𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍 - 𝐆𝐰𝐞𝐧 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐱 𝐨𝐜

-001-

Vickie was preparing to head out to the Grab n' Go, grabbing her bag and stepping out of her room. School had just ended for the day, so she felt like buying an afternoon snack.

Before leaving, she bent down to tie her shoe, then twisted the doorknob, opening the door, and going. Once outside, she noticed Billy, her brother, preparing to leave for work. Vickie waved him goodbye, and he waved back. He took off on his bike as Vickie turned to walk through the sidewalk, to the Grab n' Go.

Once she arrived at the Grab n' Go, she noticed that Vance, one of her good friends, has still not shown up to the pinball machine. She walked to the chips section and grabbed a bag of Cheetos.

As she began paying, she noticed a missing poster for a kid named Griffin Stagg. He seemed very young so she hoped the police would find them soon.

She came home a little late, entering the house. She set down her bag, took her shoes off by the door, and went into the kitchen to grab water. Her mom turned to her from the door frame. "Have you seen your brother?" she asked, looking at Vickie with a worried look.

"Wasn't he just at work? Did he not come back home?" She replied, wondering If Billy, her brother, had come home from work, then just go out again. "No, he didn't. I've been home the whole time, it's getting late too." Vickie looked to the window, she realized she was right, it had gotten dark out, and Billy's shift should've ended about 3 hours before, at 17:30.

She turned to her mom, giving her a reassuring look, "He's probably got extra mail." Vickie then gave her a forced smile, walking up to her room. She changed into her pjs and went into the bathroom, brushing her teeth.

She laid in bed, thinking about her brother, but she had more things to worry about, her best friend's baseball game would be tomorrow.

-the next day-

She woke up and got dressed, it was a Sunday, and the sun was out, so the game would most likely go well. She left and saw Finney, along with Gwen. Finney and Vickie gave each other a tight hug, because they hadn't seen each other in two weeks, due to the trip the Showalters had.

Finney and Vickie were two peas in a pod, they've known each other since the age of 2, and, their reputation gap is pretty big, whereas Vickie has many friends, and Finney gets bullied a lot, and doesn't have many friends, let alone, people he knows that wouldn't be so mean. Despite their differences, Vickie was never embarrassed of him. If Finney liked strawberry ice cream, she would try it for him. If Vickie watched horror movies, as much as Finney hated them, he would watch 100 with her if he needed. They would always stay together.

Once they all made it to the game, she sat next to Gwen for the game, eating some of the popcorn in her hands. About 2 hours into the game, Finney threw the ball towards a prepared Bruce, and that ball went soaring through the air, in which Finney missed. Gwen and her friends let out a disappointed sigh, but Vickie stayed cheering for him, then Gwen looked to Vickie, then she started to clap as well, then Donna, who seemed to be Finney's crush, also began clapping, and it was all, even though he didn't win the game.

Finney stayed behind, to send a rocket, as Gwen and Vickie walked down the sidewalk, Bruce was biking near them, the girls greeted him, as he greeted them back and continued biking, Gwen and Vickie then decided to hand out at the arcade, just until 8:00, since they would have school the next day. "What did you think of the game tonight?" Gwen started a conversation, since it was starting to get quiet.

"Interesting, fun to watch, that's for sure." she replied, focused on the game she was playing. "That polar bear is so cute! Do you think I could borrow some money to play? I'll pay you back as soon as I can." Gwen was looking to the polar bears hanging on the back of a bulletin board.

Vickie decided that she would help Gwen, since she was great at winning tickets, "Could I maybe try helping?" Vickie asked Gwen, as she landed her the mini basketball, then Vickie scored everytime she tried. Vickie asked for the polar bear, and handed it to Gwen, as Gwen got very excited. Once it got late again, Gwen thanked Vickie for winning the polar bear for her, before they both walked out of the arcade, Gwen happily hugging her polar bear.

Vickie found that she really found Gwen's smile sweet, like it was so genuine, not many other girls had that. The way her eyes looked in the evening sunset, with her brunette waves, gliding in the wind. The small details made her feel good inside, but she thought of Gwen as her best friend, like her 'sister'.