CHAPTER 003. TAMMY
SHE COULDN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT HIM.
It had been about week or so since Laurie barged in on Steve after her failed interview at Sam Goody's, and she hasn't been able to think straight. He called her cute, she knows that for sure, but she's still yet to unpack if he even meant it or not. Robin said he was horrible at flirting, but whatever he was doing on that day worked, because now she can't even go five minutes without glancing over at him.
Laurie has been coming to visit Robin at work a lot more often, spending most of her days in the employees room eating the ice cream Steve smuggled her — without Robin knowing, of course — or sat on the counter reading the latest Cosmo Magazine. Mostly because she honestly has nothing else to do with her time since she decided to take a break from the job applications.
It's not like she minds, anyways. Laurie loves seeing her best friend and enjoys being in her company above all else, plus, getting to see Steve in his cute sailor uniform is always a bonus.
She'd be a liar to say it didn't scare her, though. The thought that her unrequited feelings are back in full swing. See, the last time she had these feelings, it wasn't that much of a bother. Steve barely even noticed her back then. But now? They talk almost everyday, and she's finding it hard to navigate the overarching thought that Steve Harrington might actually have an interest in her.
From the conversations her and Steve have had while Robin was manning the front counter, they've come to realise they have quite a few things in common. Like how they secretly adore Kenny Loggins, or how they both despise Halloween, or how they can't understand why Robin steadily refuses to enjoy USS Butterscotch ice cream.
Being somewhat friends with Steve Harrington is different, obviously, but he's nice company. He's funny, and he actually listens. Which is honestly nothing too crazy, in an attractive 19 year old guy, it's a surprisingly rare trait to see. But Laurie doesn't know how much longer she can pretend like her feelings for him aren't growing more and more by the second.
She tried getting over her momentary crush. Really, she has. But that dream of hers seems impossible to accomplish when Steve started to pop up everywhere. Even when she isn't at Scoops Ahoy, she's ran into him more times than she'd like to admit.
While getting last minute snacks at Melvald's General Store, or renting a movie at Family Video, Steve was there, too. She even ran into him at her mom's diner once, and that really threw her off. How is she supposed to operate if she's just tossed around by fate?
"Hey!" She's snapped out of her thoughts — literally — when Robin clicks her fingers in front of her face. When Laurie shoots her eyes over to her best friend, her face shows nothing but annoyance. "Would you quit staring at lover boy for two seconds and listen to me?"
"What? I wasn't staring," A lie.
Unfortunately, Robin knows better. "Bullshit," She crosses her arms over her chest, "What was I just talking about, then?"
For a few seconds, Laurie freezes. How bad of a friend can she be that she can't even listen to her best friend because she got distracted by a boy? In her defence, the boy was Steve Harrington — not like that'd help her case with Robin, though. If anything, Laurie being entranced by "Dingus" out of all people made it even worse. After a moment of thought, however, Laurie snaps her fingers and points one of them at Robin, "Tammy,"
"What about Tammy?" Presses Robin, quirking her brow. Welp, if she didn't know then, she definitely knows now. When Laurie stares at her blankly for a couple more seconds, Robin purses her lips and lets out a dramatic groan. "Oh, my God!"
Laurie is quick to interject, "I'm sorry! You just talk so fast that it's hard to keep up!"
"No! You do not get to play that card right now!" Robin rebuts sternly, sending a glare in the process. "I am literally risking my chances at becoming the town pariah right now by telling you this. Meanwhile, you're too busy gawking at Dingus to even listen,"
"Robin, I'm sorry," She frowns. "What were you saying about Tammy?" Laurie turns her body so that her back is fully towards Steve, and her eyes are locked on the girl standing in front of her. But when Robin doesn't budge, Laurie pleads, "Robin, seriously. You have my full, undivided attention. I swear,"
Robin's lip twitches as she holds her stare. However, Robin has been itching to tell Laurie about her event with Tammy Thompson since it happened, so, she eventually gives in. "So, we bumped into each other yesterday outside of Bradley's Big Buy, and she dropped her grocery bags everywhere. So, being the heroine I am, I started helping her pick everything back up," Laurie nods along accordingly. "Except, one of the oranges rolled out of the bags and onto the ground, right? So, I looked at it and said, 'Orange you glad I was here to pick these up?'"
Laurie smiles approvingly, "Very funny,"
Robin cracks a smile, "Yeah, so, then she laughed, right? She laughed at my joke," Her excitement is similar to a kid who's at Disneyland for the first time. "But not in a I'm-laughing-because-you're-weird kind of way, but like.. a real, genuine laugh,"
"Well, of course she laughed. A joke like that is hilarious," Laurie comments.
"Thanks! But my point is, Tammy laughed and it was perfect. Like, I nailed that interaction," Robin says proudly, but when Laurie expects her to continue, her confidence fades as she turns her gaze to the floor.
Laurie raises her brow when Robin pauses. "..but?"
Robin lets out a sigh. "But I have this problem where it's like.. I should stop talking," Laurie scrunches her nose, knowingly. She's very aware of this habit. "I have said everything I need to say, right? But then I guess I get nervous, and the words.. they just keep spilling out, and it's like my brain is moving faster than my mouth," Robin has to pause to catch her breath. "Or, rather, my mouth is moving faster than my brain,"
"Uh-huh," She nods slowly, narrowed eyes having to dart left and right to follow Robin's sudden pacing.
"It's like I'm digging this hole for myself, and I want to stop digging, and I'm trying to stop digging, but I can't," Robin's movements come to a halt as she turns on her heel to turn back to face Laurie, "And I'm doing it right now, aren't I?"
"Maybe," Laurie admits, offering a weak smile. When Robin's brows furrow, she sighs. "Yeah, you are,"
Robin throws her head back as a groan escapes her lips. "If she didn't think I was crazy before, she definitely does now. It's like my brain wants me to die alone, or something,"
"I'm sure it wasn't that bad," Offers Laurie with a small shrug. She can tell Robin is holding something back, because in what world would an 'Orange you glad?' joke cause such a panic like this?
Chewing her bottom lip, Robin mutters, "I got so nervous I told her the broken leg story,"
It's become somewhat of an inside joke between the pair that whenever either of them get so nervous, they spill the worst story they know in hopes to call their unbearable nerves — the time that Laurie broke her leg at soccer practise in Freshman year. Although Laurie might be one to use it as a pathetic mood killer more, Robin's retelling of it is typically much more graphic.
So, finding out that Robin told her longtime crush said story, Laurie knows it was bad. She let's out a defeated sigh. "What? Robin, that has nothing to do with—"
"I know! I know, okay? But she was just looking at me with her gorgeous eyes and I caved," Robin moves to lean next to Laurie on the windowsill behind the front counter. She lets out an exasperated sigh, "I'm doomed,"
"Well, she's going to college in Nashville, right?" Laurie asks, earning a hesitant nod from her taller friend. She quickly looks around, noticing how crowded the parlor actually is. So, she leans in and says with a hushed voice, "I mean, by the time she moves away, she'll have forgotten about that conversation entirely and you'll probably have a new crush by then,"
Robin's voice is quiet, too. "You don't get it, Laur. I think I'm destined to be in love with her forever. Like, she's all I think about,"
Laurie gives her a look of disbelief. "Okay, you're exaggerating,"
"That's a thing, I don't think I am. I eat something, I think to myself, 'Wow, would Tammy like this?'. Or, I listen to a song, 'Does Tammy listen to this?'. She's in my thoughts twenty-four seven. Twenty-four seven!" Robin exclaims. She notices her rise in volume, so she quiets her voice before continuing, "Everything I do is just.. Tammy-ified,"
"Tammy-ified?" Laurie repeats with a stifled laugh.
"Yeah. It's kind of like how you are with Steve," Robin replies in a snarky matter.
Laurie's mouth falls open slightly. Before she can defend herself, or before Robin can continue making fun of her 'Steve-ified' life, a loud ring comes from the front counter, interrupting their conversation. She's never been so glad to have been saved by the bell.
The two girls look over to see a boy, no older than 14, with curly brown hair standing there, his hands gripping his backpack straps tightly. He's wearing a large backpack on his back, and a bright green and yellow baseball cap that says 'Camp Know Where' on the front of it. His graphic tee-shirt is ridiculous. He sends Robin a toothy grin. "Hi!"
Robin narrows her eyes at the boy, "..Hi?"
"I'm Dustin," He tells her, rocking back and forth on his feet impatiently.
Momentarily, Robin sends Laurie a look — one that says 'This kid is weird,' and 'I don't get paid enough for this,' at the same time. He seems nice, though, but Laurie can tell Robin wants this interaction to be over sooner rather than later. When She turns back to the curly-haired tween, she lets out a huff and makes her way closer to the ice cream freezer, "I'm Robin,"
"Pleasure to meet you," He says happily. Robin waits for him to order whatever combination of ice cream he wants, but instead, he asks, "Uh, is— is he here?"
Laurie perks up in curiosity as Robin queries, "Is who here?"
Right on time, Steve's voice booms from the open window behind her, "Henderson!"
Laurie's head snaps to the direction of the sound that almost gave her a heart attack. Steve stands up abruptly from the table out the back, a wide grin rising on his face. This causes the boy — Dustin — to start giggling with joy.
Steve is quick bust through the door to the back room, throwing his hands up in the air and jumping excitedly. "Henderson! He's back!" He sends Laurie a wide smile. "He's back!"
"I'm back!" Dustin cheers. He raises his hands, too, "You got the job!
Steve's grin seems to widen even more. "I got the job!" He exclaims while mimicking himself playing the invisible trumpet. So, this must be the kid Steve briefly mentioned babysitting during his senior year. When the two finally meet, they do what Laurie assumes is some form of a secret handshake.
One fist bump, lightsaber battle, and a brutal death later, Steve and Dustin are laughing to themselves while Laurie and Robin watch on from behind the counter, almost starstruck. Seeing Steve act so.. dorky might just be the cutest thing Laurie has ever seen.
Robin obviously doesn't share the same sentiment, though. She mutters, "I can not believe I just witnessed that," under her breath. Laurie doesn't seem to notice. Her gaze on Steve remaining, much like the small smile forming on her lips.
After rolling her eyes, Robin leans forward against the counter and sarcastically asks Steve, "How many children are you friends with?"
He just sends her a defeated glare in response.
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authors note!
happy wednesday day! (or tuesday, i guess??) i hope you're all doing well :) i wanted to post this a few days ago but i had a serious migraine. but it's here now, so woo!!
i most certainly did not proof read this but that seems to be an occurring theme happening with every chapter i post.
did i, in fact, use the conversation robin had about vickie with steve in season 4 but change it to be about tammy with laurie instead? yes, yes i most certainly did. (don't worry, though, steve and robin will still have their girl talks later!)
ALSO 10 DAYS TILL VOLUME 2!!! AAAAH!!!
WHEN HE SEES ME © austrxlians, 2022.