Mission Impossible//Robin Arellano

Part IX

What the Fuck?
(this is in Valerie's POV)

I was eating breakfast when I heard footsteps shuffling down the hallway. I peered through the doorway to see a groggy, drunk man walking towards me. My dad has been an alcoholic all my life. He had fallen into a deep depression after Christine died, which caused his addiction to worsen.

Every morning and night he would go through a six pack of Miller Lite. The trash can was filled to the brim with cardboard packaging and glass bottles. The smell of beer wafted through the house, causing me to gag frequently.

I moved back into a comfortable position on the bar stool and continued eating my Frosted Flakes, the best cereal for obvious reasons. He entered the kitchen, rubbing his forehead and walking to the garage. That's where he kept the beer.

I could hear glass breaking and an aggravated cry before he came back into the house. I watched as he placed the six pack on the kitchen counter and grabbed a bottled water from the fridge. I raised my eyebrows at this since I was the only one who ever drank the water he bought.

His diet consisted of frozen pizzas, potato chips, beer, and occasionally some broccoli. I, on the other hand, eat fairly healthy. For this to happen, I have to go on weekly grocery store runs. I'm not the best cook, so I usually eat some form of a pasta dish with a vegetable on the side. If I'm in the mood for something different, I'll eat white rice with soy sauce and edamame.

My dad shuffled back down the hallway, carrying the beer in one hand and the water in the other. I heard the plastic water bottle fall onto the floor as his bedroom door slammed. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before placing my bowl in the sink. It was finally Friday, which meant my dad would be out drinking with his friends until the early hours of the morning.

Fridays are my days to spend hours at the park while reading or sketching the kids who would skate past me. I grabbed my backpack and left the house in a hurry. The air was cool and a nice breeze would make the leaves dance along the sidewalk. Although I didn't like Idaho, the fall weather was everything.

I shivered a bit and zipped up my jacket halfway. My converse were worn out and dirty from the longer walks to school. Leaving before 7:00 for school absolutely sucked. In Denver, I could leave five minutes before school started and I'd still make it on time. In Idaho, I have to make all these weird turns and walk down a sketchy alleyway on my way to school.

These walks were lonely and cold, but back home, I had the warmth of Gwenny and Finn. Their stupid laughs would catch me off guard and the way Gwenny stumbled when she laughed too hard would make me start laughing. I've not once referred to Idaho as my 'home'... because it's not. It hasn't treated me well enough to be called home and I don't think it ever will.

•_•

School was terrible as usual. A few kids have spoken to me this week which was nice, but none talked with me long enough for me to even consider them an acquaintance. There's this one boy in my class, Tommy Warren. I keep noticing him looking at me during history class. I can never focus in that class and I guess he can't either.

It was creepy the first few times around, but now I think it's kind of cute. I mean, what if he likes me? It's crazy to think I could move on from Robin, but what are the chances of me ever seeing him again? Today, I mustered up the courage to talk to him with the idea that he'd be my first friend, but boy was I wrong.