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Dustin got to order whatever he wanted and Steve and him sat down to chat.
You helped Robin behind the counter. "He knows those kids?" You only knew Max and Mike since they were your acquaintances siblings. Was that why Steve knew them as well? Probably.
"They apparently have history, or something."
You both overheard the conversation between them. They were talking about Dustin's new girlfriend. Steve leaned back with an arm resting on the pillow behind him while Dustin was eating his ice cream.
"And she doesn't even care that my real pearls are still coming in." Dustin seemed super excited. "She says kissing is better without teeth."
You couldn't help but twitch your nose with a confused smile. Steve nodded slowly as he searched for words, and rolled his eyes when you met gazes and he saw your teasing expression.
"Wow. Yeah, that's great. Proud of you, man." Steve said. "That's ro- that's kinda romantic. That's like... wow." You looked away and carried on wiping the counter with a cloth.
"Hm. So do you really just get to eat as much of this as you want?"
"Yeah. I mean, sure. It's not really a good idea for me, though." He said this with a lower voice but you and Robin could still hear the loud boys. "You know, I gotta keep in shape for the ladies."
"Yeah, and how's that working out for you?" You couldn't help but say and Robin snickered.
"Ignore her." He frowned.
"She seems cool." Dustin said.
"She's not. So, where are the other knuckleheads?"
"They ditched me yesterday."
"No.."
"My first day back."
It was pretty wholesome to see Steve comfort his younger friend.
Robin bumped your side with her elbow. "I knew Steve was awkward with girls but I've never seen him so nervous." Robin whispered.
"With Dustin? I thought he was sweet-"
"I meant with you, idiot."
... "Oh." You scratched your head. "I didn't even know that he was awkward with girls, dude, I thought he was the complete opposite."
"Right? He used to be the opposite all the time in school." Robin agreed. "I have never spoken to him. Ever before. I used to dislike him so much. I mean, he's still a jerk, but.."
"Right? Like, not had a conversation since we were little."
"But you still hang out with those sort of people. Mia, Tina..."
You shook your head. "I don't hang out with Tina. And Mia and I have been friends since we were young."
"Yeah, but even Steve thought-"
"You talked about me?"
"Only a little! Just good things, I promise. He lied to Dustin before, he actually thinks you're cool. And it's okay to leave friends that you don't like anymore. Steve did that, for example."
"Robin, I still like her, but..-"
Robin shrugged. "I know, I know. I just... I thought you'd be mean before I got to know you. Just because you hung out with them. And when you're with them at parties or in school and stuff I just feel like I can't really interact with you... you know?"
You understood what she was trying to say. "I know, I know." It was hard to be friends with different diverse groups since the entire school and pupils were so divided. To say that Mia was a popular girl was the wrong way to word it. She was one of the mean pretty girls, not a person liked by everyone. You and Chrissy Cunningham who had some classes with you were more alike - popular in a positive way, liked by many and considered to be very attractive.
"I INTERCEPTED A SECRET RUSSIAN COMMUNCATION!"
You and Robin sighed as the boys hurried past the counter into the room and closed the window. You could still hear their loud talk about Russians through the wall.
"God, Russian spies?" You asked.
"They're crazy." Robin groaned. "Wait, they're trying to translate it, right?"
"They won't get a single letter right."
Robin finally had enough when the youngest Sinclair family member tried to get free samples with her friends.
Robin shook her head and opened the door to the room. "All right, babysitting time is over." She said and you followed her inside. "You need to get in there, Steve."
Steve was standing up eating a banana while Dustin was sat at the table with the Russian tape in front of him.
"Hey, my board. That was important data, shitbirds." Robin's whiteboard that kept score of Steve's success with girls was now covered with Russian letters.
"I guarantee you, what we're doing is way more important than your data." Dustin said and Steve crossed his arms.
You snorted. "Yeah? And how do you know these Russians are up to no good, anyways?"
"How do they know about the Russians?" Dustin looked at Steve with startled eyes.
"I don't know."
"You told her about-"
"It wasn't me." Steve chewed the banana as he spoke.
"Hello we can hear you, actually we can hear everything." Robin explained.
"You are both extremely loud." You added.
Robin nodded. "You think you have evil Russians plotting against our country, on tape, and you're trying to translate, but haven't figured out a word,"
"because you didn't realize Russians use an entirely different alphabet." You ended her sentence and Steve and Dustin slowly looked at each other. "Sound about right?" You reached forward to grab the tape but Steve got ahead of you and quickly took it.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what do you think you're doing?"
"We wanna hear it." Robin said.
"Why?" Both the boys asked.
"Cause maybe we can help. We are fluent in several languages." You replied.
"Russian?"
"Ou-yay are-yay umb-day." Robin said.
"Oh-ho-ho!" Steve exclaimed.
"Holy shit." Dustin agreed.
"That was Pig Latin, dingus." Robin said.
Steve called Dustin an "Idiot" and gently hit his shoulder with the banana peel.
"But we can speak Spanish, French, Italian... and we've been in band for like 12 years." You explained
Robin ended with, "Our ears are little geniuses, trust me. We're just bored." and Steve handed you the tape. He went outside to take care of the customers while you and Robin stayed with Dustin and started to try to make out what the man on the tape said.
You and Robin took turns to correct the alphabet and figure out what letters were used.
You pulled the window open and leaned over the frame. "We've got our first sentence."
Steve turned and looked at you. "Oh, seriously?" He stepped over to the window and leaned over his side of the frame and a vague scent of his cologne met your nose.
"The week is long." You said in a Russian accent.
He raised an eyebrow and looked disappointed. "Well, that's thrilling."
"I know, but progress." You were about to close the window when you noticed Billy's little sister and her friend outside. You instead leaned over the frame to say, "Max, hey!"
"(Y/N)? What are you doing here?" Max looked surprised but smiled at the sight of you.
Steve shook his head, put his hand on your forehead and gently pushed you back to your side to close the window. You went back to work with a smile on your face.