CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR:
while our hearts are young
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NO WORDS COULD EVER CAPTURE THE EUPHORIC AND ELATED FEELING COURSING THROUGH THE VAINS OF VALERIE REVORA.
She may've been severely intoxicated due to an unknown drug, but she had never felt more like herself. This, was the Valerie Revora she missed so dearly. The one who had not a care or worry in the world. The one who lived her life every chance she got. The one she hadn't seen in years.
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"Slow this down! We're going down too fast!" Valerie yelled. "There's nothing we can do." Dustin shrugged. "Just do something!" Valerie whined. "Valerie! Come here!" Robin dragged Valerie by her arm. "Get on this." Robin pointed to a red box carrier with wheels. "Oh, no, no, no, no. Hell no. Steve, you do it." Valerie pointed to Steve. Steve didn't waste a second before hopping onto the box carrier, struggling to maintain his balance. "Oh, my God! You look like you're—" Valerie began, Steve and Robin soon finishing her sentence. "Surfing!" Robin and Steve said in unison. Steve put his arms out, swerving his body as if he was actually surfing. "They seem drunk." Erica spoke. "Why would they be drunk?" Dustin questioned. "Hold on, I wanna try now. Get off!" Valerie ordered, slightly pushing him forward which made him stumble, but he maintained his balance. Before Steve could get off, Robin swerved the box carrier towards herself, causing Steve to plunge forward and fall off of the box carrier. The three of them erupted in laughter, holding their stomachs as they tried to catch their breath. "Wipeout!" Valerie and Robin pointed to Steve. Dustin quickly walked over to Steve, sitting down in front of him as he put his hand on Steve's forehead. "He's burning up." Dustin sighed. "You're burning up." Steve replied. "One sec, one sec." Dustin tried lifting Steve's eyelid, but Steve kept swatting him away. "Steve, Steve!" Dustin slapped Steve's hands away, finally widening his eye open just enough to get a good look. "Ow!" Steve whined. "His pupils are super dilated." Dustin said. "Maybe he's drugged." Erica shrugged. "Selina?" Dustin asked, wanting to hear Selina's thoughts on the situation. "Yeah?" Selina turned her head to look at Dustin. "What do you think?" Dustin asked. "About..?" Selina questioned, a clueless expression on her face. "Jesus. You're really no help at all!" Dustin shook his head. "Please, we wouldn't have even made it here if it weren't for me!" Selina argued. Normally, Dustin would have something to respond with, but there were bigger conflicts, so he let it slide. "Boop!" Steve pressed a finger against Dustin's nose. "Steve, are you drugged?" Dustin asked, lightly tapping his hand against Steve's face twice. "How many times, dad? I don't do drugs. It's only marijuana." Steve joked, touching Dustin's nose again. "That is a drug, idiot." Valerie snickered, Robin laughing at Valerie's response. "This isn't funny, okay? I need to know what they did to you." Dustin said sternly. "Are you gonna die on us?" Dustin asked, but Steve only booped Dustin on the nose again. "We all die, my strange little child friend. It's just a matter of how.. and when." Robin said, her eyes widened as she played with strands of her hair. Dustin furrowed his eyebrows at the blonde, turning his head to look back to Steve. "They're gonna be looking for us up there, so I need you to tell me where you parked your car." Dustin said. "Oh, can we make a pit-stop at the food court?" Steve asked, completely ignoring what Dustin had said. "I would kill for a hot dog on a stick." Robin sighed. "Or a cheeseburger." Valerie's mouth gaped open at the thought of a cheeseburger. "Ooh!" Steve commented. "Alright. Yeah, food. Yes, you can have as much food as you want, but only if you tell me where your car is parked." Dustin said as Valerie and Robin squealed in excitement for food. "Uh-oh." Steve said. "Uh-oh?" Dustin questioned. "The car's off the board." Steve announced. "What?!" Selina and Dustin questioned in unison. "They took the keys. The Russians, they took the keys. Like, forever ago." Steve turned his pockets inside-out, revealing that his pockets were empty. Usually, Valerie would've been on the verge of a panic attack. But she found it quite funny. . 'Why?' She had no idea herself. "That's a bummer, right?" Steve joked.
The elevator came to a halt soon after Steve revealed that his car was no longer available. "Alright. Come on, you three." Dustin helped each Steve, Valerie, and Robin stand up. "Thank you, young man." Valerie spoke in a deep-toned voice, saluting to Dustin, which made Robin have, yet, another moment consisting of nothing but laughter. As soon as the elevator doors opened, Valerie felt a breeze of fresh air. She hadn't felt the refreshing welcome of fresh air in days, along with Steve and Robin. As soon as the three of them walked out of the elevator, they each opened their mouth, feeling a damp-ish, and hydrating feeling on their tongues. "Oh, my God, that tastes so good!" Robin said as she stuck her entire tongue out. "Steve, Valerie, can you taste the air?" Robin asked. "Holy shit! I can taste it!" Valerie nodded. "Me too!" Steve chuckled. The three were so busy admiring the air and its refreshment, that they didn't even realize the guards walking up to the gate in front of them. "Shit! Uh, follow me!" Selina shouted, running towards a door that she had spotted. All five of them followed her, Robin almost tripping on her way there. "Okay! Okay! Okay! Woo!" Robin exclaimed, her arms high up in the air as she ran through the door. "Why are we running?" Steve asked. "Yeah. Why are we run—" Valerie began, before Dustin cut her off. "Just, trust us!" Dustin replied, slamming the door behind them shut closed. "Okay, uh, I don't know where to go anymore." Selina said. "Shit. Okay, um, just follow me!" Dustin yelled. "Where are we going?" Erica asked. "Just trust me!" Dustin exclaimed.
After turning at least ten corners, and going through door after door, they had finally got to the destination they were hoping for, the inside of Starcourt Mall. The particular location they ended up in was the movie theater, which wasn't necessarily Valerie's first option as to where she wanted to go, but it was better than that room they spent hours trapped in.
Dustin peeked his head out from the corner, making sure that there were no guards in sight. "All clear." Dustin announced, signaling for the five to follow him. They all got in a straight line, walking speedily but silently. Steve grabbed a bag of chips from the trash can before turning the corner, beginning to toss the chips in his mouth. "You got that from a trash can. ." Valerie whispered. "Yeah, so?" Steve questioned, shrugging his shoulders. "So.. that's like, fucking disgusting. Like, okay, so, imagine you had a girlfriend, right? And you leaned in to kiss her after you just ate chips from a trash can. . She'd probably dump you right then and there." Valerie explained. Steve gave it some thought, and eventually, shoved the bag of chips into Robin's arms. "He got those from a trash can." Valerie whispered to Robin. "I don't care." Robin dug her entire hand into the bag, shoving a handful of chips into her mouth. Dustin slid the bright red curtains, revealing the big screen, which was playing 'Back to the Future'. "Come on." Dustin whispered, sprinting down the stairs that led to the seats. "You three, sit." Dustin demanded. "No, no, no! These seats are too close." Steve shook his head, Valerie and Robin nodding in agreement with him. Dustin shoved the three towards the row of seats, each of them tumbling onto the seats. "Dude, these seats blow!" Steve commented. "Then don't watch the movie." Dustin replied. "We wanna watch it." Valerie and Robin said in unison. "Then watch it!" Dustin said, his tone way too loud, considering they were in a movie theater. The man in the row of seats behind them shushed them, which Valerie, Steve, and Robin each returned the gesture, except Valerie flipped him off. "Put that down." Dustin slapped Valerie's hand down. "Sorry." Dustin apologized to the man sitting behind the three, who had a look of shock displayed on his face. "Whatever you do, don't.. go.. anywhere." Dustin demanded. "Fine, dad." Steve joked, making both Robin and Valerie giggle. Dustin, Erica, and Selina made their way to the opposite side of the room, finding seats of their own at the end of the row.
"Okay, it's official." Dustin began. "I'm never having kids." Dustin announced, Selina chuckling at his frustration. "What are we doing here?" Erica asked. "We're laying low. Cooling off. Like Oswald." Dustin shrugged. "Oswald was found in a theater and shot to death." Erica knitted her eyebrows together. "A week later. ." Dustin added. "That doesn't make it any better." Selina scoffed. "The point is, his plan didn't work." Erica said. "Only because it was a setup." Dustin replied. "What?" Erica questioned. "He was just a patsy." Dustin shrugged. "Tell me you're joking." Erica snickered, being interrupted by the man behind them who also shushed them, which the three also returned the gesture. "We need to get outta here." Erica sighed. "Alright, you watch Tweedledee and Tweedledum and other—extra Tweedle-something. Make sure they don't go anywhere." Dustin demanded, standing up from his seat. "Where are you going?" Both Selina and Erica questioned in unison. "To find us a ride. Selina, you're coming with me. Come on." Dustin nudged his head, Selina dramatically sighing before following him.
Although the movie wasn't terrible, it didn't necessarily meet up to Valerie's expectations. It also didn't help that her mind wouldn't stop wandering off to the fact that her tongue was drying up slowly but surely. Valerie tapped Steve's shoulder twice, which hadn't caught his attention, so she tapped him again, which still didn't do shit. This time, Valerie flicked him in the head, causing him to swat his hands above him, blocking some peoples view of the big screen. "No, stop, stop it." Valerie pushed his hands down. "Come on." Valerie snapped her fingers in front of Robin's face to capture her attention. "What—where are we going?" Steve asked. "I think there's a water fountain nearby." Valerie replied, pulling both Robin and Steve up from their seats. "Stay low so that they don't see us." Valerie ducked down, along with Robin and Steve.
"I call first drink!" Valerie shouted, running over to the water fountain before Robin or Steve could beat her to it. As soon as the water hit her tongue, she felt as if all of her energy had been restored. Never in her life had she been this grateful that water existed. "Oh, I call second drink!" Steve said, running behind Valerie as if he was getting in line. "No, that's not fair!" Robin whined. "The rule is 'ladies first', Steve." Valerie shrugged, immediately reuniting her mouth with the water once she finished her sentence. "I already called it." Steve shrugged, putting his arms up in defense of himself. "This is so good." Valerie commented, pointing to the water pouring into her mouth. "Hurry it up." Steve snapped his fingers, Valerie flipping him off in response. Valerie counted down by five seconds in her head, slowly lifting her head away from the water once her five seconds were up. "All yours." Valerie patted the water fountain twice, walking over to Robin. Valerie leaned over the railing on the second story of the mall, spreading her arms out on each side of the railing as she closed her eyes shut. "Imagine if that railing snapped." Robin chuckled. Valerie opened her eyes, turning her head to look at the railing behind her. She turned around, beginning to aggressively shake the railing as hard as she could. "What are you doing..?" Steve questioned. "I wanna see how reliable it is." Valerie shrugged. "Wait, I wanna see." Robin walked over to Valerie, beginning to join Valerie in shaking the railing. "I think it's pretty sturdy." Valerie nodded in approval. "This is amazing." Steve commented, referring to the water that he was still drinking from. "So, like, I wasn't totally focused or anything, so maybe it was just me, but, I'm pretty sure.. that mom was trying to bang her son." Robin said, shifting the topic back to the movie. "Wait, wait, the hot chick was Alex P. Keaton's mom?" Steve asked. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure." Robin nodded. "But they're the same age. ." Steve's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "No, but, he went back in time." Robin replied. "Then why is it called, 'Back to the Future'?" Steve snickered. "He has to go back to the future because.. he's in the past. So, the future is actually the present, which is his time." Robin explained. "Oh, makes sense." Valerie nodded. Steve gave Robin's explanation some thought, his wide eyes and gaped open mouth making it seem as if he understood what Robin had explained, until the same, confused expression had returned. "Wha—what?" Steve questioned. "No, no, it's my turn. You—You've had enough." Robin shoved Steve away from the water fountain, immediately leaning forward to drink from it. Valerie had hardly interacted with the two's conversation because she was so busy pretending that she was walking on the Hollywood red carpet. You would think that after spending almost every day at the same place, you would eventually memorize almost every detail of it. But, not once had Valerie realized the similarity between the Hollywood red carpet, and the carpet that Starcourt had scattered on the floor of the mall. "Wow." Steve commented, his eyes glued onto the roof of the mall. "What?" Valerie asked, continuing to practice her runway walk. "Come look." Steve said, pointing to the roof. Valerie looked up at the ceiling of the Starcourt mall, immediately falling into a state of awe and admiration. What most caught her attention, was the way that the lights glimmered as if they were stars in a pitch black night sky. Valerie tilted her head, watching as the lights curved towards the direction her head moved in. "Holy shit." Valerie sighed in amazement. Valerie squinted her eyes, realizing how all of the lights blurred together more and more the harder she squinted her eyes. "Steve, squint your eyes." Valerie giggled, Steve doing as she said. "Holy shit. It's turning into one big light." Steve said. "Hey, Robin. You gotta check this out." Steve said in amazement. Robin took one last sip of the water, before pacing over to the two. Robin looked up at the ceiling, her eyes widening as soon as she caught a glimpse of the lights scattered around the roof. "Oh, wow." Robin commented. Valerie turned her body in a circular motion, keeping her eyes on the ceiling. She watched as the rays from the light stretched out longer, and how the ceiling looked as if it was curving inwards. Valerie observed how the lights began crinkling in a turbulent motion, and how the ceiling looked as if it was descending down towards her. That's when Valerie felt her stomach rumble, and it wasn't just because she was hungry. When Valerie would have a stomach bug, she would always get a watery sensation in her mouth before she would throw up. And that feeling had made its return, but this time, that feeling was amplified. Valerie slowly looked over to Robin and Steve, whose faces were incredibly pale. Luckily, there was a bathroom located nearby the water fountain, so they each ran for their lives, holding their stomach with one hand and using their other hand to put over their mouth.