull printed on the very center of it, the rest of her... "outfit" bearing the same colors. She wore no makeup, her face nude and colorless with small spots of acne scattered throughout it.

She seemed to be observing Grayson awfully close, probably noticing the same things they noticed about her.

Valeria breathed deeply, leaning her head on the wall behind her with closed eyes as she heard shuffling from her front. Squinting open a singular eye, she saw Grayson Hawthorne sitting at the principal's chair, the same one she had spun on a couple of minutes before.

Steel eyes returned her gaze, silently reminding her to act "proper" and "rich" and "elegant" and "unapproachable." Valeria shook her head from side to side, following his quiet orders as she stood with her back straight and her hands holding each other over her lap.

The blue-haired girl cleared her throat and began to speak: "Um, hello. I'm Libby, Avery's sister. Why do you need to speak to her? I mean- Ms. Jones sort of explained but-"

"She was stated in our grandfather's will," Grayson interrupted, his eyes memorizing each item on the desk. "The letters we sent received no response, so we have resorted to physically speaking to her."

"That... might've been my fault.."

Rockefeller rose an eyebrow at 'Libby,' tilting her head slightly sideways as she awaited an explanation. However, the door creaked open before the girl could speak.

Two people stepped in this time - Principal Altman, the school's head administrator, and a thin girl. Valeria assumed she was Avery Kylie Grambs, the one they'd been looking for since the will's reading was postponed.

She had long, brown hair that reached her waist; eyes that mixed colors of mahogany and skies and trees hid glints of curiosity and confusion as they wandered around the room, finding her sister and the two unknown people. Avery bore the school's uniform, the figure of it failing to complement the shape of her own body.

"Libby?" she questioned, her hazel hues lighting up slightly at the sight of her sister. It faded away as she carefully examined the room, lingering a little too long on Valeria. "Is Dad..?"