Chapter Text
SEPTEMBER
Fall had finally arrived in Hawkins. Bringing in the crisp air, new school year, festive holidays, and the homicidal urges to kill your cousin.
“Dustin, move your ass! We’re literally running so late now!” you barked outside his bedroom door.
It was the first year ever that you and Dustin attended the same school together. Something that might actually sound cool if your cousin were normal.
“I spent two years dealing with you waking up late! I just need five minutes to find a damn shirt, you witch!” He screeched from the other side of the door.
Aunt Claudia quickly came down the hall at the sound of the yelling and quietly ushered you to gather up your things as she pounded on the door. “Dusty we can’t be late for school! Let’s hurry up!”
There was a moment of incoherent yelling from the other side before he slid open his door. Giving his Mother an exasperated look before coming down the hall.
“All right. I’m here, let’s go! ” He chided at you.
You were about to tell him off for that late comment when you caught sight of his shirt. “Aunt Claudia!” You gasped. Eyes wide as you pointed at his chest. “We cannot leave this house if he’s wearing that !”
She came over and glanced at his shirt before looking at you curiously. “I’m sorry dear, I’m confused.”
“Yeah, what’s the deal?” Dustin frowned.
“What’s the deal? WHAT'S THE DEAL?” Reaching over you grip onto his shirt,shaking him wildly to get your point across. “You are attempting to go to school. The very same school I attend in a WEIRD AL YANKOVIC SHIRT!”
Dustin started to slap at your hands, getting you to let go of him so he could straighten out his shirt. “He’s cool! Okay? People actually like his music.”
You gaped at his words in disbelief. This couldn’t be happening. Dustin was always different from people. Especially with things such as intellect but this was just borderline.. dorky .
“I can’t do this.” You gasped, holding your bag up to cover up the line of vision to the shirt. “I can’t walk beside him in that !”
Aunt Claudia, having been fed up with the two of you, pushed you towards the door. “Then just walk ahead of him, dear.” She chuckled nervously as she led you outside, ignoring your growing protests.
“Now Miss Henderson, I know you had quite the traumatic summer..”
“Don’t you mean blazing?”
“No.”
“Deadly?”
“ No !”
You bit down your lip, turning your gaze away from Ms. Kelley. This was her first attempt of the year to try and talk about Starcourt. Something you were dreading. On top of not even being able to disclose anything due to the lawyers of Hawkins Labs, but there wasn’t any part of you that wanted to talk about it.
Especially when it led to talking about Billy.
“I understand that using humor to cope through some of your feelings might help. But I just want you to know that this is a safe place.”
The two of you meet eyes at that. You gave a slightly skeptical expression to her kind one. While you’ve always thought Ms. Kelley to be kind and caring, this particular time you wished for the opposite.
“Look,” you chuckled awkwardly. “I appreciate the help, Ms. K. Really. But there just not anything I really need to talk about here.”
“Really?” she asked slowly. “So someone you’ve had a personal relationship with dies in a tragic fire and you’re expecting me to believe that you’re fine?”
“Yes?”
“Miss Henderson,” she said leaning forward. “No one would be upset if you of all people had some sort of mourning period for the boy you knew. I know things didn’t end well–”
“It didn’t just end badly, Ms. Kelley. It was actually all just bad.” You can’t help but feel something snap inside yourself. Finding it hard to keep hold of the anger you had inside towards everyone who kept bringing this up. “The only thing I feel out of everything is relief. Okay?”
“ Oh ..”
“Billy was the only person in my life who ever did me wrong. He cheated on me, he hurt me, he hurt my friends, and that was with the last two years!”
A part of you felt crazy bringing up your horrible past again. But if it got Ms. Kelley to back off, then you’d take on the weird looks.
“I’m sure there are bad moments that come to mind but surely there are some good memories that you’d like to reflect on.”
“Good memories?” you scoffed, leaning towards the desk. “There is no such thing as a good memory with Billy Hargrove. Okay? There’s only regrets and a lot of headaches.” You laughed in disbelief. “The only good thing he ever did was cheat on me so bad that it caused me to leave that party, get in that stupid accident, and wind up here.”
Getting up from your seat you point outside the door. “Because of him, I got taken to a place where people actually give a shit about me. Where friends stick around despite my attitude, and where I have the most doting and loving boyfriend that I could ever dream of. So if you’re asking me to reflect on anything, it’s only that!”
Ms. Kelley stared up at you with wide eyes. The sudden outburst from you was probably a bit unusual, but you’ve been feeling the emotions bottle up about Billy since the damn funeral last summer.
“I don’t..revel in the fact that he’s dead. Especially since I’m not the only person that was in his life.” You briefly remember the hard, distant, look on Max’s face after the funeral. How she closed off on you trying to talk it out.
“Even then,” you went on. “That doesn’t mean I need to grieve for him either.”
..Who could miss evil like him..(tick)
Your mind wanders off again at the thought. Going to how you felt that night again when seeing the monster attack him. Shooting limbs and teeth all over his body while he screamed out in pain. How his blood spit out of–
No, you didn’t want to grieve or think about him anymore.
..You do..(tock)
“I don’t wanna talk about it.” you whispered out loud. Unaware of the weird look you were getting from over at the desk. The room is almost filled with an awkward silence. Having only that small ticking sound you heard before as the only noise between you two for a minute.
“While I understand there’s a part of you that hasn’t forgiven Billy for the grievances he’s brought to you over the years. I do want to make it known that there’s a chance you’re not fully taking in the whole thing properly. Sometimes loss hits someone at a later time…”
“Well, if that time comes then I guess I’ll have to come back here right?” you snapped, looking away from the woman. The ticking only grew louder, making it hard for you to follow along to whatever little speech Ms. Kelley was trying to say in order to diffuse the situation. Which was really bringing on a headache, but you pushed the pain away in order to hear her last words.
“..of course, it’s whatever feels right for you, Miss Henderson. I just want you to understand that there are people here willing to listen.”
“Thanks Ms. K. I’ll keep it in mind.” you sighed, ending the conversation. “I’ll see you next week.” Not waiting for a proper dismissal, you grabbed your bag and made it out the door in time for the bell to ring.
Students burst from the classrooms, yapping away to one another while you weaved through them to get to your locker. The day was barely midway and you already felt over it. The only solace you had was that after lunch you’d be only an hour and half closer to getting out of these walls.
“How’d the meeting go?”
You jumped at the sudden voice of your friend, nearly dropping the book in your hands in the process. “Can you like, not scare me right now?” you said with a slight glare to Nancy.
The girl simply chuckled at your reaction as she opened up her locker beside you. “Sorry,” she smirked a bit. “To be fair, I did call out your name. I think you were lost in thought.”
“Yeah, been like that all day.”
“Well now that I have your attention I can finally give you this.”
Glancing over at her bag, you watched as she pulled out her binder from her bag to retrieve a couple of papers. “It’s your admissions essay!” She grinned. “I finally finished reviewing it for you.”
“Oh, you mean the essay that you stole out of my very tired hands during study hall?”
“The very one!”
Looking over the pages, you’re at least pleased to see very minimal markings from Nancy’s ruthless red pen. Truthfully, despite finishing it fast, you weren’t so sure how well it had turned out. “Glad to know I can turn this in sooner than I thought.”
“Yes!” she agreed before pulling out another stack. “And because of that. I was hoping if you could maybe read mine? Tell me if it's bad or not?”
You take the papers from her hand with a heavy sigh. Unsure if you could mentally handle another task on the list of things you already had. But something in the way that Nancy stared at you with hopeful eyes tugged at your cold heart.
“How soon do you want to have this back?” you said defeatedly. The girl clapped her hands a bit before pulling you into a small hug.
“Do you think you can meet me back in the newsroom afterschool? I have this front page that I’m trying to fix up. Fred Benson tried getting it and I managed to snag it this morning.”
A whine nearly escaped out of your lips at the idea of sticking around any longer than necessary today. But Nancy is pulling that wide eyed look again and you’re slightly aware that with the lack of Jonathan around Nancy didn’t have the chance to bond like this with anyone else. And honestly, neither did you aside from the days you hung out with Robin.
“You got me for one hour after school. If you don’t like my corrections, you’ll only have sixty minutes to discuss them with me.” you warned, slipping her papers into your trapper keeper. “And you better supply me with some snacks because I’m gonna have to dig through this during lunch today.”
“Snacks will be prepared along with the editor's desk empty just for you.” she nodded, holding her binder more excitedly against her chest. “So I’ll see you then?”
“You’ve got yourself a deal, Wheeler.”
The two of you jokingly shook hands on it before Nancy made her leave for her next class. You were about to close your locker and do the same when the sound of your name being screeched came from behind you. Making you jump again.
You’re shocked to find that it’s Robin making a turn into the hallway you were in. She was using a pair of papers in her hands to wave over at you as she dashed down the hall. “Sweet, Trouble!” she panted, leaning against the locker beside you. “I’m so glad I caught you.”
“You got me.” you chuckled, patting at her back gently while she tried catching her breath. “Why the hell are you screaming my name anyway?”
“Have you had English with the Terminator?” she gasped, waving off your question.
“You mean with Mr. Terman?” you laughed, remembering someone from last year gave the poor man the moniker. “Yeah, I’ve had him before. Why? Is he trying to kill you for the sake of the future or something?”
She turned her papers to face you, showing you what looked like an essay with a big fat red D on the corner of it. You couldn’t help but reach out, reading down the small comments he had added to her work. Normally the teacher was a pain in the ass, but this seemed personal with the tiny corrections he gave.
“Geez, did you spit in his coffee or something, Robs?”
“That’s what I said!” she frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. “He’s been mad at me since I’ve started this damn class. I work three nights on that only for a D?” Wiping her hand over her tired face, she looked sad for a moment before clasping them in a prayer in front of you. “Do you love me?”
“What?”
“Do you love me?”
“Robin, duh . Of course I do.” you said using the papers to smack the top of her head. “But what does that have to do with this?”
“If you love me..you’ll tell me how to fix it.”
The groan quickly built up in your throat. Why was it suddenly this year that all your friends decided you were the wordsmith in their lives? Looking back at the notes, you frown deeply at the idea of going through everything to help fix this for her. “C’mon, Robin. How would I know how to fix this for you? What if he just gives it another fail?”
“He won’t!”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I told him that I’d get a tutor to help me fix it up today.” Her blue eyes shifted down at the papers before back at you. “I actually kinda specifically said you would help fix it up. He seemed to be okay with the idea.”
“Great, so you’re volunteering me to do things now.”
“Please! ” she begged, reaching out to grab you by the shoulders. “I’ll make sure to have you home just in time for Dingus to come over and you guys can be gross and do the gross things you like to do alone.”
You rolled your eyes at her jab. At the current time you didn’t even have any plans with Steve. Let alone do ‘gross stuff’ with him. “I don’t know..I already have a lot of work tonight. Plus, I’m supposed to go over Nancy’s essay afterschool and–”
“Oh I see how it is.” she sniffled, looking away from you dramatically. “Just because you knew Nancy Wheeler first, poor ol’ Robin Buckley gets pushed aside. As if you and I weren’t stuck on an elevator with me all summer.”
“We were stuck one day.” you pointed out, feeling another tired sigh building up.
“Wasn’t it just a week when you first helped Nancy? Do I have to be in a traumatic situation with you for seven days to earn your help?” She asked with a pout quickly tugging on her face. “Because if that’s the case then—“
“Robin, stop!” You cried out, watching as her face turned from pouting to shock. Reaching for her hands you clasped them with yours and gave her a sympathetic smile. It was true that Robin wasn’t around for your first year here. But it was silly of her to think there wasn’t any time at all this summer that you didn’t bond with her enough to want to help her.
“I wanna help.” You said finally, holding the papers up. “But I already said I’d meet Nancy in the newsroom after the final bell. So I’m not sure how much I can—“
“That works out fine for me!”
“How?” You asked confused as she glanced at her watch.
“I have band practice afterschool for an hour. By the time you’re out, I can meet you at the front and get the papers back by then. We’ll be twenty minutes tops.”
Your mouth flopped open as you scrambled to understand everything. It was oddly convenient since you were already sticking around. But even then, the urge to go home would be even stronger.
“I can call dingus after lunch and tell him to pick us up. Maybe convince him to take us to dinner?.” She winked, trying to make the plan sound alluring. Which in a way it did so you defeatedly gave her a firm nod.
“Well I’d have to be an idiot to say no to that..” you nodded slowly. “I guess after band practice it is.”
Her arms engulfed you in a tight hug. Continuously thanking you for a good minute before the tardy bell rang. She quickly pulled back to dash down the hall. Waving at you with a grin on her face.
The silence that filled in after that was heavy.
The day which felt like it was going on forever was just extended by both of your friends. It made everything about the day feel suddenly overwhelming. But which one was bothering you the most?
Being late? Talking with Ms.Kelley? The essays? Why were such trivial things suddenly getting to you? It was making your mind a mess and you felt your head pulsing with a ticking noise that only grew louder. Rubbing a hand through your hair, you tried to ignore the sudden sick feeling that hit over you.
Senior year had just barely begun and it was already kicking your ass. Especially now that there was no cute Steve around to make it better.
“Those girls are working you dry, princess.”
The sudden voice caused you to gasp out loud. Being scared for the third time today was making your poor heart race. It didn’t help that Eddie was amusingly watching you from the lockers on the other side. He used the dark book in his hands to wave at you.
“Eddie!” you grinned, making the boy’s smile grow even wider. “Lovely to see you again but you do know you don’t have to sneak up on me just to talk, right?” you said ignoring the previous comment he made. “Have a good summer?”
He slinked off the metal door to saunter over to you, not really seeming to care that at this point you’re both incredibly late to whatever class you were supposed to head to. “It was pretty tame.” he shrugged lazily. “Nothing compared to yours though. Heard you were in that mess with the mall.”
“Something like that.” you chuckled nervously. Just how many people knew about that? Shaking your head, you point over to the boy with your chin. Turning the conversation around again. “Taking another stab at Senior year? Thought I’d have seen you drive off in the sunset last summer.”
“Yeah, well, looks like they got me again. Third times the charm, right?” he laughed sadly as he held up the book in his hand. You couldn’t help but frown over at the cover. Having seen that exact book in your living room the other day.
“What class are you taking here that teaches D&D?”
“Ah, shit." He scrambled to cover up the front of the book against his chest. Running a hand up to scratch against his messy curls. “You weren't supposed to see that.” he coughed before he realized. “Wait, how do you know what this is?”
You close up your locker fully now, throwing a sardonic laugh over your shoulder at his question. “I’ve only ever seen my dumb cousin and his friends play it constantly. I’m actually a little bit surprised you two haven’t crossed paths yet. Especially if you carry around books like that.”
"Wait, you have a cousin that goes here and plays D&D?”’ He made it a point to dramatically search down the hall for anyone that might be around before he turned back to you. “Where are you keeping this hidden gem, Henderson?’
“He’s a freshman so I've been steering clear of him and his disciples of nerdom.’ you said bitterly before catching his reaction. It was hard to remember that people weren’t around for this morning’s debacle.
“You okay?” he asked wearily.
“Sorry. Look, they’re not.. horrible . But Dustin made me really late this morning. All because he couldn’t find his ridiculous Weird Al shirt. Something I begged him to change out of since it’s a total fashion disaster. Then there was Ms.Kelley getting on my case. Now the new assignments from my friends. My head is sort of a mess and blaming that little gremlin seems like the best thing to do.”
Eddie stood quietly for a moment, almost contemplating on how to answer all that before he stepped forward. “You know when you get annoyed your nose does this little scrunch thing?”
“Seriously?” You asked, slightly in disbelief.
He laughed a bit, giving an empathetic nod before he leaned in close. “Don’t worry, it's cute.”
There was a lingering hint of cologne and cigarettes on his clothes. A combination that used to make you queasy from dating Billy. But whatever Eddie had on seemed to be..almost pleasant.
“Anyway, thanks for the four one-one, Princess.” he smirked as he peered down at you. “Maybe I’ll see him around and take at least one problem off your hands?”
His closeness became suddenly too much and you forced yourself to slowly take a step back. “I like the sound of that.” You smiled. “Maybe you can really save the day and convince him to ditch that horrendous t-shirt.”
He nodded his head again before moving towards his original direction. The two of you hold an unusually long, but nice gaze before you remind yourself about heading over to class. Waving goodbye, you turned on your heel, ready to go when Eddie softly called out to you.
“Maybe there’s a chance I'll see you around too?”
You felt a little stumped at the question, feeling like there’s a different kind of hope to his tone. One that you haven’t quite felt from someone else in a while. “Maybe,” you shrugged, offering him a small smile. “If I’m not working on essays.”
He let out a small breathy laugh before turning away, a little skip to his step. The idea of hanging out with Eddie seemed interesting. Enough so that you were a little bit hopeful you’d talk again soon.
OCTOBER
It’s a completely new world for you with brand new changes.
For starters, having a stable job with your new friend, your other best friend leaving for California, and being in an actual loving relationship.
And with things like college applications out of the way, it definitely helped make things better over at school. Not to mention how fun things can be when your boyfriend is incredibly distracting...
“Did I ever tell you that you look good in green?”
Somehow he’s managed to get you trapped in the corner of the Documentary/Horror section. His hands snaked around the edge of your hips as he tried to casually drag you towards his chest. For five minutes now you’ve been making an attempt to put away the tapes you checked back into the store. But that was before Steve came back from his break and suddenly needed to check over your work. And way before his hand started to tug at the hem of your shirt.
“Steve, there is no way in hell that you mean this ugly green vest.” You make it a point to look down at your outfit. While your blouse from Chanel looked exceptionally cute this morning, under the neon lights and green vest of Family Video, it looked tacky.
“I think you look good in it.” he laughed, leaning close so he could peck at your cheek. “I think you’d look even better in just the green vest.” he finished, letting his breath fan against your face. You tried not to react so openly, but you couldn’t stop the flustered chuckle that fell past your lips.
“We literally have one hour left until closing.”
“Which is why I think we should close up early..”
Pushing him away gently, you ignored the whining noise he made as you kneeled down to finish placing the last few tapes away. It was always on slow nights like this that Steve tried the most to get in some action.
“We’re trying to keep our jobs, right?”
“And we will! We close up, make sure everything is clean, and then ...”
“Then what? We screw in Keith’s office?” you scoffed from down below. He extended a hand out, wiggling his fingers at you until you tangled them up with yours. With a tug, he pulled you up from the floor so that he could get you close again. His other hand moved to cup around the base of your neck. Bringing you in for a slow and deep kiss. It’s deep enough that you’re still in a bit of a daze when he’s pulled back to look at you.
“Well either that or we can go in behind the curtain .” he smirked, pointing behind you to the curtain with the neon ADULT shining brightly. You scrunch your nose, a bit disturbed with the idea alone of the type of people who went past the curtain during the day.
“You are a complete horndog, Steve Harrington.”
There’s another attempt to make an escape, but Steve was smarter this time and moved his lips to your neck. Peppering kisses against the spots he knew very well you liked. The thumb on the hand still holding your neck in place began to rub at your skin, making it very hard to concentrate.
“I’m gonna kill you.” you laughed weakly, reaching a hand up to playfully push at his shoulder. Stopping the kissing assault so that you gain some sort of control over yourself.
“I am nothing but a loving–”
“Needy.”
“A loving boyfriend. Who just wants to make his gorgeous, sweet girl feel good.” He raised a brow up at you. “Don’t you wanna let me make you feel good? I can do that thing you like. Let me do that thing you like.”
You let out a small giggle, needing to get away from Steve and his sweet temptations before you gave in. But that only made him eager to make you trap you even more, wrapping his hands against your hips to press you lightly into the video displays. He was about to lean in for another kiss when the sound of the door’s front bell rang.
“Hey, do you think I can get some help over here?!”
Steve let out a heavy sigh as he let you go. Giving his cheek a pat, you whisper for him to finish up your stack of tapes before heading over to the counter.
“Sorry about the wait, Sir. How may I help you today?” you said throwing the customer your most dazzling customer service smile. But no matter how cheery you sounded, it would seem nothing would please this man. Not with the way he was glaring at you.
“What you can do for me,” he said, slapping the tape down on the counter. “Is give me my money back for having borrowed this terrible movie.”
The loud snap scared you a bit, but you managed to keep your composure intact. Grabbing the tape, you take one glance at the name before internally groaning.
Terms of Endearment in bright cursive font stared up at you innocently. Leave it for a bozo like this to listen to Robin of all people for a movie choice that he clearly wouldn’t enjoy.
“This..is a great choice.” you said honestly. “Amazing cast, riveting plot, and–”
“And a total snooze fest!” he cried out as he leaned against the counter. “My girlfriend was so bored that she ditched me halfway in.”
“Not a Shirley MacLaine fan?” you chuckled, still trying to ease the tension. But all that did was make him more mad as he flared out air through his nose. “Look, sir. While I apologize on behalf of the store, Family Video’s return policy doesn’t offer back refunds just because you didn’t like that movie.”
His glare turned even worse at your reply. “Excuse me?”
“You’re free to exchange it for another movie if you want, but the money stays here. It wouldn’t be fair for our business to issue back money for every movie you didn’t like.”
“It was shit!”
“So was Fast Times at Ridgemont High but I still had to put up with promoting that movie so–”
“Listen, you dumb bitch. Are you hearing me? You guys give shit movies. Now give me back my money!”
Whatever reserve you had been holding in instantly shut down the moment the words came out of his mouth. He was no longer a customer, but a buffoon invading the store. It breaks through your composer enough for the anger to come out. “That’s funny, I’ve never been called dumb before.”
“Why am I even wasting my time with you!? Give me my goddamn money back!”
“I’ll tell you what we can give you,” Steve said, suddenly emerging from the back. His breath was heavy as he stepped up beside you, moving closer to the register that had him almost acting like a wall between you and the customer. “How about a permanent ban from Family Video?”
From the side you could tell how angry he was from the way his brows were furrowed. It was the angriest you’ve seen Steve in a while now. The last time being when the two of you were dealing with Billy last fall. Like before you’re taken back by it. O ddly flustered that this was for your sake again.
“W-what?” the guy sputtered, not expecting this kind of fire thrown back at him. “No. That’s not what I want! I just want my damn three bucks.”
“Three bucks?” Steve laughed sarcastically. “Harassing our best employee over three bucks and a movie? That’s against store rules.”
He leaned over to press down at the register, making the cash drawer pop open. Getting three bucks, he slapped it over the counter and clicked on the movie title with the mouse “ Ooh .” he cooed, tutting at the computer screen. “Looks like you’ve actually returned this a day late, champ. That’s a three dollar late charge.”
He quickly snatched back the money and threw it back into the register with a grin on his face. Without hesitation, he clicked over the man’s name on the screen before deleting his name from the store’s registry. Your jaw slacked at the blinking deleted text on the screen. Not thinking Steve would even go as far as to go through with the threat. It was so ballsy, so quick.
It was also insanely hot.
“Y-you can’t just do that, you little shit!”
“Sorry man, looks like the good times at Family Video are over for you.” He walked around the counter, moving to stand before the man as he sized him up. “I’d say if you want better choices you can try Blockbuster.”
“Oh come on! They charge up the ass there!”
“Then your only choices are to give her an apology, change up your attitude, and leave. Then maybe I’ll consider letting you register again with us next week.”
The man’s nostrils flared as he let out another frustrated huff of air. Looking down at the tape that’s still on the counter in disbelief before he finally turned to look at you. “Sorry.” he muttered quietly. Not seemingly too keen on saying the words.
But Steve was quick to catch onto that and cleared his throat before leaning in closer, holding a hand to his ear. “ I’m sorry. ” he said loudly with a slight pleading tone. Steve scoffed a bit at that before he looked over at you. Raising a brow for your signal of approval.
You feigned mulling over the man’s apology before figuring it was the best either one of you would get tonight. “It’ll do.” you said calmly, pursing your lips. “Now leave.”
“You heard the lady.” Steve chimed in after, making his way over to the door. “Beat it.”
The man grumbled to himself, keeping his arms at his sides in fists as he stalked out the door. It oddly resembled an angry toddler more than a grown man. But you didn’t take too much of a glance as your eyes wandered over to Steve who was still at the door. Keeping it open as he stepped out to make sure the man left the entire premises.
The back of his muscles were rippling through his polo, causing your eyes to drift over the expanse of his back as he stood guard for the store. You couldn’t hold back your urges anymore.
Quietly, you made your way around the counter. Moving to stand just behind Steve as he closed up the door. You weaved around him and turned the lock over, making sure that on one could get back inside the store.
“Honey, you okay?” he asked, confused. “He’s not coming back in.”
“I’m not locking up because of him.” you said simply as you turned Steve to face you. Pushing his vest out of the way, you allow your hands to scratch up the front of his chest, stopping just at the collar of his shirt. “I’m making sure the doors are locked so that you can take me into the office in the back and let me show you how much that whole thing turned me–.”
Steve doesn’t let you finish as he quickly leaned down to press his lips against yours. Feverishly pulling your body to flush against his. Your hands moved up from his shirt collar to wrap around his neck so you could deepen the kiss.
“Let’s go.” He said against your lips when pulling back to breathe. You don’t argue and turn around to dash to the private office in the back, working on the buttons of your top before Steve did something stupid like rip them off in the name of passion.
The back office was a small room. Only big enough for a regular sized desk and a creaky old chair that Keith loved to lounge on. There’s a couple of papers of stock invoices left on the desk but you carefully chuck them inside one of the drawers before feeling Steve come up behind you.
“If I recall,” Steve muttered into your ear as he pressed his front against your back. “You wanted to show me something?” Feeling him so close to you now had you taking in his clean, crisp, cologne scent with a hint of musk that had you going wild these days. And honestly, as much as you liked to pick on Steve for always being horny, it’d be a lie if you said you weren’t the same with him as well sometimes.
The lines of his muscles and ridges were curving around your backside. Making you want to curl around to wrap around him. He had other ideas and moved his arms to wrap around you instead. One of his hands snaked into your open top so he could cup at your breast. It made your breath hitch as you tried to answer him.
“Yeah, I wanted to show how thankful I am.” you whispered, trying to control the moan that wanted to emerge already.
“Thankful?” he cooed softly. “You’re thankful for me doing my job?” The smirk is evident in his voice without having to look at it yourself. Steve was definitely getting off on the idea of having you turned on by his heroics.
But you didn’t care. In this case, he’d be right.
“I am.” you said more clearly this time. “Especially when we both know I could have handled that myself.”
He pulled you in tighter, pressing the front of his groin against your backside now. “I know, you would have made him cry if it got bad enough.” He rubbed the tips of his fingers against the pebble of your nipple, flickering with the sensitive skin before he pinched it lightly, earning a soft gasp from you. “But if you thought for a second that I’d let anyone talk to my girl like that, you’re wrong.”
He kept the hand changing from pinching to rubbing at your breast while the other slid down your front. Brushing over the front of your stomach before he got to the button of your jeans. It’s only a second for him to single handedly get the buttons and zipper loose.
“No one gets to talk to me like that?” you asked, panting at the slight sensation going at your chest right now. It didn’t help that for once having your partner use such possessive words would actually do something to you.
“No one.” he confirmed, as his lips started to nip at the vein of your neck.
You tipped your head back to rest against the base of his neck and shoulder. Giving him room now to not only press his lips better at your skin, but to get a view at what he was doing to your body. The whole thing was so intimate and slow and you were embarrassed by how needy your body was turning.
Like he heard the thoughts in your mind, he gently pushed into the front of your panties. Trailing down until he was able to cup around your pussy. “Steve,” you whispered, wriggling a bit in anticipation. “I want you .”
“You have me.” he chuckled lightly. “I just wanted to see how damn wet you are.” He pushed two of his fingers now to brush at your clit. Twirling lightly at the small slick of arousal that had begun to build once you were held in his arms. The area is already so sensitive from how horny you were and now Steve’s light teasing was going to get the better of you.
You’d be more embarrassed about all of that if Steve didn’t moan at the touch. Letting himself play with your pussy like it was his own toy to mess with. When you couldn’t stop wriggling from the light touches, he moved on to what you really wanted.
Circling the two fingers against your sensitive bud one last time before he finally inched down to slip them inside of you. A heavy moan escaped your throat finally. Giving into the sensation starting to heat up within your body.
“I can’t believe how turned on that made you.” he sighed, moving the hand from your breast to slowly flow up to your neck. “So wet all because I was doing my job as your boyfriend.” The hand wrapped around your neck and you’re a bit excited at the idea of him actually doing the thing he promised earlier.
“So wet.” you whimpered, bringing a hand up to place on top of his. He took that as an approving signal and wrapped his fingers around your throat, giving it a tighter hold.
“Just for me, huh?” he grunted into your ear, keeping the pace quick as he fucked his fingers inside of you. There’s a small wet noise as his hand slapped against the skin. Sounding awfully sinful in a place you both are supposed to be just working at. But you don’t care, not when Steve is starting to hit the right spot and his hand is getting tighter around your throat.
“Fuck, Steve!” you choked out, feeling light headed from Steve’s relentless fingering. His long fingers were stroking at your wet walls perfectly. Crooking at just the right angle that was making you weak in the knees.
“God I wish you could see how good you look right now, honey.” Steve whispered back, enjoying the pleading tone in your voice. With every grasp to your throat, the walls of your pussy tightened around his fingers. He changed things up by using the heel of his hand to press down on your clit every other stroke. Creating a stimulation that has you rolling your eyes to the back of your head.
“So close.” you gasped, writhing beneath his hold. He took that as a sign to speed up, letting his pace go at such a speed that you were practically bouncing on top of his hand.
“Oh honey,” he panted, “my hand is practically soaked.”
You turned your head up, angling towards his so that you were able to press your lips against his. Quickly, he turned the sweet kiss into a hot open mouth kiss. Petting the tip of your tongue with his until he swirled it against the walls of your mouth. It made your mind spin like crazy. His kiss, touch, body, all of it, gave you an overload of sensations. It’s only a few more thrusts from his hand that you’re spasming against him in a hard orgasm.
He dropped the hand from around your throat to hold you tightly. Making sure you don’t fall to the ground as you crumpled into ecstasy.
“Such a pretty girl.” he chuckled against your mouth. The air is hot and you’re trying to inhale Steve’s scent like it’s the only oxygen left. “Think you got one more for me?”
You’re so drunk on the orgasm he just gave you, that you’re barely able to nod your head. Weakly giving him a peck on the lips as the signal to continue. He gently pulled his hand out from your pants, turning your body around so that you could stand before him.
The look in his eyes is dark and hungry. But before he could do anything else, you reached out to wrap your arms around his neck. Dragging him in for another kiss before things got crazy again.
“I’m supposed to show you how that made me feel.” you pointed out, when you pulled back. Steve doesn’t seem to care as he pulled you up a bit to reach for the line of your jeans. Helping tug them down enough that he’s able to reach down and get one of your legs out. Apparently he’s on a mission of some sorts as it’s the soaked panties he discarded next.
You shyly crossed your legs a bit as he helped push the rest of you on the desk. Letting your backside rest more comfortable and give him a better space to check you out. “You can just show me instead.” he said simply, rubbing gently at your thighs before he pushed them open exposing your bare core for him. “You can also let me taste how that made you feel.”
With a slack jaw, you watched as Steve kneeled before you. Pressing loving kisses against the inner corner of your thighs before he gradually moved to your pussy. The slick of your arousal was still clear on the lips of your skin and Steve wasted no time in licking them up.
A shiver runs through you and you try to control the small whine that wanted to fall out from having him lick around such a sensitive area. But that failed the moment he began to suck gently at the center bud, making you reach down to tug at the ends of his hair.
“Steve,” you gasped, giving a hard tug. “Please.”
“I know, baby.” he said against your lips. Not yet coming back up right away. “Just needed to make sure I tasted every bit.”
The gloss of your arousal was all over his lips and you couldn’t help but moan at how much he seemed to be enjoying himself. Switching between licking and sucking on areas of your pussy that had the heat returning to your body.
Having enough of him toying with you again, you reached down and pulled his face towards you again to steal another kiss. Tasting both yourself and a bit of Steve before letting him go with a grunt to him. You needed him in you and you needed him now. He caught on to that and reached for the front of his pants, undoing his belt and buttons until he was able to get his jeans to fall down his hips.
The sight of his hard erection had you licking over your lips. He was red, swollen, and leaking from the tip with a bit of precum. Reaching between you, you grabbed onto the base of his cock. Brushing your thumb over the tip gently to coat up the glossy cum before bringing it up to your lips for a taste. He watched in awe as he grabbed the member back in his hands.
“Taste good?” he grunted, stroking at the base. You watched as he jerked his wrist up and down, getting the erection to full attention. It was oddly distracting.
“So good.” you whispered, almost wanting to forgo everything else to get down on your knees for him. But seeing as Steve was already wedging himself between your legs, you’d have to pin that idea down for another time.
You felt the tip of his cock brush against your wet folds, coating it for lubricant before he slowly and smoothly thrusted into you. “ Yes .” you sighed, blissfully. Eyes closed as you feel every part of your body react to feeling full again. Any aches were gone with and replaced with the pleasure of having Steve in you again.
“Been thinking about this all day.” he groaned, rubbing his hand to wrap around your lower back. “Need to be in you all the damn time.”
“Steve, move, please.” you begged.
He shushed you gently. Leaning forward so that he could pepper kisses against the side of your face, neck and shoulder. Then finally, he began to thrust his hips, slowly pushing in and out of you. Another gasp fell past your lips and you placed your hands against the nape of his neck reaching up to tug at the ends of his hair.
Steve grunted from the tug and tightened his hold on you, digging the tips of his fingers into your skin as he began to drive harder against you The pace became so fast that the sound of his skin slapping against yours, mixed with the wet sounds of your pussy being pounded by his cock, turned the room obscenely loud. Between the shared body heat between you two, the air grew hot, and you could feel it hard to breathe. But the need for release from the two of you seemed to make both you guys ignore it in order to be close.
In fact, your mind was so frazzled, you almost couldn’t make out what Steve was trying to say to you.
“..f’cken..gon..a cu–.”
“ What ?” you gasped, trying again to listen to his grunts.
“Fuckin’ gonna cum, honey.” he said again. “Let me feel you cum around me.”
Nodding your head, you wrapped your legs around him, bringing his waist closer to yours until you could feel him finally fill you all the way in. It has the both of you letting out a moan together, pausing to enjoy the new sensation before Steve started to rut against you again.
The desk beneath you made an annoying squeaking noise as it was rhythmically being pushed in place from the thrusts from Steve. But neither of you seemed to care enough about it as you both rocked together to reach climax.
Steve brought a hand up from your hip so that he could slide it down between you. The pad of his thumb brushing over the slick on his cock before he brought it up to circle around your clit. Creating another stimulation that has you keening with pleasure. “Fuck, Steve! Don’t stop, I’m so close!” you gasped, back arching as you felt your pussy tightened around him.
It caused Steve to let out a gasp himself as he tried to focus on the double assault he was giving to your pussy. Keeping up with rubbing and pushing at the same time. “Come for me,” he whispered through gritted teeth. “Fuckin’ come for me, honey.”
The sudden demand took over your body and you felt your eyes roll to the back of your head as you fell into the blinding pleasure. A small tremor followed your rocking and you held onto Steve’s arms as you cried out from everything that had been building up. It didn’t take long for his hands to fall back to your hips, gripping tightly as he gave one hard thrust forward.
A guttural growl fell past his lips as he came. Hot ropes of his cum shooting inside you while he pressed his body tightly against yours.
Steve continued to thrust lazily, helping you both ride out the remnants of your orgasms. His hands rubbed lightly over your hips and backside soothingly. Giving your body some love until he finally ceased his movements. Letting his head fall a bit to rest against your shoulder so he could catch his breath.
“Holy shit.” he gasped softly. Hot breath fanning over your exposed skin. “That was..”
“Intense?”
“Hot.”
You chuckled a bit before carefully snuggling into his arms. Needing to have some of Steve’s sweeter side after having such a crazy few moments just now. He reached his arms up to wrap around you. Engulfing you into a more comfortable type of heat.
Moving your head, you nuzzle against his pecs and listen to the slight thump of his heartbeat. It’s still beating so fast but it brings you comfort instantly. He brought a hand up to brush down the bits of your hair that became frazzled before tipping your chin to make you look up at him.
There was a look in his warm eyes that had your heart beating fast. You were happily selfish to know that he would only look at you like this. Similar thoughts must have ran through Steve’s mind because he suddenly grinned, taking in a deep breath before he leaned to press a sweet kiss to your lips. “I love you.” he said suddenly, thumb brushing at your jawline now. “A lot.”
The words still have such a heavy affect on you after all this time. Making you feel flushed and flustered again. “I love you, too.” You said softly, placing your hand over his. “Especially since you did that thing I like.”
Now it’s Steve’s turn to get flustered, making him shake his head before giving you another kiss. With that distraction, he reached between the two of you and gently eased himself out from your core. The tip of his cock brushed over your swollen puffy lips, coating them in your mixed juices. You broke apart from the kiss with a small gasp. You could tell from the small smirk on Steve's lips he was pretty pleased with the sight. But he didn’t say anything other than let go of himself to gently caress at the places his hands had pressed down on too hard.
“Sorry I can’t help clean that up right now.” he sighed.
“It’s fine. I’ll shower when you drop me off at Robin’s.” you said, reaching down to help tuck him into his pants. He bounced a bit from your touch but let you finish up.
“Oh, is that where I’m taking you after this?” he chuckled, helping reach over for your underwear and jeans. It’s more of a struggle getting you back into your clothes. Especially with how sweaty you were. But eventually you’re climbing off the desk with pants on again.
“Well those were my original plans.” you answered finally, buttoning up the front of your shirt. “I was gonna finish work, get in a quick makeout session, and convince you to drop me off.” Pointing over at him, you give a small frowning pout. “Would’ve been a perfect plan but you got greedy.”
“Greedy?”
“Yes.”
“I thought I was your hero?” he asked, raising a brow as he helped adjust the vest over your shirt. “Wasn’t that how we ended up here?”
“Well yes ,” you agreed. “But I was thinking of something along the lines of head or a hand job. But then you came in and let your little sneaking hands have their fun. Which led to more craziness and now I’m gonna go to Robin’s looking incredibly messy. She’s gonna tease me all night!”
“Incredibly messy? Don’t you mean freshly fucked?”
If you knew it wouldn’t give Steve an ego boost, you’d cover up your face from his dirty words. Knowing how flustered they truly made you feel. But he’s already with a big head tonight.
“God,” You said, crossing your arms instead. “You’re terrible!”
Steve laughed a bit at your dramatic words before nodding his head. “You’re right. I’m the worst.” He reached out to cup at your cheek, looking at you with such adoration that you can’t stop the smile from tugging at your lips. “I guess I should make up for that with a ride to Buckley’s.”
“A ride would be great.” you sniffed wrapping your arms around his waist to hug him lightly. “Though, if we maybe hurry..I can still show you what I wanted to do to you in your car..”
Steve's face changed quickly from content, back to excited with your lingering promise. Without saying much he pressed a quick kiss to your lips. “Let’s go!” he practically sang, reaching down for your hand so he could lead you out. But you’re quick to stop him, giving him a puzzled look.
“Uh Steve, honey? You forgetting something?”
“What’s that?”
“We still have to close and clean up …everything .”
“Shit.”
THE NEXT DAY
“I’m just saying, you two shouldn’t be allowed to close the store with each other anymore if that’s what you guys do with spare time.”
Steve let out a tired groan, gripping onto his wheel tightly as he shook his head at his friend’s words. It’s been ten minutes of Robin’s jabs and your poor boyfriend was slowly losing his patience. Ever since she caught the two of you giving a more affectionate type of greeting this morning, she hasn’t stopped talking about it since. Much to Steve’s dismay.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” he lied, acting like Robin had no context clues as to what you two did once you had arrived at her doorstep last night.
“Oh? So you guys didn’t have sex at the store?”
“That’s a serious accusation, Robin.” you chimed in, trying to stick with your boyfriend and act like the smeared makeup on your face was from something else. “Steve and I are respectful, hard working, employees who would never do such a thing at a workplace.”
From your passenger mirror, you could see Robin give you an exasperated look. “I think you guys are forgetting that I was stuck with the two of you in your summer heat at Scoops.” She leaned forward to give you a scrunched up look of disgust. “You’re part of the reason why I had to start timing Steve’s break times.”
You can’t help but giggle a little bit at the memory. There was definitely no excuse to cover up those times, but a part of you knew you couldn’t give in to her teasing just yet. Reaching around her you slapped lightly at Steve’s arm for help.
“That was uh, us trying to gain control over our emotions. You know..connecting and uh talking..”
Robin snorted at that, sitting back against her seat as she shook her head at the two of you. Turning over, you give a small sympathetic smile to your friend. Not quite wanting to fully annoy her. “When you get a boyfriend this year, you’ll see how hard it is to keep control of your emotions. ”
What was supposed to be taken lightly seemed to affect Robin differently. Her eyes shifted side to side before landing on something behind you. Before you could glance at what it was, you felt Steve patting at your thigh.Getting you to sit back against your seat.
“Buckley’s gonna tough out her time in Hawkins single.” Steve said lightly, looking at his friend through the mirror for a moment. Something flickered over his face as he raised a brow at the girl. “That is unless she’s changed her mind from our last conversation?”
“No!” Robin bellowed quickly, rubbing her hands over her face. “I’m not interested in dating right now, thank you.”
You frowned a bit, confused as to when the two of them had an in depth conversation about dating that you weren’t aware of. Sure, they worked together alone without you. But one of them would usually bring up something at a later time to include you..
“So there’s no guy in your grade that you’ve had your eye on?” you asked slowly, trying to keep your curiosity at bay. “Because if there is, I can totally and subtly set you up. Ask Steve, I’m really good at it!”
“You are, honey. But Robin isn’t into anyone right now.”
“How do you know? She hasn’t said–”
“I just do!” he said quickly, making the car become quiet. You’re painfully aware of how much your words are the threatening tone that’s causing the disturbance that Steve’s trying to get rid of. He was never so defensive over anything with you. Not even when he was your ‘enemy’ did he ever push you out of something.
So what the hell was so different this time?
“That’s odd. Since when the hell did you suddenly become so defensive over Robin’s dating life?”
Steve’s jaw slacked a bit as he continued to drive. There’s a venom to your tone that hasn’t had to come out in so long. But you couldn’t help but feel there was something being kept from you. And by the two people you were considering close friends.
The blunt question threw him off a bit, but he quickly shook his head. “How is it odd with me but okay with you?”
You crossed your arms over your chest. “For starters, I’ve been known to meddle in people’s love lives. I’m a pretty good wingman.”
“Congratulations, Cupid. But this might be a time your services aren’t needed.” he chuckled, trying to ease you into joking around again. But you couldn’t help but frown even more. You opened your mouth, ready to ask why he was trying to put a stop to your work when Robin leaned forward again.
“I had a friend who liked me back in Sophomore year. It didn’t end up well.” she looked solely at you now, giving you almost a pleading look. “It’s kinda put me off on dating highschool boys..”
“Yeah, which is why it’s probably best if we just drop the subject.” Steve added right after.
It was almost dumb for either of them to think that you’d so easily ignore not only the subtle lies in their voices, but the fact that there were things and conversations you weren’t even aware of.
At this point you didn’t know whether to be insulted as a friend, girlfriend, or a regular nosy bitch. But since the car turned down the familiar road to the school, you knew you wouldn’t have enough time to dive into another round of questions.
“Well, thanks for the ride, dingus.” Robin chuckled awkwardly once the car had stopped. “I’ll uh see you later.”
She quickly opened up her door, grabbed her things and got out of the car. Sensing that things between you and Steve weren’t done just yet. The door slammed quickly and you kept your gaze on the dashboard before Robin turned around to stick her head through the window. Giving you a small but hopeful smile.
“I promise that the very moment I wanna date again..you’ll be the first person I go to. Okay?”
Her attempt to mend your mood does bring a small smile to your face. You give her a small nod before letting her walk off to enter inside the school. Steve shut off the engine with a small smile. Probably already in his own thoughts about what you were going to say now that you were alone. But the petty girl inside of you wants to leave him to mull over those thoughts alone.
“I’ll see you later.” you muttered, unbuckling your seatbelt. Reaching for the door, you were about to open it up before Steve shot across to keep you from doing so. Sputtering your name until you let go of the handle to lean back against your seat.
“Seriously? You’re just gonna leave like that?” he asked incredulously before sitting back. “What’s wrong?” he asked carefully, extending his hand out for you. The mean girl that wants to be cruel to him is gone, and you have to remind yourself that you were just happily gooey in love with him not fifteen minutes ago.
“I’m..upset.” you got out eventually ignoring the peace offering of his hand to keep your arms in your lap.
“Why? Because of Robin?”
“Yes!..No..Yes and no. I’m mad at the both of you.”
He visibly gulped, looking at you for a moment before he dropped his gaze down. “Why would you be upset? I was just trying to help Robin out. She’s not ready for that kinda stuff. She’s not like us, baby.”
“She is perfectly normal to date.” you said ignoring the pet name. “What’s not normal is how adamant you are about her not dating.”
Steve frowned, shaking his head slowly turning in his seat to face you better. “Honey, I’m only sticking up for her because I know she won’t. Lord knows I’m barely able to tell you no. She wouldn’t have a fighting chance.”
There’s a bit of truth to his words. But something is still off. A flicker of worry comes into your mind. Something you haven’t thought about once since becoming friends with him last winter. But a deep angry voice kept flooding one question in your mind.
..he’s never been so off with you.. (tick)
Steve wouldn’t lie to you, would he?
..yes, he would.. (tock)
A brush of a finger to your cheek pulled you out of your dreadful mind. Steve had moved in closer now, using the console between you as a way to lean towards your face. His hand was touching your face gently and carefully. “I’m sorry if what I said made you uncomfortable.” he mumbled softly, pressing a kiss to your cheek. “I sometimes forget you might not be around for every conversation I have with Robin. I promise it’s just me looking out for her, okay?”
While you knew that whatever bullshit detector was going off about this whole thing with Robin. It definitely wasn’t with Steve's words. He really did care about Robin in the same way you would with Jonathan. You had to give him the same benefit he would for you.
Keeping up with that previous worrisome mind would be an awful way to start school. So you settle for pushing down that venom in order to make peace. For now.
“Okay. I’m sorry..I believe you.”
He seemed pleased with your slight deception and leaned to cup at your cheek. “You know, you’re kinda cute when you get mad. Sitting there with a pout and frown on your face.”
“Keep going, your highness.” you warned with no real threat.
He took his chances of having your mood been lightened up to give a sweet kiss to your lips. It had the same warmth from the one this morning and your body doesn’t waste its time relaxing into it.
“Wanna skip school?” He mumbled against you, seemingly unable to pull himself away from your face now that things were better.“ Got an idea of what we can do right now.”
That brought out a laugh from you, forcing you to be the one to pull back to look at him properly.
“After that car ride I feel I should make you work towards getting some alone time with me again.” You teased lightly watching a small pout form on his face. You reached out and gently rubbed at his plump pink lips with your thumb.
“I’m willing to put in the work, boss.” He smiled, making you need to kiss him stupid again. Leave it to only a couple of seconds of alone time to get you out of your bad mood.
“I might have some spare time later on for you then.”
You watched as the smile on his face turned into a wide grin. Cheeks round and rosy from his excitement.
“Tonight.” He said out of breath. Reaching up to pull at your hands in order to press kisses against the palms inside. “I’m gonna take you out. Make it up to ya with food, more kisses, and maybe that thing you like again.”
“ Oh. ” You giggled with a nod. “I’m gonna hold you onto that.”
He’s almost insatiable when he dove in for another deep kiss that had your stomach doing somersaults. Thankfully, Steve managed to pull away in order to look at the time on the dashboard clock. “I’ll see you later.” He smirked, letting you finally leave the car.
It took only a few seconds of gaining the courage to leave his side before you finally did. Waving him off as he made his leave to work. Hopefully without any annoying customers this time.
Nancy, who had been waiting patiently in front of the school, joined your side when you made your way to the front doors. “You know, I always thought I’d feel awkward seeing you and Steve finally together. But I don’t.”
“Well, thanks, I guess?”
She laughed a bit, nudging you with her shoulder. “I was worried about it. But after seeing you guys a couple of times I’m more than sure now you guys really are good for each other.”
“Good for each other.” You repeated. Still slightly skeptical of her words.
“Yeah, you guys are actually so infatuated with one other in a sickeningly sweet kind of way. It’s kinda nice.”
“Kinda nice or kinda gross?” you teased, making her shake her head worriedly before you held up your hand to stop her worrying. “I’m joking, Nance. I know Steve and I are kinda. .a lot these days. But he makes me happy.”
“I know! And I’m happy that you’re happy, truly.” she insisted. You smile and nod before leading the two of you into the threshold of the front doors. “There is just one thing I’ve kinda been curious about.”
“How good is our sex life?” you joked, making her blue eyes go wide.
“ No .” she coughed a bit, flustered at the question. “It’s uh, well, you’re close to Robin now, right?”
“Yeah.” you answered honestly. “Maybe not as close as her and Steve apparently. But I consider us close.” You moved to go towards your lockers, prying open the door to collect your things.
“So you aren’t weirded out about that? Don’t they work together without you sometimes?”
You frown over at Nancy, confused where she was getting at with her questions. Not only because it was odd for her to point out, but also because of their horribly timed arrival. It was almost like she knew what went on in the car just now.
“They close together and sometimes work in the morning on the weekends. But we all hang out a lot when we get the chance. And I just found out Robin isn’t currently looking to date at the moment so it looks like she’s our third wheel for the time being. Why the cross-examination?”
Having someone as naturally curious as Nancy Wheeler, have her thoughts be on the subject of your boyfriend and other friend definitely wasn’t helping squash your growing current insecurity.
“Right. I’m sorry.” she said quickly, closing the door to her locker. Her eyes were wide and shifting over the area. “It’s nothing, I guess I’m just not used to Steve having friends who are girls.”
“He’s had friends who are girls before, Nance..”
“Yeah, you .”
“Yeah, so?”
“Now you guys are dating.” You’re about to point out how that was completely different before she held up her hands defensively. “It was just a small, passing, thought! If you say you’re good, then you’re good. If I’m being honest, I guess it’s mostly just me that feels a little bit skeptical about their friendship. And that’s mostly because it’s been a couple of months since Starcourt and I have no idea who Robin really is.”
You glanced down the hall towards the school bulletin boards. Watching as Robin looked over the new flyers posted up. You’ve hung out closely with her for four months now and even consider her a good friend. The two of you have bonded over different things that didn’t even involve Steve.
So why was it suddenly after one morning of hearing her and Steve tag team against you, that you feel there might be something you don’t know about her?
“Let’s go.” Nancy said, softly. “There’s this article I’ve been working on about gaining equality at this school that I want you to read. If it’s good enough maybe we can convince Fred to let me get it on the cover instead of his piece on the mystery meat served last week.”
Your gaze followed Robin as she left the hall. Smile on her face as she disappeared from your sight.
“It’s not the only mystery around here.”