Grab N' Go [Robin Arellano]

2: Manifesting Being Seen by Denying Being Seen

August 21, 1978.

It's been close to a year since Vance disappeared, and another boy has gone missing. Bruce Yamada. Now he was the talk of town, and Valentina was back to being somewhat invisible unless the topic of the "grabber's" previous victims rolled around.

The grabber seemed to be averaging 1-2 boys a year at this point, and still has every adult in town on edge. Many teens, however, did not seem to be taking the whole issue very seriously- instead treating it as some sort of urban legend.

All things aside, today was the first day of school, and Valentina knew it would likely be stressful. Especially since it would be her first time walking down that hallway without Vance by her side.

Admittedly, she cried the entire night before while doing her best to hide her sobs from her mother in the next room over. She only slept for about 5 hours.

Now, its 7am and she is stood in front of her mirror brushing through her hair with eyes glassy from both the lack of sleep and abundance of tears shed the night before.

The sounds of "(Don't) Fear the Reaper" drown her blank mind as she goes to apply a coat of mascara. After, she pulls an oversized flannel shirt over her plain black top and goes to put on the same pair of golden hoop earrings she had been wearing the day Vance asked her out.

She stares at them longingly before shaking her head and putting them on.

As a final step, she applies a tinted gloss and moves onto her bed to pull up her bell bottoms and start lacing up her white converse.

"Aye, Mija. Esta bien bonita," Alma peaks her head into the girl's room, offering her a loving smile. "No llegues tarde a la escuela, ya voy."

(Translation: You're so beautiful. Don't be late to school, I'm going.)

"Sí, mamá," she nods softly, turning away to hide her frown.

As the Eagles come on, she sighs deeply and stands up to stop her mixtape, grabs her book bag, and heads out the front door. As she begins her short walk to school, she can't help but dread the possibility of eyes on her.

As she arrives at the entrance to the school, she braces for the worst but is instead met with the sight of students gathering around in a circle and yelling "fight".

Curiously, she walks up to the bunch, half hoping to see Vance.

Moose Kavinsky.

He was such a dick. She rolls her eyes at him.

Her eyes shift to the person he's antagonizing, finding Robin Arellano. He's wearing his usual black bandanna with a brown sleeveless shirt, jeans, and a belt with a big buckle.

There wasn't many other Mexicans at this school, him being one of them.

They never spoke before- Robin was way too cool for her. Not in the same way Vance was, who had popularity rooted in fear. People genuinely respect Robin, and most girls fawn over him, calling him "strong" and "handsome".

They're right to say so, he is very handsome. But

1. He was also known for fighting,
2. He was too well liked and would surely gather the wrong attention if she associated with him.
3. She wouldn't dream of it anyway, because as stated before, he was far too cool for her and has not/would not ever notice her.

"I will pound you like a nail, you scrawny little beaner!" Moose shouts, clearly growing fearful but trying to hide behind a tough guy facade.

Valentina is surprised by his racist remark. Sure, lots of people here were racist, but they had never called her that before. Plus, Robin was known to be tough as hell, and picking a fight with him certainly is not smart.