infatuation - robin b.

i

she ran her fingers through her hair, feeling the soft texture as she walked through the vibrant mall, crowded with teenage friend groups and adults holding hands with small children. an average saturday for starcourt mall in hawkins indiana.

although it was y/n's first time here, she felt she knew the mall by heart. stopping at balconies every once in a while to peer over the edge. her stomach growled, begging for something, anything, to ease its hunger.

as she stood on the right side of the escalator, looking around at the many stores and fast food restaurants, one thing caught her eye, scoops ahoy, a small ice cream shop. including, an open seat inside where the girl can sit, enjoy ice cream, and read her favorite romance story once again.

after a bit too eagerly stepping off the escalator and almost losing her footing, she rushed to the ice cream shop, her tote bag having fallen from its perch on her shoulder and now swinging around her wrist. she slowed her steps as she walked in, glancing around at the occupants and the decorations covering the walls.

after admiring the area, she looked and saw a man rushing to the counter, resting on it by putting his palms on the flat surface, a slight smirk creeping along his face as the [your hair color] girl approached.

she looked him up and down, his outfit was really dorky. a white hat reading "ahoy" sat on his head, his clothing a blue shirt and a pair of shorts, both with white stripes near the ends and neck of the shirt.

she soon walked up to the counter and smiled, looking into his eyes, he was quite obviously trying to impress her, although, his attempts weren't working.

"ahoy!" he said, standing up slightly straighter. "what can i get for a beautiful girl like you?"

"i think i'll try.." she hesitated, looking up at the menu behind the boys head. "cookie dough." she finished, looking back to the boy but soon, behind him. a girl in the same uniform as the boy sat in the window behind the counter, next to her, a whiteboard with "you rule" and "you suck" written on it. there were six dashes under the second label.

"is that all?" he questioned, leaning in front of where she was looking to regain her attention.

"yeah. that's all." she said, looking back to the brown haired boy. he walked away and began to scoop the cookie dough flavored ice cream into a cone, although her attention was on none other, than the girl sitting at the window, she glanced up, with the feeling of someones eyes on her.

the two girls locked eyes, and y/n felt her cheeks color slightly, she smiled, the girl at the window smiling back. y/n didn't want to stop staring at her, but she felt she would be rude if she continued to gawk, so she forced her attention back to the boy scooping ice cream, but soon he handed it to y/n, a small smile still plastered on her face.

"hey, do you have plans tomorrow?" he said to her as she began to turn away, but she soon looked back at him and smiled brightly.

"no, i don't." she replied, giving in to his attempts of flirting out of pity.

"would you wanna go see a movie? i hear Back to the Future is showing at the cinema upstairs." he exclaimed, quite obviously excited that he had gotten to this stage of talking with a girl.

"uh, yeah sure, why not?" she answered, her smile growing brighter, but her cheeks still staying the same natural color.

he glanced behind him, most likely at the girl in the window with the brightest smile you could ever imagine, obviously trying to show her that he finally got a date with a pretty girl.

the girl looked up, having been listening to the whole conversation, surprised for the same reason he was. y/n watched her reach for the dry-erase marker and white board, both resting next to her on the counter.

"alright great!" the boy began. "uh well i'm steve, steve harrington."

"nice to meet you, steve harrington" she said, swaying back and forth slightly. "i'm y/n l/n."

they finished their conversation, and after planning when and where to meet tomorrow, she went and sat at the unoccupied table she had observed from the view of the escalator, pulling a romance novel out of her tote bag, decorated with painted flowers and butterflies, she began to read, making sure to stay neat and not spill ice cream on her book nor her clothes.

little did she know, as soon as she had left, the two behind the counter talked about everything that had happened just a few moments ago.

"robin! did you see that?" steve said to the girl sitting at the counter, still holding the white board, although now, there was one dash under the left column, the one that read "you rule."