Valerie

You see Valerie come in next. You take a deep breath. You expect this to be the easiest of the four girls based on what you’ve been told, but that means that Natalie is going to be last. Wonderful.

“Hey Lucas.” She says gently, as she unlocks your leash from the wall, smiling softly.

“Hey Valerie.” You reply softly back politely. You take a nice look at her, she’s definitely cute. You can see how Danny has a crush on her. She’s sweet, small, and unlike the other girls, doesn’t come off as very intimidating. If Danny has a hard enough time talking to Valerie, you wonder if he has any shot to get anywhere with anyone else. Still though, she is a girl, she is still in charge, and she is still one of the two assistant leaders under Emily, so even if you think this is easier than the other girls, it’s still not a position you would like to be in on a normal day. She waits for you to sit down and relax a little bit, giving you a minute to breathe.

“So what did Madison and Katie ask you about?” She begins, just trying to get caught up on what’s happened so far that she missed.

“Mostly how I feel about what’s happened today. The physical, the mental, the emotional. They also told me I should be worried about Natalie and fear her but you’re nice and I’ll like you.” You reply. She chuckles.

“Fair enough. So… What all did you say? Like, a short summary?” She asks curious what you told the other two girls.

“More or less that physically it’s uncomfortable and annoying, mentally I’m just so drained I’m not even completely sure I’m fully aware of what’s going on, and emotionally I’m just a mess at this point and have no idea how to react to things anymore.” You try and explain a short version of your thoughts on the day.

“Sounds about right. But you don’t really seem like a mess. Like, you don’t really seem too distracted or anything either. You at least seem like you’re here and present.” She comments.

“I mean, yeah. It just takes a little bit more focus and a little bit less… emotional response than normal. I just feel like even if something isn’t normal to me, nothing here is abnormal or weird. Anything can happen. Natalie could come in and do something completely insane and it would be like, yep, that’s her. Or Emily could come in and break me even more than she already has and it would be like, yeah, she can do that to a guy if you let her. I guess I’m just trying to keep my guard up as much as I can to limit how much I get hurt.” You open up to her, honestly.

“Why are you, well, I guess where are you, afraid of getting hurt? The way you say that makes it seem like you’re worried about more than just the cage and leash kinda injuries.” She asks.

“I mean… I don’t want to think oh everyone here is kinda being nice to me or treating me like a human or being reasonable and respectful, only for me to end up on the floor begging for a drop of water on my tongue in 2 days.” You explain.

“Well, one thing I will tell you, is the sooner you give in the sooner you’ll accept your place, and the sooner you accept your place, the better your experience here will be I think.” Valerie explains.

“I just don’t even know what anyone wants from me anymore. I don’t know what the expectation is, I don’t know anything anymore.” You say as you take a deep breath.

“What we all want, all 5 of us, is to feel listened to, heard, respected and appreciated at the core. Each of us has a different process for how we get to that point, but the reality is, that’s the objective. The difference is I just expect you to do those things to me by default, and if you don’t you’re not worth my time and I’m just going to completely shut you out and ignore you, while Natalie will **** you to learn respect if you dare disobey her, while Madison demands respect but not kindness and Katie kinda just hopes that you’re nice and if not then she’s going to start getting meaner until you are nice to her. Emily is the real wildcard, because she’s not mood swingy, but a lot of what she does is based on first impressions. She doesn’t hold grudges, but, she will remember how you were when you first met because that’s when she thinks you’re least likely to put on an act. Her thing is that when you first meet, you don’t know whether you like someone or not. You could end up hating them, you could be their best friend. So what you are when you’re neutral is what you’re truly like. You’re not already friendly and you’re not already rivals. So she puts a lot of weight into first impressions.” She explains.

“Interesting perspective. Though you say she doesn’t hold grudges? Sure seems like it to me sometimes.” You say. She shakes her head.

“I don’t think so. She’s quick to forgive if you make a mistake and it’s a genuine mistake. If you screw up, she’ll let you make up for it. You may have to do a lot to make up for it. You may have to do more than you think. You may need some time. It may not be easy. Though she is willing, eventually. Sometimes it takes patience.” She explains.

“So, what about me then, do you think? She’s not holding a grudge against me?” You ask genuinely curious what Emily thinks of you at this point. It may give you some insight into what to do after Natalie’s visit next hour.

“I wouldn’t so much call it a grudge so much as a prejudice or a bias. A grudge is when you wrong her and do something that makes her angry. It’s more of an action that you have control over. While you did technically accept the position of leader of the boys, you were elected to that and you didn’t exactly campaign for it. I think she knows that and understands that, because she was the same way. On the other hand, she does feel an obligation to win the war, do her part to claim victory as the leader, control not just you but also the narrative, and she doesn’t want to screw up her image and credibility with the girls. They chose her, so she feels responsible to them to do what they want and represent them and their interests. Even if sometimes it isn’t exactly what she wants or she would do.” Valerie explains. You nod in understanding. This is really helpful insight to you.

“So… What do you think Emily actually thinks about me then?” You ask, curious what her thoughts are. She chuckles slightly.

“What has she told you herself?” She asks back.

“Well, she told me that she doesn’t like me, that she is very clearly in control and has power of me. Basically that I can be good or bad and that bad boys are sad and punished and good boys get treated better. She expects perfection and failure is intolerable. She wants me to be flawless and anything less than perfection will unleash her wrath. She mentioned something about taking things away from me that I’ll never be able to get back again. She told me she intends to be harsh, tough, cruel and intimidating, and that she might try and ruin me, break me and destroy me. She said something about nuking my foundation and everything that’s gotten me here and making me rethink my entire life and having to start all over again from scratch. Among other things.” You update her. Valerie looks a mix of surprise and curious.

“Sounds like she’s hiding something. But I didn’t say that.” She tells you. You look at her confused. Hiding something?

“Hiding something? Hiding what? What gives you that idea?” You ask calmly. She shrugs.

“She’s not like that with anyone else. She views you differently. Whether that’s a good different, a bad different, or just different I don’t know. Though I will tell you that she would not tell that to any boy she didn’t think could handle it. When she rejects boys, she’s normally passive and soft. She feels bad she has to turn them down. She’s like sorry, but you’re just not my type. Or Sorry I don’t want to lead you on when I don’t already like you. Or Sorry, I’m just not interested in dating right now. She never goes out of her way to talk to boys in the way you described. Heck, the strictest I’ve ever seen her was when she became leader and she made it very clear to the four of us as her closest assistants that we were going to follow the rules and made sure that we were aware of what the rules are, and even then she didn’t say anything close to like I will destroy you if you don’t know them or whatever. Just simply like I expect you all to learn the rules before this begins so you’re prepared in case something happens and all that.” She tells you.

“So… You think that she’s treating me different than the boys she’s rejected in the past? Well, I mean, I guess that makes sense since she did give me the option to be her boyfriend…” You think out loud.

“She asked you that?” Valerie asks shocked.

“Yeah. She gave me a choice whether I wanted to be her ****, her Prisoner, a mix of both, or her temporary boyfriend for 3 months until the end of summer before she throws me away or whatever. So I took being her temporary boyfriend for three months.” You tell her. She’s shocked.

“Well, okay. Maybe she just has higher expectations for her boyfriend. Makes sense why she rejects so many guys and why she’s never had one before. Interesting.” She says. “Though she doesn’t seem to be treating you like you’re her boyfriend at all yet either. So she very clearly doesn’t fully see you that way at least not yet.” She adds. You nod.

“That’s my confusion. That’s why I asked what you think she thinks of me so far to see if you had any insight into how I should go about things.” You comment. Valerie nods.

“Honestly, like I said earlier. It all just comes down to making her feel heard, respected, listened to and appreciated. If she feels like you respect her, listen to her and appreciate her, she’ll be more likely to have a positive opinion of you over time. If you don’t listen to her and disobey her and you treat her poorly, well, you can expect she’ll do the same thing back to you, only she has the power to do something about it until the end of summer and us four as backup if you screw something up bad enough.” Valerie adds. You nod slowly.

“Well, it looks like we only have a couple more minutes. Do you have any questions for me I haven’t answered?” You ask her trying to be nice, thinking it’s a good idea to address any open questions she may have. She smiles softly.

“Yeah, I actually do have one. You’ve been asking a lot about what Emily might think of you… But… What do you think about her? Do you think she’s cute? Attractive? Your type? Anything? Like, are you actually happy about being her boyfriend even if it is only temporarily?” Valerie asks, going right back to the well again the previous two girls have gone to. You sigh, disappointed you have to keep thinking about this same question over and over again.

“I don’t know her well enough to say. I think she’s cute, yeah. I mean, that’s just to me an objective statement of fact that most boys would say that. All I can really say is I don’t know what to think about being her boyfriend, because I genuinely think the whole thing is just for show to hold it over me and as she said herself, to do things to me that are legal within the rules of the game that I will never be able to undo. I think it’s just a game for her to see how quick she can break me and how many pieces she can tear me into before I’m no longer savable. I just don’t trust it at this point. So my walls are up and I’m being guarded and safe however I can.” You reply back, as Valerie too looks disappointed like the previous two girls did.

“Dang. That’s unfortunate. Do you see any world where you two end up together for real? At all?” She asks hopeful. You quickly shake your head and chuckle.

“No way. Not a chance. I don’t see her wanting to do anything like that. Honestly I don’t even know how I’m going to make it through being her short term boyfriend for 3 months alive and sane. Beyond that, I don’t think I stand a chance. So it’s not even worth considering that as an option right now.” You explain, as the alarm rings signifying the end of Valerie’s hour. She sighs disappointed as she locks your leash against the wall.

“Well, thanks for talking to me Lucas. I’ll see you around.” She says, before she exits the cell, leaving you alone again, waiting for the last girl to enter, Natalie. You shiver at the thought.