- THEREFORE I AM -
Act one, chapter one:
Oh captain.
━━━ 🍨 ━━━
Arryn couldn't say her first week at Scoops Ahoy had been entirely successful.
Her first customer had ordered the most foul combination of ice cream she'd heard of and failed to suppress her look of disgust quick enough. She'd ended up losing out on tips and lost a 'loyal customer.'
The second day, as she was carrying a crate of stock to the back room, Steve Harrington decided it would be a brilliant idea to mop the floor at the exact same time. Needless to say, they had to put in a second order.
The shop was always either too cold or too hot, customers complained about nothing and Arryn was made to endure Steve's ceaseless flirting with every girl that entered the parlour.
It was exhausting. Arryn found it all the more harder to remain positive on the mornings she made the journey to Starcourt, harder to keep the bright attitude she had first walked in with. Dramatic as it were, Arryn could confidently say she despised her job.
Robin, she finds, is the only saving grace. She mostly keeps to herself on the rare occasions she isn't bullying Steve, and lets Arryn have free run of the break room when the parlour is exceptionally quiet. Its almost as though she knows when Arryn is either on the verge of a break down or about to stab Steve with the sharp end of the ice cream scooper.
She's grateful that at least Robin isn't as intense as she happened to be in her interview.
"Hey, 'Ryn could you check the storage room for more Pineapple Twist?"
Though, she could do without the nickname. Apparently Arryn took too long to say and before she could make her own comment about the fact there were the same amount of syllables in each of their names, 'Ryn was adopted.
It got worse when even Steve began to use it.
Arryn removes her headphones slowly, tilting her head back to meet Robin's eyes. Her head sticks out from between the sliding doors, waiting for the girl's response. If it weren't for the tiny gap, giving way to the rest of the shop, Arryn would have assumed she had rid herself of her body and become just a floating head.
Arryn nods and pushes herself to her feet. Her back aches in protest, as though it prefers to be bent at a ninety degree angle, hunched over a metal table. She places her walkman carefully on the surface, letting the song play rather than stopping to pause it.
The Scoops Ahoy storage room could hardly be described as anything more than a wardrobe with a light in it. It was tucked away in the farthest corner of the parlour, entirely inconvenient when a staff member needs to get from point A to B with an exceptionally large container of freezing cold ice.
The room expels a thick chill as Arryn pulls the door open. Goosebumps rise on her exposed legs, giving Arryn all the more reason to hate the ridiculous uniform.
The hat wouldn't fit properly on her head, the sleeves jacket dug into her armpits and the skirt was a bit too short to be comfortable. She was specifically instructed to not wear tights with it and heaven forbid she take off any of the accessories. It all seemed somewhat illegal but Arryn was a seventeen year old girl in her first job; her complaints were hardly at the top of any one's corporate list.
Arryn finally locates Pineapple Twist at the back corner of the storage space and after manoeuvring her way through the other containers, using moves Cirque Du Soleil would be proud of, the fruity ice cream is finally within reach. She slams the door shut with her foot, balancing the tub carefully in her hands.
Arryn hastily makes it through the break room and pushes her way through the door, dropping the tub onto the counter. The customers behind jump suddenly and the two girls shoot glares in Arryn's direction, though she hardly pays any mind. She turns to lean against the counter, watching Steve haphazardly drag the scoop through the ice cream in slight amusement.
"One Bubblegum Pop for the lady." His voice is smooth, though his charm is lost on the two girls.
They glance instead to one another before choking out the most shrill noise Arryn has ever had the displeasure of hearing. They take the ice cream with greedy hands and tumble out the shop, still giggling like hyaenas.
"That was painful." Arryn says in her naturally unhelpful nature.
Steve turns to her, eyes sharp. "Yeah, well you weren't the one experiencing it."
"True, but I'd say watching it was worse." If Arryn had learnt anything from the past week, it'd be that Steve would typically hit on any women that had the misfortune of stepping over the threshold. The doors would part, giving way to the girls of Hawkins, and Steve would practically leap at the counter. It meant Arryn wouldn't be burdened with taking their order, though the downside was witnessing the art form that was Steve Harrington's flirting.
It was a 50/50 arrangement.
"Then maybe you should mind your business." Steve snaps, though there isn't any real malice to his tone. He drags the Pineapple Twist with more aggression than necessary down the counter, sighing. "Wouldn't have to see it that way."
"Touched a nerve there?" Robin chimes in, smiling as she does. She leans over the counter from the break room. "Yet another one gets away. You're gonna run out of ladies, Popeye."
"Yeah, yeah, just write it down on your stupid board."
"You have a board?" Arryn frowns, "since when?"
"Since Steve dropped a cone of Rum and Raisin on Petra Hawthorn." Robin says and does in fact, mark yet another tally on a whiteboard she pulls from who knows where.
"Five to zero, that's impressive." Arryn laughs slightly and Steve throws his hands in the air like a child. "Wait, I thought you were going out with Nancy Wheeler? When did you break up?"
Admittedly she didn't pay much attention to Steve or anyone else for that matter at school. She used to see them together in the corridors beside their lockers in the morning. They would stand together, tucked up close, whispering sweet nothings to one another as though the world wasn't shifting on around them. It was simply the two of them and their isolated bubble. Arryn thought it was sweet but that was it.
Though that was two years ago. It should have really occurred to her sooner that if Steve was flirting with others, then he and Nancy were over.
Steve simply looks at her incredulously. "'Ryn that was, like, ages ago. Nancy's going out with Johnathan Byers now."
Will's brother!? Arryn's eyes widen in surprise, "since when?"
Robin laughs, "Do you know anything that happens at our school?"
"Not really."
"Unsurprising. You aren't exactly miss popular at school." Steve shrugs, going back to restocking the Pineapple Twist. "I wouldn't even know you went to our school if it weren't for this job."
Arryn doesn't appreciate how much his comment stings. It invokes some unwelcome feeling in her chest and she falls silent. She forgets that outside of working at Sccops, Steve has a life that far surpasses her own. They ran in different crowds and his bitchy comments, intentional or not, is a fresh reminder.
"'Ryn, you're in Mrs. Jane's art class aren't you?"
Arryn nods and fails to elaborate further. She's thankful for the change in topic, wondering how Robin manages to understand how she's feeling when she isn't fully aware herself.
"Thought so. I saw you in the school's music show, y'know." Robin continues, "last years? Your piano piece was amazing. What was the song you performed?"
Arryn blinks, frowning slightly. That day had passed in a blurred haze, it was stifling to remember it. She had been so focused on not fucking up the timing and the positioning of the keys, she hadn't realised there was even an audience, let alone that the girl in front of her now was somewhere in the crowd. It was ironic, Arryn realised, that Robin bought it up. She had quit piano after that performance.
"It was a piece from a ballet I liked when I was a kid. Thought it'd be fun to play." Arryn says, shrugging. She had desperately wanted to be apart of a grand performance when she was younger, though after one slip up during a show, through her tears she had begged her mother to let her drop out.
Arryn had found from a young age, that she couldn't commit to anything. If she wasn't good enough, if she felt so hopelessly empty despite pouring her heart into something, then she saw no reason to continue. Nothing ever felt enough for her, as though there were an ever present void inside her that refused to be satiated. It had left her without anything to call her own, something she could say she was proud of.
"I'd love to hear you play again, I didn't see you after that." Robin says earnestly and Arryn feels her chest tighten at the words. "I play trumpet in band, not exactly Mozart but-"
"Are you two gonna keep gossiping or actually help me out?" Steve snaps suddenly, slamming the freezer shut. The two jump in response and they turn to him quickly. "I was supposed to go on break like, ages ago."
Robin leans over the counter and glances to the clock above. "Actually, your break literally just started, dingus."
Steve drops the scoop inside the freezer and tosses his hat through the dividers. "Exactly." He crosses over towards the door and disappears into the break room, mumbling to himself as he goes.
Arryn only hopes he doesn't touch her walkman.
(author's note!)
now begs the question: does milo go to california with mike to see will?? bcs i think he should.
don't forget to vote and comment!! comments motivate me so so so much u have no idea and ur feedback is always welcomed 🫶
i really hate this chapter and couldn't find it in me to write anymore (hence the abrupt ending) so any feedback is welcome 🫡
words: 1658.