SPARKLES, SPICE, AND EVERYTHING NICE, THIS BOY HAD TO BE KEPT AWAY FROM ME

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Valkyrie
    Fuck my stupid hormones. I learned to keep them under control. I learned how to steady my own heart rate. I knew how to steady my breathing. But hold me against a guy with a nice laugh and fluffy hair and let it all be damned. Years of practice gone to waste. My heart was racing and my breathing was sporadic. I didn't like it. I didn't like that he made me feel small and secure and protected. When he whispered in my ear, joke or not, I wanted to collapse. "Remember you have to act surprised," he whispered. SPARKLES, SPICE, AND EVERYTHING NICE, THIS BOY HAD TO BE KEPT AWAY FROM ME. "Ready?" he purred. I just nodded, to scared of what my voice would sound like.

Giles
    I stepped back and let Val orient herself. She frowned for a second before realizing that she was actually on the stage. Her frown became a smirk, "Did you bring me on stage because you know that I wanted to be a ballerina as a kid?"
I laughed, "Sure,"
"Hey, I did want to be a ballerina!" she laughed, "Granted, I wanted to be a Russian ballerina trained to assassinate important targets when they went to the theater, but it counts right?"
"That sounds more accurate," I chuckled, "But I didn't bring you here because of that. I'm not that observant. I brought you here because you opened up to me and I wanted to show you a place that means a lot to me,"
"Is that what it was?" she raised an eyebrow, "I thought it was an interrogation. With how you were physically assaulting me and all,"
"You're hilarious," I rolled my eyes. She shot me a quick wink before she let me continue, "I'm sure you already figured out that I dance,"
"Yup,"
"But I'm pretty sure that you don't know that I dance exclusively ballet,"
"Of course I— hold up," she looked at me in surprise, "You dance ballet?"
"Yeah,"
"I figured you did modern dance or that weird contemporary dancing," she looked me up and down, successfully making me blush, "That makes sense,"
"You lost me,"
"It's just that you're too graceful for any form of hip hop, and you're too poised for interpretative, contemporary dance. Ballet suits you," she explained.
"Yeah, I guess it does," I mindlessly stood on my toes and danced a little, "It formed me," I kept dancing as I told her about myself, "I always liked music and how it could control people's emotions and even make them loose themselves while they danced. My mom grew up doing ballet, until she went into high school and she wasn't allowed to pursue it more," I hadn't even realized that I was doing the choreography of what I had to perform that weekend, "I remember one day she found old videos of her dancing and she showed me. I was maybe five at the time... I fell in love. I would twirl and jump around the house, begging my mom to let me go to ballet. It took a year before we convinced my dad. He thought I'd grow out of it and get into football. After three years of me religiously dancing, he decided that if I was happy so was he. That was, I think, the turning point. All of a sudden ballet was my life and I loved it," I stopped at the center of the stage and bowed, "And I still do," I saw Valkyrie was watching me carefully, her face void of any clear expression. She was sitting a few feet away, so I sat next to her, "What is it?"
"It just shocks me how different our realities are," she muttered, a tiny smile on her face, "And you're a really great dancer,"
"Thank you," I smiled. We fell into silence.
She played with the end of her braid for a moment, "Why does York hate me so much?"
"She thinks you got between—"
"That's not it," she cut me off, "There's more," I gave her a confused look, "I stay away from her. I don't mess with her. Eurus explained the whole thing to Marie when they saw us because I noticed them there. Marie said it was fine, and they broke up because he felt she didn't trust him. York still holds it against me,"
"I don't know," I confessed, "I'm sorry,"
"Giles, don't apologize to me," she offered me a smile, "You've done nothing wrong,"
I was about to apologize for apologizing excessively, but caught myself, "Thanks,"
    Val and I stayed on the stage for a while longer. We talked about life and about school. She commented on her observations of people. I told her about the people I knew and compared those observations. She was pretty accurate, even noticing things that I only knew because close friends had let it slip out. Valkyrie lay on the floor and groaned, "I miss my car! We could be out of here by now,"
"Where would you rather be?" I asked.
She smiled, "Ben&Jerry's if I'm honest. If I'm being cool, a bar. If I'm showing my soft side, I want to go to the lake in the woods. There's a tiny cabin there, owned by an older lady. She makes pottery and she takes any excuse available to make hot chocolate,"
"I'd be down to visit the lady," I laughed lightly, "Is she actually there, or were you being sarcastic?"
"Oh, she's there. Her name's Jane, and she's... crazy, but nice," she explained, "She gave me a mug for my birthday,"
"You go there often?" I asked. She just nodded. I couldn't image Valkyrie being soft and fluffy, befriending an older lady, sipping hot chocolate with her. "I can't imagine it," I chuckled.
Val grinned, "It's because you probably have the wrong idea of what Jane's like. If you knew her you'd understand,"
"Then lets go," I offered, "My car's outside,"
"Maybe another day," Val smiled, "but if you're down for ice cream or a coffee, I will get us out of here so fast,"
"Coffee sounds good," I shrugged, "How do you intend on getting us out of here?"
"Through the door preferably," she got up, "Let's go,"

Valkyrie
    I led Giles through the halls to the pool where we had first been. I went to the back and opened the emergency door. "After you," I curtsied. Giles stepped out into the chill and pulled his jacket closer to himself. We made our way to his car and got in. He drove us to a nearby café I'd never been to. I figured he knew the place. "Wanna try this place?" he asked. I guessed wrong.
"Sure," I shrugged. We got out of the car and nearly jumped right out of the café as soon as we saw who was inside. Ms. Navas and Mr. Brewster were sitting at a table, laughing and flirting.
    I grabbed Giles and pulled him outside, "The principal and the school doctor are inside,"
"So we visit Jane?" he asked hopefully.
I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, sure, we can visit Jane,"
"This is a lot better than taking Trig," he got back into the car, "Where are we going?"
"The exit before the nature reserve, a few miles in," I explained.
"Alright," he started driving, "How do you get to school if you don't have a car?"
"My brother," I explained, "he dumps me at school before going to his school,"
"So he goes to East End?" Giles asked, his eyes never leaving the road.
"Yeah," I really enjoyed watching him drive. Or rather, my stupid hormones were loosing it, my head was telling me that he was a competent driver and that was about it.
He frowned, "But that means he has to come here and then all the way across the city,"
"Well, yes, that's how roads and cars tend to work," I joked.
"Why don't I just pick you up and take you home?" he offered. I wanted to shoot down the idea immediately.
"If it's in your way, I'd really appreciate that," I smiled. This boy was unknowingly making me be nice. I didn't like it.

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