𝐖𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒! [𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐲]

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐒

Margo visited the ice cream shop every day for the next week. She tried to convince herself it was for Steve. She was bored. She was lonely. She wanted to spend time with her friend. But by Friday, when she walked inside the crowded shop and Robin, looking half dead until she spotted Margo, gave her a wide grin and immediately started scooping her an ice cream cone, Margo realized she couldn't lie to herself anymore. 

"Cookies and cream?" said Robin, the scooper already moving to the container of black and white ice cream. 

"Surprise me," Margo said with a shrug, leaning on the counter. "It's been a long day." 

Robin perked up. "What happened?" 

Margo hesitated. The first problem was the Robin didn't know anything about her. When she told people she only lived with her dad, that her mom had up and disappeared years ago, she was either met with pity or suspicion. No man raised a kid alone. Not in these times. The other problem was just that she didn't want to reveal to Robin that she'd spent her summer thus far doing absolutely nothing but moping around, and that her dad was bugging her more than usual about working at the machine shop or applying for college. 

"Nothing," she said quickly. "Just a lot going on." 

Robin shrugged and handed her her ice cream. "Strawberry and mint." 

Margo stared at her. "Look, I know I said surprise me, but-" 

"It sounds disgusting, right?" Robin cut her off gleefully. "Just try it. Steve and I have been trying all of the flavors that sound gross, and this one- just try it." 

Margo took a tentative bite, already trying to pretend like she liked the combination, but she couldn't do it. It was awful. "Oh, god, Robin-" she said, forcing herself to swallow. "That's, um-" She forced a smile. "That's so good!" 

But Robin was bent double laughing. "Your face! Oh my god, that was perfect. I was totally kidding, I just wanted to see how you would react." She took the ice cream back. "Steve's the only person in the world who would like this, I think it's terrible, so we had a bet." She leaned through the window to the back room. "Steve! I win! She hated it!" 

"Can I finish the ice cream?" 

She handed it back to him, then turned back to Margo. "He's in a bad mood. Hey, do you mind fixing the open sign on the door? Some kid messed it up earlier." 

Margo shrugged and went to fix it, marveling at how fast Robin seemed to move all the time. Someone had turned the sign around around so it read 'closed' instead. She flipped it back, and when she turned to the counter again, Dustin was talking to Robin. Dustin hadn't been around all summer. He'd gone to some smart kid camp, and as much as Margo hated to admit it, she'd missed him. In the last few months, she'd grown used to him always hanging around, babbling to her and Steve about whatever crossed his mind. 

Just as she was about to say something, the door behind the counter flew open and Steve appeared. "Henderson!" he said, an enormous smile growing on his face. Dustin threw his head back laughing. "Henderson!" Steve said, jumping excitedly. He turned to Robin. "He's back! He's back!" 

"I'm back!" Dustin said joyfully. "You got the job!" 

"I got the job!" Steve echoed, matching Dustin's excitement. 

He ran over to Dustin and Margo leaned against the counter, watching Robin's face carefully as Steve and Dustin did their handshake, then pretended to fight with lightsabers. Robin's expression was a map of both confusion and amusement. She leaned forward to talk to Steve. "How many children are you friends with?"