Chapter Thirty-Eight: Feeling Good

(The Bite, Pt. 2)

***

Valerie felt amazing.

She just felt so good! This was so much better than the edible—whatever the Russians gave her was some sort of miracle or something! She didn't feel any pain, any fear or anger, just this indescribable euphoria and it was so fucking great! Not to mention she was with Robin and Steve, and they were just as happy as her! And more than anything, she was with Robin. Robin! This day couldn't get any better since Robin was here and she didn't even care about acting like an idiot around her! Nothing mattered because everything felt so good and funny!

It was so good! She felt good! Everything was so amazingly, giddily, euphorically—fuck, she couldn't think of any more words to describe how good this was in English! She felt asombrosamente, frívolamente, eufórica, maravillosamente, tremendamente, increíblemente good! She felt so bueno! ¡Todo se sintió tan bien!

She just felt so good!

But Valerie's euphoric mood was temporarily ruined when the cart she, Robin, Steve and Rowan–Dios, she'd forgotten about Rowan, how could she forget about Rowan when her friend had been glowing earlier?—swerved around the corner, jostling the four of them as Rowan shouted, "Dustin, slow the fuck down! Steve's already injured, we don't need to make it fucking worse!"

Valerie bit back a comment on how she felt the faint aches and pains in her face and gut, especially since Steve's face was way, way worse—and Dustin ignored Rowan anyway  because they went over a bump, jostling them even more.

"Jesus, slow down, man," Steve complained.

"Yeah, what is this, like, the Indy 500?" Robin questioned. 

"It's the Indy 300," Steve corrected.

"No, dingus, it's 500," Robin whined.

"It's 300!" Steve hollered, holding up three fingers.

"Oh my God," Rowan muttered.

"Hey, hey, hey," Valerie interjected, leaning forward as she grinned, a brilliant idea in her head. "Hey, listen—listen—let's, uh, let's compromise! Let's say a million?"

What Valerie said sounded funny to her, and it did to Robin and Steve—because it did, everything sounded so funny!—and they broke out in laughter as Rowan stared at them and whispered, "What the fuck did the Russians do to you guys?"

Who cares, it's fucking terrific! Valerie wanted to yell but her voice was focused on just laughing and laughing.

"What is wrong with them?" Erica asked from the front, and Valerie tried to glare at Erica but she couldn't and why did she not like Erica anyway, Dios she felt so happy and light!

"I don't know," Dustin replied.

"That's what I'd like to know," Rowan muttered.

"Dustin, watch out!" Erica yelled—before the cart crashed into something. Rowan collided with Steve as Valerie fell down onto Robin, the girls staring at each other before they grinned and giggled, Valerie twirling one strand of Robin's hair around her finger as Rowan scrambled off of Steve, saying, "Oh my God, Steve, are you okay?"

Steve gave Rowan a giddy smile. "I'm great! I'm so... so great!"

Rowan didn't look like she believed that—and why did she look so worried, why didn't she feel so amazing and happy as Valerie, Robin and Steve were?—as Dustin asked from the front, "You guys all right back there?"

Valerie, Steve and Robin groaned and Rowan snapped, "I'm peachy, Dustin. I love having my brain rattled in my fucking skull!", in answer to him.

A beat until Dustin said, "They're fine."

Rowan gave him a middle finger as Robin and Valerie stared at each other, smiling as Valerie reluctantly let go of Robin's hair. The doors opened, revealing Erica and Dustin there as Rowan climbed out while shooting a glare at Dustin. He ignored it as he looked at Valerie, Robin and Steve and said, "Come on. We gotta go, now."

Valerie didn't make a move—she didn't want to leave—and neither did Steve or Robin, but Erica, Dustin and Rowan didn't want them to stay in the cart as Erica clapped her hands and yelled, "Come on! Get out!", Dustin shouted, "Let's go!" and Rowan exclaimed, "Come on, you guys! W have to go!"

Valerie pouted, but she got out, Robin tugging her forward as Steve mumbled, "We're coming!"

When they were all out, Valerie leaned against Robin, Robin's arms wrapped around her, as Steve looped his arms around Rowan and mumbled to her, "So glad... you're safe."

"Yeah, super safe. And we're all gonna be super, duper safe in a second, Harrington," Rowan told Steve, patting his hand as he held her tighter. Valerie smothered a giggle—Dios, they were such a cute couple! Just like she and Robin were a cute couple! Wait, she and Robin were cuter—the cutest couple ever!

Before she could ask this incredibly pretty girl if they were the most cutest couple in the world ever, Dustin muttered, "Here goes nothin'," and Valerie's eyes widened as the elevator doors that they had been so worried over opening now opened. 

"Okay, let's get moving and get out of here," Rowan said to Steve, who was still holding her, as Dustin and Erica went to Valerie and Robin, tugging them forward—and apart. Valerie whined—she didn't want to go into the elevator and she didn't wanna be separated from Robin!—but the deathly glare from Erica shut up any protest, as behind her she heard Steve mumble, "This sucks,"

"Well, too bad, it's gonna suck way more if we stick around, now get inside the elevator," Rowan fired back.

What Steve said next was too low for Valerie to hear, but she didn't care—not when after Erica had let her go, Valerie moved to Robin, grinning elatedly at being near her again.

"Hi," she greeted, smiling,

"Hi," Robin replied, her smile as giddy as Valerie's.

Finally, Rowan and Steve entered and Dustin closed the elevator before he pressed a button and now they were going up. Valerie let out a giggle at that—the whoosh of going up felt so weird!—as Steve joined them, Rowan out of his grip, grinning. That was the moment they found the package trolley, and Steve immediately jumped onto it. Of course, Robin and Valerie held the handle as he balanced on it, the trolley weaving underneath him.

"Hey, you look like you're surfing!" Robin exclaimed and Valerie realised that she was right—like always.

"Surfing! Yeah! Whoa!" Steve yelled, now adjusting so he looked even more like he was surfing some invisible waves.

Valerie cackled, the sight before her hilarious and amazing, and she shouted, "You're doing great, Harrington! Woo-hoo!"

They laughed and cheered as Steve still surfed, the trolley wobbling under him as Erica, Rowan and Dustin talked—not like Valerie was listening, her attention wholly focused on Steve's amazing surfing skills. He swerved and weaved, the trolley moving underneath as Robin and Valerie still held the handles, as Steve yelled out, "I'm a natural! Check it out!"

However, that was the moment the trolley traitorously bucked under Steve and he catapulted into a stack of boxes headfirst, slumping to the ground with a grin.

"Wipeout!" Robin exclaimed through her chuckles as Valerie just laughed and cackled—that was the funniest thing she'd ever seen!

"Oh my God, that was hilarious!" she cackled between laughter.

As Valerie and Robin laughed, Rowan moved to Steve's side, touching his head as Steve whined and halfheartedly swatted at her, which made Rowan scold gently, "Steve, stay still, I need to make sure your head isn't even more injured."

"Won't be. Thick... thick skull! Very thick," Steve protested.

"Thick skull mean jackshit if you have a fucking concussion again, so stay still," Rowan ordered.

Steve whined, but he complied as Rowan made her check as Robin and Valerie stared, not really comprehending why Rowan was so worried. Especially when she got more concerned and whispered, "Shit. Dustin, get over here."

Dustin did so—maybe helped he'd already been moving to Steve's side as he took Rowan's place. Rowan stood next to Erica as Robin and Valerie crouched down, watching as Dustin pressed a hand to Steve's forehead, muttering, "He's burning up."

"You're burning up," Steve parroted back.

"One sec, one sec. Steve, Steve," Dustin muttered as he stretched Steve's eyelids around his right eye. Steve, of course, complained, "God, no. Ow!"

Valerie winced as Dustin said, "Rowan," and Rowan was there, and before Valerie's eyes her finger began glowing again, Steve wriggling underneath it, his face wincing underneath the blood.

As quickly as it came, the light disappeared and Valerie was disappointed—it had looked so pretty!—and Robin looked like she agreed as Rowan stood next to Erica again as Dustin looked to them and said, "His pupils are super dilated."

"Shit," Rowan swore as Valerie tilted her head—why were they so worried about Steve's eyes?

"Maybe Rowan's right, and he's drugged," Erica said.

Correct, twerp! And it feels so good!

Dustin turned back to Steve as the older teen raised a finger and tapped Dustin's nose, saying, "Boop!", as Dustin patted Steve's cheek to get his attention.

"Steve, are you drugged?" Dustin questioned.

"How many times, Dad? I don't do drugs," Steve mocked as Robin and Valerie giggled and Steve reached up to tap Dustin's face again. "It's only marijuana."

He laughed again, Valerie feeling laughter bubbling up in her, begging to join in—because Russians drugs were so much better than weed!—as Robin grinned, but neither Dustin, Erica or Rowan were smiling or laughing.

"This isn't funny, okay? I need to know what they did to you. Are you gonna die on us?" Dustin demanded, as right after Steve tapped his nose again and said, "Boop."

"We all die, my strange little child friend," Robin spoke up as Valerie turned to her, eyes wide as everyone else did. "It's just a matter of how and when."

Valerie's eyes widened further at how what Robin said sounded so philosophical and deep, like, Dios mio.

"Robin, this is seriously not the time to be philosophical and ominous as shit," Rowan said as Valerie muttered, "Wow. That was so deep, Robs. Like, so freaking deep."

However, Dustin only looked back to Steve and said, "They're gonna be looking for us up there, so I need you to tell me where you parked your car."

"Oh, can we make a pit stop at the food court?" Steve requested, making Valerie remember that she was now suddenly hungry and the food in the food court sounded so freaking good right now—especially the pork dumplings from Imperial Panda, those dumplings were like little miracles of flavour!

"I would kill for a hot dog on a stick," Robin interjected.

"Same, but make it those pork dumplings," Valerie agreed, the dumplings floating in her mind as her mouth salivated at their yummy taste.

Rowan, however, only stared at them as she asked, "How can you guys seriously think of food right now?"

How can you not? Valerie thought as she felt another grin forming on her face.

"Ooh!" Steve exclaimed, inciting them to grin and laugh as Dustin compromised, "All right, yeah, food. Yes, you can have as much food as you want, but only if you tell me where your car is parked."

"Uh-oh," Steve said.

"Uh-oh?" Dustin repeated.

"The car's off the board," Steve revealed and Valerie saw how shock dawned on Dustin's, Rowan's and Erica's faces, as Dustin asked, "What?"

"They took the keys. The Russians, they took the keys like, forever ago," Steve elaborated, pulling the insides of his pockets out as Valerie tried to nod to say her keys were gone too—the Russians had taken them when she was napping—but she couldn't and instead her head leaned against Robin's as they giggled and laughed, unable to stop the laughter from spilling out of them, as Steve looked at Rowan, Dustin and Erica and said, "That's a bummer, right?"

That only had Robin and Valerie laugh harder, not even registering the panic on the other trio's faces.

Why should you feel panicked when the world just felt so good?

***

When the elevator stopped, the doors dinged open, revealing the loading dock. A giddy grin split Valerie's face at the sight as Dustin, Erica and Rowan walked out first, with Erica and Dustin heading straight for the gate while Valerie, Steve and Robin trailed behind, too busy rejoicing in how amazing the fresh air tasted after being trapped underground.

"Oh! Oh my God, that tastes so good! Ah! Steve, Val, Ro, can you taste the air?" Robin asked.

"I taste it! I taste it!" Steve exclaimed, as excited as a puppy.

Valerie stuck her tongue out, and her grin widened as elation filled her at how fantastic the fresh air tasted. Like, seriously, it tasted like the best thing ever! It was so nice and sweet and great! It tasted like those coquitos her mom made for her and Cami without any rum in it—maybe even better than it! Valerie just wanted to gulp it all down and down, to feel it fizzing and bubbling on her tongue with that wonderful sweet taste!

Dios, she wanted to drink the air!

She flung up her arms, spinning around in the wonderful, sweet air, yelling, "I taste it! It tastes so incredible!"

She kept spinning until Robin skipped over to her and grabbed her hand, twirling her as the two girls let out giddy giggles, Valerie's heart skip-skip-skipping at how Robin was holding her hand and twirling her, Valerie's curls twirling with her, as beyond this bubble of happiness and delight and joy, Valerie could hear Rowan and Steve talking before Rowan was also twirling and laughing, and they were all spinning and laughing and it was wonderful!

Valerie looked at Robin, adoration in her eyes for this beautiful, beautiful girl—the kind of adoration where Robin had hung the stars in the sky, the same stars that were winking across her face in freckled constellations, and Valerie wanted to trace every single one with her fingers, she wanted to kiss every single freckle and star, she just liked Robin so much and she was so beautiful and Valerie was grinning and leaning up to—

A yell shattered the night and good humour, as Valerie looked over to see black-uniformed men running toward them, yelling.

"Fuck!" Rowan hissed as Dustin yelled, "Shit! Come on!"

Before Valerie could comprehend what was going on Erica was grabbing her, pulling her away from Robin as Dustin grabbed her and Valerie wanted to cry out Robin didn't like sudden contact, but Robin wasn't complaining, eyes focused on her as Rowan grabbed Steve and they were all running to somewhere, away from the angry men chasing them, as Dustin came to a stop, letting go of Robin to open the door and push Robin and Valerie inside and beyond.

"Okay, okay, okay! Woo!" Robin cried out as she entered first, Valerie running in right after as she yelled, "Robin, wait for me!"

Robin stopped, a look like Always on her face. Behind them, Rowan hissed, "C'mon Steve, we have to get inside now!"

"Why are we running?" Steve whined.

"Because we don't want to die!" Rowan exclaimed as they ran inside, Dustin and Erica behind them. Dustin slammed the door closed and he took the lead, running down the corridor as they chased after them, Valerie wondering where they were going.

But wherever it was, she didn't care—not when she was still feeling so good and when she was with Robin—amazing, beautiful Robin.

***

High Valerie, Steve and Robin is so fun to write, I love them so much

Yeah, Valerie's just having the time of her life here alongside Robin and Steve while losing zero inhibitions regarding her crush for Robin—same with Robin (I love them so much)

And yes, Robin and Valerie had a twirling moment! I'm a sucker for that. And maybe they might have kissed... maybe they might have not... ;)

But now, Scoops Troop is hiding at the movies—and the Party is battling the Mind Flayer...

Spanish translations:

Asombrosamente: Amazingly

Frívolamente: Giddily

Eufórica: Euphorically

Maravillosamente: Wonderfully

Tremendamente: Terrifically 

Increíblemente: Fantastically

Bueno: Good

¡Todo se sintió tan bien!: It all felt so good!

Dios: God

Dios mío: Oh my God

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!