𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐍 𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐌 彡 [b. hargrove] [✔]

─ 𝐭𝐰𝐨.

"I see just one minor flaw with your mastermind plan: Scoops Ahoy is in the food court so I don't know how—Wait a minute. You sneaky little slut, you just wanna flirt and ogle at Steve Harrington like a mindless weirdo."

Magdalena smirked pridefully once the typical teenage girl-esque accusations she laid against Lulu left her perfectly symmetrical lips. With her arms crossed over her chest victoriously, Magdalena felt inclined to lean back against the handrail of the escalator and peer at her best friend who was—by this point—having trouble keeping her composure upon the name of her crush being mentioned in casual conversation. It was no secret that Lulu Hayashi was absolutely smitten by the idea of pursuing a relationship with Steve Harrington.

From Magdalena's perspective, the Harrington kid was a stuck up douchebag with hair bigger than his brain. It didn't help Magdalena's opinion that Billy had a vendetta against Steve which was petty hatred left over from their high school days. In return, Steve had a lack of respect for Magdalena because she was dating an asshole. But Steve didn't know the Billy that Magdalena knew. No one did. He held onto a tough guy façade for intimidation purposes and to gain admiration amongst his fellow guys. But Billy was so much more than just a scumbag plagued by anger issues.

The awkward and noticeably fake laugh that tumbled from Lulu's mouth destroyed Magdalena's ability to gloat any longer. With a suspicious arch of an eyebrow, the brunette turned away from her friend just in time to see that they had made it to the ground level of the enormous building. As the best friends began walking toward the well-known and very popular ice cream place, the Hayashi girl was digging herself a nice, Lulu-sized hole. Magdalena seemed to enjoy it according to the grin painted across her glossed lips.

"Hah, yeah right. You have no proof of that. Honestly, I'm sensing a smidge of bitterness because your boytoy refused to get a summer job at Starcourt. And by the way, Scoops Ahoy is, like, on the edge of the food court so, technically, I'm in the clear. There's literally nothing going on besides the fact that I wanna eat some ice cream before I pass out from this heat."

Lulu damn near whined out from the embarrassment as she reached out to grab Magdalena's hand to pull her in the direction of Scoops Ahoy. Though as much as the brunette was tempted to fiendishly find hilarity in Lulu's overemphasized misery, the random mention of Billy left Magdalena utterly stunned. It only reminded the girl that she had not received an early morning call from her boyfriend. That phone call was an unspoken routine between the couple and Magdalena's morning pick-me-up—a better alternative than a cup of bitter black coffee. Ever since last night, Magdalena had not heard from Billy.

Suddenly the brunette was beginning to grow worried about her boyfriend's well-being. Was she just being too hysterical? Possibly. But what if—Magdalena thought—What if something did happen? No. Absolutely not. That was stupid. The brunette concluded she being was a fucking idiot—a dramatic dumbass. She wasn't thinking rationally. Nothing happened in Hawkins, like, ever. Billy was probably just not in the mood to talk or he had an earlier shift at the pool. Everything had an explanation. Plain and simple.

But once the saccharine smell inside of the ice cream parlor slipped into Magdalena's nostrils and toyed with her senses, the brunette had no choice but to bring herself back to reality. And what really mattered at the current moment in time was enjoying her lunch break with her best friend. Magdalena was shocked to find Scoops Ahoy relatively empty compared to the crowds that would otherwise show up during midday. The brunette wished she could be as lucky to have a slow day at Pet Paradise. But alas, fate adored to torture her.