Don't Blame Me ➵ Steve Harrington

fifty

"I bet." Dylan said. "I'll still take my chances on the backseat."

Dylan climbed in after Mike. She was immediately met with the overwhelming scent of pot. "Jesus, it reeks in here doesn't it?"

Mike and Will nodded. "Yup. I'd say you get used to it but..."

"Noted."

Dylan sat behind the two boys and leaned back against the van window, letting her legs spread out in front of her. She closed her eyes and hoped for the best as Argyle screeched out of her apartment building parking lot.

Dylan didn't have anything against reggae music, actually under other circumstances, she might have found it relaxing. But they'd been driving for a couple hours now and it was the only music Argyle had on any of his tapes. Dylan was relieved when the pulled into a gas station off the highway just so she could have a moment of peace and quiet and some fresh air.

She pulled some cash out of her bag. "You guys want anything?" Dylan asked the boys.

"Could you get my a slushie?" Will looked hesitant to ask. "Please?"

Dylan smiled. "Of course. Mike?"

"Same. A blue one." Mike was not as polite.

"Got it."

Dylan picked a handful of snacks and filled three blue slushies and walked up the the counter. She laid it all down for the cashier to ring in. The cashier looked to be a guy her age, maybe twenty-two at most. He had long floppy hair and a boyish look to him, that made him seem more approachable than most people.

"That everything?" If it weren't for his deep, husky voice and the name tag that read DAN, he almost reminded her of Steve Harrington.

"Yeah, that's everything. Thank you." Dylan said, her gaze lingering on the guy a second longer than it should've. The bell over the door and Argyle barreling inside to pay for gas snapped her out of her thoughts. She took her bag and carefully placed the three slushies in her hands in a way that assured she wouldn't drop them.

Jonathan saw her coming and opened the door of the van for her. It didn't take long for her to become empty-handed. "Oh, awesome!" Mike said at the sight of his slushie. He took it from her eagerly and took a large swig.

"Thanks, Dylan." Said Will as he grabbed his.

"No worries." Dylan said back as sat back down in her spot by the window. She threw the plastic bag in the middle of them. "There's some snacks in there too."

Argyle joined them a minute later and they were back on the road. The van was back to reggae tunes and Argyle loudly singing along.

Mike took a large sip of his slushie and it made that painful slurping noise that happens when the straw touched the bottom of the cup. Dylan winced in annoyance. "I'm sorry," he said, another large slurp. "But I've got to address the elephant in the room if no one else will. It's been bugging all day."

"What the hell happened between you and Harrington?" Mike said in a burst.

Dylan's brow furrowed. "What do you mean? I'd say we're at least... civil acquaintances now. After everything."

"I am so confused." Mike muttered. "You're acting like you hardly know him!"

"Yeah," Will turned to look back at Dylan, nodding his head in agreement with Mike. "It's a little weird. You're acting like you guys never even dated?"

Jonathan turned around in the the front seat. "Wait—You were dating Steve? I didn't know that."

"Wait, wait, what?" Dylan exclaimed, not understanding the conversation happening around her. "Me and Steve? Are you guys high?"

"Argyle, I think you've gotta stop smoking weed in here. I think these boys have been hotboxed." Dylan shouted up at Argyle. He just laughed in the front seat.

Will and Mike looked at each other then at Dylan and then at Jonathan. "Are you trying to fuck with us?" Mike said.

"No..." Dylan said slowly. "I genuinely have no idea what you're talking about. Did Steve say something to you? 'Cause I'll kill him."

It was bad enough the Steve had blabbed to Tommy H. they had slept together. He didn't need to mention it to a crew of fourteen year olds.

"Did Steve say anything to us?" Mike scrunched up his face.

"Dylan, you've literally been dating Steve since senior year." Will finished for Mike, who looked so confused he'd forgotten how to speak. "Jonathan, you're telling me you didn't figure that out? Why do you think they spent so much time together."

"Steve?" Dylan repeated. "I dated Billy Hargrove in senior year."

Mike gagged. "Don't remind us. Then you dumped him for Steve."

"That's hilarious." Dylan chuckled. "You're fucking with me, right?"

Mike and Will whispered to each other. "Yeah... we're fucking with you," said Mike hesitantly. Will nodded.

Dylan got comfy in her spot again and sipped on her slushie. Mike and Will continued to talk to each other in hushed whispers but Dylan couldn't be bothered to listen in. It was probably about Dungeons and Dragons or Mike's recent girl problems.

She closed her eyes and tried to tune out everything going on around her. What Mike said was still bothering her. It was a weird joke for Will and Mike to make. Her and Steve. They were hardly even friends anymore; she was still angry he had lied to her for so long about Barb. That was just something she couldn't get over and things were never the same.

But she still couldn't stop thinking about it. Her and Steve.