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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: if this feeling flows both ways _______________________________ LOVE HAD ALWAYS BEEN A LABYRINTH TO VALERIE REVORA.
You could never truly escape the labyrinth of love. Once you find someone worthy of your love, the feeling is undeniable. Valerie honestly despised how compelling and alluring the emotion was. You could never run from it, or avoid it. Every corner you turn to escape it, or every door you close to shut it out of your life, love was painted and displayed on every wall. That's why Valerie was mainly fascinated only by the idea of love. She would never allow herself to risk the possibility of falling in love. _______________________________ Valerie, Steve, and Robin had their heads hovering over the toilets for at least the past ten minutes. Luckily, it was really late at night, and the few people that were still at the mall were in the movie theaters, so no one walked in during their puking session.
"The ceiling stopped spinning for me." Robin spoke, laying down in one of the bathroom stalls. "Is it still spinning for you two?" Robin asked. Valerie looked up at the ceiling, observing how the ceiling stayed in its place, not rotating a single bit. "No, it isn't. Steve?" Valerie turned her head towards his stall. "Holy shit. No." Steve answered. "You think we puked it all up?" Steve asked. "Maybe. Ask us something. Interrogate us." Robin said in a Russian accent. "Okay. Interrogate you.. sure." Steve chuckled. "Um. . When was the last time you both, uh, peed your pants?" Steve questioned. "God, I can't even remember. Probably when I was like.. six, maybe?" Valerie shrugged. "What about you, Robin?" Valerie knocked on the stall beside her, where Robin was laying down. "Today." Robin carelessly answered. "What?!" Valerie and Steve questioned. "When the Russian doctor took out the bone saw." Robin clarified. "Oh, God." Valerie laughed, scrunching her face in disgust. "It was just a little bit, though." Robin giggled. "Yeah, it's definitely still in her system." Steve commented. "Oh, for sure." Valerie nodded in agreement, the three sharing a laugh. "Alright, my turn. But this one's mainly for Steve cause I already know Valerie's answer." Robin said, confusing Valerie. "What? What do you mean?" Valerie questioned. "Well, I don't know. ." Robin shrugged before continuing. "Have you.. ever.. been in love?" Robin asked. "God, no." Valerie scoffed, shaking her head. "Why, though?" Robin asked. "Because I've never even been in a relationship." Valerie answered as if it was obvious. "Yeah, but.. why? I mean, you're.. you. It's not like it's hard to get in a relationship." Robin slightly chuckled. "Well, yeah, but.. I don't think any guy actually wants a relationship with me. . They just want the title of saying they're in a relationship with me, y'know? I won't settle for that shit, even if it ends up with me dying alone." Valerie scoffed, shaking her head as Robin thought about Valerie's response. "That was a.. deep explanation." Robin commented. "No shit." Steve replied. It was silent for a little while as they both gave Valerie's answer some thought, before Valerie broke the silence. "What about you, Steve?" Valerie asked. It was silent as Steve was hesitating to answer, but he eventually gave in, sighing before speaking up. "Yup. Nancy Wheeler. First semester, senior year." Steve imitated a gunshot to his heart, chuckling in a way of disguising his pain. "Oh, my God. She's such a priss." Robin rolled her eyes."Turns out, not really." Steve sighed. "Are you still in love with Nancy?" Robin asked. Valerie wanted to speak up instead of putting Steve on the spot, but a part of Valerie was genuinely curious as to what Steve's answer was. Of course, it wasn't any of her business, and if he didn't wanna answer.. she'd completely respect his decision. But, Valerie knew how significantly Nancy had affected him last year, so she wanted to see the progress that he had made ever since then. "No." Steve answered after a long moment of silence. No? Oh, shit. He had made a lot more progress than Valerie had thought. "Why not?" Robin asked, another moment of silence taking place. "I think it's because I found someone who's a little better for me." Steve answered. Valerie immediately knew who he was talking about. It had to be Robin, right? I mean.. come on! They work together for hours almost every single day. Plus, if Valerie's theory was correct, Robin had practically admitted her feelings to Steve when they were all trapped in the room together. "It's crazy." Steve chuckled. "Ever since Dustin got home, he's been saying, 'You know, you gotta find your Suzie. You gotta find your Suzie.' " Steve began. "Wait, who's Suzie?" Robin questioned. "It's some girl from his camp, I guess his girlfriend. To be honest with you, I'm not even one-hundred percent sure she's even real." Steve scoffed. "Steve, stop. She's real, he's just.. over-exaggerating a tiny bit." Valerie shrugged. "Whatever, that's not—that's not really the point. That doesn't matter. The point is, this girl, you know, the one that I. . The one that I like, it's somebody that I rarely talked to in school. And I don't even know why. If anything, talking to her wouldn't have even changed the way people saw me. I guess.. I don't know, maybe I was intimidated by her in some weird way. It's stupid, I mean.. Dustin's right. It's all just a bunch of bullshit anyways. Because, when I think about it, I should've just been hanging out with this girl the whole time. First of all, she's hilarious. She's so funny. I feel like, ever since I met her, I've laughed harder than I have laughed.. in a really long time. And she gives the best advice you could imagine. I mean, she always knows what to say, and when to say it. It's honestly insane, you know? She's honestly unlike anyone I've ever met before." Steve continued. Valerie didn't wanna rush to conclusions, but Valerie hadn't seen Robin give Steve any advice whatsoever. Valerie, on the other hand, had given Steve a pretty good amount. . And that's when she realized. But.. no. It couldn't have been her. Valerie wouldn't allow this to happen. Steve could not have feelings for her. I mean.. come on! Steve had to have known some other girl that he shared interest in. Robin tapped the floor of the stall Valerie was in, signaling for Valerie to peek under the stall. Valerie re-positioned herself, her head showing from under the stall. Valerie's heart dropped as soon as she saw the words that Robin mouthed to her. "He's talking about you" Were the exact words that Robin mouthed as she pointed her finger at Valerie. Valerie shook her head in disbelief, mouthing the words, "No he isn't", to Robin. Valerie lifted her head from under the stall, an unsettling feeling taking over her entire body. Valerie took a deep and unsteady breath as she bit the inside of her bottom lip, shutting her eyes closed. Liking someone, eventually leads to loving them. And not only was love inescapable, but it was also incredibly intimidating. Having to live up to certain expectations so that their love wouldn't fade over time. . Plus.. who said that Valerie felt the same way? "Valerie? Robin?" Steve questioned, knocking on Valerie's stall, which had slightly startled Valerie. "Did you guys just OD in there?" Steve asked. "No. We are.. very much alive." Valerie sighed. "So. . What do you guys think?" Steve asked. "About?" Valerie questioned. "This girl." Steve clarified, Valerie mouthing the word 'shit' to herself as soon as she heard Steve's response. Valerie leaned under Robin's stall, mouthing the words, "What do I say?", to Robin as she began to panic. "Um, she sounds familiar." Robin cringed at her response, mouthing incomprehensible words to Valerie as she shrugged. Valerie lifted her head from under the stall, putting her face into her hands. "Uh, yeah, she's familiar." Steve chuckled a bit. "Valerie? What do you think?" Steve asked. Valerie began aggressively tugging on her hair, trying to come up with a response that didn't make her sound like a complete idiot. "Yeah—yeah, uh, she sounds pretty cool." Valerie stuttered, mouthing multiple curse words to herself because of the way she sounded when she responded. "She is cool. And what about the guy?" Steve asked. Great. Just the question she specifically didn't wanna answer, mainly because she didn't even know how she felt about the guy!But, luckily for Valerie, rushing through the bathroom doors were Selina, Erica, and Dustin. "They're in here." Selina sighed of relief. "Okay, what the hell?!" Dustin exclaimed. "We told you three to stay-put." Selina rolled her eyes. "Sorry." Valerie blurted. The three stood up from the bathroom floor, walking out of the stalls. Valerie walked over to the sink, pressing the soap dispenser as she washed her hands. "Seriously?" Dustin asked, sighing at the sight of Valerie. "Yes, seriously. I had my hands placed on a toilet. . It'd be disgusting not to." Valerie shrugged, looking over to Steve and Robin, who both began walking towards the sinks.
The six of them peeked their heads through the door as they waited for the right time to leave. Considering the Russians had seen them earlier, they'd have to be slick with their escape plan. They watched as the people laughed and shared their opinions of the movie they'd just watched. "And... blend." Dustin announced, exiting the bathroom as the other five of them followed him. The six of them made their way into the middle of the crowd, blending in with the people scattered along the entrance of the movie theater. "Well, shit, that worked." Erica shrugged, nodding her head. "Of course it worked." Dustin scoffed. "Now, we just have to get on the bus with the rest of these plebes, and home sweet home, here we come." Dustin sighed of relief. "Uh, Dustin?" Steve hesitatingly asked. "What?" Dustin answered. "Yeah, we might not wanna go to your house." Steve suggested. "Why?" Dustin questioned, looking over to Steve. "Well, I might've told them your full name." Steve nervously responded. "Oh, shit. I forgot about that." Valerie replied. "What is wrong with you..?" Dustin sighed. "Dude, I was drugged." Steve shrugged in defense of himself. "So?" Dustin questioned. "So?!" Steve slightly furrowed his eyebrows. "So, you resist. You tough it out. You tough it out like a man." Dustin shrugged. "Oh, yeah, it's easy for you to say. ." Steve rolled his eyes. "Guys?" Robin called out, freezing in her tracks. "What?" Valerie questioned, looking in the direction Robin was looking towards and spotting a guard dressed in all black talking to a woman. "Fuck." Valerie cursed. "Abort." Dustin announced. The guard turned his head, immediately spotting the four. "Abort! Abort!" Dustin shouted. Valerie grabbed onto Dustin and Erica's wrist, pulling them in front of her as they each ran. Once they turned the corner, they each spotted how the escalators were blocked. "Shit, uh, okay, this thing! Let's slide down this!" Valerie pointed to the slide-built gap between the escalators. "Okay!" Robin replied, sliding down first. Right after Robin slid down, next up was Valerie, then Steve, then Dustin, then Erica, and finally, Selina.
The six were in the center of the food court, and they had little to no time to run anywhere else. "Over here!" Dustin shouted, running towards the drink booth 'Orange Julius' which was closest to the six. The five followed Dustin as he led the way. They each hopped over the counter, immediately ducking under the counter to hide from the guards. They were completely fucked. It was obvious that they had to have been hidden somewhere in the food court, and there's only so many booths to hide behind. Instinctively, Valerie slightly lifted her hand to grab onto Steve's, until she remembered the conversation in the bathroom stalls. She didn't want Steve to grab onto the wrong idea, if he hadn't already. Valerie could hear the faint, and quiet footsteps of multiple guards as they walked around the mall. She could also hear the static of their Walkie-talkies as one of the men began talking. His voice was coming from pretty near-by, which clearly wasn't a good sign at all. The sound of their footsteps became louder with every step they took. The guards had found them. Valerie closed her eyes shut, pressing her lips together in attempt to quiet her breathing. The six of them knew that they were trapped. They had absolutely nowhere to run off to. It also didn't help knowing that the guards were definitely armed. They each braced themselves, turning their heads to look at each other, until the sound of a car alarm going on and off startled the six of them. It was the car in the middle of the food court. But.. how? That car obviously needs keys to perform some sort of action. The car alarm continued to go off, until the entire car flung forward, breaking multiple chairs and tables while knocking each of the guards unconscious. That's when the realization struck the six. They each slowly revealed themselves, making sure that each of the guards were down before fulling leaning over the counter. The car, that was now flipped sideways, had landed on another food booth near the six. They each turned their heads in amazement, spotting exactly who they'd expected. On the second story of the mall stood El, blood leaking from her left nostril and her arm out in front of her. On the left side of El stood Mike, Nancy, and Jonathan. Whilst on the right side, stood Max, Lucas, and Will.
