Chapter 5
Monday morning. 6:03 AM. Sunlight creeping through blackout curtains. Phone buzzing softly on the nightstand.
I woke up slow.
Eyes heavy. Muscles sore.
Mind sharp.
Always.
I grabbed my phone. Checked the time.
No notifications.
Just that red dot at the top of Instagram.
I tapped it.
Story Views: 1,743.
My breath caught for a second.
But I didn't flinch.
Clicked Viewers.
First one?
Selene.
Of course.
I could already imagine her staring at the screen somewhere, silent-screaming in a 4'10 rage, gripping a coffee cup like it was my waist.
Expected.
I scrolled-
And then froze.
@vipervxrcetti
Profile pic: black and white shot of a motorcycle.
Username? Confirmed.
Valentina. Motherfucking. Vercetti.
"What the fuck-" I whispered.
Since when.
SINCE. WHEN.
I clicked her profile.
Following: 64.
And right there, buried in that tiny list-
Me.
My account.
I didn't even remember approving her.
When did she follow?? Why did she follow?? HOW did she follow without me noticing??
But then-
Ping.
"2 Message Requests"
My fingers shook.
I tapped.
Request #1:
VALENTINA VERCETTI
"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU WHY WOULD YOU POST THAT WHO GAVE YOU PERMISSION I AM LITERALLY GOING TO EXPLODE"
Request #2:
Both in caps.
Both unhinged.
Both fully feral.
I stared at the screen.
Blinking.
Then I leaned back against the pillows.
Smirked.
And muttered to myself.
"...good morning."
I stared at the DM requests a little longer.
Two people. Two entirely different levels of insanity.
I clicked Valentina's first.
Her message was all-caps.
Didn't blink.
Then typed back:
Sent.
That was it.
Nothing more.
Let her sit with that.
The typing bubble popped up immediately.
I let the message sit there, unread.
Then tapped open Selene's.
Her message?
I bit my lip.
Typed.
Slow.
I hit send.
Waited exactly two seconds.
The reply exploded.
I laughed softly.
Then tossed the phone onto the bed.
Got up.
Walked to the bathroom.
Turned the shower on.
Because while they were losing their minds...
I had school.
Northvale High. Afternoon.
Same hallway.
Same faces.
Same words.
Today was nothing special.
I got tripped between classes. My books got "accidentally" spilled down the stairs. Someone slapped a sticky note on my back that said "Park Bench Princess."
Valentina laughed.
Of course she did.
She leaned on her locker with her arms crossed like a queen watching a circus-me being the main act.
"Should've stayed on the bench, Stonebrook," she said with a smirk.
I ignored her.
Same routine.
Until it wasn't.
I was walking toward the side exit. Wanted some air. That's when they showed up.
Marco's men.
Three of them. Older. Not students. They shouldn't have even been here. But when you're Vercetti-rules bend.
One stepped in front of me.
"Missed you, sweetheart," he said, eyes sweeping over me like I was inventory.
I turned to walk past-
They blocked me.
"Where you headed, princess? Need cash?"
He rattled coins in his hand like a joke.
"I heard you're good for it," another whispered, leaning in. "Orphan girl's gotta survive, right?"
My spine stiffened.
The first one reached for my waist.
I slapped his hand away.
He laughed.
"You don't get to say no. You don't even own a fucking bed."
Then his fingers reached again-lower.
"Try anything," I warned, "and you won't walk right again."
They laughed harder.
That's when a fourth voice cut through the air.
"Get your fucking hands OFF her."
Valentina.
Standing at the end of the hallway like death in eyeliner.
The men turned.
One chuckled. "Vercetti, relax. We're just having fun with your little punching bag."
"She's mine to bully," Valentina snapped. "Not yours to touch."
They laughed again.
"You serious? You're really gonna defend this broke bench bitch?"
Valentina didn't move.
They kept going.
"She's nothing but a desperate slut, Val. A stray. Left behind, begging for cash and probably sucking off creeps behind dumpsters to pay rent."
That. Was. The. Last. Straw.
Valentina didn't speak.
She just moved.
Fast.
Fist straight to the jaw of the one who touched me first.
He stumbled back, stunned.
She kneed the second in the gut. Grabbed the third by the collar and slammed him against the lockers.
"You ever fucking speak about her like that again," she growled, "and I'll make sure your dicks are the last thing you ever use."
The hallway was dead silent.
One of the men shoved her back, angry now. "You're just a little Vercetti brat with a daddy complex-"
Crack.
Her elbow hit his nose. Blood splattered.
Valentina turned to me, breathing hard. "You good?"
I blinked.
Nodded.
Then stepped beside her.
We stood side by side.
The school's two disasters.
The bully.
The orphan.
And for once-
We were on the same side.
I leaned against the locker.
One of the men-before he went down-must've grabbed me harder than I thought.
My side was burning now.
I lifted the edge of my shirt.
There it was.
Red scratch mark. Sharp. Skin broken.
I hissed under my breath.
"Fucking great."
Valentina turned to me, still catching her breath, probably expecting a thank you or a smart comment.
She did not expect what I did next.
I peeled my hoodie off, dropped my backpack, and yanked off my shirt-right there in the hallway.
Now I was just standing in a plain black bra.
And underneath it?
Six-pack. Defined. Tight. Veins visible.
Shoulders sculpted.
Arms carved by survival.
Valentina went completely still.
I didn't look at her.
Didn't care.
I grabbed the emergency nurse kit from the wall, pulled out antiseptic, and sprayed the scratch without hesitation.
It burned. Hard.
I gritted my teeth through it.
Valentina?
Still. Not. Breathing.
"Are you-uh-like-what the-why-when-since when-how are you built like that?" she stammered, blinking twenty times a second.
"I work out," I said flatly.
She kept staring.
Mouth open.
Eyes wide.
A full internal glitch happening in real time.
"I-uh-I should-do you need-uh-maybe I should call a doctor-no wait-wait, I think I have a med number in my phone, yeah-"
She pulled out her phone.
Started "looking for a number."
I knew that look.
Then-
FLASH.
I turned slowly.
She froze.
Phone still half-raised.
Flash still set to ON.
I arched one eyebrow.
"You know I can see your flash, right?"
Valentina.exe has crashed.
"I-what-no-it must've been a reflection-I mean-I didn't mean to-well, I did, BUT I DIDN'T-OH MY GOD-DELETE ME-KILL ME-TAKE THE PHONE-NO DON'T-I MEAN WAIT-FUCK-"
I turned back to the mirror.
Reapplied antiseptic.
Still shirtless.
Still unbothered.
"...You're lucky I'm too tired to throw you across the hallway."
She let out a high-pitched wheeze.
"I-uh-coolcoolcool-sick-gonna go lie down in traffic real quick-"
Ten minutes later. Hallway still semi-wrecked. Hoodie back on.
I had finished patching up the scratch.
The antiseptic still burned under the fabric, but whatever. I was used to worse.
I slipped the hoodie back over my head. Pulled the sleeves down.
Valentina hadn't moved from her spot on the bench.
Still holding her phone.
Still staring at the screen like it held the meaning of life.
Then I heard it.
Softly.
Under her breath.
Almost a whisper.
"I'm probably gonna masturbate to this later."
My head snapped to the side.
Excuse me?
She blinked.
Realized.
Turned to stone.
I tilted my head slowly.
She immediately turned into static.
"I-I didn't mean to say that-I MEANT TO THINK IT-I THOUGHT IT AND IT ESCAPED-brAIN AND MOUTH AREN'T ON SPEAKING TERMS-"
Right then-
Her squad pulled up.
Two of her besties.
Concerned.
"Val?? Are you okay?? We heard something happened-"
"We thought you got jumped or something!"
Then they noticed.
The way Valentina was clutching her phone to her chest like it was a sacred text.
The glow of the screen still on.
"Wait... what's that?"
Valentina stiffened.
"Nothing."
They leaned in.
She leaned back.
Suspicious silence.
"...Did you just take a thirst trap of someone?" one of them asked, eyes narrowing.
"No!" Valentina squeaked, face red.
"Then let us see-"
"NO."
She leapt off the bench and bolted three feet back.
They lunged.
She dodged.
It turned into a full wrestling match in the middle of the hallway.
"GIVE US THE PHONE, VAL!"
"YOU'LL HAVE TO KILL ME FIRST!"
"WHO IS IT?? WHY ARE YOU RED?? SHOW US THE ABS!!"
She growled like a gremlin. "IT'S A SACRED IMAGE. IT'S ART. YOU CANNOT UNDERSTAND IT."
I stood across the hallway.
Hands in my hoodie pocket.
Just watching.
Completely dead inside.
"...I need to transfer schools," I muttered.
School bathroom. 4th period. Finally, silence.
I closed the stall door.
Sat down.
Not to cry.
Not to fall apart.
Just to fucking breathe.
No Valentina.
No phone flashes.
No feral stalkers.
Just cold tile, faded graffiti, and-
BZZZZZZZ
My phone buzzed violently.
Selene.
I stared at the screen.
Debated throwing it across the stall.
Then answered.
"EMILY-NO-ANNA-WHY-WHY WOULD YOU LET HER TAKE THAT PHOTO-YOUR ABS-I SAW YOUR ABS-WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS-I AM FOUR FOOT TEN-FOUR-POINT-TEN-DO YOU HEAR ME-"
I blinked.
I sighed, leaned against the cold stall wall.
She kept going.
"I SAW A CAMERA FLASH ON THE WEST HALLWAY FEED-THAT'S A SECURITY RISK-SO I HACKED INTO THE NEAREST DEVICE THAT TOOK A PICTURE-AND GUESS WHO THAT WAS? FUCKING VIPER VERCETTI. SO NATURALLY-BECAUSE I'M RESPONSIBLE-I HACKED INTO HER PHONE-"
I closed my eyes.
I sighed again.
Leaned forward.
"WELL TOO FUCKING BAD BECAUSE I HAVE NONE. THANKS TO YOU."
She hadn't stopped talking.
At all.
"-AND THEN YOU TURNED AROUND-AND THAT BACK DEFINITION-LIKE WHO THE FUCK GAVE YOU PERMISSION TO EXIST-DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT DOES TO A PERSON WHO'S FOUR FOOT FUCKING TEN-DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH POWER YOU HAVE IN THAT PINK-"
I closed my eyes.
Breathed in.
And then said it.
Flat.
Cold.
"I won't be taking my clothes off again."
She went silent.
I continued.
"And if I ever do... I'll make sure you're banned from seeing it. Or I'll be covered. Completely."
1 second of silence.
2 seconds.
3-
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME-NO-NO NO NO-YOU TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW-I'M LITERALLY SHRINKING-I AM GOING TO IMPLODE-I'M COMPACT AND ANGRY-YOU CAN'T DO THAT-EMILY PLEASE-I WILL PAY-NO-WHO DO I SEND MONEY TO-IS THIS ABOUT THE SECURITY brEACH-I'LL BEHAVE-JUST SHOW ME COLLARBONE-I'LL ACCEPT COLLARBONE-"
She was spiraling.
Hard.
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND-THIS IS MY LIFE NOW-YOU ARE MY RELIGION-I AM ON MY KNEES METAPHORICALLY-EMILY I'M FOUR FOOT TEN I HAVE NO KNEES LEFT-"
I hung up.
Just like that.
She could scream into the void all she wanted.
I flushed.
Opened the stall.
Washed my hands in silence.
Looked at myself in the mirror.
Still hoodie-clad.
Still untouchable.
"...Never taking this off again."
End of the school day. The usual stuff.
"Nice outfit, Orphan Barbie."
"Did you sleep on that bench again?"
"Bet she sells math tutoring for food stamps."
Same hallway. Same voices. Same shit.
I didn't react.
Didn't stop walking.
I finished my last class. Turned in my lab. Picked up my things.
And headed to the back of the school building-
To the side storage room where I kept her.
The pink latex maid uniform.
I peeled off my school clothes and slipped into it like armor.
Skin-tight. High-gloss. Ridiculously short.
Still fit like a second skin.
I pulled the zipper up.
Tied the bow.
And stepped outside.
Side parking lot. 3:42 PM.
She was there.
Valentina Vercetti.
Smoking under the stairs.
Saw me instantly.
She dropped the cigarette.
Mouth opened.
Then closed.
Then opened again.
She was malfunctioning.
"Wha-uh-you-you can't-why-latex again-no-what the fuck-I can't-Emily-stop-this isn't-FUCK-"
She actually grabbed the railing for balance.
I walked past her.
Didn't look.
Didn't blink.
Completely unbothered.
Sweet Peaches Diner - 4:00 PM.
Clocked in.
Took tables.
Smiled.
Served six omelets, five coffees, and got a $20 tip from a guy who couldn't stop staring at my thighs.
Manager called me over at the end of the shift.
Handed me an envelope.
"Month's payout, Stonebrook. You earned it."
I opened it.
Counted.
$5,000.
Not much for some people.
But for me?
Survival.
Downtown. 8:12 PM.
I stopped at a boutique on the way back to the penthouse.
Walked straight to the softwear section.
Picked up a fluffy pastel pink hoodie.
Ultra-cropped. Soft as clouds. Comically tiny.
Too cute for me?
Absolutely.
Did I buy it anyway?
Yes.
I held it up to the mirror. Smirked.
"...Selene's gonna try to steal this the second she sees it."
Oops. Spoiler.