CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
the tragedy of inescapable inconveniences
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THE INESCAPABLE DISORDER OF MALADAPTIVE DAYDREAMING HAD FOUND ITS WAY TO VALERIE REVORA AT A VERY YOUNG AGE.
When her mother didn't want to play with
Valerie and her toys, Melina would always
encourage Valerie to use her imagination. At
first, it sounded like complete bullshit to Valerie. But once she got rejected one too many times by her mother, with the same 'I've had a long day' excuse, she had no choice but to give into her imagination.
You see, daydreaming is completely normal!
It's safe to say that we've all been caught
daydreaming at least once in our life. But, once Valerie realized what her imagination was capable of, that's where this story goes downhill.
In the middle of second grade, the teachers
noticed that something was off with Valerie. Her grades began to lower, multiple teachers would find her wandering off in thoughts of her own, and sometimes—kids would find her smiling and laughing at the fantasies she created. They would wave their hand around her face, which would eventually capture her attention. When they asked why she was laughing, she would realize that she had gotten stuck in the false realities she created in her head. It was embarrassing even thinking about how real these detailed fantasies were to her.
The older Valerie got, the more significant her
reasonings as to why she escaped to her
fantasies became. Valerie and her mother
began to argue more, so she would pretend
that she had the perfect relationship with her
mother. If she was feeling down, she would
immediately be reminded by the obtrusive
thoughts in her head, that she had an entire
fantasy waiting for her arrival. It may've been
an unhealthy coping mechanism, but she didn't care. It fulfilled the dreadful and stifling void inside of her. Unfortunately, the satisfaction that fulfilled the void never lasted. But it didn't matter to Valerie. Even if it provided five minutes of pleasure and hours of suffering afterwards, it still provided a feeling of comfort and content.
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Valerie woke up fairly early, which was surprising to say the least, because Valerie highly enjoyed her beauty rest. As soon as she woke up, every conflict in her life began to re-establish itself. If Valerie could slouch around all day and do a whole lot of nothing, she wouldn't hesitate to do so. But, Valerie was a busy woman! She had places to attend, people to visit, and jobs to get done.
It was 10:15 in the morning, which meant that Selina was most likely fast-asleep. At least Valerie had some time to spare! Valerie had fallen asleep in her makeup, which left her eyes slightly irritated because of the mascara she was wearing. Valerie had a long day ahead of her, so she decided to take her morning slow, changing into some new clothes and re-doing her makeup into a more natural look.
Valerie made her way to the kitchen, dragging her feet from exhaustion. Yes, Valerie was exhausted already, although she just woke up. She swung the fridge open, grabbing the gallon of milk and strawberry syrup. One of the best combos, in Valerie's opinion! Valerie grabbed a glass, pouring the milk inside and combining it with the strawberry syrup. Her morning had been going pretty well, surprisingly. Until a random man who Valerie had never once seen in her life, came out of her mother's bedroom. Fucking gross. He didn't even have a shirt on, which was terrible presentation. The man stared at Valerie in embarrassment, quickly looking back at Melina, who revealed herself shortly after. "You've gotta be shitting me." Valerie scoffed. "He was just about to leave, Valerie." Melina spoke sternly. "You know what? He doesn't have to. I was just about to leave anyway." Valerie shrugged, quickly putting away the milk and syrup. "Make yourself at home. Not like you haven't already." Valerie sassed, grabbing her drink and heading to her room to gather her belongings. Valerie could hear Melina apologizing to the man she chose to invite here. So much for a slow, and peaceful morning.
Valerie tried her hardest to resist the urge of letting her tears free. Every time Melina brought home a new man, was an unwelcoming reminder that Melina showed more affection to these random men, rather than her own daughter. You would think that after having to deal with Melina's bullshit for months, it would get easier. But, that was far from the truth. Oh well! It's not like Valerie could have a say in her own mother's choices, especially when Melina wouldn't listen either way.
Considering that Hawkins was a really small town, Valerie didn't have much of a variety of options as to where to visit. Now, Valerie would've headed to Selina's house, but that would result in the two having a serious conversation, considering what took place yesterday. And it was too early in the morning for either of their minds to function properly! So, I guess you could cross out that option. Her last resort, was the Starcourt Mall. Boring. Valerie never thought she would say that, but she began growing tired of the mall! Her signature stores hadn't restocked in forever. Plus, she spent her entire day and night in the back of an ice cream shop, which is in Starcourt! She had the right to be bored with the mall.
There were several parking slots open, but considering someone in the very front row was about to leave, Valerie was willing to be patient for that slot. Leave her alone, it was less walking! For today, Valerie didn't feel like throwing her money around, so she intended on going to the Scoops Ahoy shop. Not to buy ice cream, but to finish what had been started yesterday. And, to pay a visit to a friend she had just made. Yes, Valerie only started speaking to Robin yesterday. But they shared interest in Malibu and their hatred for Nova, which was a pretty deep bond already!
Valerie walked straight to Scoops Ahoy, immediately spotting Robin serving ice cream. Motherfucker. She'd be stuck with Steve until it was his turn to scoop. Whatever! She had to inform him about the money and the envelope anyways. "You're gonna leave me here with Steve, seriously?" Valerie asked sarcastically. "Nope. You're lucky! He literally just left." Robin laughed. "Left? Where is he?" Valerie leaned up against the counter. "Spy-craft in the food court." Robin replied. "So.. you're gonna leave me in here all alone?" Valerie pointed to the door that led to the back room, dramatically sighing. "Pull up a chair over here." Robin suggested, nudging her head towards her left.
As a random conversation sparked between Valerie and Robin, another conversation started between Steve and Dustin. .
"You see anything?" Dustin asked. "Uh.. I guess I don't totally know what I'm looking for." Steve replied. "Evil Russians." Dustin shook his head. "Yeah, exactly. I don't know what an evil Russian looks like." Steve scoffed. "Tall, blonde, not smiling." Dustin clarified, Steve humming in response. "Also, look for earpieces, camo, duffel bags, that sort of thing." Dustin added. "Right, okay, duffel bags." Steve nodded. Steve kept redirecting the binoculars, catching sight of something that captured his attention. "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me." Steve scoffed. "What?" Dustin asked in hope that Steve found something. "Anna Jacobi's talking with that meathead, Mark Lewinsky." Steve said frustratingly. "Dude, if you're not gonna focus, just give me the binoculars." Dustin suggested. "Oh, Jesus Christ. Whatever happened to standards?" Steve shook his head, his eyes still glued onto the two. "I mean, Lewinsky never even came off the bench!" Steve added. "Dude, you are the worst spy in history, you know that?" Dustin snatched the binoculars from his grip, Steve's neck being pulled because of the headband connected to the binoculars. "Stop, hey, stop!" Steve sighed, ducking his head for the headband to come off. "Besides, I don't even get why you're looking at girls anyways. You have the perfect one right in front of you." Dustin shook his head. "Seriously, if you say Valerie again—" Steve began, before Dustin interrupted him. "Valerie." Dustin began. "Valerie, Valerie, Valerie." Dustin continued. "No, don't. No!" Steve implored him to stop, but Dustin only continued. "Stop. No, no, no." Steve shook his head. "No, no, man!" Steve sighed, Dustin finally putting an end to his teasing. "She's not even my type." Steve added. "Not your type? Even though she's probably more popular than you, smart, and not to mention, mind-blowingly beautiful." Dustin added. "Yeah, well, maybe.. that's not my type anymore." Steve said, in a tone that was far from believable. Dustin gave him a look, which Steve knew he couldn't escape from. "Just because she might fit the category of what my type is, doesn't mean that she's the one." Steve shook his head. "Never said she was the one. I'm just saying. It makes so much sense." Dustin shrugged. "What? What makes so much sense?" Steve questioned. "You two were like, the most popular people at Hawkins for a long period of time. And it's just too much of a coincidence that you two have been sucked into all of this." Dustin signaled to the binoculars. "Whatever. Look, she's never even been in a relationship. That's an embarrassing look." Steve began, trying to find reasons as to why he wouldn't be with Valerie. "Maybe because she doesn't depend on one like every other girl in Hawkins." Dustin scoffed. "So what? Did you just somehow discover all of this shit at 'Camp Know-Nothing' ?" Steve looked up at Dustin's hat, which had the title of the camp Dustin attended. "Camp Know-Where, actually." Dustin corrected. "And no, it's shit I discovered just by looking at her." Dustin shook his head. "Point is—" Dustin began, before Steve interrupted him. "Yeah, what is your point exactly?" Steve asked. "If you would let me finish, my point is.. instead of dating somebody you think is gonna make you cooler, why not date somebody you enjoy being around?" Dustin suggested. "Like me and Suzie." Dustin added. "Oh, Suzie. Yeah, you mean, "hotter than Phoebe Cates". Yeah, that Suzie." Steve nodded. "And, uh, let's think about it.." Steve began. "How exactly did you score that beautiful girlfriend?" Steve scratched his head, improvised confusion displayed on his face. "Oh, yeah." Steve spoke in 'realization'. "With my advice. Because.. that's how this works, Henderson. I give you the advice, you follow through. Not the other way around, alright pea-brain? Steve shook his head, looking away from Dustin.
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"Wait, so you're telling me that some random man just came walking out of your mom's bedroom shirtless?" Robin knitted her eyebrows together. "Exactly what I'm saying. I practically got flashed." Valerie shook her head in disgust, while Robin dramatically fake gagged. "So, have you tried translating more of the recording?" Valerie asked, shifting the topic. "Yup. And I've made absolutely no progress." Robin sighed, slurping the soda from the straw. "Well.. considering that none of us know Russian, and we've already translated a couple of sentences, I'd say we're doing pretty well." Valerie replied, which Robin shrugged in agreement with her.
Robin continued serving the customers while keeping up a conversation with Valerie. That was until Robin spotted a certain someone. "Hey, isn't that your friend?" Robin nudged Valerie's shoulder. Valerie's head whipped towards the front of the shop, spotting Selina walking towards them. "Oh, shit. Yeah." Valerie got up from her seat, leaving from behind the ice cream booth. "I'll be right back." Valerie turned to Robin quickly, which Robin nodded in response to her. "Selina? Are you okay?" Valerie asked the blonde, examining Selina's facial expressions in attempt to read through her. "Yeah, I'm okay." Selina nodded in reassurance. Valerie wrapped her arms around Selina, which Selina returned the gesture. "But, we do need to talk." Selina sighed, hesitantly pulling away from the hug. "You sound serious." Valerie gave Selina a skeptical look. Selina being serious? This wasn't a good thing.
Since they were already in the shop, the two thought it was best to talk in the back room, considering that it was the nearest and most private. "Is everything okay?" Valerie asked. "Not really, Val." Selina frowned. "Why? What happened?" Valerie questioned, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Selina looked away from Valerie, her eyes nervously wandering around the room. "You're scaring me, Selina." Valerie picked at her sweater anxiously. "Look, I'm not gonna be the one to tell you. But, you need to talk to your mom, like.. as soon as possible." Selina spoke. "What? Why?" Valerie asked. "What's going on? Did someone die or something?" Valerie questioned. "No. Everyone's alive." Selina answered. "Wha—I don't get it." Valerie shook her head in confusion. "It has to do with the envelope." Selina sighed. Valerie tried thinking of what could be so serious about the envelope that had Selina freaking out, until she realized something. "Wait, I never told you about the envelope." Valerie spoke. "You didn't. But, Nova did." Selina replied. "Wait, so this has to do with Nova now?" Valerie asked. "No—yes! I don't know, okay? You need to talk to your mom about it—" Selina was in the middle of speaking, before someone began knocking on the back door. Both Valerie and Selina's heads whipped towards the door. "Robin!" Valerie called out, tilting her chair forward to knock on the window. Robin opened the window, taking off her headphones and putting the dictionary and tape away. "Someone's knocking." Valerie nudged her head towards the back door. Robin hopped off of the counter, and inside the back room. She swung the door open, revealing a man carrying a bulky cardboard box. "Delivery for you." The man spoke. "Thank you." Robin sighed, grabbing the box and putting it on the shelf. The man held out a clipboard, along with a pen to get Robin's signature. Robin swiftly signed the paper, examining the title that read 'Lynx' on the man's shirt. The man's eyebrows slightly furrowed at Robin's intense staring, grabbing the clipboard that she was holding out. "Have a nice day." The man smiled politely, walking away. "Yeah, you too." Robin replied, watching as the man left. She peeked her head out of the door, something immediately making her eyes widen. "What is it?" Valerie asked. "Silver cat." Robin spoke. "Huh?" Both Valerie and Selina questioned in confusion. "Silver cat!" Robin looked to Valerie, closing the door shut. Robin practically ran out of the back room, which left Valerie peeking through the window to see what she was doing. Valerie spotted Steve and Dustin, which Robin ran straight between the two and out of the shop. "What the hell is she doing?" Selina asked. "I have no idea." Valerie sighed. Steve and Dustin turned to look at Robin, who was now standing in the center of the mall. Steve turned back to Dustin, catching sight of Valerie, who just shrugged at him. "No, but, seriously.. Valerie. You need to talk to Melina." Selina spoke. "I will." Valerie replied, turning to look back at Selina. Valerie still had no clue as to why Selina seemed so anxious. But, considering how upset Selina was yesterday, it was understandable. Steve and Dustin had already caught up with Robin by the time Valerie turned her head. Robin appeared to be really pleased and proud as she ran back inside of the shop. "Valerie!" Robin called out, rushing through the back room. "What? What did you do?" Valerie asked Robin, who was now completely out of breath. "I cracked the code." Robin announced. "No way." Valerie shook her head in disbelief. "Yes way." Robin nodded. "No fucking way. Oh, my God." Valerie held her head, pacing around the room in shock. "I actually did it." Robin proclaimed. "You fucking did it. Oh, my God!" Valerie grinned in amazement. "She did what?" Selina asked. "She cracked the code!" Valerie replied. "Wait, what code?" Selina questioned. "You missed a lot." Dustin spoke, walking into the room.
Although Valerie solved one of her many conflicts, she now had a brand new conflict to worry about. She had a hell of an adventure ahead of her. And, let's just say.. her adventure consisted of many upsides, and many downsides.