Dark Valentine (Monster High; Book 1 of the DV Duology)

Chapter 2: Ring of Fire

Jackson:

When Valentine first started talking to me that morning, I really didn't know what to expect from him after all I'd heard. But gossip had always been something I took with a grain of salt anyway, so I took a leap of faith and accepted his company. And I was glad I did, because the Valentine I saw today was pleasant to be around and while he'd done terrible things in the past, he'd obviously changed just as much as he claimed to have done.

As far as the exchange between he and Manny in the hall this morning, I was grateful he chose to step in and help. I was sick of Manny picking on me – though I personally would've been too hyper-aware of what would happen if I talked back to him the way Valentine did. I also had to admit, it was funny to watch the minotaur just walk away afterwards because it was something he never did. He usually always had to have the last word...or punch.

Finally, when he outright stated that he thought the way people treated Holt and I was unfair and that we should be treated the same, he truly and honestly made my day. I couldn't recall a single other person besides my parents feeling that way, so it was incredibly uplifting to hear. Of course, actions tended to speak louder than words, so time would tell if he acted on that sentiment. I sincerely hoped he would.

When I got home that evening I immediately started on my homework. I hated putting it off in case Holt was to come out and stop me from doing it later. This way it was done, and if I transformed, I wouldn't have to panic over it.

Just as I was finishing my last outstanding assignment, my iCoffin started buzzing on the desk. I picked it up, knowing it was either Frankie or the group chat, which Frankie also happened to be in. The group chat itself was named 'Tag' because a bunch of us had an ongoing game of tag that was going until Halloween night. Not a huge group—my circle of friends was small to be honest, and if it were a large group, it would be too hard to keep track.

The rules of the game were as follows: Whoever was 'it' could tag anyone else in the group, but there were no 'tag-backs' as they were called. The person tagged would have to tap someone other than who tagged them. The person who was 'it' at the end of the game was the loser. It was simple, but fun—other than the constant text notifications, of course. The people playing were me, Holt—when he was out—Frankie, Clair (who visited MH a lot), Deuce, Cleo, Gigi, and Heath.

I had a few messages to check since I muted my phone because of said notifications. Most were from the Tag group telling me Cleo was it about ten to fifteen minutes ago, but the one that stood out to me was from Frankie.

2:33 PM

Frankie Stein: Hey, Jackson. Noticed you talking to Valentine today. You do know what he's capable of, right?

Just be careful around him.

I didn't really know how to respond, so I just sent 'OK' before setting down my phone and going to continue a ProwlStation 3 game I'd recently begun playing. However, just as I reached the console's home page, I got a notification that Deuce and Heath were online playing Minecraft together, and I got an invite from Deuce. Minecraft was admittedly something not a lot of monsters played, but Deuce and Heath got into it surprisingly quick when I first introduced it to them and now, they played it together all the time. So instead of sticking to my original plan, I decided to join their game. I also grabbed my headset so I could talk to them.

"Yo, Jackson, what's up?" asked Deuce once I was connected.

"Not much," I responded, "You guys do realize I had to mute my iCoffin because of you, right?" I added.

"No, but yay us," joked Deuce, "Oh, and I'm it, so does virtually tagging people count? Like, can I hit you in Minecraft and say you're it?"

"Cheating," I answered.