Ready, Steddie?

Feelings... maybe?

"Robin!" I called to a house. I met Robin Buckley last year at Scoops Ahoy, an ice cream shop we worked at in Starcourt before the Mi- the mall fire. "What, Dingus?!" An annoyed, moody teenager walks out of the house. "Robin, we agreed that if I drove you to school, you'd at least wake up early!" I say as she opens the passenger door. "Whatever." She pauses to yawn. "Let's just go. We have a pep rally tomorrow, I have to get to school early to practice." She said. "Yeah, yeah..." I say as I open the door, and start the car. "Robin, why are you fixing your makeup?" I asked. She's been talking about a girl for the past month, and she can't muster the courage to ask her out. "No reason..." She said, reaching for the lipstick tube she dropped. I grab it before she can. "This is about Vicki, isn't it?" I ask, holding up the tube, and looking at her since we're at a red light. "Okay, it might be about Vicki. So what? I don't see you trying to stay with one girl. You bounce around week after week." She said, grabbing the tube from my hand. "Light's green." She pointed the tube at the light. I push the gas petal, and drop Robin off at the school, a half hour before the first bell. I start the car back up, when someone knocked on my window. I flinch, and see Dustin Henderson. Dustin is the little twerp I adopted two years ago. "Hey, Steve. Are you going to the game tomorrow?" He asks. "Yeah, why?" I ask, my heart slowing down a little. "Dammit, Steve. We need a sub for Hellfire." Dustin sighs. "That little... Lords and Drains game?" I ask. I know it's Dungeons and Dragons, but I like to piss off people when I can. "No, Steve, it's Dungeons and Drag- you know what, go stack movies or something." Dustin says, exasperated. "Fine, Henderson, I will. Bye." I say to Dustin, and drive off.

I don't have a shift until two thirty, so I go home to an empty house, shocker, and watch a movie I rented, Back to the Future. I watched it in the theater, but me and Robin were drugged by Commies under Starcourt. Once I finish the movie, I still have about three hours left, so I head to my room. I fish out a swimsuit from my drawer, and walk out to my backyard. My dad installed an in-ground pool a few years ago, to help my swimming skills, and I hate that the bastard helped in some way. I tighten the goggles on my head, and dive in. I've had swimming lessons every year since I was eight, so I knew I was good, but not talented. Everytime I tried out for a swim team, all of the other swimmers would pass me, and I'd only be halfway to the goal. After an hour of swimming, I get out, rinse off in the shower, and wait until my hair dries. I turn on my sound system while I'm waiting, and spray Farrah Fawcet spray in my hair, waiting for it to dry again. By now, it's one fifteen, just enough time to put on a shirt, eat something, then go to work.

"Hey, Keith." I say, walking in to Hawkins Family Movie Store. "Where's Robin?" He asks flatly. "She's still in school. Need me to re-shelf returned movies?" I ask. "Sure." He sighed, grabbing a magazine on his way to the back room. I start stacking VHS's on display on the counter, and start shelving movies. Then, the bell rings at the front. "I'll be with you in just a second!" I call, only having a few more movies to shelf. "Harrington, is that you?" I hear. "Who's ask-" I say as I turn around. 'Holy shit, that's Eddie Munson, what the hell is he doing here?!' I ask myself. "As I live and breathe..." Munson says, eyeing me up and down, taking a glance at the mandatory vest I have to wear with my name on it. "W-What do you want?" I stutter. 'Dammit, Harrington!' I curse at my stuttering. "I would like a movie. But I don't know what to get..." He stroked his chin, his wild hair trying to stick to his chin. "What's your favorite movie?" He asked, setting his elbow on the counter, with his chin still in his hand. "Oh, that depends. Are you going to watch it with a girl, or something?" I ask, shocked by his question. "Or something." He smirked. 'God, his smile is so cute...' I think. I shake my head, then pick out a few movies for him to choose from. "Thanks, Harrington." Eddie says, taking his movie under his arm, and leaving the movie store. I watch him leave, and sigh.

''What the hell was that, Dingus?" I heard Robin ask. "When did you get here?!" I ask, not even hearing the bell ring. "A few minutes ago." She shrugged. "Do you like him?" She whispered. "What?" I ask. 'Maybe...' I think at the same time. "You like him, don't you?" She asks again. I didn't answer, and could feel my face grow redder by the second. I grab a stack of movies, and sort them into different piles. "Holy shit, Steve!" She hisses excitedly, hitting my shoulder. "Ow!" I exclaim, grabbing the spot where she hit me. "Oh my goodness! My little gaybie is all grown up!" She teased. "Ugh, go be yourself somewhere else, please." I plead, standing back up. As I check the computer again, I think of Eddie. His eyes. His hair. His lips. 'Snap out of it!' I hear myself hissing at me. I didn't listen.

I stare at myself in the mirror. "You're not gay. You don't like Eddie Munson." I tell myself. I look at my pitiful face, and think the exact opposite. "Okay then. Ask him to hang out, see what he says." I say, running the faucet. I walk to the living room, which is empty, and filled with my own beer cans. I decide to clean up, and think of the point in my life I was at a few years ago. Smoking cigarettes daily, drinking whenever, a douchebag. I only smoke if there's other people smoking around, and even then, I'll only smoke one cigarette. After that, I drive around a little, thinking about what to do. 'Should I go to the Movie Store? The school? I don't know where he lives, so I can't go there...' I think to myself. Then, it comes to me. I start laughing so much, I can't handle it. "Dustin, you little mad genius!" I cackle. Hellfire. He'll be at Hellfire with Dustin. I drive to the high school, and see that school had just let out. I see Dustin walking to a seperate building from everyone else, and follow him. I spot Eddie, wearing a Hellfire shirt, a jean vest over a leather jacket, and a belt made of bullets. I walk up to him, and say "Hi." He turns around, and looks at me. 'Damn him and his beautiful brown eyes.' I scream in my mind. "Oh, Harrington. Did you change your mind about being a sub?" He asks hopefully, even though he was trying to hide it.

"No. I just... I wanted to see if you wanted to... I don't know..." I stutter. "Hang out?" I finish. His face flushes, and his eyes widen. "Oh." He breaths. "Yeah, um, n-never mind, go play your game." I say, trying to back away. "How about tonight?" He asks as I'm turning. I turn back around, and he smiles. "Uh, sure. Have you seen the movie yet?" I ask. "Nope. Wanna watch it with me?" He offers. 'Oh, my favorite movie! I get it now!' I observe. "Sure. Your house or mine?" I ask. "Mine. Here." He hands me a folded up piece of paper out of his pocket. "That's my address. I was actually gonna ask you to watch it with me..." He chuckles. My face goes red again, seeing him laugh. "Okay. What time? Six?" I ask. "Sure. Six. See you then, Harrington." He says, walking into the room. "See ya... then." I say, realizing that he can't hear me. 'Holy shit! You did it, Harrington!' I congratulate myself. I walk back to my car, where Robin was standing. "I thought this was your car. Who were you visiting besides me?" She put a hand against her chest, like she was offended. "I'll tell you later. Do you need a ride home?" I offer. "Sure. Give me deets!" She whines. I start the car, and drive off. "Steve." Robin taps my shoulder, gesturing me to talk. "Fine. I asked out Eddie..." I mumbled. "What was that?" She asks, I guess I spoke too softly. "I asked out Eddie." I say louder. "Woah!" She gasps. "I know, I know..." I admit, rubbing the back of my neck. "Congrats!" She adds. I do her off at her house, her asking to give me the gorey details the next day.