Valentine.

You must find me, Valentine.

Find me, open the door, let me out!

Valentine Diaz, let me out!

Val yawned awake, their alarm clock picking one of the best songs to wake up to, Maneater by Hispanic legend, Nelly Furtado.

Val sighed, jumping out of bed and pulling on her outfit for today. She checked it in the mirror before heading to the bathroom to apply her makeup for the day. Valentine Diaz had much more important things to worry about, the voice in her dreams didn't even make the list.

She ran down the stairs and grabbed their bag from its place by the door. "I'm off, dad," She yelled.

He didn't yell back, which was pretty much usual in their household.

Val hopped into their car, a sleek black thing, low to the ground and a little dinged in the back, but Valentine loved it.

She grabbed a coffee from the Starbucks drive-through and parked in her usual spot at the school building. It wasn't her parking space, per se, but Valentine pretty much always parked there. Even when they were late no one parked there, a little too afraid of the wrath of Valentine Diaz.

The teenager ran into Homeroom, falling into her seat just as the bell rang. She was cutting it a bit close but nonetheless, Valentine made it.

Lunch with Dahlia Capulet wasn't exactly how Val was hoping to spend her lunch. The two sat in the stairwell and ate their lunches, talking about whatever they felt like.

Dahlia mentioned her brother's nightmare, which froze Valentine to their core. Apparently, her twin, Leo, had nearly the same nightmare Val had. The disembodied voice told him to open the door.

"That is fucking creepy." Was all Val said on the topic as Dahlia quickly changed the subject to Miranda Fistock and her nose job.

Valentine didn't want to dwell on the nightmare but it tickled at their mind for the rest of the day.

It popped back while she was driving home, stopped at a traffic light, Valentine thought about the nightmare. It was a woman's voice, maybe a teenager or a tween. Her voice was airy, smooth and strange. Valentine paused in her thoughts, how did she remember all this information?

She could remember nearly every detail of the woman's voice. It was dark while she slept so the voice was against a dark background of night. Normally, Val wouldn't remember her dreams but this one was just fundamentally different.

Maybe talking to Leo Capulet would yield some answers. Val parked the car, and pulled out her phone, typing a quick text to Dahlia.

Valentine <3: Heyyyyy D! You home? I just wanna stop by!

Lia: ofc I'm home! Come on over!

So Valentine headed over, hoping to find some way to talk to Leo.

She knocked on the door, rolling her eyes as Mrs Capulet pulled open the door. "I'm just here to see Dahlia?"

"Come on in, sweetheart," Mrs Capulet said. "Dahlia! Your friend is here!"

Valentine sighed at the soft tone of Mrs Capulet, it was weird for her to hear. But she jolted out of the mental fog by Dahlia's clunky footsteps as she ran down the stairs. "Oh, Valentine! You got here fast." Dahlia motioned for her to follow her upstairs.

Walking through the Capulet house was sort of strange. It was clearly not the same level of impersonal as the Diaz household, with sweet photos in frames on the walls and stickers from their childhood as opposed to white, plain, walls and emotionless vases.

She walked behind Dahlia down the hall towards her room, passing by Leo's room. Val peeked through the open door, noticing Leo laying on his bed with his headphones in. She stared for a moment, before Dahlia turned, "Coming?"

Val turned, "Yeah, sorry, coming!"

She dashed into Dahlia's room, following the other girl. Dahlia turned to Val, making a bit of a grumpy face, "So, what did you need?"

Valentine froze, they hadn't really thought this far ahead, what did they need? "Well, I was just wondering if you knew what homework we have for chemistry?"

"Are you kidding me, Valentine?" Dahlia rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her bright pink cardigan. "You could have just texted me if you really wanted to know about the chem homework. You clearly want something else, so what is it?"

"Dahlia?" Val sighed. "What's with the hostility? I literally just wanted to know what we needed to do for chemistry."

Dahlia glared, "You want something with Leo."

Valentine glared back. Sure, Dahlia was right, but she didn't need to know that. "What kind of shit do you think I need with Leo?"

"I don't know, Val, but you're going to stay away from my twin brother. He has nothing to do with whatever bullshit you're getting into."

Valentine sighed, "Fine, I'll just go."

Dahlia glared, "Yeah, you will."

Valentine turned her back to the girl she swore was her friend. And yeah, maybe Dahlia was never really a friend and more like someone she knew from school but it still sort of stung. Valentine may have loved the chaos of the situation but she really needed to talk to Leo Capulet, like, really needed to talk to him.

Maybe she will get a chance tomorrow at school.

Valentine hopped back behind the wheel of her car and took off, leaving the Capulet house behind, for now.