Grab N' Go [Robin Arellano]

36: New Year, Old Memories

A few days have gone by now, and Valentina is beyond stress.

"Is Robin some sort of vampire?" Gwen bellows through laughter, watching from the comfort of Valentina's bed as she sits in front of the mirror desperately trying to cover the markings up.

"Gwen!" She whines, coming up unsuccessful in all of her attempts. "I'm lucky my mom hasn't noticed in the past few days, but they're even worse this morning! Like, they got darker somehow."

"I mean, yeah, I'm pretty sure that's how bruises work," she snorts back, still fixated on the girl. "Look, Tini, there's no way in hell those bruises are gonna be covered with make up. Might as well give up and put on a scarf. Look on the bright side! It's winter! At least it won't look suspicious."

"But I don't wear scarfs!" Valentina frowns. "They're ugly."

"Hey! They are not! You just have to style them right," she argues defensively. "....my mom use to wear scarfs."

With a suddenly apologetic expression, Valentina turns to face her, "I'm sorry. You're right, Gweny. They can be cute on the right people. I'm just not as beautiful as your mom. She could pull off a lot of things I never could."

Gwen smiles softly, "she was pretty cool like that."

"Totally," Valentina nods, getting up from her spot on the floor and walking over to pull the girl into a hug. "Ugh, I missed you over the break. Things just aren't the same when you're gone. Happy New Year's Eve?"

"Happy New Years Eve," Gwen hums back, pulling back to take a closer look at her neck. "Yeah, definitely cover those up before Finney gets back and notices. You got so lucky Robin distracted him by asking to go the store before he could say hi to you. If he sees those he's totally gonna be awkward and weird to Robin."

"You think so? Even though they're best friends?" She counters nervously. "And why did they even go to the store? It's really late."

"Soda. And to answer your question, yes. You're his best friend too. If it was any other guy, he would hate them for even kissing you in front of him. Pretty sure Robin should get the same treatment," she insists, pushing her aside and moving to her closet to rummage around. "Plus, the other night we were talking and he said he loves Robin but he still feels the need to protect you. Call me crazy, but I think Finney would probably get seriously upset by seeing all those hickeys."

"Well, Finney isn't exactly the only one I'm most worried about," Valentina sighs deeply. "My mom is pretty observant."

"You have like no scarfs," Gwen points out, unable to find any in her closet.

She nods and nervously twirls her "R" pendant between her fingers, "I told you I don't wear them often. Pass me that red bandanna in my top drawer! I'll wear that."

With a nod, Gwen pulls the drawer open to search around for the fabric. She finds it almost immediately, but another thing catches her eye. With a curious grin, she reaches out to grab a mixtape and turn to Valentina while holding it up.

"Did Vance make you this?" She questions with a soft smile. "This hand writing is pretty shitty, no offense, and the picture is you two....so I figured, you know?"

Valentina's eyes widen at the tape she smiles brightly before nodding in confirmation. "Yeah, he did."

"Cute picture," Gwen compliments, looking closer at the tape, "I didn't think he would do things like that. It's.....sweet. I know you said he wasn't a hard ass like everyone thought, but it's kind of hard to imagine him being so sweet when I literally saw him carve into someone's arm with their own switchblade because they fucked up his pinball score."