Steve got a job at Scoops Ahoy for the summer. I've been hanging around with him and his coworker Robin. Steve is sitting in the employee break room as I walk around looking through the drawers and cabinets.
"Why don't you just get a job here?" Steve asks.
"It's more fun to just drop in unannounced and annoy you," I tell him. "Plus, I don't want to wear that stupid hat."
"Tell me about it," Steve says.
I hear the bell ringing on the counter.
"Hey, dingus, your children are here," Robin shouts.
Steve opens the divider between the front counter and the break room in the back.
"Again? Seriously?" Steve asks.
He ushers Mike, Lucas, Will, and Max through the back door. It connects to a hallway that leads to all the other stores in the mall. And much to the delight of the party, the movie theater.
"Come on, come on,' Steve says. They all brush past him into the hallway. "I swear, if anybody hears about this..."
"We're dead!" they all say.
Steve sighs as he closes the door and turns back to me.
"You know we would have killed to get into movies for free at their age," I tell him.
"Yeah, you're right," Steve tells me.
"Aren't I always?" I tease.
Suddenly the power goes out.
"That's weird," Steve says.
He starts to flick the light switch on and off. It obviously doesn't do anything.
"That isn't gonna work, dingus," Robin tells him.
"Oh, really?" Steve asks as he continues to flip the switch.
After a minute the lights come back on. And the music starts to play.
"Let there be light," Steve says.
"That was strange," I say.
Steve nods. "All the electricity this mall uses there's bound to be short."
I nod my head. "Still."
Billy got a summer job as a lifeguard at the pool. It's nice. He has nights off. And he's gotten a pretty stellar tan. Everyone at the pool is always drooling over him.
I watch as Billy walks out of the locker room smoking a cigarette. He stops walking and blows his whistle.
"Hey, lard-ass!" Billy shouts. Everyone goes quiet. "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 shakes his head. "Didn't think so."
He blows his whistle again and everyone goes back to what they were doing. Billy walks past a row of moms, all shamelessly checking him out.
"Afternoon, ladies," Billy greets.
"Afternoon, Billy," they all say.
"Dig the new suit, Mrs. Wheeler," Billy tells her.
Mrs. Wheeler smiles. "Thank you."
Billy smiles as he sees me standing next to the lifeguard chair.
"Third morning you're here this week," Billy tells mer. He wraps his arms around me.
I smile. "I've gotta make sure these moms know you're mine," I tell him.
I pull Billy closer to me and into a kiss. If Billy wasn't the lifeguard in charge, I'm sure we would be getting in trouble for our heated display.
As I pull away, I can notice all of the moms watching us. They're scowling at me like they have a chance with Billy.
"I don't think they liked our show," Billy teases.
I laugh. "Doesn't matter if they didn't. I did."
"Consider it a preview for later," Billy tells me.
I feel myself blush slightly. "Call me when you get off work."
Billy nods. "Yeah." He pulls me in for another kiss. "I'll see you later."
I sit with Robin in the break room at Scoops Ahoy as Steve works the counter. I've really gotten to like Robin.
"I don't know how you've been friends with him so long," Robin tells me.
I laugh. "I didn't really have a choice. We've lived next to each other our whole lives. He's always just kinda been there."
"It must be tiring," Robin says.
"It helps to have other friends," I reason. "So, I can escape for a few minutes."
I hear Steve trying to hit on two girls.
"Alrighty, one scoop of chocolate. That's a buck-twenty-five. Anything else?" Steve asks. "Ooh, Purdue. Fancy."
"Yeah, I'm excited," the girl says.
"Yeah, you know, I considered it, Purdue, but then I was like, you know what? I really think I need some real-life experience, you know, before I hit college, see what it feels like," Steve says. "Kinda like, uh, I don't know, see what it's like to earn a working-man's wage, you know? Uh..." The register starts to make a sound that I would describe as bad. "Oh, I'm sorry. I think that's, like, really important."
"Yeah, totally," the girl says.
"Yeah, anyway, this was, like, so fun. We should kind of like, you know, I don't know, maybe hang out this weekend or..." Steve asks as he drops the girl's change on the counter. "Oh, sorry about that. Uh... I don't know. Maybe next weekend or..."
"Yeah, I'm busy," the girl says.
"Oh, that's cool. I'm... I'm working here next weekend, so... the following weekend's better for me," Steve says.
"No. I'm sorry, I can't," the girl says. "Okay. Thanks."
"I... This is... my first day here," Steve says.
The girls laugh as they walk away.
Robin stands in the window of the dividing wall with her white board. She has a running tally of every time Steve has hit on a girl and failed and one for every time he's succeeded. So far, he has missed six times and succeeded none.
"And another one bites the dust. You are oh-for-six, Popeye," Robin says as she makes another mark.
"Yeah, yeah, I can count," Steve assures her.
"You know that means you suck," Robin tells him.
"Yep, I can read, too," Steve says.
"Since when?" I ask.
"It's this stupid hat," Steve insists. "I am telling you; it is totally blowing my best feature."
"Yeah, company policy is a real drag," Robin says. "You know, it's a crazy idea, but have you considered... telling the truth?"
"Oh, you mean, that I couldn't even get into Tech and my douchebag dad's trying to teach me a lesson, I make three bucks an hour, and I have no future? That truth?" Steve asks.
Robin gestures to four girls walking into the store. "Hey, twelve o'clock."
Steve looks over his shoulder. "Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Okay... Uh... I'm going in. Okay? And you know what?" Steve rips the hat off of his head. "Screw company policy."
"Oh, my God, you're a whole new man," Robin teases.
"Right? Ooh." Steve turns back to the counter. "Ahoy, ladies! Didn't see you there." The girls jump slightly surprised by how loud Steve is. "Would you guys like to set sail on this ocean of flavor with me? I'll be your captain. I'm Steve Harrington." The girls laugh. "Can I get you guys a little taste of the Cherries Jubilee? No? Anybody? Banana Boat? Four people, four spoons? Share it in the booth? Anybody? It's hot out there."
I laugh as Robin makes another tally under the you suck column.
I use the phone in the break room to call my own boyfriend.
"Hey, Billy," I greet.
"Hey, Sweetheart," Billy says.
"I'm at the mall and I was thinking that you could come meet me. We could go see St. Elmo's Fire," I offer.
"I can't tonight," Billy tells me.
"Oh," I say, surprised. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing important. I just have to do some stuff for my dad. You know how he'll get if I don't," Billy tells me.
"Yeah. Okay," I tell him.
"You can swing by the pool in the morning," Billy tells me. "We could have some fun in the employee locker room."
I laugh. "If you behave."
"I gotta go," Billy tells me.
"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow," I tell him.
I turn to Steve. "I guess you're stuck with me."
Steve smiles. "I've never been stuck with you."