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CHAPTER EIGHT: that's the mystery, isn't it? _______________________________ TRIGGER WARNING: mentions of suicide and blades will be included. read at your own discretion. ____________________________ USING THE FUTURE TO ESCAPE THE PRESENT WAS BOTH A BLESSING AND A CURSE.
It was so easy for Valerie to wander off to a future that wouldn't be hers. Considering her fairly fucked up life, there were so many things she would change about her life. Number one being her family that was never around. Well.. family member. She was an only child, and her father.. well, you know how that is.
Valerie's mother, Melina, was hardly around anymore, which Melina was to blame for. She'd spend her weekdays working in Michigan, and would occasionally return back to Indiana for the weekends. But more than half of the time, she claimed that it was too far of a drive to make it back home.
Valerie remembered the day that the cops barged into her home, asking if Melina was inside. Valerie explained to them that she was on a business trip.. which technically wasn't a lie! Oh well! How are you supposed to tell the police that your guardian is never around? Anyways. . The whole reason the cops made their visit to her house was to ensure that Valerie kept everything about the Upside down and the demogorgons a secret. She promised not to tell a soul, not even her mother. It's not like Melina would've cared anyways! All she cared about was that her margarita had the perfect combination of alcohol and syrup.
Whatever! If Melina didn't want to be present in Valerie's life, she didn't have to. Valerie seemed to being doing just fine without her anyways, especially considering her current circumstances. If she didn't need her mom's comfort in a time where her life was in danger, she didn't need her at all.
Joyce guided Eleven to the room where Will was laying. They decided to talk privately for a little while, so everyone else stayed in the living room and kitchen. Steve began to grow famished as time went by. He walked around the kitchen, trying to find something to eat. Valerie was sitting near the kitchen table, messing with a Rubik's Cube that she had found. From the corner of her eye, she saw Steve walking around the kitchen. "There's string cheese in the back of the fridge." Valerie nudged her head towards the fridge. He rapidly walked to the fridge, rearranging some items so that he could find the string cheese. "I don't see it." Steve spoke, looking to Valerie. "It's literally right in front of your face. ." Valerie pointed to the top shelf. He turned to look at the top shelf, still not seeing anything. "It's still not there." Steve shrugged. Valerie sighed, getting up to help him find it. As soon as she slightly bent down to look inside the fridge, there it was. She rolled her eyes, grabbing the bag and handing it to him. "It wasn't there when I looked.." Steve said, slightly embarrassed at his stupidity. "So then, it just disappeared?" Valerie questioned. "It's not impossible." He shrugged, making Valerie laugh. Steve looked as it he was contemplating something, his mouth slightly opened. "We never finished that game earlier." He spoke, lifting himself off the counter to sit near Valerie. She was confused as to what game he was talking about. It's not like she would remember after everything else that had been happening! "The game about our best and worst days." He clarified after seeing the confused look on her face. "Right. That game." She nodded. It was already difficult enough to share her best day.. How was she gonna get through telling her worst day? "Fine. You go first." Valerie sighed. "Why can't you go first?" Steve's eyebrows furrowed. "You're the one who asked me to play. It's only fair." Valerie added, shrugging at Steve. "Fine." Steve took a moment to think to himself about his worst day before speaking up. "My worst day was when I fell in love with Nancy." He spoke, looking down at the ground. "But that was when things were going good, right?" Valerie asked, turning her head to look at him. "Yeah, I guess. But everything that has happened between us could've been avoided if I never got to know her like that." Steve sighed. "You know.. if you didn't fall in love with her, you wouldn't have experienced any of the good moments either." Valerie added, hoping to let him see the good in his situation. He took a moment to think about her words, considering he never really thought about it that way. "Just saying.. Your relationship with her wasn't as bad as you tell it to be." Valerie sympathized, a slight smile apparent on her face. "My turn." Valerie spoke, trying to lighten his mood. "You remember the old friend group I had in junior high?" She asked, looking to Steve. "How could I not? Y'all were all I ever heard about that year." Steve replied. All four of them were inseparable at the time. And considering Valerie and Selina were in the group, they were definitely well-known by the entire school. "And you remember Nova, right?" She asked, her heart dropping immediately as she said her name. "Yup. Snappy brunette, kind of a bitch. No offense." He was not lying about her being a bitch. "Exactly." Valerie nodded, laughing at his choice of words. "Well, before she left Hawkins, me and her didn't necessarily have the friendship that everyone would obsess over." Valerie spoke, leaving Steve confused. "One day in class, she was pissed at me for a reason I don't even remember. And she thought it would be entertaining to joke about my father's death in front of the entire class." Valerie scoffed, the memories slowly making their way back to her. "We had gotten into an argument about it after school. And I remember her just storming off, not saying a single word to me." Valerie really didn't wanna share the rest of the story, but she knew she couldn't leave him on this.. cliffhanger? "Well the next day, I noticed that she wasn't at school. I didn't think much of it until I opened my locker, and a letter fell out of it. I read the letter—and it turned out to be her suicide note." Valerie's voice began to stumble a bit, but she took a deep breath and continued. "I remember driving to her house as fast as I could, not even caring if the cops saw. When I had gotten there, the front door was unlocked. So I rushed to her room to find her with a blade just barely over her wrists. I remember her apologizing over and over again about what had happened in class the day before. I was still pissed about it, but it was really the least of my concerns in that moment." Valerie shook her head, trying to get rid of the tears that were developing in her eyes. "Well.. a couple of months later, I come to find out that her supposed 'suicide attempt' was all an act—so that I could feel guilty about shit that I didn't even do." Valerie honestly felt like a fucking idiot—both for opening up to Steve Harrington, and for letting Nova manipulate the shit out of her. "Oh well. I should've noticed the signs anyways." Valerie shrugged, in attempt to lift the tension from the room. Meanwhile, Steve was still processing Valerie's worst day. He always thought of Valerie as the girl who had her life perfectly set out in front of her. "That isn't your fault. If someone went that far to convince me that I was a bad person, I'd fall for it too." Steve commiserated. Valerie was about to respond, before she caught sight of everyone rushing to where Eleven and Joyce were. Steve and Valerie shared a look of confusion, before following them to the room.
