"STEEEEEVE!"
"WHATTTTTT?"
Jenna and Steve were laying by Steve's pool in his lounge chairs high out of their minds.
"How do you like the weed, kind sir?"
"It's good shit, m'lady. Where'd you get it?"
"Eddie gave me some for my birthday, this shit slaps!"
One of These Nights blasted from the radio which was sitting in between the two, now adults.
"I like this song."
"Me, too. Wait a sec..."
"What, Steve?"
"It's night right now! And the song is talking about nights. Mind blown!"
"Whoa..."
They sat giggling until the song finished and switched to Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes).
"Jenna?" Steve turned his head and looked directly into Jenna's eyes, "I think you're my Rosemary."
"I'm cool with that. Awe, now I have to come up with something for you. Hmmm…"
Jenna's thinking was cut short when Steve pulled her out of the chair and dragged her to her feet.
"What are you doing, Stevie?"
"We're gonna dance!"
The two poorly danced with one another and almost fell into the pool several times. Their balance was completely thrown 0ff by the weed in their systems. The song switched once more to Brown Eyed Girl.
"Jenna," Steve suddenly stopped dancing and grabbed Jenna by the shoulders, "I think you're my Brown Eyed Girl."
"No, silly goose. I'm already Rosemary, remember?"
"Oh, yeah..."
"Plus, I have gray eyes. Wait, I have an idea."
"What?"
"You," She booped him on the nose, "Can be MY Brown Eyed Girl!"
"But I'm not a girl."
"But you have brown eyes."
"I like the way you think, Jen. And I guess I AM your wife."
"Exactly! See, I'm a genius!"
Steve and Jenna just danced around and laughed with each other for another hour until Steve pushed Jenna into the pool. He started laughing until she didn't come back up. He started to panic and jumped in to pull her out. As she resurfaced she laughed while Steve held her, completely terrified.
"Henderson!? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Steve."
"Why are you laughing? I thought I killed you!"
"I just wanted you to follow me in, dingus! My plan worked."
"I need to stop hanging out with you."
"You would never. Now, help me out before I freeze to death in here."
They both hopped out of the pool and crashed down in a pool chair together, completely exhausted.
"We should do this all the time," Jenna patted him on the chest.
"Only when I know my dad won't be home. Remember last time he caught us and almost murdered me?"
"Yeah... that was really funny."
"Shut up," Steve laughed at Jenna and just pulled her into his side a bit more.
The night seemed just perfect for the two until realization hit Jenna.
"Steve?" She looked at him, warily.
"What?"
"I think we're forgetting something."
"What could we be forgetting?"
"We have to get to work!" Jenna sprang out of the chair.
"Oh, shit!"
They both ran inside and up to Steve's room where their uniforms were strewn on the floor. They had both been hired at Scoops Ahoy, which was an ice cream parlor in the new Starcourt Mall. Jenna somehow got hired as a manager while Steve and one of Jenna's marching band friends, Robin, got hired as average employees. Alice kept her job at the arcade, but they weren't giving her enough hours, so she also got a job in the food court at Imperial Panda.
"Steve, I think I grabbed your uniform," Jenna winced as she looked at the name tag.
"It doesn't matter right now," Steve dragged her down the stairs and out towards his car, "You literally got the same uniform in the same size as me. It'll be fine."
"Luckily I grabbed the right shorts, though, or these would be falling the fuck down right now."
Jenna walked over to the driver's side of the car when Steve completely stopped her.
"No," He shook his head, "Not after last time."
"But it's been, like, 7-ish months. Come on!"
"No, no, no. Not happening ever again. Plus, I'm less high than you it seems."
"Fuck you..." She mumbled while walking to the passenger's side. "I hope the crash hits you hard, asshole."
"Never change, Jenna. I don't think I could ever get by without your pettiness and humor."
~
Everybody Wants to Rule the World played in the mall sound system throughout the entire building. Jenna was bopping along to the music and she and Steve walked through the complex. You could tell they weren't fully there.
"Could you stop," Steve chuckled at Jenna, "You are so embarrassing to be around right now."
"I thought you told me less than ten minutes to never stop being me."
"You got me there."
"I just love this song. And music as a whole. Man, maybe I am still really high."
Jenna continued to frolic ahead of Steve into Scoops Ahoy.
"Ahoy, Robin!" She saluted at her friend, "I'm right on time!"
"Indeed, Jenna," She sarcastically smiled, "Where's tweedle dumb?"
"One minute late because he wouldn't frolic with me."
"That totally adds up. He's lame."
"Jenna," Steve jogged into the parlor, "What the fuck?"
"It's not my fault you're a slow bitch. Oooooh... you're late. As the manager, you're fired."
"What!? Are you high or something?"
"We're both high, Steve! What kind of question is that!?"
"You're both high!?" Robin looked between the two of them. "Actually, that kind of adds up right now."
"Just get to work," Jenna flicked her hands at her coworkers, "I don't wanna get fired over this. I'm too high to deal with it right now."
~
As the night progressed, it was filled with Jenna and Steve mumbling stupid nonsense and Robin simply judging them. She loved spending time with Jenna, but Steve, not so much. She'd had a crush on Jenna all through high school. They were both in marching band together and Jenna sat right next to her in practice. She played trumpet while Jenna played saxophone and the two would always mess around with the music when they were bored. Jenna would sometimes bring Steve around to listen in if he was free and never acknowledged Robin at all. Not to mention they shared a normal class together.
Steve is so infuriating! This is why I don't like men.
A group of kids walking up to the counter jolted Robin out of her thoughts.
"Hey, dingus and Jenna, you're children are here," Robin yelled to the back room.
Steve slammed open the shutters and looked at them, Mike, Will, Lucas, and Max, with a non-amused look.
"Again? Seriously?"
"Jenna," Will looked behind Steve," You'll help us out, right?"
"Always, Will."
Jenna had let the kids through the workers tunnels so they could sneak into the movies.
"This is why Jenna is my favorite parent," Max high-fived Jenna as she walked through the service hall.
Steve rolled his eyes and simply yelled after the kids, "I swear, if anybody hears about this-"
"We're dead!" All the kids finished in unison.
Steve closed the door and grumbled as he and Jenna walked back out to the front of the store, "I thought I was the favorite parent."
"They've always liked me better," Jenna patted him on the shoulder, "I'm the cool dad. You're the stuck up, bitchy mom."
"Am not."
"Are to."
"Am not."
"Are to."
"Am n-"
The power suddenly cut out, abruptly ending their conversation.
"That's weird," Steve commented.
"No shit, Harrington," Jenna sassed.
Steve walked over to the light switch and started flicking it repeatedly.
"That isn't gonna work, dingus," Robin told him.
Jenna closed her eyes and tried to sense what was going on. She only felt traces of electricity down underneath the mall, like, hundreds of feet down.
Huh, weird.
"Steve," She set her hand on his arm to stop him, "It's not gonna work."
"How do you know that?"
"Steve..."
"Oh, right. I'm still gonna do it."
He started rapidly switching the light switch in between his fingers while giggling at Jenna.
"And I thought I had more to smoke than you."
After a couple minutes the lights all turned back on.
"Let there be light," Steve said, proudly.
"Idiot," Robin and Jenna bath shook their heads.
Jenna had just started to scoop some ice cream for an order Robin was taking when she abruptly stopped. The intense electrical pulse started to wind its way through her body. Little did she know, Will was also experiencing a similar feeling on the back of his neck while in the movie theater.
And just when I thought it was over.
~
"Sup, losers!" Alice skipped her way over the three Scoops workers while they were closing up shop. "What was that with the lights?"
"No clue," Jenna shrugged, "So, how are you liking the job at Imperial Panda?"
"It's okay, I guess. I wish I worked here with you three, though."
"Trust me, you don't," Robin laughed, "It's hell sometimes."
"That's because Steve's here," Jenna pointed out. "He can be a bit much."
"I'm a bit much? What do you mean?"
"All you do is try to flirt with girls all day and fail poorly."
"Do not."
"Do to. Just admit it, you suck at flirting."
"I definitely do not."
"I've gotten more dates than you this summer, Harrington," Alice started to lean on Jenna as she talked, "And I'm a lesbian here in Hawkins. It should be harder for me, dude."
"Shut up, Alice," Steve scoffed, "At least I'm not slaving over a stove all day. Or have to work with Keith on the weekends."
"True," Alice said, "But... At least I still have a love life out of high school. You're just jealous that I still get laid and you don't."
Steve scoffed, "Am not. I get laid plenty."
"He does not," Jenna whispered, "I'd know. He's up my ass 24/7."
"Stop talking, Jenna. You're not helping."
"Let's just close up for fuck's sake," Jenna whined, "I'm tired and need to get up early to go pick Dustin up from camp in the morning."
"Oh, yeah," Steve's face lit up, "Mini Henderson's gonna be back."
"Yup," Jenna had to hug Alice closer into her side because Alice felt like she would fall asleep at any given second. "Remember, I'll be off for the next two days. Don't fuck around too much or I'll have to fire you two."
"I'll keep you updated on the 'you suck/you rule' board," Robin winked at her.
"Thanks, Robin." Jenna leaned close to Robin ear and whispered, "Keep his ass on track. He gets a bit distracted when I'm not there to keep him in check."
"Aye, aye, Captain!" Robin responded.
"Were you two talking about me?" Steve looked between Robin and Jenna.
"No..." Jenna hid her face in Alice's hair.
"Liar!" He poked her on the nose.
"Just drive me home, Harrington."
"Can I spend the night?"
"Sure, just don't hog the blankets again."
"I won't. I promise. For this time, at least."
"Can I join the orgy?" Alice lifted her head from Jenna's shoulder.
"No, Alice," Jenna chuckled, "We already have too many people invited."
"But you didn't invite me!? I'm offended!"
"It's because men will be there."
"Ohhhh... thanks for saving me from that then."
"Anytime, Alice."