the bucket list | lrh

02 - the mechanical bull

Valentine Leonard has quite the reputation nowadays. Expectations she needs to meet, standards she should upkeep.

In Elgin, not much happens. Adeline's death had all heads turned and every single persons attention was captured. All eyes were on Valentine and Scout, who were now alone in their large home that had too much room for comfort.

Scout continued on with his daily life, working his 9-5 construction job and changing nothing about his routines. But most people didn't see what went down behind closed doors, when he came home to make a large dinner that would usually feed both of his daughters. Now he'd eat both his and Adeline's plates, and Valentine wouldn't even leave her room.

Nobody caught sight of the endless nights filled with tears and breakdowns from both Scout and Valentine. Sure, it could be assumed that the two weren't doing well with their losses, but nobody really knew the extent of their pain.

Valentine spent most of her time locked away in her room, and would occasionally take a trip to the bathroom—or if she was feeling particularly up for it, the kitchen.

Almost an entire month since her sisters death, and Valentine is still more than overwhelmed with grief that she doesn't know what to do with. They always said it'd get better in time, but Valentine never expected to have to get through this. Life had been hard before, but it has proved to be even harder now that she doesn't have her sister to drag her outside at least once a day.

The smudged writing on the little paper that Valentine found—it was all that mattered to her. She knew she wanted to do something about it, she just wasn't sure what exactly she could do.

On one particularly difficult night, Valentine drifted off into a state of slumber and into an alternate universe where Adeline was still there with her.

In the moment, Valentine almost believed what was in front of her. She almost agreed with Adeline as she told her that she needed to complete the bucket list, for her own peace of mind.

When she woke up though, it was a different story. The idea haunted her and Valentine felt intimidated by the task her sister had given her while she slept.

"Hey, dad... is it alright if I go out tonight?"

Valentine figured that her father would be more than reluctant to agree, but with a little convincing anything is possible. Memories of Adeline begging Scout to go out late at night flashed through her mind as she awaited her dads answer.

Scout was overly enthused to hear that Valentine was ready to go out again though, even if he didn't know why exactly she had the sudden urge. He never wanted her to shut herself off, especially without the help of Adeline to bring her out of it.

"Can I drive you?" He asked, nearly ready to jump and clap at his daughters suggestion. Of course she could go out, he wanted her to do it all along. He knew how teenage girls mourn, and he just wanted his own to go through the process.

She hadn't even exited her room in days, and he certainly didn't expect the sudden request to go out and live life normally again.

"Yeah, let me go ask Mary for her address."

Valentine knew she didn't have to lie to her father—in fact, she felt quite guilty for doing so. She just didn't quite think her father would believe that she randomly decided she wanted to attend a bar tonight. She is eighteen—so it's legal, it's just not quite something she thought Scout would ever approve of. So sure, she lied—but it was for an important reason. She wasn't ready to explain why she wanted to ride that mechanical bull, and she figured her father would be pleased to find out later on rather than now.