Valerie Asher lived a perfect life with her perfect parents. She was spoiled by her mom and loved remarkably by her dad. Her parents have been together before she was born 15 years ago. Life for her was good at home, but at school, she hated being in the spotlight, she hung back and wanted to be classified as an outcast. She knew it wouldn’t hurt her what names she got called. She just didn’t want the drama in her life.

“Hey Val, how was your day at school today?” Her mom asked as she set the groceries on the kitchen counter. She dug through the bags looking for the treat she bought for Valerie.
“Good. Nothing much happened, like always. Anyways thanks for the M&M brownies.”
“Val you look like you’re starting to get sick. How have you been feeling? Do you a fever?” Her mom put a hand to her head and felt the warmth that was escaping through Valerie’s pores.
“Yeah, I’m going to go lay down for a little bit.”
Valerie climbed the stairs to her room. It’s as if she was climbing a  mountain. Her room was not her decision. If she had a choice she would change all the decor. It was a neon pink with zebra prints. She tried to cover up the pink on the walls with posters and quotes she got off Google and from books. Her favorite was. “All it takes it a beautiful fake smile to hide an injured soul and they will never notice how broken you really are.”  She refers to that quote when her parents fight and she is almost on the edge of breaking down.
Valerie lays her head down on her bed and covers up. Within moments she is asleep.
She felt a jerking motion and she wakes up in a foggy area. She walks a little bit trying to figure out where she is. A dark figure stands yelling at a tall man. They look familiar like she has seen pictures of them before. As Valerie walks closer to the figures they start to clear up. She recognizes them. They are her parents from a long time ago. She overhears some of the conversation.
“- it’s not my fault. I just don’t think I can handle this relationship anymore. You are always out with your friends. Nick is going through depression and he is never home anymore.” Her dad yelled at her mom who was just sitting there sipping a Corona.
Her mom was all dressed in black. A way she had never seen her before. She couldn’t remember her mom drinking. Valerie doesn’t want this to be her life, she doesn’t want this to change the way she sees her parents. Not now, not ever.
Why would they hide this from her? She wanted to believe they were happy before she came into their lives.
Finally, she wakes up in her own bed all sweaty and entangled in the sheets. She sits up and wondered what just happened.
Val runs downstairs to confront her mom or dad. She looks in every nook and cranny of the house but neither of her parents where to be found. She gave up on looking.
How could she have never noticed the tension between her parents when they fought and they didn’t recognize their own daughter? Her mom’s eyes would be clouded over and she would stare into nothing.
Again. Why is this happening now? The back of her eyes started to throb with pain. Her eyes rolled back and she fell to the hardwood floor. Her body looked like a broken doll just laying on the ground.
Another memory flashed in her mind. But this time she is older and somewhat remembers this memory. It was back in 6th grade when she got sent home for getting into a fight over a book. She remembers what happened; her old friend Emily tried to take her book and throw it in the garbage because Valerie was obsessed over it. Emily felt that Val didn’t want to be her friend anymore.
But the truth was Val got the book Thirteen Reason Why for Christmas that year for her late brother Nick. He died just after Christmas because of a drug overdose. She didn’t want to stop reading that book, it reminded her of his sweet face that covered up his horrible life. If she could understand the book, maybe she could stop the next person from committing suicide that was close to her.
Her mom came to pick her up. Val remembered when she came barging through the front doors of Clayton Middle School. Val walked out next to her raging mom to the SUV. As soon as she got into the vehicle her mom went off staying nonsense about “Valerie ruining her day, now that she had to come home from work they would be short money.” Anything that put all the blame on Valerie.
Val started to cry and apologized over and over, trying to calm her mother’s rage. She only knew of one thing that would calm her mom: Dad and some Corona.
But why did she remember that her mom drank the pain away, she never knew that before? Were her memories starting to resurface?
Valerie needed to escape this haunting memory. She needed to wake up. She pulled herself away from anything within reach and found the loophole to get out. She walked through the bright light back to reality.
She gasped “Why do these memories keep trying to let me know the truth about my past. I am happy. My parents have some bad times but they still love each other and me. Did this happen because at such a young age Nick got hooked into the wrong friends and went off the rails? I never really asked them much about Nick.”
She got up off the floor and her clothes were lined with sweat and dirt.
Val decided to go out and eat at the diner down the street from her house.  

When she got to the diner there were limited people there. She found a spot in the back corner of the diner.
A nice looking waitress comes over “May I get you anything to eat or drink?”
“No. I’m fine right now.” Val plays with her hands to stop from getting nervous. She doesn’t want to break down in front of strangers.
“Just call me over when you need something, okay kid?” The waitress walked away back to the counter and Val caught a glimpse of a boy that was new to her town.  
He looked different than the other kids in town. His skin that has been touched by the sun. The blond hair that also has been bleached from the sun. Who was he?
Val accidently caught the boy’s eyes, when her gray like the sky eyes meet his ocean blue ones butterflies flew in her stomach. His hand flew in the air, he was waving at her. She slunk down into the booth she was sitting in wanting to disappear.
“You do know it is rude to stare at someone without saying hello.”
Val raised her eyes to meet the voice that sounded like the ocean calling. She felt the rush of warmness flow through her body, all the way to her cheeks.
“Sorry, I didn’t have the nerve to go up to you. You’re new in town and I didn’t want to ruin your vision of this cozy place just yet. I had to let you see it for yourself, not the way I see.” Val sounded like she had a knife stuck in her that kept getting pushed down farther and farther into her as she lived with the regret of being the only thing keeping her parents fake relationship together. She felt hurt by the lies of this town and she had to express it somehow and he asked for it.
“Sorry. I bothered in trying to make new friends. I am new and I would like friends. But I see that you’re not up to being friends. I guess I’ll be on my way.”
Val saw the look upon his face, it looked broken. Why did she have to say all that stuff? He is new and he doesn’t have a clue what this town does to people. She has a sudden need to get out of this place. Where would she go?
“I need to find something that can take away this pain of mine.” She remembered a guy from her school. “Buddy” gave away drugs that made you forget everything for a little while. She just had to remember his number or his hang out. She guessed she could wait till tomorrow and ask him at school for his number and go from there.
She needed a place to sleep and cool down. Her friend Lizzie would let her spend the night if she knew Val was fighting with her parents.
“Hey Liz, can I spend the night at your house? I can’t go home right now, because I am fighting with my parents. Can you pick me up at Monet’s.” Not everything that came out of her mouth was a lie but some of it was. She needed to hide the truth for as long as possible.
Lizzy could pick her up in 30 minutes or so. She needed to cool down soon. She went to walk around outside.
“Got an apology waiting for me yet?” The ocean was calling again. Why couldn’t it leave her alone?
“Sorry, but I got a ride coming soon. So let’s hurry this conversation up a little bit.” Valerie snapped at the ocean ridden boy.
“Sassy. Why all the tension between us. I’m new to town. My plane landed early this morning and I wanted to wander the town by myself. I sauntered upon you looking at me. Sorry I found you so my bad for finding you beautiful to look at.”
Not a single soul her age has ever called her beautiful, she never had a real boyfriend ever. The tingling feeling was happening again. Why did the bad obstacles in life happen on the same day as the good ones?
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lizzy’s blue Mustang pull up to the curb. “Sorry I got to go.”
“Yeah, whatever. See you later. I think?” The ocean stomped away towards the parking lot the opposite direction of her.
“Who was that?” Lizzy exclaimed in excitement as Val ducked into the car. Lizzy was wearing a strapless dress, pretty formal for just being at home.
“I’m sorry you had to pick me up. You were at your family's charity dinner, weren’t you?” Val’s face turned a deep red for taking away her best friends night away from her. Just to pick her up because she couldn’t stand her family’s lies.
“It’s okay. There were no cute boys, mostly old men wanting to talk to my dad about who knows what. I would rather spend the night with you talking gossip about that cute boy I saw you with.” Lizzy’s face glowed in the darkness of the car.
Val thought she could spend the night talking about who the ocean boy was.

It was a little later than 10 when they arrived at Lizzy’s beach house. Val remembered the summer of eighth grade when she came out here for a whole summer. Lizzy and her would talk about who they had crushes on that year. Making dares about who could get the first kiss or boyfriend. She missed the old times when there was no judgment and lies that tore her apart.
“So, Val when are you going to tell me out the hottie I saw you with at Monet’s” Lizzy wanted to know the details and wouldn’t stop until she got something.
They walked around the house to the porch that faced the water. Living in Maine was alright because she got to see the Ocean every day. She didn’t care much for the weather, it never reached boiling hot but every winter in was below zero almost every day from December to February.
“There is nothing to tell. He is new and town. And he caught me staring at him. That’s all.” Val wanted to get this moment over with. She didn’t want to think about how his voice sounded so beautiful or the way he reminded her of the Ocean, she loved dearly.
“That sounds like something. I can tell you guys have a connection between each other. I’m not blind.” Lizzy looked excited that Val got someone she was interested in after a long 4 years.
Val needed someone who would change her life and take away all of her misery. Someone who would take her some place other than here.
Lizzy went to her room to change into something comfy and Val went to the guest room to change into something other than jeans.
Val looked through all of the drawers and only found her shorts from three summers ago, they were short on her. She went out into the living room to wait for Lizzy. There was a knock on the door. “Hey, Lizzy I’m going to get the door.”
“Okay. I don’t know who it is, please be careful.” Lizzy warned.
Val walked slowly towards the door, looking through the curtains that were directed towards the front door. All she could see was a black outline, the person was wearing all black.
Val opened the door. “Hello, may I help yo-” Val was shocked by who was there. The Ocean has returned as well as the heat making it’s way up her face.