STAGE FOUR: GAIN RESPECT
𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫. Gain respect. That was not too easy. For when making this stage Mollie never considered who she would have to get respect from. Steve and Robin? She is sure they already trusted her. Dustin? He is not even joined high school yet. Carol? That might take a while. Kimberly? Well Mollie's sure that she will probably not see her until the 4th of July.
So, for now gaining respect in her books was some kind of metaphor. Not for anything relevant exactly, there just needs to be some meaning behind this stage.
Mollie was lucky enough to be given the day off from the video store and had hastily made her ways to Scoops Ahoy. Apparently, Dustin had been doing some more spying in broad day light to see what the so-called Russian spies were doing.
Resting in the breakroom, Mollie shared her seat with Robin as there was only two chairs and Steve being Steve did not want to give his up. So they shared a seat and Dustin leant against the panel that connects the breakroom with the store.
The Henderson looked to all three of the older kids as he explained what he had just observed, "That keycard opens the door, but unfortunately, the Russian with this keycard also has a massive gun. Whatever's in this room, whatever's in those boxes, they really don't want anybody finding it. But there's gotta be a way in."
Looking to the floor, Mollie mumbled to herself and Robin, "I still can't believe you spied on them when we almost died yesterday."
Trying not to laugh proved hard for the Buckley, who ended up biting on her lip to stop herself from letting out a giggle. Upon seeing this, Mollie also tried not to laugh at the girl's face. Instead, she ended up playfully kicking Robin's chair.
Rolling his eyes at the two girls, Steve puffed out his Scoops hat that he was currently playing with and suggested, "Well, you know..." Leaning forward, Steve cockily continued, "I could just take him out."
This caused the Wheeler to burst out with a loud laugh, asking "Take who out?"
"The Russian guard." Steve plaining said, he was not impressed with Mollie's laugh and certainly was not happy when Robin sarcastically nodded her head and leaned further back into the seat the two girls' where sharing – brushing Mollie's arm as she did so. "What? I sneak up behind him, I knock him out, and I take his keycard. It's easy."
"Did you not hear the part about the massive gun?" Dustin said, trying to keep his friend safe.
"Yes, Dustin, I did." Steve nodded passive aggressively, "And that's why I would be sneaking."
"Ah. Well, please, tell me this, and be honest, have you ever actually... won a fight?" Dustin asked with a smirk on his face, knowing he had caught the Harrington out. He had in fact witness one of these times with Billy Hargrove, and to put it lightly it did not go well.
Raising his hand, Steve argued, "Okay, that was one time."
"Twice. Jonathan. Year prior?" Dustin retorted.
"Yeah... That was not pretty." Mollie mumbled, looking at the floor.
"Listen, that doesn't count."
"Why wouldn't it? Because it looks like he beat the shit out of you." Dustin argued back. He liked the fact that the Harrington wanted to help, but if his logics were talking (which they were) his best friend would be leading them all into a danger zone.
"Yep... I remember you got a fat lip, crooked nose, swollen eye, a lot of blood. And came back to mine to see Nancy and I couldn't sit in the same room as you and Nancy not because you two we're gross, which you were, but it was because I could almost see your veins." Mollie rambled on to Steve's bafflement, "In collusion... these all add up to the fact that Dustin's right."
Raising his arms up, Steve protested, "What? No way! Mollie! You can't be siding with him."
"I am." Mollie pointed towards herself.
"He's a child." Steve fought back. He could not believe that she was not taking what was in his eyes the most sensible option but just like Mollie said, "And you can't win a fight."
"Neither can he!" Steve shouted, pointing to Dustin. This prompted Mollie to say, "Or I."
Rolling his eyes, Dustin crossed his arms and decided to break the bickering, "Guys... Guys, I never said we need to fight the Russians to get the keycard."
"Well how do you get it then?" Steve asked, placing his hands on his hips while both Mollie and he turned to Dustin.
All while the three were bickering, Robin Buckley was lost in thought. She was devising a plan, something that is not fighting the Russians. A plan that in her words, "That just might work."
Robin brushed Mollie's shoulder as she sat up to rush out off the store. Her lack of explanation left the three confused. This meant that the three started to follow her, all calling out her name. Spotting Robin taking all the tips, Steve asked, "Robin. Hey, Robin! Hey, what... what are you doing?"
"I need cash." Robin explained, turning around to face the three that were following the girl.
"Well, half of that's mine." Steve complained, lifting his hand up to the air. "Where are you going?"
"To find a way into that room, a safe way. And, in the meantime, sling ice cream, behave, and don't get beat up. I'll be back in a jiff." Robin said, almost lecturing the three as she slowly left Scoops Ahoy.
Grabbing Steve's ice cream scooper, Dustin let his hungriness get a hold of him. Making Steve grimace when he spotted, "Oh, dude. Come on, man, not my scooper."
Seeing this, Mollie scrunched up her nose, saying, "That's disgusting, Man."
- 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 -
𝐁𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥, Robin Buckley had rushed to get back to the group. For she had gotten a blueprint map. A blueprint map of a mall. A blueprint map that could lead them to the Russians.
Showing off the blueprints to everyone, Robin felt a proud smile come onto her face when Mollie lightly nudged her while Dustin commented, "Not bad."
"So, this is us, Scoops, and this is where we wanna get." Robin explained, pointing her finger to the exact places that she had figured out before returning to the group. She wanted to make a good impression, so that it did not look like she had just wasted twenty bucks on something that would inevitably not help them in their quest.
"I mean, I really don't see a way in." Steve said, looking across the map all he saw were stores and no entrances (safe ones at least). And so, Dustin and Mollie had to agree that there was no safe way in. But Robin had other plans. "There's not, unless you're talking exclusively about doors."
Picking up the map, Robin had revealed another map on which contained the air ducts. Laughing almost in shock, Mollie smiled and said, "You're a fucking genius, Buckley."
"Thank you." Robin beamed while pointing towards the Wheeler. "Turns out, this secret room needs air just like any old room." Grabbing a red whiteboard pen she drew route out on the map. That was another thing that she had planned out in advance. "And these air ducts lead all the way... here."
Standing up hastily, the four of them got to work. Steve Harrington had decided to take charge as he was the one to open the vent and climb up the ladder. Holding onto the bottom of the ladder so it did not fall. Mollie lazily sat on the floor. And with Robin right behind her, she ever so comfortably leaned her back against the Buckley's legs.
Meanwhile Dustin handed Steve a flashlight upon request, and the Harrington then had inspected the size of the airduct. Squinting his eyes, Steve had broken the news to Dustin, "Yeah, I don't know, man. I don't know if you can fit in here. It's, like...super tight."
Not backing down, Dustin remained positive as he retorted, "I'll fit. Trust me. No collar bones, remember?"
Walking down the stairs, Steve genially pushed Mollie's hands out of the way, so he didn't trip. And with that he left space for Dustin to climb up the stairs. The Wheeler (once again) making sure the ladder was stable.
Still hanging onto the last comment, Robin perked up asking, "Uh, excuse me?"
"Oh, he's, uh... Yeah, he's got some disease. Chry, uh... It's chrydo, um... Something. Yeah, I dunno. He's missing bones and stuff. He can bend like Gumbo." Steve explained.
Mollie raised her eyebrows at the last part, "You mean Gumby?"
"I'm pretty sure it's Gumbo." Steve nodded, not wanting to be proven wrong.
"It's Gumby." Robin sided with the Wheeler, making Mollie look up from where she rested on Robin's leg. This caused the Buckley's heart to flutter as she looked down at Mollie as she spoke, "We're right, Steve."
"No it's Gumbo." Steve said. He truly still believed he was right and that the two girl's opinions were wrong. "I'm right."
The room could almost feel Dustin's eyeroll, even when he was not even looking at the three. Breaking them out of the mini argument, the Henderson shouted, "Steve, just shut up and push me!"
Sighing, Mollie got up from her place to stand next to Robin as Steve walked up the stairs talking to Dustin, "Okay, I'll push ya." Steve then proceeded to grab Dustin feet, pushing him. Yet he did not go anywhere. This prompted Dustin to scolded him, saying, "Not my feet, dumbass. Push my ass."
"What?"
"Touch my butt! I don't care!" Dustin screamed, making Mollie laugh as she rested her head on Robin's shoulder as they both watched the mess unfold. And like most things with Dustin and Steve it went on and on.
"I can't believe this is happening." Robin laughed, shaking her head as she looked at Mollie on her shoulder.
"They're practically ten years old." Mollie muttered to Robin, who bit her lip to refrain from laughing.
As the two boys continued to argue, the bell placed on the counter rang and rang and rang. Upon hearing this, Robin turned around and saw the culprit. Erica Sinclair. Turning to Mollie she smirked as she proudly said, "Speaking of ten year olds. We might just have our test dummy."
- 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 -
𝐄𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭. The only problem was she wanted compensation. She wanted something for herself. For Erica. Grabbing Erica's sundae, Robin smiled to Mollie who rested on the counter speaking, "We're getting violated by a ten year old right now?"
"I know... I feel like she's gonna eat us alive from the inside if we don't do what she wants." Mollie complained as she unknowingly lent closer to the Buckley.
"Don't worry we can always sacrifice Steve." Robin said, passing the other girl the ice cream for Erica.
"I heard that!" Steve shouted as he scooped ice cream for Erica. Moving closer to the two girls he continued, "And we won't be sacrificing anyone, alright? If she won't go through with this, I can still knock them out."
"And what age are we assuming these men are? 92?" Robin asked, mockingly, with a raised eyebrow.
Shaking her head, Mollie looked as Steve shoved Robin another one of Erica's ice creams and Dustin (who held a soda cup) explained, "Steve we've already decided that you being in any type of control is completely detrimental to even seeing inside."
"There are nicer ways you could've put that, Dustin." Steve frustrated looked at Dustin, while himself and Robin made a sundae.
"Aww, why the long face? A child hurt your feelings?" Mollie asked leaning forwards and pouting at the Harrington as she grabbed Steve's chin as if he was a child. Taking her hand away when Robin glanced over to the pair, Mollie sighed picking up one of the multiple ice creams Erica wanted. "We have hardly talked to Erica yet."
The walked over to the booth where Erica and sat down, placing their chilled fresh ice creams down. Examining them with her youthful, ungrateful eyes, Erica was unpleased. "More fudge, please."
Rolling his eyes, Steve began to protest but was stopped by the Sinclair who waved in his direction, "Go on."
Leaving the table, frustrated, Steve walked away with the USS Butterscotch. With this, Mollie moved to Steve's spot giving Robin room to remove the air duct blueprints from where they resided.
"Alright..." Robin started, unfolding the blueprints of the air ducts, and holding it up, "You see this? This is the route you're gonna take." Robin traced the red line with her finger, "Then we just wait till the last delivery goes out tonight. Then you knock out the grate, jump down, and open the door."
"Then you find out what's in those boxes?" Erica questioned her, already knowing the answer.
Putting the blueprints down, Robin's hand scrapped Mollie's. Feeling her heart jitter, Robin bit her lip as she nodded her head, responding to Erica, "Exactly."
"Mm-hmm. And you say this guard is armed." Erica said, taking a bite of her ice cream.
"Yes, but he won't be there." Dustin assured., but in all honestly no person was truly sure of the true answer.
Not satisfied, Erica raised an eyebrow, asked, "And booby traps?"
Mollie raised her eyebrows, unsure of where Erica had come up with that idea, "Booby traps?"
"Lasers, spikes in the wall?" Erica continued on.
Robin snickered, questioning, "What?"
"You know what this half-baked plan of yours sounds like to me? Child endangerment." Erica snarked. Though she was not wrong. Steve was the oldest at 18, and yet even he could not fight off a Russian guard. Mollie truly didn't know how they were going to trust a 10 year old if they couldn't trust an 18 year old. But nevertheless, Erica was the only option. So, she had to gain her respect.
"We'll be in radio contact with you the whole time..." Robin started but she was quickly interrupted by Erica raising a finger, "Ah, ah, ah! Child endangerment."
"Erica?" Dustin said, causing the young girl turned to look at him, "Hi. Uh... We think these Russians want to do harm to our country. Great harm. Don't you love your country?"
"You can't spell America without Erica." Erica shrugged, taking a loud drink of her root beer float.
And with that Robin and Mollie looked at each other, amused. The Buckley, herself, even nudged Mollie's shoulder to say something. But Dustin ended up speaking up, after thinking, "Uh, yeah, yeah. Oddly, that's, uh, totally true. So, so, don't do this for us. Do it for your country. Do it for your fellow man. Do this for America... Erica."
Taking a large sip, Erica shivered dramatically, "Ooh! I just got the chills." Placing her cup down, Erica turned to Dustin and sassed, "Oh, yeah, from this float, not your speech."
Frustrated, Dustin looked down as Erica continued, "Know what I love most about this country? Capitalism. Do you know what capitalism is?"
This prompted the three to respond in numerous ways of saying yes to the young girl.
"It means this is a free market system. Which means people get paid for their services, depending on how valuable their contributions are. And it seems to me, my ability to fit into that little vent is very, very valuable to you all. So, you want my help? This USS Butterscotch better be the first of many. And I'm talking free ice cream for life."
To stunned to speak. The entire of the three practically had to say yes. So, Erica was finally in their plan. Their plan to become American heroes. Whatever that meant at the end of the day.
- 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 -
𝐄𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞. She was probably happy now that she had given in to the offer. Yet Mollie felt something was wrong. Something Erica had said had stayed with her. The whole child endangerment thing. It rubbed Mollie the wrong way. As if they were going to actually put a child in danger. And Erica getting on people's nerves shouldn't be the reason to put a literal 10 year old in danger.
Walking up to the Sinclair, Mollie nervously tapped on the table. Well, that was until Erica slightly glanced up to her after taking a bite of her ice cream and said, "You know you can sit? Unless you wanna spend time with your nerd friends."
Nodding her head at Erica, Mollie sat down awkwardly distancing herself from the child. "So, how... how are you?"
Now fully looking up from her ice cream, Erica spoke sarcastically, "Wow, that is the most you've spoken to me."
"You don't have to point that out." Mollie mumbled lowly, thinking Erica didn't hear but she did, and she responded, "But I do. You see if you never speak you're never heard." "Well, what do you want?"
Sighing, Mollie played with her hands, getting straight to the point. "Look even though this might be child engagement-"
"Might be... No this is child endearment." Erica sassed, cutting over the Wheeler.
"Look Erica, I just feel bad." Mollie said, frustratingly putting her hands on the table. But Erica would not let Mollie feel content, saying, "And you should."
"I just want you to know that I will be there we will be there if anything happens, you're 10 and we're 17,18, 14 so we're to blame anyways... Nothing gonna go wrong, but if it does, it's all my fault. You can blame it on me I don't care just don't blame it on any of them. They hardly know me, but I would like just to have some respect because I'm starting to think they might be my friends."
Rambling on like Robin (which is something she almost never did), Mollie sighed as she continued to open up to the Sinclair, "So Erica if anything goes wrong like I've said it's all my fault because at the end of the day nothing matters..." Turning around to look at the three people that Mollie has become close to, the middle Wheeler smiled and turned back to Erica. "But they all do to me."
"That soo sappy. But someone needs the blame. And that's you..." Erica smiled, taking a drink of her soda, "You know what? I like you, Mollie." Those words that Erica had just said felt almost impossible to the Wheeler. Not only had she done her goal with talking to Erica. But Erica had given her something she wanted respect. Granted she was not the ideal person to give it to her when it came to her overall plan. But Erica was hard to even crack, yet she did it. Well almost...
"But don't tell anyone that because I'm not a softie. And I'm most certainly not a nerd." Erica said. Looking up to Mollie with puppy dog eyes, Erica demanded, "Now more ice cream please."
Rolling her eyes at what seemed to be a plan to get what the Sinclair wanted, Mollie told her, "You know I don't work here?"
"Please, Mollie. I just told you I liked you." Erica flattered her eyes, causing Mollie to stand up with a grudge. For it was true that Erica liked Mollie, but who would ever want to admit that.
- 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞 -
I'm sorry this has taken forever.
School and work has been
taking up most of my time.
Hopefully the next chapter
will come out a lot sooner.
I have a graphics shop open rn.
If you want to order anything.
Thanks for still reading.
Please vote and comment.
Have a nice day!