A Different Breed ▻ Legacies [1]

42

After Alaric and Ophelia had come to a decision to take a group on a road trip to find the urn, the people who ended up going was Kaleb, Hope, Valerie, Josie, Lizzie, Dorian, and Emma. The minivan that was only supposed to carry eight ended up carrying nine.

Ophelia sat in the way back with Dorian and Emma, Kaleb and Alaric sat in the front seats, and Valerie, Hope, Josie, and Lizzie sat in the second row in seats. Since there were only three seats where the four girls sat, Josie ended up sitting on Valerie's lap, but the two girls didn't care that much.

Valerie had talked to Rafael before leaving and he had told her that he was going on his own road trip with Landon and MG. He didn't tell her much about it, though, knowing she would go ballistic and tell Hope about it, which wouldn't end well. But Valerie trusted him enough to know he wouldn't anything bad to happen during their "Boy's only" road trip.

While music from more than twenty years ago played on the radio, Josie and Valerie were listening to music on Valerie's phone. The duo had a headphone jack splitter, which allowed them to both have their own set of headphones while listening to the same exact thing. Even though she had earphones on, Valerie continued to listen to everyone's complaints in the car. Josie, on the other hand, tuned everything out.

Ophelia, of course, sat in the back. And while no one had noticed, she was casually sipping on a thermos filled with human blood.

Valerie stared out the window, thinking hard on what Jed had told her just a few nights before about Rafael. These past few days, she had been able to keep it at the back of her mind, but for some reason, as she sat in that van with Hope, Josie, and the rest of the gang, she couldn't stop thinking about it.

It had occurred about ten minutes after Rafael and Valerie went their separate ways so that they could head to bed after their moment following the Talent Show Redo. Valerie was walking down the hallway alone when she turned her head to see Jed approaching her.

Valerie sighed, stopping as she turned to face him, "What do you want, Jed?" She asked the former Alpha in annoyance.

"Look, I don't want to fight, I just wanted to tell you something I think you deserve to know," Jed informed Valerie in a sincere tone, which visibly concerned her.

"You have thirty seconds," Valerie responded, clenching her jaw as she pressed her back against the wall, bracing herself for whatever Jed was about to tell her.

"You weren't there to hear it, but the poem Rafael read for the talent show was very..." He trailed off awkwardly, "Personal."

"Yeah, and?" Valerie asked Jed in confusion, "Who cares if the poem was personal? That means it came from the heart, which is a good thing."

"Not in your case," Jed replied, earning a concerned look from Valerie, "Rafael's poem was about him having feelings for Hope, even though he's with you and she's dating his brother. It's about how he tries to hide it as best as he can from you and Landon, but it's getting harder for him to keep it a secret."