Hawkins Unraveling

CH 3 : Asking Questions

After the night before, the last thing June really wanted to do was go see Steve, but she felt like she didn't really have a choice. Robin would be counting on her, sure to have details about her time with Vickie to share, and she had no clue about what happened after she had left. It wasn't her fault Steve didn't know how to back off, but what June didn't understand was why he'd been acting so intense. He was the one who blew her off at the game because of his date. He had no right to intervene with her choices when she wasn't intervening with his.

June biked to Family Video slowly, contemplating things. Cool June would have handled last night better. Even better, Cool June probably would have told Steve off before leaving with Eddie. Real June did almost half of that, but without the right effect.

Her head was bothering her again. She'd managed to sleep much better last night than the night before, but the headache she'd had for most of the day before was far worse. It felt like her head was about to split in half, and if she knew it would bring her relief, she'd split it herself.

After a grueling ride, June brought her bike to a stop next to Steve's car. She stared at it for a moment, wondering what would have happened if she had let him drive her home the night before. Would he have apologized? Would they have talked things out and smoothed them over? How would they be today after her abrupt dismissal of him last night?

With a sigh, she reached into her bag for her pack of Twizzlers only to find she'd left them at home. "Damn it." Feeling extra defeated now, she pushed her way into the store.

Robin and Steve were huddled behind the counter, talking low but gesturing broadly. Steve seemed frustrated, and Robin looked angry. At the sound of the door, both turned to see who had come in, and their expressions became very different when they realized it was her. While Robin was excited to see her, Steve looked regretful. He wouldn't even meet her eyes.

"Junie, come talk! I have things to get off my chest!" Robin waved her over with a laugh.

June walked forward, grimacing slightly. "Rob, can we push pause for a quick minute? I really need a sugar fix, and I left my Twizzlers-"

A brand new package of strawberry Twizzlers appeared in front of her at the counter. There was a sloppy sticky note stuck to the plastic– sorry for being an ass.

June looked up to see a sorry expression on Steve's face. "I messed up, June. I should've...I should have been better than that."

June swallowed hard. "Thank you."

Tipping his head at her, Steve moved from behind the counter back into the storage room. As soon as the door had closed, Robin leaned over the counter as close as she could get to June. "I missed everything. What happened last night?"

June's temples throbbed painfully. "I talked to Eddie Munson after the game. Steve lost his date and came over. Both guys offered to take me home. I told them both no and biked home on my own."

Robin pouted. "That's definitely not as dramatic as I feel like it was. Steve came in here all mopey this morning, said he'd screwed up big time."

"He was rude," June told her. "Like really rude. Eddie was just being nice. He even-" June stopped, unsure if she wanted to share that little extra thing that happened before Steve had ever even showed up.

"He even what?" Robin was hooked, the gleam in her eye signaling her desperation for details.

June ran her teeth over her bottom lip. "He was flirting with me. Before Steve."

Robin's eyes went wide. "Oh boy."

"I know."

Robin glanced behind her, back at the storage room. "Does Steve know?"