Sorry in advance for this chapter's shortness. I wanted to get it up sooner rather than later. I've gotten questions about Bella's job, too. All I'll tell you is that it's important to the story, so I'm not giving it away in the beginning.

Meet My Valentyne

Unbelievable. I thought that maybe Bella would shake things up a little because of the, ah, incident in homeroom, but this is insane. One minute, I'm walking to my car for lunch. The next, I'm talking to her under a tree in the pouring rain. Before I know it, I'm driving to Bella's house so she can feed her pet Valentyne. It's not that I'm mad about it, or that I've never ditched school before. I've just never ditched with, let alone for, someone. The idea is usually to get away from everyone.

Not today. Today I'm going to drive Bella-a girl I met around thirty minutes ago-to her house so she can feed her cat... or whatever it is. When I asked, she said she 'wants to surprise me.' I wasn't sure whether to be amused by that or edgy.

"So," I started. "Why are you in such a hurry to feed your cat?" Maybe if I guess right, she'll tell me. "I know school sucks, but there were only two or three hours left," I joked.

Her lips twitched up. "No, It's not a cat," she answered. "Valentyne's a sweetie, but if he doesn't get fed before one everyday..." Her voice drifted off.

"Should I be concerned?" I asked warily.

"What time is it?"

I glanced at the clock on my dash. 12:45. "Quarter to one."

"We're almost there, right?" she questioned.

"Yeah." Can't she tell?

"We'll be fine. It only takes a minute to get the fruit," Bella said.

Fruit? What is it, a parrot? Do parrots even eat fruit? The last few minutes of the drive were spent in comfortable silence as I contemplated all the possible animals.

I parked in front of the 'little house with the big tree in back that has a swing hanging from it.' The house itself wasn't all that small. Sure it wasn't that wide, but it was two stories tall. Bella's directions had been a bit... odd. Instead of using street names, she used things like numbers of blocks and houses, groups of trees, and a pole that had gotten hit by a truck... Then, she'd ask me when I was past certain points. I didn't read into it much. She was new in town and may not know her way around... Although that would contradict her rather specific directions.

Bella led me into her house and straight to the kitchen. She grabbed a big bowl and started filling it full of random fruits.

I listened carefully for a squawk but the house was dead silent aside from Bella's footsteps on the hardwood floor.

Bella started toward the door, then stopped mid-step. She turned on her heel and walked toward the refrigerator. I figured she was after more fruit until she climbed on top of the counter.

"Do you need any help?" I asked. She had the fruit bowl tucked under one arm as she opened the cabinet door above the fridge.

"Sure." Bella ducked under the door and handed me the fruit. "Hold this a minute." She turned back to the cabinet and fished out a flashlight. What the hell? She hopped off the counter and held out the flashlight. "Switch?"
I thought it best not to argue. Bella seemed to know what she was doing, while I was still clueless. "Might want to make sure that works." She gestured to the flashlight.

I clicked it on. "It works." But why do I need it?

"Good." She tucked the bowl back under her arm and grabbed my wrist. "You're going to need it." Bella gave my arm a little tug and I obediently followed. If I wasn't curious before, I was now.

We walked on to the end of a dimly lit hallway and stopped at a closed door. Bella turned to me and said, "Try to keep the flashlight low. Ty wouldn't want the light in his face." That worried me a little. Ty must be pretty big if I have to keep the light low.

Bella nudged the door open, revealing a narrow staircase that made a sharp left turn after the first ten steps. I felt like I was walking into a horror movie as Bella cautiously descended the staircase, pulling me with her. Music floated through the air, a haunting voice singing words I couldn't understand.

After the turn, the flashlight caught something on the steps: Emmett's football cleat, apparently. There were a few other objects scattered about. I vaguely wondered how Bella managed to walk down here without a flashlight-in the pitch black-without tripping over anything and falling down the stairs. I'd stumbled twice. With the flashlight. Luckily Bella's grip on my wrist helped me keep balanced.

"Val-en-tyne," Bella called sweetly. "I brought lunch." She pulled me to another door on the right. "Sorry to wake yo up." Aren't wolves nocturnal?

The volume of the music increased as the door creaked open.

Suddenly a flapping noise filled the air followed by a thump and a "Gah!" Then I was on the floor. The flashlight had rolled out of my hand when I fell, so I couldn't see a thing.

"This is why no one ever wants to feed you." Bella's voice was right above me. Then I realized it was because she was on top of me!

She sat up and shifted so she was straddling my chest. I was endlessly thankful that she couldn't see me.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Never better."

"Oh!" She jerked in surprise. I swear, much more and I would've had a heart attack. "I must weigh a ton! Sorry!" Bella rolled off me and grabbed my hands, pulling me up.

Hardly, I thought. My math book probably outweighs her. "What was that?"

"Valentyne," she answered. "He sure knows how to make an entrance," she said sarcastically. "Little klutz."

I bent over for the flashlight. "So when do I get to see him?"

"Right now." There was an audible click and the top light came on dim. I looked around and discovered we were in a bedroom. The music I'd heard came from an iHome sitting on the bookshelf across the room full of books in Braille. Weird. The walls were dark purple and the carpet black, along with the sheets on the bed. I noticed that the fruit bowl was sitting on the dresser a foot away. Bella had managed to set it down before being tackled by Valentyne. Which reminds me...

"Where is he?" I didn't see him anywhere. Bella turned from the light switch on the wall by us and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

Clinging upside down to her shirt-our hoodies were in my car-was a black bat the size of my head. That would explain the flapping I'd heard. Wolves eat meat, I reminded myself.

Valentyne looked up at me and made a noise somewhere between a chirp and a screech before leaping onto my shirt.

"Aw! He likes you!" Bella grabbed the bowl from the dresser and my wrist and walked over to her bed. There, the three of us enjoyed a lunch of assorted fruits. This year was going to be much more interesting then I'd ever anticipated.

Thanks for reading. From messages I've gotten, people thought Valentyne was either a big dog, a tarantula, or a cat. Let me know what you guys were thinking. I found the tarantula idea interesting... Review please.