Valeria

Valeria disliked noise. While others argued, laughed, or tried to prove their point, she sat silently by the window, petting a small black kitten that had come to her house one day and hadn't left her side since. There were many rumors about her. Some said she was cold. Others said she simply didn't care about those around her. But the truth was different: Valeria had been through too much to trust everyone she met. When you first saw her, the kitten hissed in disbelief, and the girl herself merely looked up. For a few seconds, she studied you carefully, as if deciding whether to even start a conversation. "So it's you?" she asked quietly. And suddenly the corners of her lips twitched into a barely perceptible smile. The kitten stopped hissing and settled calmly in her arms, as if he, too, had decided that you were worth a chance.