𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐮𝐭 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬 ➤ 𝑹. 𝑩𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒆𝒚

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓

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"𝙔𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙤 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚, 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙩𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙢𝙚"

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(𝟏𝟕 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞) 

𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟐𝟖𝐭𝐡, 𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐋 chimed noisily as Valerie roughly shoved it open, not purposely, the strap of her shoulder bag just happened to break the minute she'd reached it, causing her to juggle various items in her hand as she entered the store.

She'd taken up an extra shift at the diner today, one of her co-workers had called her coughing, feigning illness, but she'd heard vibrant conversation in the background, not that it mattered to her, she'd happily take the extra cash. But that was at midday, and she still had two hours to kill.

"Ah, yes. Harrington's evil friend," a sombre voice greeted, it enunciated the words darkly, the tone devoid of any hint of cheerfulness. Valerie sighed.

"I'm a seventeen-year-old waitress, Keith, no need to be so goddamn dramatic," she chided, not bothering to look up at the gangling miserable boy as she struggled to piece her bag back together. Eventually she gave up and tied the loose strap to the buckle in a makeshift hold that likely wouldn't last all that long, but enough to get her desired films and leave.

Keith sent her a dubious glare, "I can sense evil auras, yours is potent."

"Anything else you wanna add?" Valerie asked blankly, her eyes wandering around the store. This was the usual exchange between the two, there was a petty history behind the grudge he held towards her. Keith narrowed his gaze, "You didn't wash your hair today, did you."

Valerie didn't respond verbally, but instead extended an arm, sending him an obscene hand gesture before she made her way over to the aisle labelled 'horror'. There was a tattered sign on the stand that read '18+' but Valerie merely brushed past it before scanning the selection of titles on the shelf. 

"Watched that one..." she mumbled under her breath, before pausing at one particular tape, she didn't recognize the cover that encased it.

Valerie had seen almost every horror film the store possessed, but this one wasn't familiar, Keith must have ordered in some new material. With a small smile, she picked it up, turning it over in her hands to assess the image on the cover. At that moment, she felt a weight drop from her shoulder and with a jaded stare she looked to see that her improvised bind had come undone. She grasped her bag quickly, holding it to her hip while she tried to retie the knot, the film clutched precariously in the same hand.

"Didn't really peg you as the shoplifting type," an amused voice remarked from her left and Valerie was so startled she released her grip, the bag falling to the floor with a deft 'thud' as she glanced up.

"I wasn't stealing," she replied through gritted teeth and bent down to collect her belongings, managing to swiftly connect the strap to the buckle before standing back up, facing the tall girl before her with a slight scowl.

Robin sent her that trademark smirk, "I know."

Turning around briskly, Valerie returned to her previous task. Her eyes searched the stand for anything else that peaked her interest, catching one tape in particular, she reached for it. The Shining.