For The Love Of Val

1

"Go! Go! Go!" The chants of the people were ridiculous, but at least Ken was winning. The loud atmosphere of the party was intoxicating by itself, but the alcoholic smell was unbearable. Barbie sat with her legs crossed on a beanbag that was stained with a week-old her spill.

"Do you wanna go, Barb?" Midge asked, tucking her red hair behind her ear. Her freckled, pale face looked almost green from nausea; yet, she had only consumed half of her drink.

"No, I'm fine," the blonde assured. "I don't want to leave Ken."

"Well, I'm not leaving you," Midge said with a smile. She and Barbie had been inseparable for years, only it seemed she hadn't changed much in those years. Barbie had. "What do you even see in Ken?"

The question was difficult to answer. Barbie didn't quite know what initially drew her to Ken, but she knew it hadn't lasted. The past two years of their relationship felt like a rogue- a coverup. Ken thought it was real though, and that seemed to convince enough people that they were still intact.

"We're just," Barbie paused, pushing up her black framed glasses as she thought of a way to finish her sentence, "made for each other." She looked over to see her boyfriend nearly passed out amongst his fraternity brothers, yelling as a crowd about something incomprehensible to her. "Yeah, maybe we should go."

The two snuck out of the party, and that's when Barbie met her. Her red ruffled dress and relaxed face made her look somewhat stoned, but Barbie found her to be interesting. "Who is that?" Barbie whispered, nodding her head in the girl's direction. She felt an inexplicable feeling in the midst of her stomach.

"That's Valerie, I have a business class with her," Midge explained. "Kind of an outcast, and from what I've heard, for good reason."

"Well, what's the reason?" Barbie asked, braiding a section of her hair anxiously.

"Oh, I don't know!" Midge said, snorting with laughter. "I've only heard there's a good reason behind it."

"I'm going to talk to her," Barbie said, tugging down on the bottom of her blue t-shirt. Midge opened her mouth to interject, but before she could, Barbie was confidently walking towards Valerie. "Hello!" she greeted overconfidently. As she got a good look at the girl, she quickly felt nervous. She wasn't used to being nervous.

"You have the prettiest hair," Valerie said in awe, gently stroking the small braid Barbie had created. She was, unfortunately, drunk as shit. Barbie only hoped she could hold her alcohol better than Midge could.

"Thank you," Barbie spit out, feeling a mix of emotions. "You have a pretty dress."

"You are the sweetest!" Valerie yelled. "I could just eat you up!" Barbie smiled. She didn't know why she was smiling.

"I'm Barbara," she blurted out. "Barbara Millicent Roberts." She felt her heart race. "Everyone calls me Barbie."

"I'm Valerie," she said with a smile, the smell of whiskey lingering off of her breath. "Party on, Barbie! WOOOH!" Valerie yelled, pumping her firsts as she drunkenly stumbled away.

"That was a doozy," Midge said, walking up to Barbie. "Let's get back to my place."

"Yeah, sure," Barbie agreed. She kept tugging at the plastic bracelets on her wrists. Why was she tugging at the bracelets on her wrist? Why was she nervous around Valerie? Barbie let out a deep breath. Why didn't she feel this way around Ken?

———

I'm so fucking sorry (but I'm also not.)