Mixtape [2] {STEVE HARRINGTON}

three.

Chapter Three: Russians Spies and Their Secret Room

The food court of Starcourt Mall was filled with all kinds of patrons and Steve had seen them all. The old folk who used the mall as a track for morning walks, the moms shopping with their terror raising kids, obnoxious couples, the mall rat teens. But he never saw Russians, well more likely he had no idea what Russians would even look like, especially the spy kind. Which made this stakeout with Dustin rather difficult.

He was ducked down beside some hedges that divided the seating area with the young boy using binoculars to try and find suspicious looking people. Old guys slurping up chow mein, couldn't be. A lady and her daughter with about eight bags too many, nope. A women with two plaits going down her shoulders, but she had one braid in between her fingers twirling it atop her upper lip as if it were a mustache, um definitely not.

"You see anything?" Dustin asks beside him nudging his shoulder.

"I guess I don't totally know what I'm looking for,"

"Evil Russians."

"Yeah, exactly. I don't know what an evil Russian looks like," Steve grumbled as he attempted to focus on scanning the crowd.

"Tall, blonde, not smiling," the younger boy explains, "Also look for earpieces, camo, duffle bags, that sort of thing."

"Right, okay. Duffle bags," he begins to scan the upper floor of the mall. Glancing over at the faces of strangers from right to left until he comes to an abrupt halt, "Oh, you got to be kidding me."

"What?"

There in front of him, her smiling face only magnified by the binoculars in his hands was Tali talking to some dude. When he finally gets a clearer picture, he groans, "Why is your sister talking to that meat-head Mark Lewinsky?"

"Dude, are you serious? Why are you staring at my sister? If your not gonna focus just gimme the binoculars."

Dustin tries to take the device from his hands, but he shoves him away with his elbow. Keeping in his line of sight his best friend as he watches as Lewinsky continues chatting to her. He was now pretending to throw a free throw causing the older boy to groan again, "C'mon Tal, what ever happened to standards? Lewinsky never even made it off the bench." He felt the jealousy crawl it's way up his throat almost fogging his vision entirely till he notices the boy wearing the same purple polo as the girl, "Wait, does he work with her?"

"Dude, I don't know just give me the binoculars. You are the worst spy in history, did you know that?"

"I just need to—" Dustin finally pries the binoculars away from him making Steve huff crossing his arms like a child.

"Why do you even care who my sister talks to anyway?"

"You know—just," he fumbles not having a ready excuse at hand. What is Steve even to say. How does he tell this kid 'I'm practically in love with your sister and I'm too much of a coward to do anything about it' in a nice way so that maybe he won't be upset about him potentially ruining this stakeout. "Eh, like if she—she's hanging out with losers like Lewinsky—"

"Oh my god, do you like my sister? Ew," the younger boy cringes shaking his head repeatedly, "No, you can't like my sister!"

"Why not?"