Grab N' Go [Robin Arellano]

9: Gwendolyn Blake is a Badass

The next morning, Valentina's mom leaves early, but not before giving her a reassuring kiss on the forehead and encouraging words for her day. It does make Valentina feel more relaxed than she has in a while, that coupled with the fact that Robin will be around to protect her today.

She takes her time to make herself nicer than usual, going the whole nine yards. Showers, straightens her usually wavy hair, then puts on a nice outfit. Hell, she even paints her nails a nice shade of brown to match her tank top.

Her make up takes the longest as she does her brown lip liner, gloss, mascara, and even some blush. By the time she's done, she feels genuinely pretty for once. She always knew she wasn't unattractive, but right now, she could pass for popular. As one final steps, she grabs her jewelry box and pulls out the hoop earrings. The ones Vance liked. Robin, too, apparently.

With a sigh, she puts them on and after laces her shoes up. Then, she's out the door and down the road.

"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Tammi Terrell and Marvin Gaye plays from her Walkman.

As she gets to the school, all eyes drift to her, all observing her new look. She does her best to ignore them, focusing on her music.

As she makes her way to her locker, she stops a few feet away when she sees Lillian stood there waiting with her group of friends. Just as their eyes lock, she turns on her heel to rush away. She doesn't get very far before she's pulled back and slammed into a random set of lockers not far from her own.

Her headphones fall around her neck and her breathing quickens as she's held down.

Without missing a beat, everyone begins to circle around them and whoop and holler. Some yelling "cat fight", some just watching with amusement. Fuck, these people were useless.

"What the hell did I tell you, slut?" The blond barks out. "We had a deal, and I told you if you didn't follow through that it was your ass."

Valentina flinches away at her closeness, more so because of her breath than her words.

"Mrs. Scott wouldn't let me," she responds through gritted teeth. "I tried."

"Oh? Did you? Then why the hell did we see you leaving with him yesterday?" She quite literally spits out, a few drops landing on the other girls cheek and making her cringe.

The blond begins to rant about other things, but it all blurs together as she focuses on her quickened breaths.

Normally, Valentina would simply take whatever beating they had planned. She would promise to stay away from Robin, and she would follow through. However, for the past few months, aside from Finney and Gwen, Robin was the only person who made her feel whole again. She wasn't about to lose that again.

So, she does something she would never do before- she stands up for herself.

"Get bent," she finally growls out, narrowing her eyes at the blond.

Lillian looks officially pissed, and her little squad looks totally stunned. Just as she begins to pull her fist back and Valentina braces herself, a voice stops them all.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, puta."

The group of girls turn to the voice. Robin, in all his glory, is stood there with a fixed expression, hands stuffed into his pockets, and narrowed eyes that say he means business.

Valentina's face lifts into a relieved smile, and she meets Robin's eyes- silently thanking him.

Before he can step in himself, Gwen comes barreling through the crowd and knocks one of the girls holding Valentina down straight in the mouth. It's enough to take them all by shock and force the other girls to release Valentina.