SULIT | II.
"I LIKE TO WATCH MOVIES"
( 'RELATIONSHIP DRAMA' )
***
"HAM OR TURKEY?" Danielle asked as she held up two sandwiches her mother had made before running errands. One of the sandwiches had been meant for Max, but Danielle would make it up to her by taking her to the arcade or buying her ice cream.
"Turkey," Angela answered as she took the sandwich from Danielle. She unwrapped it and took a huge bite out of it and let out a satisfied moan, "Your mom makes the best sandwiches."
"I know," Danielle answers as she takes a bite of her own sandwich. A part of her felt weird about her mother's housewife status. She loved her mother, but she didn't want to end up like her.
"So are we going to talk about Robin?" Angela asked her.
"No," Danielle answered, "Because there is nothing to talk about."
"You're kidding me, right? She gave you free ice cream! What woman gives another woman free ice cream?" Angela asks, taking another bite of her sandwich, "When guys give you free things, they want to date you. Why is it any different with women?"
Danielle eyed Angela, "You're strangely perceptive, you know that?"
"Yes, that's why I know that Robin is into you and that you should ask her to hangout," Angela tells her.
"But I don't know her," Danielle voices, "What if she's just super nice and I'm getting this all wrong?"
Angela doesn't get the chance to answer as Max and another girl storm into their house. She looked familiar, but Danielle didn't know her name.
"Hello," Danielle said, greeting the two girls.
"Danielle and Angela, this is El. El this is my older sister Danielle and Lucas's sister, Angela," Max introduced.
"Hi," El says softly.
"We have boy problems," Max said as she began making her way to her room, El trailing behind her.
"I want to hear," Danielle shouted after her. Max rounded the corner once again, her eyes narrowing at her sister.
"Really?" Max asks and Danielle nods, taking a seat at the table in the kitchen. Max looks at El who shrugs and takes a seat at the table as well. Angela pushes herself off of the counter and takes a seat beside Danielle. Max is the last to sit down, seemingly hesitant about the situation.
"Is it about Lucas?" Angela asks, seemingly eager to hear about her brother's relationship.
"Actually, it's about Mike," Max says, "He and El are dating."
"Mike Wheeler has a girlfriend?" Danielle can't help but ask, feeling extremely dreadful that her fourteen-year-old sister and her friends had far more interesting love-lives than she did.
"It doesn't seem he'll have one for much longer," Angela says as she looked at El's face, "What did he do?"
"We had a conversation on the phone, and he said that his Nana was sick and that we couldn't see each other because he was busy, and then he said he missed me and he just hung up," El told them.
"He's a piece of shit," Max told her.
"What?" El asked.
"He doesn't have jack shit to do today and his Nana obviously isn't sick. He and Lucas are probably at his house right now playing the Atari," Max says.
"Friends don't lie," El says.
"Yeah, well boyfriends do," Max tells her.
"His Nana could be sick," Danielle suggests, not wanting Max to make El seem insecure in her relationship.
"Dani please, the professionals are speaking," Angela tells her before turning to El, "Max is right, Mike is definitely lying to you. You have to call him out on his shit."
"No," Max says, "She's not going to call him. She's going to ignore him as far as he's concerned, she doesn't exist."
"Doesn't exist?" El asks.
"He treated you like garbage, and now you're going to do the same. Give him a taste of his own medicine," Angela tells her.
"Give him the medicine," El says, taking in the information.
"And if he doesn't fix this, if he doesn't explain himself, dump his ass," Max tells her firmly.
"Dump his ass," El says, "Got it."
Danielle looks between Angela and Max who are grinning proudly at El. Max then looks at Angela, "We should take her to the mall."
"Yes!" Angela exclaims standing from her seat.
"The mall?" El asks, "Why?"
"To have some fun," Max tells her, "There's more to life than stupid boys you know," she grabs Danielle's keys and tosses them to her, "You're driving."
The front door opens and Danielle glances over to see her mom entering with a bag of groceries. She stops when she sees the four of them gathered in the kitchen.
"Hey mom," Danielle greets.
"Danielle. Max. Angela, and who is this?" Susan asks as she looks over at El.
"This is El, she's my friend," Max tells their mom.
"Are you all going somewhere?" she asks, looking at Danielle.
"We're going to the mall," Danielle answers, forcing a smile, "Girls time."
"That's good, that you're spending time with your sister," her mother said with a smile. She made her way to the kitchen and began to unpack the groceries. Seemingly done with the conversation, Max drags El out of the house.
"Danielle," Susan says, "Billy seemed a little – off when he came home last night. I was wondering if you could check on him. See how he's doing?"
"Sure mom," Danielle says with a smile, "If we're not back by supper, please send a search party."
"Not funny," Susan said, but the smile on her lips said otherwise, "Look after your sister."
"I will," Danielle says before heading toward the front door, Angela in tow.
"So we're going to the mall," Danielle states.
"Duh," Angela told her, "Look this is a great way for El to have some girl time and for you to talk to Robin!"
"A little louder Angela," Danielle mutters.
"Sorry," Angela says, "Forgot this is confidential information."
"It's not confidential," Danielle says, "It's just Max has always looked up to me and I don't want to give her a reason not to."
"What are you two talking about? Let's go!" Max exclaims, sticking her head out of the window of the backseat.
They arrive at the mall, and Max and El jump out of the car before Danielle has finished parking.
"Max!" Danielle screams after her sister, but she's already too far away.
Angela laughs, "Here's the plan. I'm going to go have fun with Max and El, and you're going to ask Robin to hangout. Not as a date, but as two girls getting to know each other."
"That's a date," Danielle deadpans, "And why are you hanging out with my sister and her friend?"
"She's Lucas's on and off again girlfriend. I want to get to know her," Angela tells her with a shrug. She unbuckles her seatbelt and smiles at Danielle, "Good luck!"
Danielle takes a deep breath as she walks into Scoops Ahoy. Of course, Steve and Robin were working, it was like they were the only two people employed at the place. She was nervous, which was weird because Danielle was confident in almost everything she did, except when it came to asking girls out, which she rarely did.
"Hey," Danielle said as she approached the counter. When Robin saw her, her face seemed to light up before her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"You know you've been here several times and you've only ordered once," Robin pointed out, "Do you have a thing for Steve?"
"Steve?" Danielle asked, trying not to fall out in laughter, "No! Why would you think that?"
"I just saw the way you guys interacted the other day and you really hung around him at the Halloween party last year," Robin pointed out, and Danielle had to remind herself that Robin went to school with her, though she had never really noticed her around.
The Halloween party had been an absolute mess, yes Danielle had hung around Steve, but that had only been because of her interest in Nancy. She was the new girl, and everyone was interested in her, even Steve, so she used that to get closer to his girlfriend, which hit a dead-end street when Nancy and Jonathan Byers began dating. Danielle could definitely see where Robin got the wrong idea.
"Definitely not into Steve," Danielle replied she saw this as a window to possibly ask Robin to hang out, but then her nerves got the best of her, "I was actually wondering if you'd seen my stepbrother. He has blonde hair, looks like a dick-"
"Billy," Robin said with a smile, "Sorry, I haven't seen him."
"Well thanks," Danielle told her. It's now or never, she thought to herself, "So I have to know, did you stalk me in high school?"
Robin let out laugh, "What?"
"Well you knew my name and you know who I hung out with at a Halloween party so I can't help but wonder if you've been stalking me," Danielle says with a smile, unsure of where her confidence came from, "If you have been it's no big deal, I'll actually be flattered."
"I'm not a stalker," Robin replied with a smile, "But I'm starting to think that you might be. You aren't into Steve, so why do you always come to Scoops Ahoy?"
"Great question," Danielle said, "It's actually because – because my friend Angela is interested in Steve."
Robin smiles, "Right."
"Um so what do you like to do outside of work?" Danielle asked and she wanted to facepalm herself. She had been doing so well and then she messed up, again.
"I like to watch movies," Robin says nodding her head.
"Oh, me too," Danielle responds, and suddenly she feels like an idiot.
"Maybe we can watch movies together sometime?" Robin suggests.
"Really?" Danielle asks, surprised at the words she's hearing.
"Unless you don't want to," Robin adds quickly, her cheeks flushed.
"Nope, I totally do," Danielle says not missing a beat.
"Awesome," Robin says, her eyes then drift behind her and Danielle turns to see Angela, giving her a not-so-subtle thumbs up. Danielle rolls her eyes and looks back at Robin who is grinning, "Angela seems cool."
"She's alright," Danielle says with a small smile.
"So how about you give me your number and I'll call you. About the movies," Robin says.
"Sure," Danielle says grabbing a pen off the counter, "Give me your hand."
Robin gives Danielle her hand and she quickly jots down her phone number, dramatically clicking the pen when she finishes.
"See you later, Stalker," Danielle said as she walked out of Scoops Ahoy. Robin rolled her eyes but smiled as she watched Danielle walk away.
"So how'd it go?" Angela asked.
"Turns out we both like movies and I gave her my phone number!" Danielle squealed and Angela joined in, both of them jumping up and down, causing them to receive looks from two older women that were walking by. Danielle awkwardly ran a hand through her hair and turned to Angela, "Where are the girls?"
"They went to the bathroom," Angela told her, "We gave El a makeover. You know she and Max are just adorable. Makes me wish I had a younger sister."
Danielle laughed, "You do. Her name is Erica."
"Ugh please don't speak her name," Angela muttered.
Max and El joined them and decided they wanted ice cream before they headed home. Danielle and Angela stood by the entrance of Scoops Ahoy as they waited. The two girls came rushing out giggling and Danielle snatched Max's ice cream cone as she gave it a giant lick, just to upset her sister.
"Gross," Max muttered.
When they exited the mall, Max and El stopped which caused Angela and Danielle to do the same. They followed their gazes to see Lucas, Mike, and Will standing outside of the mall, getting on their bikes.
"Oh boy," Danielle muttered softly.
Max made her way over to the boys, "Isn't this a nice surprise."
Danielle didn't want to follow, but Angela didn't give her a choice as she followed after them, wanting a front-row seat to the drama that was about to unravel.
Mike dropped his bike as he pointed at El, "What are you doing here?"
"Shopping," El asked.
"This is her new style," Max answered, "What do you think?"
"What's wrong with you? You know she's not allowed to be here!" Mike says, and Danielle really didn't like the tone he was using with her sister.
"Why? Because she's your little pet?"
"Am I your pet?" El asked.
"What? No!" Mike quickly answered.
"Then why do you treat me like garbage?" El asked.
She heard a sniffle from beside her and looked at Angela to see her wiping away fake tears, "I taught her so well."
Danielle rolled her eyes.
"What?" Mike asked.
"You said Nana was sick."
"She is!" Mike asserts as he looks at Lucas to support him. Angela looks at her brother unimpressed as he joins in on Mike's lie.
"Yeah, she is sick," he adds weakly, "That's why we're here. To get a gift for Nana."
"Yes!" Mike says, "We're also here to get a gift for you. I just couldn't find anything that suited you and I only had $3.50, so it's hard."
"Super hard," Lucas adds.
"Lucas shut up," Angela tells him and he does as his sister instructs.
"You lie," El tells him. Danielle was no scholar, but she knew that El could use a little help in the grammar department, "Why do you lie?"
Mike didn't answer the question, instead, he stood there looking at El. Danielle watched as she took a step toward him, part of her wondering if El was going to dump her ice cream on Mike's head, but instead, she did something better.
"I dump your ass!" she told him.
Angela and Danielle shared a look. Their mouths hanging agape in surprise. Max looked surprised, as well. She also looked a little impressed. El stormed off to where Danielle had parked her Jeep.
"Enjoy biking home," Max told them with a grin as she followed after El. Danielle and Angela followed after them and got into the Jeep. Danielle and Angela both glanced in the back seat at El who was carefully buckling her seat belt.
"You are the coolest person I have ever met," Danielle told her.
"What you did back there was amazing," Angela voices.
"Thank you," El tells them with a wide grin. Danielle turns and starts the car and drives them back to her house. They sing along to the radio the whole way home.