𝕊𝕥𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 ℂ𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 ➶

𝔽𝕚𝕗𝕥𝕪-𝕊𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟: 𝔻𝕚𝕤𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕧𝕒𝕝

Valentina skipped breakfast the next day. Her boyfriend and girlfriend --arguably mostly her boyfriend-- were practically bursting at the seams, ready to announce their rekindled romance to all of Nevermore. She wouldn't be surprised if there was an article about Morticia Frump's on-again off-again "baby" in the school newspaper's gossip column tomorrow.

She could imagine the faces of all Tish's friends as they received the news. The initial wave of shock, followed by a shiny plastic fake joy. Good God, she could even hear them now...

"Congratulations!"

"We're so happy for you!"

"I knew you three would get back together!"

Ugh.

The only people at the table who were authentic would be Larrissa and Francoise.

She couldn't imagine Larissa being happy for them. The question was... Had seeing Gomez kill extinguished the flame that Larissa had for him? Val heard it through the grapevine that, when talking to the police, she blamed Gates' death on Morticia. Which was completely unfair. She was the victim of a violent stalker, after all.

Then there was Fran... How would she react? Did she even have enough skin in the game to care?

Anyway, she wasn't worried about the reaction of Tish's friends, or even the Nevermore student body-- Okay, that was a little lie. She wanted everyone --the whole entire school-- to like her. And for her own merits too! Not just because she was the most popular boy and girl's accessory. But that didn't matter right now!

The only opinion that truly mattered was that of her mother. And her mother strongly believed that you should never, ever get back together with your ex. After some time passed and things cooled down, you could possibly be friends. But that was it.

And, while their break-up had been a pretty clean break, what led up to it was Messy with a capital M. They straight-up kidnapped her. Then there was Vincent's murder accusation, which she had no choice but to revisit after Gomez openly admitted he was planning to kill Garrett.

But Gomez said he didn't kill Deuce and, foolishly or not, Valentina believed him. Plus, if she asked again, he could throw her distrust back in her face and say she wasn't giving their relationship a fair shot. She really should bite that bullet, though, rather than live with the suspicion in the back of her head for the rest of her life.

Even if it opened a whole can of worms. If Vincent had been right about Deuce's murderer, he could have been right about other things... Things she refused to believe, things that were borderline impossible.

The guilt would be crushing. She wasn't sure she could handle it.

In the face of all of that, she felt dumb for worrying about her mother's approval. But she was. So very, very worried.

She rationalized it was better to tell her soon --rip off the bandage-- rather than wait and later be accused of hiding it from her, though.

So, she turned to her crystal ball. Her mother answered on her first try. That had to be a good sign, right?

For the first five to ten minutes, they talked aimlessly, exchanged, "How are you?"s.

Her mother apologized again for missing Parents' Weekend, said the flight across the country for a mere two days was just too much for her. Valentina assured her that she understood and that she wasn't mad or resentful in any way, keeping to herself that it was a little sad to be alone on that weekend.

But eventually the topic came around to the Rave'N.

Her mother began by saying, "Did you go? I didn't notice a prom dress on your credit card bill. Just a lot of coffee. Be sure to slow down! I don't want you getting a caffeine addiction."

Val let out an awkwardly lilted little laugh. "Haha! Actually, my boyfriend paid for the dress."

"That's wonderful news! Who is the lucky boy? Maybe I matched his parents..."

"You're actually already familiar with him... Gomez Addams."

Silence. Shock was painted clear across her mother's expression, as obvious as writing on a wall.

"Don't tell me... Morticia Frump, too?"

Valentina nodded sheepishly, looking away --down at her feet-- as she scuffed the toe of one shoe against the floorboards.

"Oh, baby... I don't like that."

"But Mother--"

"You know how I feel about getting back together with exes! Plus, wasn't Addams accused of hurting at least three of your classmates?" Talking about Deuce, Vincent, and Garrett sent a shiver down her spine. She did her best to suppress it, though, knowing her mother would pick up on every little action and reaction.

"Garrett Gates wasn't a classmate," she answered. "But I don't think he did it." She knew for a fact, even.

"You're sheltered, pet. Naive. Trust me when I say I'm wiser and know better. This will never work out. Break it off."

Oh no. "No no no no no no no! I've got to at least give it --them-- a second chance! I was far from the perfect girlfriend the first time around... I didn't even try..."

"And why was that, baby? You didn't want to. There was no spark, just a ton of guilt. That's not a good foundation for a relationship. Plus, to tell you quite plainly, I don't like Addams. I don't trust him. Break. It. Off."

Suddenly, a light bulb went off above Valentina's head. "What if you met Gomez and Morticia's parents? Maybe seeing the trees that those apples fell from will show you that they're actually quite sweet."

More silence. Then, "How important is this to you?"

"Very," she said, because no other answer would do.

A put-upon sigh. "I have a bad feeling about this, my little cherub. It won't end well. But I'll humor you... For now. We'll arrange for everyone --kids and parents-- to spend winter break together. I want to see what kind of people the Addamses and the Frumps are, anyhow."