Chapter Text
The only thing you were looking forward to about the move was the promise of a newly built mall. You were not excited to move away from your friends, but you were decidedly not excited about moving to Indiana of all places. You weren't too excited when your parents first sat you down to tell you about the move, but you tried to make the best of it for your family's sake.
Your parents promised to help you redecorate your room, and you would get first pick of the rooms before your younger sister, who was just as unpleased about your move. By the end of April, your parents had bought a house in Hawkins, Indiana, and at the beginning of June, you officially moved. The movers carry the boxes and furniture from your old house, putting them into moving trucks. When you get to the town, barren is an understatement, the town looks abandoned.
Looking out the car window, you can’t see anyone, and when you turn to look out your sister's side, no one is around either. Theresa, your younger sister, looks very unhappy with your current surroundings. While the two of you can’t agree on very much anymore, both of you are mutually upset about the move.
“Where is everyone?” Theresa asks your mom, who turns in her seat to face the two of you.
“I think they built a new mall here recently,” your mom says, smiling at the two of you, “Why do you both look so depressed?”
“We just are tired from the car ride,” you tell her, knowing best it's just to make up an excuse.
“Well we are almost there,” your mom says, turning back around to face the road, “John, we were supposed to turn right back there.”
You ignore the sound of your parents arguing in the front of the car. Unfortunately, your Walkman batteries had run out an hour into the drive. It was stupid of you not to make sure to grab spares, but you just didn’t think about it. After such a long drive, you were excited to get up and move around, putting all of your stuff in your room and finally being alone.
When you get to the house, it's honestly not too bad. The house seems freshly redone and smells like new carpet. All of the bedrooms are on the second floor, and staying true to her word, your mom, let you pick the first bedroom, aside from your parents' room. The room you pick is at the front of the house with a large bookshelf with a built-in desk. All of your books would fit well, and you would have room for more in your other bookshelf.
You walk downstairs to where your parents are standing in the kitchen. Your dad is on the phone, the cord wrapped around one of the columns while he stands over your mom, who is taking notes on her notepad. Both of them look incredibly upset, especially your dad who, by the looks of it, is trying his hardest not to yell at the person on the other line.
“I don’t understand,” he says, “Why did you hire him if he wasn’t licensed?”
He stays quiet for a moment, listening to the phone.
“So when is the soonest it can be here?” he asks and listens, “Tomorrow?! That's not going to work for me. I have my first day at my new job tomorrow. I need my furniture today!”
“John, remember, deep breaths,” your mom whispers.
“I need you to figure out something,” your dad says to the phone. Your mom stands up and walks to the living room, motioning you to follow.
“Take your sister to the mall,” she tells you, “It will be easier to keep Tee distracted when she is out.”
“I’ll take the car?” you ask.
“Yeah, yeah,” she says, “Pick up a pizza when you come home.”
“Okay,” you tell her.
“Here is $20 for the pizza,” she says and hands you a crisp green bill.
Tee being excited to go to the mall is an understatement. She is ecstatic. The possibility of meeting new friends was exciting to her. You were a little less so. For Tee, it would be easier. She was only 13, and you were graduating after this next year. The chances you would be stuck by yourself for the next year were high compared to hers.
When you pulled your mom's car into the parking lot, it was clear that nearly all of Hawkins was there, just like your mom said. Cars take up most spots in the lot, and when one is available, it is almost immediately taken. People of all different ages are going in and out with bags full of newly bought merchandise.
When you are nearing the end of a car lane and are about to turn out, a few kids on bikes ride by, narrowly missing your front bumper, a few boys, and a girl.
“Hey,” the girl shouts, “Watch where you are driving!”
“You almost hit them!” Tee says from the passenger seat.
“If anything, they almost hit me,” you tell her.
“I hope they didn’t see my face,” she says, putting her hands over her face to shield it.
“Oh stop being so dramatic,” you tell her, rolling your eyes, “Oh look, there's a spot!”
“I’m not being dramatic,” she tells you.
“Okay,” you tell her, “But there is no way I would have seriously hurt any of them.”
“So you admit it,” she says as you shift the car into park, “You almost hurt them.”
“No,” you tell her, looking over, “Why do you think I want to hurt children?”
“They weren’t children,” she says, “They were like, the same age as me.”
“Yeah, exactly,” you tell her, “Babies.”
From the outside of the mall, you knew that it was gonna be big, but the inside you would describe as huge. Hundreds of people are traversing the mall, each of them walking with their families or friends, either window shopping or making purchases. It’s also apparent that this is where all the teenagers hang out given the number of high schoolers and middle schoolers.
“Where do you wanna go?” you ask Tee.
“Uh, the Gap?” Tee says.
“Okay, let's go,” you tell her and start walking towards the storefront.
The store is full of brightly colored garments with different patterns, many of them being geometrical. Tee picks through the first rack in the store, trying to find her size in the multitude of clothing. For example, the shirt Tee is currently looking at looks like a geometry textbook threw up on some fabric.
“Look at how cute this is,” Tee says, holding up the shirt to rest on her torso.
“You look like a geometry teacher,” you tell her.
“Just because you aren’t as stylish as me, you have to be rude,” she tells you, her face a bit upset.
“If you wanna buy it, be my guest,” you tell her.
“Well, I don’t have any money,” she tells you.
“I guess you can’t get it then,” you tell her.
Tee huffs but puts the shirt back on the rack. Both of you move around the store looking through each of the racks. A few things catch your eye, but not enough to make you wanna try anything on. By the time you reach where you started, you are tired of the Gap. The pop music is starting to burn your ears, and the neon clothes are starting to kill your eyes.
“Mom wants us to pick up a pizza on our way back,” you tell your younger sister.
“Ugh,” she exclaims, “Pizza, again? This is like the fifth day in a row.”
“I know,” you tell her, “But we don’t have our kitchen stuff yet. I’m sure tomorrow we will cook something different. Maybe we can convince Mom to take us to the mall again. Then you can try and get her to buy you that ugly shirt.”
Tee stops walking next to you, and when you turn around, Tee has a hurt look on her face, “Do you really think it’s ugly?”
You take a moment to think about what to say, “No, I don’t actually think it's ugly. Besides, if anyone could look gorgeous in that, it would be you.”
“You think so?” she asks.
“Of course,” you tell her, “I was just messing with you. I don’t really have any room to talk, have you seen how I dress?”
Tee laughs, “I think you could pull it off too.”
“Oh, shut it,” you tell her, laughing.
“Ooh look,” Tee says, pointing at a small ice cream parlor.
“Scoops Ahoy?” you ask her.
“I have like, two dollars,” she tells you, “Can I please get a small cone?”
“You have money?” you ask her.
“Yeah,” she tells you, “Mom let me have all the change she found from the old couch.”
She reaches into her pocket and presents you with a dollar and some change, “Okay,” you tell her, “But I am not paying for any extra sprinkles or hot fudge.”
“I know,” she says and starts walking to the shop.
The shop is something you would expect to see off the coast. Everywhere you look, there is a nautical theme going on. If it wasn't wrong to use the same joke twice you would say a sailor threw up after eating too much ice cream and if the music for the Gap wasn’t bad enough, this place is constantly playing weird boat music. Working here seems like hell, and when you both get to the front of the line, you are correct.
The two employees who are working at the moment seem a bit uncomfortable. One is standing at the freezer scooping ice cream for the people in front of you, and the other is at the register. Both of them look like they would rather be anywhere else.
“Hi,” you greet the girl at the register.
“Ahoy,” she says, her gaze still on the register, “Would you like to try our flavor of the week, Iceberg Mint?”
“Uh, no,” you say, “That name seems a bit insensitive, though.”
The girl finally looks up, making eye contact with you, “What?”
“Like, to the people who died on the Titanic,” you explain, “Sorry, it was just a joke.”
“Oh,” she says, it’s obvious that you have caught her off-guard.
“Well, ahoy there,” the other worker says to you.
“Uh, hi,” you wave your hand at him.
“I haven’t seen you around before,” he says, trying to flirt with you.
“Yeah,” you say, “Anyways, we want two small cones, I want the chocolate pudding. What do you want, Tee?”
“Uh, can I try the birthday cake?” she asks the guy at the freezer, he grabs a sampler, and reaches into the freezer.
“Do you want any toppings?” she asks.
“Just chocolate sprinkles on mine,” you tell her.
“Okay,” she says, “That will be $2.50.”
“Here you go,” you tell her, holding out a five-dollar bill.
“They should be right out,” she says and hands you the change.
“Okay, thanks a lot,” you tell her and read her name tag, “Robin.”
“Uh, yeah,” she says, all of a sudden more tense than before, “It was nice meeting you.”
“Have a good night,” you tell her.
“Yeah, you too,” she says.
You put a dollar in the tip jar.
When you get home with the pizza, the moving trucks are thankfully there with the rest of your stuff. Most of your things are already in your room, which means you can start unpacking your boxes after dinner. By the time the pizza is all gone, your sister has convinced your Mom to go to the mall tomorrow.
“Do you wanna come with us?” your mom asks.
“Yeah, that sounds like fun,” you tell her.
The next morning, you are woken up by the smell of pancakes. Looking at your alarm clock, you see that it's almost 10:30, you roll over on your back and look up at the ceiling. It's silent for a bit until someone knocks on your door. You push your blankets off of yourself and walk to the door.
Tee is standing in front of your door, ready for the day.
“Why aren't you dressed yet?” she asks you.
“I just woke up,” you tell her, rolling your eyes.
“Okay, well, Mom made pancakes, so hurry up,” she tells you.
You give her a thumbs up and close your door. Thankfully, all of your clothes arrived intact, and you were able to put them all away last night. You grab a t-shirt and jeans from your dresser. Downstairs, your Mom and sister are waiting for you at the dining room table.
“Good morning,” your Mom greets you, “I made pancakes!”
“Thanks,” you tell her, “They smell amazing.”
You sit down in the chair next to Tee and put a few pancakes and some bacon on your plate. Your mom pours you some orange juice in the cup set out for you.
“So I was thinking that I would drop the two of you off at the mall later so I can pick up some things from the hardware store,” your mom tells you, “I gave Tee some money for some new clothes for the both of you.”
“Okay,” you agree.
After breakfast, you go back upstairs to continue unpacking until it's time to leave. At noon, you all get into the car and drive to the mall, you in the passenger seat and Tee in the back.
“I will be back at 5,” your Mom tells you when you are out front of the mall, “Here's some money for lunch.”
You and Tee get out of the car and wave to your mom. There is still the same number of people in the mall as last night. You also see the kids that nearly hit you yesterday
"Where do you wanna go first?” you ask her.
“I wanna get that shirt!” she tells you excitedly.
Both of you make your way back to the Gap and to the same rack of shirts from yesterday. Tee is happy to find one in her size and takes it right up to the counter to pay. The line is a bit long, so the two of you have to wait for a few minutes.
“Lucus, what do you think?” a voice asks from nearby.
“I think it's pretty?” another voice responds.
“Wow, thank you so much for your help,” the first voice says.
“I don’t know what you want me to say, Max,” the other voice tells the first.
“Ugh, whatever,” the first voice says and walks into your view followed by the other person.
As fate would have it, the girl, presumably Max, who yelled at you yesterday is in the same store. The other person, Lucas, is one of the kids riding the bikes. Lucas is carrying a few different pieces of clothing, most likely belonging to Max.
“Hey, you're the girl who almost hit us yesterday,” Max says, looking directly at you.
“More like you kids are the ones who almost ran into my car yesterday,” you tell her.
“We had the right of way!” she tells you angrily.
“You guys didn’t even look, if the cops came they would have said you were at fault,” you tell her.
“Okay, both of you stop,” Tee says, “Both of you should have looked again but nobody got hit. Both of you apologize to each other.”
“Are you being serious right now?” you ask Tee.
“Yes,” she tells you, nudging you forward.
“Okay, I am sorry for almost hitting you with my car,” you tell other kids, “I should have looked both ways.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry too,” she says and the boy hits her arm with his, “For yelling at you today and yesterday.”
“If we get in line behind you, you won't try to fight each other, right?” the boy asks.
“I promise I won’t beat up a middle schooler,” you tell them.
“I’m not in middle school,” she says and then adds, “Anymore.”
“Well, the point still stands,” you tell her.
“Hi, I’m Tee,” she introduces herself to the two of them, “And that’s my sister.”
“Are you new?” the boy asks.
“Yeah,” Tee says, “We just moved here yesterday.”
“Max was new last year,” he says.
“Where did you move from?” Tee asks Max.
“Uh, California,” she says.
“You moved here from California?” Tee asks, confused.
“Yeah,” she says.
“I love that shirt that you have,” Tee tells Max, pointing at the shirt in her hands, “It will make your eyes stand out.”
“You think?” Max asks.
“Yeah,” Tee says, then asks Lucas, “What do you think?”
“Yeah, your eyes, will, uh be nice,” Lucus offers.
This satisfies Max, “You should come to watch this movie with us.”
“Oh, when?” Tee asks.
“Like in twenty minutes,” Max says, “We get in for free.”
“Really?” Tee asks.
“Yeah,” Lucas says.
“Can I?” Tee asks you.
“Yeah, just give me the money,” you tell her, “You can have the change from this.”
“Okay,” she tells you now with a smile on her face.
After all of you check out, you walk towards the food court. When they turn into the same ice cream parlor from yesterday you can only hope that the one guy isn’t working again but hopefully Robin is. You weren't sure exactly why you wanted to see her so much, sure she was beautiful and could kill it in that sailor's outfit but what did that mean? You had barely spoken to her and yet you wanted to see her again.
When you get inside the ice cream shop there are fewer people than the day before which allows you to see that the same people from yesterday were working. There is only one customer in front of you, Robin again looks uninterested in her job. As soon as the customer in front of you leaves Lucas and Max rush toward the counter where the guy from yesterday is waiting for them.
“You guys are starting to abuse this,” He says to the two of them.
“Mike and Will are already in there,” Max says.
“Yeah, I know, I let them in,” he says, looking disinterested in the conversation.
“Come on, Steve,” Lucas pleads.
“Fine, hurry up,” Steve says.
“Come on, Tee,” Max says.
“Wait, wait,” Steve says, “Who is this random kid?”
“She’s her sister,” Max says and drags Tee and Lucas into the back of the shop.
“Your sister, hm?” Steve asks.
“Yeah, they met earlier,” you explain.
“They are good kids,” Steve tells you, “Are you going to school around here?”
“I will be a senior in the fall at Hawkins,” you tell him.
“I graduated last month,” he tells you, “Just taking some time to get real job experience, you know?”
“Uh, yeah,” you tell him, trying to find a way out of the conversation.
“Steve, I wanna take my lunch break,” Robin says from the register.
"Fine Robin,” Steve says and walks to the register where a customer is waiting.
You leave the ice cream shop and decide that lunch sounds good to you too. Going over to one of the many food places you grab some lunch. When you get to the seating area you see that all of the tables are taken. You also see Robin sitting by herself at a table, so you decide to walk over to her.
“Can I sit?” you ask.
Robin looks up and chokes on her food, “uh, yeah.”
“Thanks,” you tell her.
Both of you sit in silence for a minute until Robin says, “I'm sorry about Steve.”
“Is he always like that?” you ask her.
“If you have boobs, then yes,” she says.
You laugh at her statement, “So, do you go to Hawkins?”
“Yeah,” she says, “I'm going to be a senior too.”
“So we might have classes together?” you ask.
“Yeah,” she says, “You just moved here, right?”
“Yesterday, actually,” you tell her.
“In town?” she asks.
“Yeah, on Jackson Street,” you tell her.
“No, shit, that's right by my house,” she says, “I’m, like, two streets over.”
“Really?” you ask, “You should totally come over sometime.”
“Yeah,” she says, “That sounds fun.”
You and Robin talk until her break comes to an end with the promise of her coming over on her next day off. She also gave you her phone number so that way you could call her if you needed anything, her words exactly. After your lunch, you went shopping for a new pair of shorts. Given that it was getting hotter by the day you knew you needed something that would let you cool off.
After you find and try on nearly every pair you decide on a pair that's high-waisted in a light blue color. When you leave the store you see Tee standing outside Scoops Ahoy with all of the kids who were riding bikes. All of them seem to be getting along well. Hopefully, she found a group of friends to hang out with.
“That’s her,” you hear Max say as you come closer to the group. She is pointing at you and the two other boys you have yet to be introduced to are looking for you.
“You're the girl who almost hit us yesterday?” the taller one asks.
“You know what,” you say, “I’m sorry, okay? Both of us should have looked. Truce?”
He looks at you for a moment, “Okay,” he says.
“It was nice to meet you Tee,” the shorter boy says and brings her in for a hug.
“I’ll see you guys later,” she says.
“Bye!” Max says.
The two of you walk away from them and towards the exit of the mall, “Did you have fun?”
“Yeah,” she says, “It was, did you find everything you were looking for?”
“Got a new pair of shorts,” you tell her, “What did you eat for lunch?”
“I went to the pretzel place after the movie,” she tells you as you push through the doors.
Your mom is parked in front of the mall and the two of you get in, “Did the two of you have fun?”
“Yeah,” you tell her.
“I made some new friends,” Tee tells her.
“Oh, yeah,” your mom says, “and what about you?”
“I think I met someone,” you tell her.
“Great!” she says and starts the car, “I picked up the paint and wallpaper for your rooms so we can paint tomorrow.”
“Okay,” you tell her.
“Awh, but Mike invited me to hang out at his house with everyone tomorrow,” Tee complains.
“You can at least help me with the first wall,” your mom says, “Then you can go over to Mike’s, which means the earlier we get it done the sooner you can go over.”
“Okay,” Tee says, even though it’s clear she isn’t happy with this either.
“Are you okay with painting by yourself?” your mom asks.
“Yeah,” you tell her, “That's fine.”
The next day is full of paint and music, given that you were painting by yourself you can listen to your Walkman. By the end of the day, your room is all finished and you just have to wait a few weeks before hanging anything up. You decidedly pass out for a third day in a row in your bed.
The next morning you wake up to complete silence which is unusual. When you walk downstairs you find a note from your mom on the counter saying that she was gone and Tee was at Mike’s again. You go over to your purse and take out the napkin Robin wrote her number on.
Then you dial the number from the napkin. The line rings long enough that you are sure you will be met with an answering machine, until the line clicks.
“Hello?” a woman answers.
“Hi,” you greet, “Is Robin there?”
“Yeah,” she says, “Give me a minute.”
On the other end of the line, you hear her call Robin from somewhere in the house. After a minute you hear the phone being picked up and hear Robin, “Hello?”
“Hey, Robin,” you say to her, “I was wondering if you wanted to come over?”
“I uh- yeah,” she says, “That sounds fun.”
“Okay,” you say, “My address is 547 Jefferson.”
“I will be there in like half an hour,” she tells you.
“Okay, see you then.”
Robin was not prepared to meet you. She was awkward and said stupid shit, all the things she mercilessly teased Steve about. All of this combined made it obvious to her that you wouldn't want to see her again, but you had sat down with her yesterday and today you were inviting her over. Someone like you shouldn't be hanging out with her, someone like Steve would make more sense. But you seemed uninterested in Steve, not that she could blame you.
“Hey,” Robin shouts from her doorway, “I’m leaving in a little bit.”
“Okay,” her mom shouts back from somewhere in the house.
The fact is that Robin just doesn’t understand what you want from her still, she gets ready to leave. Today has been especially hot unfortunately so Robin wears a pair of shorts and a tank top, with of course her red Converse. The walk doesn't take too long thankfully and when she gets to your house there appears to be no one home.
Robin walks up the footpath to your front door and rings the doorbell. It’s silent for a moment until she hears someone running down the stairs. A moment later you are opening the door smiling at her, “Hey,”
“Hi,” she says coming into your house, noticing how out of breath you are, “Are you okay.”
“Oh- uh yeah,” you tell her, “I was just rearranging my room a little bit.”
“Do you need any help?” she asks you.
“No,” you tell her, “I just got done.”
You start walking away so Robin follows you into the kitchen. She watches as you grab two cokes from the fridge and open them, you hand her one and take a sip out of the other.
“So, what did you want to do?” she asks.
“I don’t know,” you tell her, “We could watch a movie or listen to some music in my room, whatever you want to do.”
“A movie sounds nice,” she says.
“Okay,” you say, “Do you wanna pick out the movie?”
“Uh- yeah,” she says, “Where are they?”
“Inside the TV stand,” you tell her, “I will make some popcorn.”
After this, it was like you and Robin were inseparable. Whenever Robin wasn't at work she was at your hour or you were at hers. Until work started taking longer due to the increasing heat. Then you and Robin only started seeing each other on the days she wasn’t working. But by late June Robin was exhausted.
“I wish someone else would apply to work my shift,” she tells you on one of her rare days off.
You are both in her bedroom, you are sitting on the ground with your back to the bed while Robin is dramatically hanging off the side of the bed. Today was a record hot day for June and it was killing the both of you.
“At least your job is air-conditioned,” you tell her, “My mom told me to either get a job or help out with the house. I got stuck on fixing up the flowerbeds.”
Robin stays quiet for a minute, “I have an idea,” she says, “Why don’t you apply to Scoops?”
“Ugh, no,” you tell her, “I would have to wear that ugly outfit and listen to annoying music all day.”
“Come on, please,” she says and bats her eyes at you.
“Oh, fuck off,” you tell her laughing and flicking her forehead.
“We would work together,” she says, “It would be so much fun!”
“And I didn’t even mention Steve,” you tell her, “He wouldn’t leave me alone.”
“Honestly if you tell him you aren’t interested he would probably leave you alone,” she says.
“Really?” you ask her.
“Yeah,” she says, “He might be a bit of a douchebag but he knows what no means.”
You laugh at that, “You really want to spend every day with me?” you ask.
“Yeah,” she says, “You would make work way more tolerable.”
“Only tolerable?” you ask with a raised eyebrow.
“You know what I mean,” she says, “So will you?”
“I will think about it,” you promise.
And that promise leads you to a few days later, standing in Scoops Ahoy being trained by Steve and Robin on how to scoop ice cream and how to greet customers. Thankfully Steve has left you alone for the most part instead of just focusing on training you. Robin was very excited when you told her, promising that you would love working with her.
Tonight was the second night you were working which means you were done with training. Steve and Robin were both confident you could handle yourself. Like most nights the mall was packed, you had been working for what felt like forever and it's not even close to closing time yet. Back at home, Tee was gone most days at Mike’s or wherever else she goes, your mom is slowly redoing the house, and your dad was working most days except for the weekends.
“What are you doing this weekend?” Robin asks you from the register.
“I don’t know,” you tell her, “Probably nothing.”
“You should spend the night at my house,” she says.
“Yeah,” you say, “That sounds fun.”
Not a moment later Mike, Lucas, Will, Max, and Tee all rush into the ice cream parlor. Robin leans back over the counter, prepared to talk with the younger teens. As soon as the group reaches the counter Mike repeatedly slams the bell trying to be as annoying as possible.
“Hey, Dingus,” Robin calls, “Your children are here.”
Steve opens the sliding partition separating the backroom and store.
“Again?” Steve asks, exhausted with the children, “Seriously?”
Mike presses the bell yet again, while the others look annoyed. Steve relents and leads them to the back where the back hallway entrance is.
“I swear if anyone hears about this,” Steve yells at the kids from the back before returning to the front of the store.
“It’s time for your break,” he says to you.
“I can’t believe you let the kids bully you into this,” you tell him.
“Now that they have your sister the group is too big to argue with,” he tells you.
“Oh please, they walk all over you,” you say, “And you let them.”
Your break is only 15 minutes so you get to eat your snack right away, propping your feet up on the table, and trying to relax. This does happen for a few minutes until the power decides to go out.
“That’s weird,” you hear Steve say from behind the counter.
You put your sandwich down on the table and walk out to the front.
“What is going on?” you ask.
“No idea,” Steve says and then starts flicking the light switch up and down.
“That isn’t gonna work, dingus,” Robin says to him.
“She’s right,” you tell him, “It’s just annoying.”
“Oh, really?” Steve asks then starts flipping the switch faster than before.
You look at Robin and shake your head while rolling your eyes, “He is more than just annoying,” you tell her.
“I know right,” she says.
The lights stay out for another minute and Steve continues his light switch flipping. As soon as the lights come back on Steve gives the two of you a look that says ‘I told you so’.
“Let there be light,” Steve says.
“He didn’t do shit,” you whisper under your breath and Robin laughs.
“What was that?” he asks.
“Nothing,” you tell him, “I’m going to finish my sandwich.”
That night after you are done closing up you finally catch up with Tee, “Hey,” you greet her.
“Hey,” she says back, “How was your day?”
“Ugh,” you moan, “Busy. Did you see the power outage earlier?”
“Yeah,” she says, “It was weird.”
“Mhm,” you agree, “Besides that, was your day good?”
“Yeah,” she says happily, “I had a lot of fun.”
“So you guys are all friends?” you ask.
“Yeah,” she agrees, “They are all super nice.”
“That’s good,” you tell her.
“Are you and Robin friends?” she asks.
“I mean, I think so,” you tell her, “We hang out all the time.”
“Nice,” she says smiling, “Now we both have friends.”
“What are you guys doing tomorrow?” you ask her.
“We are surprising one of their friends,” she tells you, “He was at camp all month, and he's coming back tomorrow.”
“Well that will be fun,” you tell her.
“What about you?” she asks.
“I work again,” you tell her, “But I think I am spending the night at Robins so that will be fun.”
“You should date Steve,” Tee says, which obviously catches you off guard.
“What?” you ask, stopping in your tracks, “No!”
“Why not?” she asks.
“Why do you want me to?” you question.
“Well I think that the two of you would be good together,” she reasons.
“Yeah, absolutely not,” you tell her and continue walking past her.
“Oh, come on,” she says, “He definitely would want to.”
“No,” you say.
“But he would be a good boyfriend,” she tells you, “Mike told me so.”
“Mike? Why did you-” you cut yourself off, “Okay, no, please drop it Tee.”
“Okay,” she relents, “Fine.”
The both of you continue walking out of the mall in silence until you reach your mom's car. You get into the passenger seat and Tee gets into the back.
“How were your days?” your mom asks the two of you.
“Tiring,” you tell her.
“I had fun,” Tee says.
When you return home you go to take a shower and then get ready for bed. After all, it had been a long day.