shoelace [robin buckley]

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗

"we did it! thank goodness its over! my freshman year is finally behind me! oh, the horrors it held. but i survived. i survived and that's all that matters, it- robin, where are you going?"

matthew was talking nonstop to robin, but she was hardly listening. she was rolling her eyes at him, and also smiling to herself as she thought back on her conversation with angela earlier today. she was just trying to fish things out from her locker that she might need over summer, and after she grabbed her walkman that she had put in it earlier in the day, she began walking away, leaving matthew, so he interrupted himself and watched her take a few steps before following.

"i'm going where you aren't. schools over, i refuse to stay any longer," robin said as she kept walking.

"alright, yeah, i get that. i hate school too, man. i mean, gosh robin, have you ever been a freshman?"

"yes matthew, a few years ago." she rolled her eyes and slightly smiled. she hated the kid, but she knew she couldnt live without him.

"yeah, i know. it was rhetorical. anyways, you coming by my party tonight, buckley?" he was filled with so much hope it almost made robin feel guilty.

they approached robin's bike, and before she got on it to ride home, she turned to matthew and said, "listen, matt. i'll swing by," he started to get excited, muttering oh, rad! i knew you'd come around! so robin had to raise her voice slightly so he would hear her say, "but only for a quick hello. i'll walk in, drink whatever soda you kids will be providing, then i'm out. i have to help my mom out, then..."

"then what?" matthew asked, still excited from robin saying she'd stop by and now confused by why she suddenly stopped talking. "what, robin?"

"huh? nothing. i didn't say anything," robin said as she started to walk her bike away from matthew.

"okay, whatever. anyways, i'll see you tonight! come over around six, party should be bumping by then, people coming and going but mostly coming and staying. you get it, you're a party animal, almost as much as me. anyways, see you then, buckley!"

"uh-huh. bye, matthew. congratulations on finishing your freshman year." she turned and genuinely smiled at him, and a huge smile took over his face.

"y-yeah. bye robin!" he waved and smiled as she turned away and biked off, and as he continued smiling and sort of laughed out of disbelief and overwhelmed happiness, he turned around and bumped into one of the schools football players. "oh, didn't see you there. sorry man. hey, come by my house, big party later. i'll get you a drink to make up for it!" the guy rolled his eyes and turned back to his friends who were writing in each other's yearbooks. matthew sort of smiled at the guys back then made a full circle to try and figure out where he was supposed to go. eventually he found his way to his grandma's car, parked sideways in the disabled spot.

when robin made it home, she let her bike drop on her lawn before jogging inside.

"i'm home!" she yelled out. "do you recognize my voice? it's robin!"

"why wouldnt i recognize your voice?" her mother yelled from the kitchen.

robin walked to her mother and as she approached the kitchen, said, "i'm no longer a junior, i wasn't sure if you'd still recognize my voice."

"ha-ha. hello, honey," she said, turning to bring robin in for a hug. "congrats. how was your last day?"

"eh, it was alright," she lied, thinking about how talking with angela was such a thrill. she wanted to tell her mother how angela made her stomach flip, but she stayed quiet about it. "pretty good, actually. none of the teachers really made us do that much. hey, are you busy? i'd like to get a head start on helping you pack your things and searching for things in maps and whatever."

"yeah, of course. i'd love your help, i wasn't sure if you would still want to," robins mother said in a surprised tone. she was glad robin hadn't outgrown her company after all these years.

"of course i do. but the sooner the better."

"and why is that? busy night planned? get drunk and party?" her mom joked.

"mom!" robin said, gasping dramatically.

"what?! that's what i did on the last day of school when i was in high school. only my junior year, though. it was awful, my parents caught me and i spent the whole summer at home."

"that sounds awful. but don't worry, momma. i've just got two friends i wanna spend some time with at some point."

"okay, that's alright. do i know them?" she asked her daughter curiously.

"one of them, yeah. matthew richardson."

"ahh, yes. the weird young man."

"he's hardly a man," robin commented. "but definitely weird. anyways, i'm gonna swing by his house sometime later."

"alright, that's nice. who's the other friend?"

"huh?" robin played dumb as she looked anywhere but her mom.

her mother took notice of the behavior. it could've been nothing, but it also could've been something. robin was suddenly acting different, very subtly.

"who's your second friend?" she asked again. "you said two friends. who's the one i don't know."

"you don't know her," robin said quickly, trying to play it cool.

"it's a her? hmm. well, who is she? you never talk about girl friends with me."

robin knew her mother said girl friends, not girlfriends. the space made all the difference, and robin swallowed uncomfortably. did her mom know something? or was she overthinking?

"yeah, well, she's uh, no one. you don't know her."

"yeah, you mentioned... alright, well-"

robin cut her mother off, saying "i need to pee. can i meet you up in your room? to start packing and whatever?"

"y- uh, yeah. of course." robins mom was a little caught off guard, and she questioned robins behavior even more. why was she keeping this girl so secret and acting so weird about it? maybe robin was planning on getting into trouble, and this girl was hooking her up with something, like... well, there were so many possibilities. she'd just try to get robin to open up about it. maybe not right now, but maybe she'd feel like talking about it after hanging out with her said friends.

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hello :) i know i've been saying a lot that the next chapter of this ff "will be up soon" and then i go on to not publish, and i sincerely apologize for that.

i got some overwhelming news a little while ago, and that made the last few months of 2021 very up and (mostly) down for me. it was very hard to get myself to do things because nothing brought me any joy, i just felt suffocated and pressured to do things to get better. despite how much i enjoy writing this story, i had to push it aside, but i'm trying to cope with new things brought into my life. i hope i can be better about writing for this as time passes, but i also want to make sure i'm taking care of myself, which i hope can be understood.

so anyways, i hope you liked this and i hope i'm able to get the next chapter out soon. thank you for sticking with this story :)