attuned
A Villains of Valley View drabble
by mew-tsubaki
Note: The Villains of Valley View characters belong to Chris Peterson and Bryan Moore, not to me. Yet another fic in which Jake gets to be the third wheel again. X'DDD Read, review, and enjoy!
- ^-^3
Jake frowned at his open notebook and reached across the table to tap the end of his pencil against Hartley's open textbook. "Hey, did you copy down yesterday's diagram in chemistry? I thought I got all of it, but I swear I'm missing some molecules…"
Hartley nodded and slid her notes his way. "Flip to the yellow paper clip in the middle."
"You have got to be the most organized person in this school," Jake remarked, flipping to the aforementioned section with ease.
Hartley chuckled. "Ha, organized. Yep. Th-That's me."
He quirked an eyebrow at his friend at the stutter in her sentence, but—
"…aMIEEE, what you wanna do~? I think I could stay with you, for a while, maybe longer—"
"HOLY CR—!" Hartley yelped, jumping out of her skin at the sudden interruption. It came from deep inside her backpack on the chair beside her in the school library. She yanked the main compartment open and sent her backup pencil pouch flying until she got to her cellphone and silenced the noisy device.
Jake, in the meantime, dodged the flying pencil pouch, caught it, and set it on their study table between their schoolwork. When Hartley zipped her bag back up and faced him, he settled her with a concerned look.
"Well, that's enough excitement for the day. After all, nothing's more important than studying!"
He raised an eyebrow at that. "Hartley, chill. Don't forget we have a substitute librarian today, so you won't be flambéed for making a little noise in here right now."
She blinked at him and peeked around the closer book stack to check. When no one came running to tell her off or worse—haul her off to the principal's office—Hartley heaved a sigh of relief.
"But I'm definitely wondering about that ringtone. Is that an actual song?"
Curiously, Hartley turned raspberry red. "I, um. It is. It's called 'Amie,' actually—'Amie' for Amy." She froze. "But, uh, that's not spelled the same way as Amy's name, you see, it's with an 'e' and it's an old song. I don't even really listen to the group; my grandma does. But! I like the song anyway, and—"
Jake stared the longer Hartley babbled about the song, but he made note of her odd reaction and tucked his observation away for later. He shook his head, which helped Hartley screech to halt. "All right, so what do you have the rest of us set to?"
She relaxed at his question and even laughed, back to her usual sunny self. Hartley unzipped her backpack once more and dug out her phone, unlocking it and digging into her settings. "You Maddens are a tricky bunch," she admitted. "I haven't settled on one for Colby yet, but your dad—" She tapped a button on her screen, and an ominous "dun-dun-DUNNN!" growled from her speakers.
Jake shared in her grin. "That fits Dad."
"He's a big bad villain, after all," Hartley whispered.
"He likes to think he is," Jake corrected. "He's happier when he's holed up, inventing new stuff. Half his stuff never sees the light of day—not very villain-y of him." He motioned to her phone with his chin, their study session long forgotten. "All right, so you've settled on a sound effect for Dad. What about Mom?"
Hartley scrolled down and tapped a different selection. The little zzzt reminded Jake of a bug zapper, and Hartley shrugged, her grin smaller this time. "A reference to her powers. After all, it's hard to find music for all your names."
Jake nodded.
"Although, I came close with you?"
He furrowed his brow.
But Hartley was all bright eyes and that big smile as she opened up her music app. "Yeah, there's a band called Less Than Jake, so I picked one of their songs and set it as your ringtone." Without prompting, she played a sample of the rock–jazz hybrid that…frankly, Jake couldn't wrap his head around.
So…
His parents got sound effects, Colby was undecided, Jake got a less-than-stellar band reference…and Amy got a song practically named for her.
Jake groaned and returned to copying a bewildered Hartley's chemistry notes, mumbling to himself about Amy receiving special treatment yet again….
- ^-^3
Well, jeez, Jake, they are best friends…! ;D That bit of Amy's ringtone on Hartley's phone rly is the chorus from Pure Prairie League's song, "Amie," tho; every now and then, it gets stuck in my head, and thinking about it this time made me smile when I thought about Hartmy in the same moment, *lol*. (The song is smthg of a love song in the soft/country rock genre, so Hartley's deffo crushing hard here, if it ain't requited. XD) Poor Jake, tho, the friend having to deal with/watch his friend and sis be so them yet again (ngl, I wanted to write smthg happier after "a taste of your own medicine"); altho the band Less Than Jake is v much real—I was thinking of the song "Lie To Me" off their 2020 album, Silver Linings. Also Easter egg at the beginning: His comment on Hartley's organization skills is a laugh for those of us who remember the ep with her bedroom. XDDD Final thoughts… Well, I've been writing for a long time and have seen trends come and go in fic, and lemme just say: This felt like writing a songfic without writing a songfic, *lol*. But 'twas fun!
Thanks for reading, and please review! Check out my other fics if you liked this~ And reblog this fic on tumblr to show your support!
-mew-tsubaki ;D
