Summer Savings [Byler]

Chapter 20

In his outrage, Will almost didn't see the shop. It's sun-bleached paint had clearly once been bright, possibly neon, and when Will pushed open the door he was hit with an onslaught of screaming, which his brain registered a few seconds later as metal music. He cringed at the attack on his ears, walking up to the front desk.

"Hey!" He called over the row, and the guy at the counter, who had been staring down at a magazine, looked up. His nametag identified him as 'Steve', and Will grinned. He'd found who he was looking for. Steve was tall, even taller than Mike, with defined arms and legs, a strong set face and combed back hair, not a single strand out of place. Steve opened his mouth to speak to Will, then changed his mind and spun around.

"Eddie, turn that shit down!" Steve screamed, and the heavy metal music obliged, lowering a few notches. "More, for fuck's sake!" Steve tried again, and the music quietened further. He ran a hand through his hair, sighing, before spinning back around to face Will and plastering on a smile.

"Hey, welcome to Family Video, how can I help?" He asked, his voice sickly sweet.

"Uh- if this place is called Family Video, why do you guys sell music and comics?" Will momentarily forgot his original mission, getting caught up in a wall displaying a massive collection of vinyls and music CDs, flanked by a display of every comic series Will could think of.

"Cause we don't just sell movies, but that would make the name too long. 'Family Video' just sounds better I guess," Steve sighed. "I don't know, I don't run this place."

Will stared at him, satisfied with the answer.

"Look, kid, do you need something?" Steve's tone was becoming exasperated.

"Oh, yeah," Will snapped back to what he was meant to be doing, rummaging through his backpack until he found the DVD. He slid it across the counter, then added, "Robin says hi."

"You know Robin?" Steve raised an eyebrow as he picked up the box, making a note of it's name in a small book, and then scanning it in with a hand-held scanner.

"Yeah, I'm staying at Cedar, we talk a lot," Will smiled. "I'm Will, by the way," he added as an afterthought. Steve nodded, placing the DVD on a teetering pile of others. "I'm Steve, nice to meet you, she's mentioned you a couple times to me, all good things," Steve grinned, and offered Will a hand to shake, which he took. Will decided not to mention to Steve that his name was in fact written on his nametag, and that Will had read it immediately on entering the store which was how he knew to mention Robin.

The heavy metal music took this moment to turn itself back up to the original volume it had been, if not louder. Who Will could only assume was the culprit sauntered out of a door behind the counter, grinning as he noticed Steve's annoyed look.

"Eddie, I told you-" Steve started. "Dude, come on, this is my favourite song!" Eddie's words were pleading, but his tone and body language didn't echo it.

"Your favourite song changes every day!"

"Doesn't change that this one's my favourite right now."

Will took in Eddie, slightly in awe. He'd never seen someone who looked so different and interesting. Nobody really made an effort to stand out in Hawkins, any extra attention was always bad attention. Eddie tossed long, unruly dark hair over his shoulder, and Will couldn't help but be impressed- it was longer than most girls'. His hands were decorated in thick rings, with tattoos winding up his arms. He jingled as he walked, thanks to the chains swinging from his belt loops.

"Woah- you look awesome," Will breathed, his face lighting up in a wide smile. "Thank you," Eddie responded. "Glad to see someone," he nudged Steve with an accusatory elbow, "has some taste."

"Yes, yes, very nice," Steve mumbled, rolling his eyes. "Now go turn that screaming down before my eardrums explode!" He seized Eddie by the shoulders, spinning him around and propelling him through the door with a shove.

"It's kinda loud, how do you guys even think?" Will asked, the question causing Steve to laugh. "Yeah, we don't."

"Mind if I have a look around while I'm here?" Will asked. "Sure, it's a store, isn't it?" Steve replied with a smile, indicating with one arm for Will to go.

Will browsed the shelves, perusing through comics, grinning as he flicked through an issue of a 'Superman!' series that he hadn't read yet. He grabbed a few issues of it, and then a Rolling Stones CD, along with a Bees Gees one. He thought he was done, until he saw a Ghostbusters DVD, which he picked up and added to his pile of stuff. He dumped it all on the counter, digging into his backpack to draw out some cash. "How much is the rental fee?" He placed down some money, his hand ready to add more to the pile if needed.

"Nah," Steve said, nonchalantly waving a hand at him. "No worries, kid, enjoy your nerd shit."

Will opened his mouth to protest that his collection of treasure was not 'nerd shit', when Steve seperated the CDs and DVD from the comics. He tapped the casing of the discs and added, "Keep these, my treat. Robin really likes you, so you can't be that bad." He flashed Will a sly grin, and Will shoved everything eagerly into his bag, thanking Steve over and over.

He headed back to Cedar, unable to think of anything more to do, and begged Robin to watch the Ghostbusters DVD with him, which she eventually gave in to.

Author's Note

"but Will wouldn't like the Rolling Stones-"
shut up i like them so im projecting it onto will also sorry that this chapter is boring af i needed a filler one