Valerie Tyler.
Upon hearing her name, many would instantly think of glamour and stardom, not hardships and sorrow. However, Valerie has had, in the opinion of many, far more than her share of hardships and sorrow in her ascent to the acclaimed pres...
Song of the chapter- 'Jar of Hearts', Christina Perri
'You're gonna catch a cold From the ice inside your soul'
The sound of thunder jolts me out of my word-induced stupor as I check the time in the wall clock. Oops, I was supposed to leave ten minutes ago! I carefully place a bookmark, close the book and rush to change and leave. It's already Friday, and I'm supposed to report in ten minutes!
Pulling on a black knee-length and full-sleeved dress with a flare from the waist down and snapping on a hair tie around my wrist, I run to the shoe rack and wear the first pair of shoes that I find, which turn out to be a pair of flashy but sturdy red ankle boots.
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I run out of the door only to crash into what seems to be a rock hard wall.
Rubbing my aching forehead, I look up to see that it is a wall. Glaring at it for its audacity to come into my path and not catch me from falling, I stick my tongue out at it as I pull myself up.
"What did you do?" a panicky Van asks me.
"I didn't do a thing! It was the damn wall! It came in my way, so rude!"
I cut her burst of laughter short by telling her to lock up as Van and Violet will be staying with Stacie tonight. It's her turn to glare at me as she mutters under her breath something about how I treat her like my servant.
"What was that?" I enquire.
"Nothing," she flashes me a fake sickly sweet smile.
"That's my girl! See ya, Van!" I walk down the stairs, talking two at a time.
When I'm outside, I do a double take at the appearance of the sky. My watch confirms that it's only 4:30 and yet the sky is almost as dark as after sunset. Eager to avoid the wrath of the heavy black clouds, I walk faster. Unfortunately, I'm only halfway there when the skies open up.
Perhaps if it starts with a light drizzle, I can make it in without being soaked. However, the clouds seem to have an entirely different idea as there is only the warning of a single rumble of thunder before the sky begins pouring down in all earnest and I'm drenched in a second. The footpath turns very slippery as I take every step carefully, fearful of a fall. I can make it, only two blocks more.
I resort to hugging the outline of the buildings as I plow ahead. After what feels like an eternity, I'm in front of the brick red building. There's only one problem though: it's across the street from me. I begin to procrastinate wading through the water-logged road when it rises to the level of the sidewalk.
Horrified to wait any longer, I do the customary turning to check for vehicles and dip one foot into the calf-high chilly water, the temperature making my foot retract instantly.
"Cross now!" my brain screams at me.
"C'mon, you can do it," it tries to reassure me.
Okay, I can. I take quick steps and, before I know it, I'm halfway through. Now it starts to get more treacherous as the downpour has increased and the water-logged street has morphed into a current that's rising by the instant. Shoot, I have to hurry!
When going against the current while keeping straight becomes useless, I go with it at a slant angle and eventually reach the sidewalk with its ankle-high water level. I hop onto it gladly and begin to break out into a run for the building when I realize I'm a block away from the brick red building. Sighing in frustration and shivering from the cold, I stick to the outline of the buildings and eventually reach the brick red building.
Glad to have reached, I pull open the door and step inside only for my feet to slip and slide as I land with a huge crash on my backside. Groaning at the pain in my back and the dull throbbing sensation in my head, I gingerly begin to sit up when someone grabs onto my hand and uses their other hand to wrap around my waist as they pull me up to my feet and pull me into the main hall.
The loud sound of someone snickering rings in my ears and adds pressure on my already hurting head. I glance up to see that it's Generica laughing as she takes in my appearance. Everyone in the room turns to look at her and then at me and there are several gasps as two stage hands rush to my side with towels and a hairdryer.
I'm wrapped up in a flurry of towels in seconds and the warm air being blown on my hair manages to warm me as my teeth stop chattering but the pain in my head doesn't subside like my shivering.
"Wait, the other green room is heated, right?" someone exclaims.
They show me the way and I sit on a chair, pulling off my boots and rubbing my feet dry. A few minutes later, I feel much better although my head still hurts like a witch and my back aches. After I'm considerably drier and warmer, I pick up the boots and attempt to make my way back to the hall, invariably taking a couple of wrong turns until I run into Cormac.
"Cormac!" I say as loudly as I can without having to put too much energy in it, hoping he'll know the way.
He turns around and laughs uneasily, "Please tell me you know the way back to the hall."
"Here I was, hoping you'd know!"
He sighs, "You wouldn't happen to have a phone either, right?"
When I shrug, he slaps his forehead, "Dang it, I just had to use the restroom and leave my phone in my bag in the hall, right?"
This is great.
We keep going straight until there's a dead end. The left path is littered with cardboard boxes so we take the curving right path and end up in the same place. Wading through the cardboard paradise, we reach a hall. It has the same setup as the main hall but we know it isn't that because it's been the victim of a dust storm probably just as intense as the storm of water outside. It's also completely empty.
"Great, we're going to die here!" Cormac exclaims and covers his face.
"I'll make sure of that!" a shrill voice trills from behind the both of us.
- - - - - - -
Hey whoever is reading! How's this chapter? This is actually one of the quickest chapters I've written! I was suddenly inspired to write so I did. Plus tazell made a bunch of awesome covers!
Valerie is sometimes really stupid. Why didn't she grab an umbrella when she saw how dark the sky was? Although I do feel bad for her for making it all the way to the building in the pouring rain upright and then slipping and falling the second she enters the building...
A bunch of questions! What are your thoughts on her outfit or those boots? What about how she handled walking through the storm? Is Generica too much to handle? Where is Josh? Where are Cormac and Val heading? Who's the 'shrill voice'?
*sighs* My exams are drawing close so I can't update much even though I really want to...
