Valeria entered her first period class after the bell and quickly took her seat, trying to avoid any unnecessary attention. Luckily their homeroom teacher, Mr. Duvall, had not noticed. The elderly African American man was preoccupied, scolding another student near the front of the class for using their smartphone.

"There you are," a female student to her right said with a feminine giggle. "Como estas, chica?"

Valeria groaned as she looked over at the popular brunette to her right. She could barely differentiate the Elites – they all looked Barbie dolls. The blonde-haired leader of this clique, Sheri Herawitz, was notably absent to her left. "I'm okay," she trailed off, trying to think of the girl's name, "...Sarah."

"Susan."

"Whatever," Valeria said with little interest. "Where's Sheri?"

"Vacay," the brunette said, her tone jealous. "Seems like everyone is going on vacation. Erin's been on her trip for what now? Two months? God – I need to fry on a beach somewhere."

Valeria rolled her eyes, choosing not to respond.

"Have you heard from Erin at all?" Susan asked. "Do you know when she gets back from vacation?"

Valeria's breath slowed. She had no idea when Erin would be back. If she would come back. "No. I haven't heard from her."

"Well," Susan said, combing her long brown hair, "She's always been a strange one. I'll try calling her later today. I still need to find out when Sheri gets back from vacation too."

Valeria turned, noticing the vacant seat to her left. She had met Sheri Herawitz on the first day of school, as the attractive Elite girl had introduced Valeria to both the nerd and popular groups. As annoying as she was, Valeria was glad they met. She officially introduced Valeria to the only two people she really cared about at this school. While Erin had disappeared and forgotten her, Sai had not. Just thinking about him – her lips curled into a smile.

Sai was unlike any boy she had ever met before. He was tall, dark and handsome, and while he was easy on the eyes, that wasn't what drew her to him. While other girls might drool over 'bad boys' – Valeria did not. Despite her young age, she had known plenty of bad boys and bad men, all rife with selfishness, indifference, and cruelty. She craved the opposite. Compassion, gentleness, and most importantly – patience. God, Sai was so damn patient.

After the Midas Vault incident, Sai had tried to make a move on her – if that's what you could call it. It had been Valentines' day, and she had found an envelope taped to her locker. The card inside looked like it was intended for a five-year-old, asking for a simple answer to a complex question: Will you be my Valentine?

Valeria had been tempted to decide there, in that moment. But she was smarter than that. She was a Rogue and as far as she knew, Sai was a Celestial. Their Factions were on the verge of war for heaven's sake. And while it was tempting to accept Romeo's offer, she couldn't. She was no Juliet.

But that was only the half of it.

Half of her still longed to see Erin. To hold her hand. To be with her. But she was nowhere to be found. And while she couldn't tell Sai the whole truth – she settled for a truncated version. 'I'm not ready for a relationship with anyone yet, she had confessed, truthfully. 'But let's be friends and see where this road takes us.' She had truly wondered where they were headed. Toward the friend zone? Towards love? Or toward violence? Three months had gone by and she still didn't have an answer.

The rest of the morning dragged on, and after what felt like an eternity, she finally entered the school cafeteria for lunch. She walked over to a table where four familiar teenagers sat laughing and carrying on with each other. Roberta and Jon faced away from Valeria, while Sai and James were facing her direction. She made eye contact with Sai and his deep brown eyes lit up immediately upon noticing her. His cheek bones lifted, unleashing that smile that made her melt inside.

God, she loved that smile. She had cockblocked him for three whole months, and yet, his smile was still there, waiting for her. He was still waiting for her.  Maybe it was time. Three months had passed, after all. No faction war, and no Erin. Maybe she had made him wait long enough.

"Hey guys," Valeria said, approaching the table with her tray. "Sorry I couldn't hang out this weekend. I had another...err...tutoring session." She watched them all exchange nervous glances. Three months had gone by, but there was still some leftover awkwardness from the Midas Vault incident. She sat down, waited, and when no one spoke, she followed up with, "what'd you guys do this weekend?"

All four teenagers exchanged nervous glances before James finally decided to speak. The color had drained from his already pale face, and he brushed away a long strand of curly brown hair as he spoke. "Umm...we all had a boring weekend. A very quiet weekend studying and didn't talk to anyone. Not at all, right guys?"

All of them nodded nervously at each other, murmuring their concurrence. Studying them, Valeria rolled her eyes and exhaled. After leaving the Midas Vault, Dontrell – Jada's brother, and Master of the Assassin's guild – threatened all four of her normal friends with a gun, saying he would kill them if they told anyone about their world. Groaning, she asked, "How many times do I have to say this? You guys can relax. Dontrell was never going to kill you." For good measure she added a new detail. "I mean shit, his gun wasn't even loaded, okay?"

Fidgeting with her red hair, Roberta to Valeria with wide eyes. "What?! It was some sort of prank? You're just telling us this now?!"

"Hah, I knew it," James added, his nervous expression replaced with his usual overconfident grin. "I knew the whole time...and wasn't scared at all."

"Yeah right," Jon protested. "You were on the verge of tears moron!"

Everyone laughed, including Valeria. "Okay," she said, regaining her composure. "But seriously, guys. Unlike Dontrell, I'll ask again nicely. Please don't snitch. Please." The desperation in her voice was palpable as she eyed them one at a time. She had always considered herself above begging, but this was different. She had never had friends before, and she didn't want that to end.

Luckily, everyone agreed.

"So," Sai said, eyes gleaming, "I know I keep saying it. But I still can't believe you're a Rogue. Like...a for real Rogue."

Valeria checked their surroundings, noting their table was near the back of the cafeteria. Teenagers at the more popular tables were all self-absorbed and engaged in their own conversations; the background noise would provide enough privacy. "Yeah," she said, a smirk tugging at her lips. "Still think I'm too nice to play one?"

Everyone laughed.

"I guess that explains a lot," Sai said. "So...if you're a Rogue, and Erin's a healer –"

"Celestial," Valeria corrected.

"Right," Sai said, the word fumbling out of his mouth. He looked away for a moment, clearly trying to find the right words. A light bulb must have clicked for him as he turned toward her with an eager grin. "So, what other types of characters –"

"Factions," Valeria corrected again.

"Factions," Sai continued, shaking his head with disbelief. "What other factions are real?"

Valeria shrugged. "To be honest, I don't know. I've been a little busy – ya' know." It was true – she had a lot on her plate. Without Erin's expert tutelage, she had fallen behind on her schoolwork. Sai and the other nerds had helped a little – but they couldn't motivate her like Erin could. They offered their knowledge, while Erin provided something more important. Confidence. Erin found a way to make the material relatable, understandable – doable. No one understood Valeria like she did. Other than Frank, no one made her feel more capable of taking on the real world.

"Well," James interrupted, his grin fading. "There's a question we've all been meaning to ask you. Who is the bad guy? Your dad never told us what happened to you and Erin inside that vault."

Valeria paused, trying to decide how much she should tell her normal school friends. They had displayed courage – agreeing to go to Coterel with helping rescue Sai. And while they didn't have any powers – that she knew of – she wondered if they might be able to help in a different way. Frank and Jada had offered little information about the Shadow Knight from their world. But maybe their world wasn't the only one with this type of villainous character.

"We were attacked by a Shadow Knight," Valeria said, letting her statement hang in the air for a long moment. They exchanged curious glances but didn't reply. Groaning, she asked, "You've never heard of it? Aren't they in that D&D game?"

"Umm, not really," James said. "Let me check." He reached for his bookbag and removed the thick colorful book entitled, "Dungeons and Dragons, Fifth Edition." After searching the index, he shook his head. "Nope. No Shadow Knight in here."

"I just googled it," Roberta said, checking her phone. "There's no official D&D class with that name. Some video games have that type of character."

"Yeah," Jon said, looking up from his phone. "From what I can tell, it's basically an anti-paladin character. Basically, an evil black knight."

"Did Jada tell you anything about them?" Sai asked.

Valeria shook her head, reciting Jada's description. "They're lone wolves. They're like Rogues – but have a different goal."

"And that is?" Sai asked.

Valeria swallowed a lump in the back of her throat. The intentions of this Shadow Knight remained unknown. But previous incarnations all had a similar goal. "To destroy the world," she said, her voice quivering.

"Well damn," Jon said, breaking the tense silence, "That's some scary shit. What do we do now?"

Eyes widening, James stared at his friend and snapped his fingers. "I'll tell you what we do. We join forces and form a team." When Valeria and the rest of them grumbled, he pressed on. "Come on, guys! It happens in all the great stories – The Fellowship of the Ring, The Resistance in Star Wars, the Order of the Phoenix or Dumbledore's Army, the Avengers...I mean I could go on forever guys –"

"He really could," Sai chimed in. "But I say we let Valeria decide. It's really up to her if she wants us helping her with some sort of group. Only Valeria and Erin really have any powers, so we should let them decide."

Staring at Sai, Valeria bit her lip. Months ago, Valeria suffered a dislocated shoulder when Brigitte hit her with a car. Sai had healed her – just like Erin did. But unlike Erin, Sai was unaware of his power. Sai didn't know who he was, and more importantly, he didn't know Valeria was his enemy. She wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible. She had already lost Erin; the thought of losing him too was unbearable.

"Well," Valeria said, trying to mask her fear with sarcasm. "I guess we can form a group, gang, or whatever. But you can't tell anyone about it. Agreed?"

Everyone agreed.

"So," Roberta said, grinning ear to ear. "What's our name?"

"The Shadow Hunters!" Jon exclaimed excitedly.

"Nope," James said, shaking his head. "Already taken by the Mortal Instruments books." He snapped his fingers and said, "How about...The Righteous Brothers!"

"Umm," Sai said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You do realize that's a famous sixties band, right? They sang one of the popular songs from Top Gun."

"There's women in our group too," Roberta added with a hint of irritation. "That's almost as annoying as the female mutants being called X-Men." Nodding at Valeria, she added, "We have a female superhero leading us and the name should be feminine –"

Exhaling, Valeria massaged her forehead ignored their debate. They were getting off track and it was starting to get annoying. But that wasn't the only issue that irked her. While they might see her as a superhero, Valeria knew others wouldn't. Superheroes were righteous, admirable, and courageous. But most importantly, they were respectable – a description no Rogue would ever earn. "Look," she said, waving her arms to get their attention. "I'm not a superhero, and I'm definitely not good. I'm an outlaw...a criminal – okay? People like me are never the hero – so stop saying I'm your leader."

"You are our leader," Roberta said, her blue eyes focused with admiration. "You're amazing, and I'd follow you anywhere."

"Me too," Sai said, flashing that trademark smile of his. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you."

"Agreed," Jon added. "You brought us together to rescue Sai."

"I've got it!" James exclaimed, snapping his fingers again. When everyone grumbled, he waved his hands, trying to silence them. "No, I've got it this time. Everyone agrees Valeria brought us together, so we should be called: The Valerian Alliance."

Silence.

"I can't believe I'm going to say this," Roberta said, massaging her chin, "But I think James has a good idea. I like that name."

"Me too," Sai said, grinning at Valeria.

"Me three," Jon added.

Eyeing them one by one, Valeria tried to act disinterested. She was flattered, but skeptical. "Why name the group after me?"

"You don't like it," James said, shoulders slouched forward.

"No," Valeria replied, trying to figure out the best way to process her thoughts. "It's just that –"

"Not scary enough?" Jon added. "We could always make it The Deadly Valerian –"

"No, it's not that either," Valeria said, her face bunched up into a frown. "I just don't know if –"

"If it's too gender neutral," Roberta added, scowling at James. "How about the Men and Women of the Valerian –"

"No," Valeria protested, "It's just that –"

"What's wrong with –" Sai interrupted, but never got to finish.

Valeria was tired of being interrupted. But more importantly, she was tired of them propping her up on a pedestal.  "I'll tell you what's wrong!" she exclaimed. "You guys naming a group after me! A girl no one cares about! You should just make up some other name."

"A girl no one cares about?" Roberta asked with surprise. "What does that mean?"

"Yeah," Jon added, "Everyone in the school seems to like you."

Valeria avoided eye contact and took deep breaths. Even if the rich kids in this school liked her – they liked a charade. An alter ego created to help her blend in. Her real past was complicated, harsh, and unlike anything one would find in a traditional teenage story. Kids her age preferred simple narratives, explosions, and cheesy rom-coms. They lived in a different world, where wealth, security, and prestige were the norm. But the world she knew was cold, cruel, and abusive; she was a foreigner here in more ways than one.

"V," Sai said, his voice cautious, "does this have to do with some of the stories you told me? Some of things you saw growing up in Mexico?"

Valeria looked over at him and sighed. Part of her knew she was going to lose him. He was her enemy, but more importantly, he was too good for her. She had done nothing but lie to him. Sure, she divulged some of her past to Sai during their bowling outings – but had always intermixed truth with false narratives, trying to keep her alter-ego intact. She had been afraid of exposing herself as a Rogue, but now she was more afraid of exposing herself as a human being. But maybe it was time to stop hiding. She was so tired of hiding. Exhaling, she looked him in the eyes and said, "I'm not from Mexico. I'm from El Salvador, and yes, while some of those stories I told you were real, they happened here in the US."

Sai held her gaze for a long moment, his eyes reflecting concern and newfound understanding. They didn't break eye contact as their friends whispered amongst each other.

"Which one is El Salvador?" James whispered to Roberta.

"It's in Central America," she whispered back. "Between Honduras and Guatemala, dummy."

"You know I'm terrible at geography –" he whispered, but was interrupted by Roberta, who cleared her throat as an attempt to end the awkward staring contest.

"Ahem. Some of us haven't heard those stories, so it might help to fill us in."

Valeria released an embarrassed sigh and avoided eye contact. Tell us your story. Back at the Juvenile detention center, she had been in a similar situation. Surrounded by other delinquent juveniles, a therapist had asked the same question. But Valeria had always refused. She didn't want to be the center of attention. She didn't want to be vulnerable. But more importantly, she didn't want to be a charity case. "I don't want your pity. I just want to be friends, okay?"

"Real friends tell each other the truth," Sai said, his voice unusually assertive. "Tell them what you told me. Believe it or not, I – err...we – care about you. So, go on and tell us your story, for real this time."

Staring into his eyes, Valeria knew they'd reached a point of no return. While Sai might be patient enough to wait for physical intimacy, he wouldn't wait for the truth any longer. Maybe she would be lucky. Maybe telling her story would disgust him. Maybe that would be all it would take, and she'd never have to tell him he was a Celestial. She wouldn't have to break his heart after confessing that they were really enemies, two people from different worlds who were never supposed to be together.

"Alright, he we go," she said aloud and added goodbye Sai in the back of her mind.

Valeria spent the rest of the lunch period recounting her past. She grew up in El Salvador with her parents, who were butchered in front of her by gang members at age five. Her aunt took her in and raised Valeria with her four children, and their family immigrated to the United States when she was six years old. Shortly after arriving in the United States, Valeria's aunt died from cancer, and she quickly found herself separated from her cousins as they were all shuffled around different orphanages, and eventually, the foster care system.

Valeria tried to keep a straight face as she described her previous foster parents. She left out the graphic details – but made sure they got the point. They didn't just abuse her – they sex-trafficked her. With nowhere left to turn, she ran away and lived on the streets, resorting to stealing and fighting for survival, day after day. Stealing landed her at the juvenile detention center, where she had to endure and evade harassment from male guards. But that all ended when Frank Pipino introduced Valeria to Jada and the Rogue Faction. Or at least, it would appear that way. She still felt like a pawn on Jada's chessboard.

The bell rang as she finished, and Valeria exhaled with relief. Her cheeks were flushed, her mouth dry and gummy. She was physically and emotionally exhausted, but most of all, she was ashamed. "So you see – you don't want to name your hero group after someone like me. In fact, I'd understand if you didn't want to be friends anymore."

Valeria stood and swung her bookbag over her shoulder. She figured they'd be running for the hills by now, but much to her surprise, they remained seated.

"Sit down, V," Sai said, locking eyes with her. "We're not going anywhere."

"But you'll all be late for class."

"We're not done here," Roberta said, her voice uneasy. "Please sit down."

"But we'll all get detention –" Valeria began, but was cut off by James.

"Are you kidding?" he asked, his voice raw. "After hearing your story, you think we give a crap about that?"

Exhaling, Valeria crossed her arms and sat down. She had wanted to avoid this. Seeing them run off would have felt better. She was used to being alone and could handle rejection. But pity was a completely different form of embarrassment. She didn't want it – she wasn't even sure if she deserved it. Luckily, most of the students had exited the cafeteria, and the janitors were the only ones close by, preoccupied with cleaning the tables and floors.

"Thank you for telling us the truth," Sai said, his eyes unwavering. His smile was gone, but that was to be expected. But his eyes hadn't changed. His view of her hadn't changed, and the longer they locked eyes, his smile started to creep back. "Thank you for trusting me...err- us."

Valeria stared back, unable to comprehend what had happened. She was damaged goods, but that didn't seem to change anything. He still looked at her the same way, still smiled at her the same way. Maybe he didn't understand what she'd said? They all must have misunderstood. "You don't get it," she said, eyeing them one by one. "You should all be afraid of me."

"Well," James said with a laugh, "Definitely still afraid of you as a Rogue. But as a person, not at all."

"Agreed," Jon added. "If anything, we're lucky you want to be our friend. You're the strongest person I've ever met."

Valeria's eyes narrowed, and her arms clutched tighter against her chest. She was strong? That was the last thing she expected to hear. "I'm not strong –"

"Yes, you are," Sai interrupted. "I think I speak for all of us when I say – once again – I admire you."

Everyone agreed.

"So," Sai continued, "If it's okay with you, we'd still like to name the group after you, unless you don't like it." He put his hand forward, palm down. Everyone placed a hand on top of his, before turning to look at her. "So how about it, V?"

Valeria glanced at each of them with a nervous smile. Part of her still couldn't believe this was really happening. She had always thought exposing herself would be her undoing. No one would ever like her, love her, or admire her true form. But that was proving untrue. Exhaling, she placed her hand on top of theirs. "All right. Count me in."

Everyone cheered.

"Hey!" a nearby teacher protested. "What are you kids still doing here? Get to class now, or it's detention for all of you!"

They all giggled as they stood and collected their belongings.

"Meet up at the bike rack after school," James said with a toothy grin. "Valerian Alliance, disassemble!"