001 the last good day
Eden Lowe had always loved summer. It was the time where she could let her worries go and just have fun. Each summer usually went the same, she would work at the Hawkins pool and then she'd spend time with Heather Holloway. That's how it had always been and Eden lived for it.
She didn't see a need for things to be different then that. Why change what works when it works. Sometimes her siblings would even come around for a swim, all of them finding that was the only time they had to spend together over the busy summers.
Eden's little sister Lizzy was often away at some camp for geniuses or something, Eden had never understood it. Her older sister Wren often ran the family company their parents left for them before their passing (which in Eden's opinion is way too depressing to talk about), and her older brother (by 10 months) would often spend time with his best friend James.
Everyone had their own thing, but sometimes they'd come together at the pool.
Though today was not one of those days. Today Eden sat behind the front desk with her legs up as she just waited for her shift. It was a busy day but nothing interesting had happened.
So, Eden and her coworker Katie started a small game called how many middle aged women are going to stare at Billy as he walked by. And then they created a second part called who's the unlucky lady who's shift is after Billy's.
The two found it exciting as they giggled to each other, poking their heads far enough to see the lifeguard tower where Heather was sitting. Billy's shift would start in a minute and the two were ready.
"Poor Heather, the girl is just doing her job and those women hate her." Eden giggled, peaking towards the group of (who she assumed to be) mothers that had zero intentions of swimming at all.
Heather looked towards Katie and Eden, holding up her wrist and pointing towards where a clock would sit. Katie sent Heather a thumbs up, indicating the girls shift was over.
And so Heather began descending. Eden immediately noticed how the women began to straighten themselves up and touch up on their makeup. She slightly nudged Katie, laughing quietly as she tried her hardest not to outright point at the women.
Katie began laughing a bit as well, the two getting the attention of Adam. "What's so funny?" Neither girl looked back towards him, just ushering for him to come stand over by them. He did and tried to follow where their eyes where going. "Oh them? They're here everyday what's the big deal?"
Katie looked back at Adam as Eden watched the women glare daggers at Heather. "The big deal is that we're bored and we are finding so much enjoyment from seeing how obvious these women will be with their attraction towards Billy." Adam looked confused. "What?"
Eden sighed. "Just watch."
The three watched as Billy came out of the back room, smoking a cigarette as he walked past kids. Heather smiled at him, walking past to go towards where the rest of her friends where while Billy turned and blew his whistle.
Everything quieted down instantly, all faces turning towards Billy including Eden's. "Hey, lard-ass! No running on my watch! I gotta warn you again, and you're banned for life. You wanna be banned for life, lard-ass?" The boy shook his head no. "Didn't think so." Billy blew the whistle again to signal for everyone to go back to what they were doing.
Billy walked past the group of women and Eden watched as they spoke with him, eying the teen like predators looking for prey. And then Billy made it to the lifeguard chair.
"Hey." Heather smiled, walking towards the three from the back door. Eden smiled, turning to her best friend for a moment before turning back again. "Hey Heather."
Eden then turned to Adam. "See? They all have the hots for him it's really fun to watch." Adam just chuckled, shaking his head. "Is this really the most intriguing thing you could find to spend time on?" Eden and Katie looked to each other for a moment before both looking back at Adam with nods. "Yes."
Adam just chuckled. "Okay, you two have fun." He walked off to do something else, what Eden didn't know. Heather smiled a bit before her eyes drifted a bit towards Billy. Katie caught it with a laugh. "Oh, don't tell me you have a thing for him too."
Heather turned to Katie with wide eyes, chuckling a bit. "What gives you that idea?" Eden laughed along, throwing her head back. "Oh we've lost another one."
"He's cute!" Heather defended, causing both girls to just laugh even more. They didn't disagree, but for some reason they both found it hilarious just how many girls and women were infatuated with Billy.
Katie moved over to the schedule, looking for her name. "Oh shit, I'm next." Eden's face scrunched up. "Damn I'm sorry." Katie just shrugged. "Whatever, I'll walk over like a runway model and just wait to hear what they have to say."
Katie walked off as well, leaving Eden and Heather alone. "Hey! Eden!" Eden turned around at the sound of her name and looked confused as she made eye contact with Wren and Lizzie, one of whom did not look happy to be dragged to the pool.
"Uh, hi? Liz what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at your camp today?" Eden wondered, going closer towards the two to meet them at the front desk. Lizzie sent a glance towards Wren. "Someone thought I needed a day off to and I quote "be a kid for once" or something."
Eden's eyebrows raised. "Okay... and uh, why does that bring you to the place you decided was your reading spot?" Lizzie just shrugged. Wren ran a hand through her hair. "I just need your help here, Eden. I'm swamped with work and thought today would be a fun day I could take Lizzie out but turns out everything's gone to shit and I need to be somewhere. Which is where you come in cause I need you to hang out with her."
Eden chuckled. "Wren she's 15 not 5... she doesn't need a babysitter." Lizzie put her hand out towards Eden. "Thank you." Wren sighed. "Just— please? The two of you can hang out or ignore each other and go on with your days, I don't care. I just need to be able to leave knowing she's safe."
Eden bit her lip before nodding. "Yeah, Wren sure. I've got her." Wren smiled thankfully. "Thank you. Liz, have fun and don't be a bitch." Lizzie chuckled. "No promises." Eden smirked. "Okay Liz hop the counter just like I taught you." Wren sent Eden a jokingly warning look before walking off with a wave.
"So, are you reading or are you gonna join me on my shift?" Eden wondered. Lizzie shrugged. "I guess I'll hang out with you... I didn't bring a book."
Eden chuckled. "Ooh okay am I that lame?" Lizzie smirked a bit. "You said it I didn't." Eden moved forwards and pushed Lizzie's head. "You're a little shit I hope you know that. Now hurry up I'm after Katie so we have to look out for that."
———————
Eden continued to sit around with her sister for most of the rest of her day. She had already finished her shift and it was once again Billy, so once Katie was done with her second shift and Eden went again, she could go home.
Luckily for her, she wasn't working the evening today and could find something to do after work. Instantly Edens mind went to the new mall in Hawkins, Starcourt. She hadn't had much time to go lately and wanted to look around.
"Is that Mrs. Wheeler talking with Billy?" Lizzie asked, causing Eden to look up and get instantly nosy. "Nancy's mom?" Eden replied, eyebrows pushing together. Lizzie nodded and the two sisters both leaned over the counter to watch as Billy laughed with Mrs. Wheeler, who looked flustered.
Suddenly Mrs. Wheeler dropped her towel and both Billy and the woman went to grab it, chuckling as they did so. "Oh, they so want to fuck." Lizzie noted. Eden turned to her sister fast in shock. "Elizabeth!"
"What? We were both thinking it." Lizzie replied with a shrug. Eden didn't reply, she had no idea how to respond to the 15-year-old. "That is not the most shocking thing I've said before." Lizzie continued, not liking Edens silence.
"It was just unexpected I thought you were more classy than that." Eden jokingly replied, sending a small smirk towards her sister. Lizzie chuckled. "That is an assumption you should not be making, I live with you how in the world would I be classy."
"You're a bitch I hope you know that." Eden laughed, shaking her head as Lizzie beamed at her. "Awe, I love you too."
"Hey, Eden." Adam spoke, walking towards the sisters. He noticed her position was once again and chuckled, looking towards the lifeguard tower to see Billy going back up as Mrs. Wheeler walked away. Eden turned around quickly, a small smile on her face as she looked towards Adam. "Hey there. What's up?"
Adam turned his attention back to the girl. "You're free to head out, if you'd like." Eden looked at him confused. "But I still have one more shift." Adam shrugged. "I can cover. You're here late tomorrow anyways, take your sister home or you guys do something fun."
Eden went to thank Adam but was quickly quieted by her sister. "She'll take it, thank you." Eden chuckled with a nod. "Thanks."
"No problem." Adam replied, walking away from the two. Lizzie looked at her sister. "Hurry up and change, I've smelled enough chlorine for one day." Eden smiled. "Okay give me a second."
Eden headed towards her locker and opened it up, changing as quickly as she could. When she walked back out, Lizzie stood up excitedly and headed towards Edens car.
Eden stopped quickly, giving Heather a hug goodbye before jogging towards the car when Lizzie yelled for her. Eden opened the drivers side door as Lizzie hopped into the passenger side and shut her door. "Where are we going?"
"Starcourt." Eden replied, turned the car on and putting it into reverse. The drive from the pool to the mall wasn't a long one and once the sisters were inside, they quickly split apart and chose a meeting location.
Eden walked around for a bit, checking random stores as she went. She wasn't there for anything in particular, just wanted to see what it was like. As she went to walk past Scoops Ahoy, Eden looked inside before catching Robin Buckleys eye, another girl from her year.
Robin waved and Eden smiled, waving back before walking into the ice cream shop. "Hey Robin." Eden spoke, standing off to the side of the counter. "Hey! How's it going?" Robin questioned with her own smile.
"It's good! I didn't know you were working in the mall." Eden noted, looking around at the ice cream shop. It was cute, definitely spirited for America. Robin rolled her eyes with a smile, showing just how excited, or not, she was. "Gotta make money somehow, right?"
A few kids then walked up to the counter and Robin groaned, turning towards Eden. "Give me a second, I'm gonna get the coworker to do it." Eden laughed, nodding a bit as Robin went into the back room before coming back with non other than Steve Harrington.
Edens eyebrows raised, not expecting King Steve to be working at an ice cream shop in the mall. When Robin made her way back over to Eden, she noted where the girls line of sight was. "So weird, right? Never would have pegged him for a minimum wage worker like the rest of us."
Eden chuckled, her attention going back to Robin. "I bet he's flirting more than actually working. Especially since Nancy dropped him for Byers at the first chance she got." Robin nodded in agreement before she remembered something. "I need to show you something."
She ran into the back again before coming back out with a small whiteboard. She turned it towards Eden, allowing the girl to see the scoreboard between you suck and you rock, you suck having 7 tally marks while you rock had 0. "I like to think of it as my experiment. How many times he crash and burns by the end of the summer."
"No— Robin why do you need to take the board out? No one needs to see the board." Steve spoke, walking over to the girls after he finished with the customers. "I'm just showing my friend here how much you suck, it's nothing to be ashamed of."
Steve sighed, giving Eden a small glance. "Hey." Eden put her hand up as a small wave. "Hi." Steve turned his attention back to Robin. "Can we get back to working now instead of embarrassing me at any chance you get?" Robins eyes widened. "Okay, okay don't get your panties in a twist." Robin turned to Eden with a small smile. "It was good to see you again, come hang anytime."
Eden smiled back, nodding her head. "Will do. See ya." Eden began walking out, but not before hearing a new, loud, conversation start between the two coworkers. "Who was that?" Steve wondered, watching Eden leave. Robin rolled her eyes. "You have like, no chance."
Eden chuckled to herself before checking the clock in the mall, seeing that it was time to meet up with her sister and go home. She made it to the fountain to see Lizzie already sitting there waiting, a new book in her hands that was already a third of the way done.
"Okay nerd, let's get home." Eden spoke, announcing her presence to her sister. "Finally, I thought we'd never leave."
AUTHORS NOTE!
this took me way too long to get out oops. but I'm very excited for this story and more will be out later! It's summer now for me so I'll have much more time to actually write and create the story! hope you're as excited as I am for eden and steve!