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⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙍𝘿 𝙋𝙀𝙍𝙎𝙊𝙉 𝙋𝙊𝙑
"So let me get this straight, you want me to cover your shift so that you can go hang out at the Byers house?"
"...Yes" Elsie wrung her hands at her sides and looked up at the boy pleadingly. "Come on Steve, he's only fourteen, has already been through hell and back and now his friends won't even spare him a minute of their time"
He seemed to mull it over for a second, analysing her features for signs of hesitance. "Fine. Just don't get caught, you've barely been here a week"
She beamed at him. "Don't worry I'll be stealthy...like a ninja"
Steve's face fell slightly and he attempted to hide the embarrassment of the memories he had of his early high school career with an eye roll.
"Just for that, I get your third of the tip money"
She poked her bottom lip out, pulling a face at him before turning on her heel and skipping towards Robin who sat reading 'The color of magic' on a ledge in the backroom.
A sigh left the boy's lips as he returned to scooping ice cream for sweaty children.
Robin was so distracted by her book that she failed to notice Elsie plop herself down on the space next to hers until she felt a head lay to rest atop her shoulder, the girl's warm breath tickling her neck and sending the tiny hairs on end.
"Tired?"
"Yep" Elsie tilted her head to gaze into Robin's blue eyes. She reached up, gently tracing shapes with the freckles on the other girl's cheeks, the tip of her index finger slowing as it grazed over her nose.
A comfortable silence fell over the two as they listened to the steady hum of customers going about their day and soaked in the sunlight bouncing off their backs, leaving small patches of sun across the floor at their feet.
"You guys, again? Seriously?"
The girls had ignored the persistent bell ringing, assuming Steve was taking a short breather but at the familiar voices on the other side of the divider, Elsie raised her head and took off to greet them, startling a peaceful Robin as she did so.
"Byers!" she exclaimed, dropping her arm over the boy who was now only a little shorter than her.
He offered her a grin, drooping slightly as she shifted her weight to his shoulder.
"So did you talk to Steve?" he asked with a hopeful glint in his eyes.
"Indeed I did, you come see me after the feature film and-"
"Will, come on man!"
Cut off by Mike, Elsie gave the boy in front of her a tight lipped smile and poked her thumb in the group's general direction.
"Don't worry, I'm not in a rush to get anywhere, I'll be right here".
He gave her one last nod and jogged over, trailing behind Max as Steve gave them the usual warnings concerning their untimely deaths if it so happens that they somehow get caught.
"I think it's your turn out front Moore"
"Fuck off Harrington"
Elsie swiped her hat up from the table that marked the centre of the room and made her way to the counter, muttering under her breath.
✵
"Have a fan-fuckin-tastic day" she hissed as Carol's group left the shop with three small strawberry sundaes. She couldn't put fault to their taste in ice cream, but seeing those three sneering smiles on a sunday afternoon made Elsie want to slam their heads against the counter and then her own.
She stepped back from the cash register and tipped her head back to rest against the glass window.
"Hey, it's the middle of rush hour" an amused voice chimed from her right.
"Well I'm sor-" Robin had suddenly moved closer, so close in fact that Elsie could smell her perfume clearly. It was fruity and sweet, she found herself unable to move or breathe for a second.
Perhaps she just didn't want to.
The girl's cheek ghosted over her ear and her arm reached around to push a button behind where Elsie stood.
A soft rumbling began. "Need a drink?" Robin offered, referencing the machine she had just turned on.
"Um yeah"
Her hands went up to her hair, combing it back, off her face and holding it there for a moment as she watched the other girl busy herself with mugs and teaspoons.
Technically they weren't permitted to use the drinks machines to prepare something for themselves with customers in the shop but such fastidious rules were rarely ever heeded in a mall of Starcourt's grandeur - particularly by teenage workers in small ice cream stores.
