Lovefool . . . Steve Harrington²

one

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i. vanilla sundae
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"Have a nice day!" Olivia spoke enthusiastically, handing a middle aged woman a mango-pineapple smoothie. As the woman walked away, Olivia adjusted her Orange Julius name tag.

   "Must you be so happy?" Vincent, Olivia's long-time friend and coworker, groaned as he rubbed his temples.

   "Must you not go to parties and drink enough vodka for the two of us?" she asked in a mocking tone.

   "Hey, if you don't want to go to parties, that's not my decision. It's also not my decision to miss you and drink double the amount I normally do so I can pretend you're with me." he grinned lightly as he leaned on the front counter of the store.

   "That made no sense." Olivia responded, cracking a smile.

   "When do I ever make sense?" Vincent sighed as he picked himself up from the counter.

   "You know, I think this is the longest hangover you've ever had. If its eight now, and last night's party started at eleven, i'd say you're well on your way to the twenty-four hour mark." she contemplated, glimpsing at her watch.

   "Is that so?" he sighed.

   "Speaking of eight, I gotta' go." Olivia spoke hastily, grabbing her bag from under the front counter and walking towards the swinging door that led to the rest of the parlor.

   "You can't leave me here! I suck at this job!" he griped, grabbing for her navy blue book bag.

   "No can do, Captain Morgan, I promised the boys and Max i'd do them a favor." she spoke as she shimmied out of his reach.

   "Olivia!" he shouted after her, gaining the attention of most of the people in the Orange Julius. She walked through the food court of the Starcourt Mall, the newest-and most neon-attraction in Hawkins. Though Olivia detested what the mall had done to the town's economy, the air conditioned, well paying job she had at Orange Julius was amazing.

   As she made her way through the food court, her eyes landed on the sailor-suit clad girl that stood behind the counter of a ice cream shop named Scoops Ahoy. A chuckle escaped her lips as she thought back to last Halloween nostalgically.

   "Olivia!" the sound of her name being called made the girl whip her head around. Behind her was a group of four young teens dashing towards her. She should have guessed it was them from the voice; Lucas, Mike, Max and Will were four out of six of the children she both tutored and befriended.

   "Hey, guys." she spoke happily as she looked at them.

   "Did you bring the snacks?" Mike asked hastily.

   "Yeah, I have them." she sighed, pulling her backpack to the side and beginning to unzip it, "So much for a 'Hi, Olivia.'"

   "Hi, Olivia!" Lucas exclaimed, beaming.

   "Hi, Lucas." Olivia responded, grinning at his enthusiasm. Max smacked him over the head, making the eldest girl giggle.

   "Come on, Olivia! Let's go!" Mike huffed, gripping his hair as Olivia began to dig cans of pop and bags of chips from her bag.

   "Ok, ok." she mumbled in reply. As soon as the four got their food, they were off towards Scoops Ahoy. Olivia lagged behind, though, as she had to make sure Dart, her handlebar, remained safe in her bag.

   "Hey, dingus, your children are here." she heard Robin, one of her best friends, say as she walked into Scoops. As soon as Robin spoke, the sliding window behind her, which presumably led to the break room, opened, revealing a nineteen-year-old boy with big hair.

   "Again? Seriously?" Steve asked in annoyance, looking at the kids.

   "You took on the responsibility when you babysat them." Olivia said, leaning her elbows on the front counter.

  "Babysat them? That was one time and it was a formality. You teach them out of your own free will." he responded with a scoff.

   "I don't-"

   "We're gonna' miss the previews!" Mike exclaimed shutting up the two.

   "Come on." Steve groaned, pushing open the door to the break room. The kids and Olivia filed through, and Steve led them to another door within the break room. He unlocked and the four young teens immediately flew past him towards the staff entrance of the movie theatre.

   "I swear if anyone hears about this-"

   "-we're dead!" the kids chanted, finishing his sentence as always.

   "They become bigger assholes everyday, don't they?" Olivia asked with a sigh.

   "But yet we still tolerate those little shits." Steve responded, placing a hand on Olivia's shoulder. As soon as he did it, butterflies spilled into her stomach.

   "Let's, uh, go get ice cream." she spoke hesitantly, walking out of his reach towards the front counter of Scoops, "I want-"

   "A vanilla sundae with a little hot fudge, a lot of caramel, whipped cream, crushed peanuts and a cherry that you waste because you hate that taste but it looks, and I quote, 'so cute.'" he recited, making Olivia's once queasy stomach settle.

   "You can remember that but forget what our state capital is." she mocked.

   "Oh, look who it is," Robin began as they walked through the break room doors, "Jake and Sam, back from their cute little date."

   "Enough already." Steve groaned, grabbing a small paper cup to make Olivia's sundae.

   "Yeah, Steve is light years out of my league." Olivia commented in a sarcastic tone.

   "Oh, am I?" he asked, turning to her with a fake quizzical look.

   "Maybe fix your hair-"

   "I think you you like my hair-"

   "I-"

   As Olivia began to speak, the lights shut off, bathing not only Scoops Ahoy, but the entire Starcourt Mall in darkness. Groans and complaints sounded throughout the mall as everyone looked around for a logical explanation.

   "That's weird." Steve murmured, walking towards the light switch.

   "The universe got sick of your disgusting flirting." Robin gagged.

   "Love you too, Rob." Olivia responded dryly. After a moment, Steve began to flip the light switch, causing Robin to sigh.

   "That isn't gonna' work, dingus." she scoffed, crossing her arms.

   "Oh, really?" he asked mockingly as he began to rapidly flip the switch back and forth. Olivia looked around the mall, beginning to feel anxious. Everything just felt too familiar.

   Soon enough, though, the mall's vibrant neon lights flicked on, provoking cheers from all of the shoppers and staff.

   "Let there be light." Steve spoke simply, shrugging as he reached for his scooper. Not everything settled within Olivia, though, as she stared at the frosted glass sliding window, goosebumps forming on her arms.