Valentina Leclair's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Valentina Leclair wanted into the genetics club for girls, and today the door cracked open. The club leader's best friend had cornered her by the lockers and asked to be friends. Valentina said yes before she could think. Now she had a week to hold that friendship, or the door would swing shut. The best friend was Bri Ashworth, and Bri got bored the way other people breathed. Bri ran the drama club. She wore a real gold necklace that spelled "glam queen!" and she said what she thought without softening it. "Boring," she told Valentina at lunch, chewing. "You said three sentences today. All homework." She stood and left before Valentina could answer. Valentina went to her aunt for help. Jaylin Lemonsweet pulled shots behind the counter at the cat cafe, a lemonade sweating near her elbow, a gray cat winding past her black heels. Valentina explained the problem in one breath. Jaylin set down the pitcher. "You keep her interested by being you, loud," she said. "You've got a whole life you never mention. Use it. Give her something to lean toward, not a worksheet." She slid the lemonade over. "Show her a place. Don't perform. Share." So Valentina made a plan. She bought a French macaron box and stacked two genetics books on top, one on grapevine genomes. Then she texted Bri an address: a five-story bookshop shaped like a giant book, grape vines climbing the stone. Bri came late, arms crossed. "A bookstore," she said. "Thrilling." Valentina handed her the box anyway. Bri lifted the top book and read the spine. She almost put it down. Valentina didn't let the silence sit. "My father sleeps all day," she said. "He can't be in the sun. My mother won't say the word. I read books until I figured it out myself." Her voice stayed level. "That's why I like genetics. I'm trying to find out what I am." Bri stopped chewing. She looked at Valentina like she'd walked on stage mid-scene. "Wait," she said. "Say that again." Valentina did. She told her about the cat that walked past her to her father's door. About her mother watching from the hall, tired, not sad. Bri sat down in one of the deep chairs. She pulled Valentina down beside her. "Okay," Bri said. "You're not boring. You buried the good part." She opened the macaron box and ate one. "Tell me the rest." Valentina had done it. Bri was leaning in, not away. But Bri leaned close and lowered her voice. "The club leader will love this," she said. "A real vampire question. That's your ticket in." She smiled wide. "I'm telling her tomorrow." Valentina's stomach dropped. She had only ever said it out loud once, just now. And she had never meant for it to leave this chair.