Mission Impossible//Robin Arellano

Part I

Greetings and Salutations!

"Finney Blake, I swear to God! Come back!" Valerie was running down the sidewalk, trying to catch her curly haired friend. He couldn't help but laugh hysterically and fumble all about the place, yet he was still faster than the poor girl.

Earlier in the day Finney and his little sister, Gwen, had been conspiring against Valerie. Gwen made the final decision of stealing her money so the siblings could spend it at the arcade.

No, the Barnes' family was not wealthy, but Valerie had gotten a job at the Grab n' Go so she could support her mom in some way. Because she's now an only child, she had to pull her weight.

"If you don't stop right now, I'm taking your moon landing poster!" the brunette shouted, making the boy turn on his heel and sprint towards the girl. She shrieked and ran for her life.

Finney chased her all the way to Gwen, who was sitting outside her house. She chuckled at the sight of two and jumped out in front of Valerie, tackling her to the ground. The Barnes girl fought her grip, but it was no use. Finney jumped on top of Gwen, totally squishing Valerie. She groaned and yelled at them to get off.

After pushing the siblings off, they laid in silence before bursting into fits of laughter. This gained attention from the neighborhood walkers. The trio couldn't give a care in the world. They were living in the moment and they loved it.

•_•

It was nearing the end of July which meant the worst thing possible... school. Valerie never minded school, but since becoming friends with Finney, she gets a lot of attention. Some new faces, some old. Some still with pity on their faces, others with jealousy.

School meant no freedom. No running around at the park with Gwen, no tackling Finney when he wouldn't wake up. Just boring classes with the boring classmates.

Finney was quite excited to start school again. Mostly because he would be seeing Donna everyday. Okay well, only because he would be seeing Donna everyday. Valerie was convinced he was in love at this point. She had noticed all their glances the year prior and now they would have full conversations and eat lunch together. Oh how Valerie wished she could have something like them.

•_•

This was it. The first day of freshman year. The sound of an alarm clock drowned out any other sounds in the room. Valerie groaned as she shut it off. Before she could roll over to get comfortable again, her mom barged into her room. "Alright! Let's go! Up and at em'." As her mom left, she turned on the lights.

The brightness burned the girl's eyes as she sat up. A faint "Valerie!" could be heard from the kitchen. "Yeah, yeah, I'm up!" the girl shouted in return.

Valerie walked over to her dresser and pulled out some jeans, a green tank top, and a black zip up. Once she had changed, she went to brush her teeth and hair. She decided to give a good impression at school so she did her make up a bit.

She rushed out to the kitchen to eat her breakfast before putting her shoes on. She swung her bag over her shoulder as she walked out the door. "Bye mom! Love ya." was all that could be heard in the house before the door closed.

Gwen forced Valerie to walk with her and Finney to school everyday so they could catch up before classes. Valerie wasn't complaining though. She enjoyed their company.