For her first day of school, she wore clothes that she had not picked out herself. Out of the new clothes that had been forced upon her, Val's mother had put together an outfit that looked nice but too girly and uncomfortable for her taste.

It was not that Val dressed like a boy, but she preferred a basic t-shirt and jeans with her hair pulled back in a high ponytail. She valued practicality more than style.

In any class that she could, Val made sure to get the window seat like the one she currently had in the back. The only important rule of being a demigoddess in a mortal school: she needed to gaze outside broodingly.

Nah, that was a joke.

Val did not brood, or at least she liked to think that she did not. Actually, she only needed to ensure that her divine blood was not discovered by any of her classmates for her final year in school.

On the first day, there were a lot of roll calls and syllabi.

The teacher stood at the front of the class with a clipboard in hand. He had asked for either a personal like or dislike, so long as it rang true to the student. "We will start with our first student on the list: Gina Alcove."

A broad smile spread across the girl's cheeks. "I like my best friends in this class: Melaney, Nadia, and Val."

The sound of her name made her ears prick to attention, especially given how it had been placed with the names of some girls who she could not care less about. Val knew who Melaney was, but who even was Nadia? Val glared out of the corner of her eyes at the one who had spoken. Out of all of her classmates that she had gotten to know, Gina irked her the most.

That was a cute tactic from her, telling the teacher that they were friends in front of the class. Now, if she ever got caught in her antics, Gina would just laugh it off and tell the witness that they were friends. That seemed to be her new angle this year.

While roll call continued, Val glanced out the window until the teacher called her name.

"Where is Valentine Johnston?" The teacher mispronounced her name and looked through all of the boys in the class.

"It's Val," she said with a small wave of her hand. Looking him dead in the eyes, she said, "I dislike your class."

The teacher's face fell for a moment, but he quickly smiled and said something mind-numbingly positive like, "I am sure that you will like it by the end!"

Actually, that never happened. Val did not brood, nor behave unnecessarily rude to mortals, though she did not mind entertaining herself with the idea of it.

After saying her nickname, she said with a big smile, "I like having the window seat!" Basically, she said the exact same thing as she had wanted to say, just in a nicer way.

"Ah, you're Gina's friend. That's great! Just don't get too caught up in any daydreams, Val." The teacher continued taking attendance and learning the names of students in his class.

By the time that they were going over the syllabus, she had fully engaged with the window.

A squirrel climbed onto the tree in perfect view. Its round, black eyes looked dumbly at her, begging to be taken over by her new ability. The bushy tail twitched in agitation as a good sign that it might be a worthwhile subject.

Firstly, Val focused her mind and prepared to reach out to the squirrel. From its teensy rodent brain, she could feel the tension emanating from its brain. Relax, Val called out silently to it. Along with her call, a new energy seeped from her being.

That same adrenaline started pumping through her whenever she enhanced one of her abilities.

The squirrel's eyes became oblong with heavy lids. The tail stopped twitching and went slack as it drooped beneath the tree branch. The whole body of the squirrel tilted to the side, lost its balance, and went careening for the ground. The squirrel thumped against the ground which severed the connection between their minds. It got up unharmed and jumped right back onto the trunk of the tree.

"I did it!" she said, jumping up. "Er, I mean, did you see that squirrel?"

A few people looked at her like she was crazy.

The teacher cleared his throat at the interruption. "I don't see any squirrel outside. Please sit down, Val."

"Well, of course you don't see it. The squirrel just fell out of the tree!"

"If we have any more interruptions from you, I will have to move you away from the window," the teacher said.

Val clamped her mouth shut and sat back down. She wanted to keep her window seat so that she could practice her new ability on any squirrels and birds that decided to perch in that tree. The fact that she had finally learned the skill made her so giddy that she could hardly keep still in her desk. By far, this was the best day of school ever.

Ross would be proud of her, and that reminded her of the hole in her life.

Time ticked on until the ball rang to signal the end of that class period. The teacher reminded them of the date in which they needed their syllabus signed while students gathered their things to leave.

When she walked out of the classroom, she already had the three girls waiting for her, who had been introduced as her supposed friends.

"What are you, a dog?" Gina asked.

"Did you see that squirrel?" Nadia mimicked in an insolent voice. "Squirrel!"

"If she's a female dog, that would make her a bitch," Melaney cackled.

Already, Val was bored with their insults. They should at least try to be original if they wanted to bully her.

Her mantra about patience with mortals repeated over and over in her head. Be patient, Val. Don't lose your shit. They are children compared to me. I'm a demigoddess.

She waited one second to see if they would get out of her way and let her pass.

They stayed jeering in front of Val's face.

While she could overlook the insolence of mortals, Val did not have unlimited patience. For their own sake, she needed to remove herself from the situation. "Excuse me," she snapped and walked through them. In particular, Val shouldered through their leader Gina, quite gently to make sure that her enhanced strength did not hurt her.

"Ah!" Gina flailed backwards in a dramatic show of it. "Why did you push me?"

Many eyes in the hallway fell onto the scene at the moment. Of course Val would be viewed as the rude one. Everyone always saw who struck second.

Val did not care and kept walking to her next class.

Nothing could put a true damper on her spirits, because Val had just learned a new ability, which she needed to give a name. Focusing a budding ability around a name helped centralize the power and eased the process of learning it. Plus, names were convenient so that she had an easy way to talk about abilities with Ross.

A few ideas ran through her mind, but Val settled on 'Keep the Peace', because that was how she would use this ability to keep peace between hostile parties.

Just wait until she had improved her Keep the Peace enough for use on humans. Then, Val would never have to listen to the mortal girls' attempt to bully her ever again.

Character Update:

* New information is marked in cyan.

* All entries are based on what Val knows.

Valentine (Val) Title: None Rank: Demigoddess Attributes: None Abilities Name Class Description

Keep the Peace

tactical

- calm agitated creatures

- can sense the baser emotions of others

- only works on small animals like squirrels

Past Insight

cognitive

- watch a replay of the past

- four pieces of initial information are required

- can stay in the tunnel of time for up to ten seconds

- real time passes slower in the vision

- one day cool down after a failed vision