summer of love: the l word series

learning

FRIDAY JUNE 28TH, 1985

"Hey, dingus," she called. "Your children are here."

You giggle at her annoyed tone, turning to your head as Steve pushes the break room window open.

You and Robin were working the counter of the relatively busy parlor when you were greeted with the rush of four young teens. They walked through the parlor entrance quickly, stopping at the counter they frequented often this summer. Mike, though he clearly saw the both of you standing there, ringing the bell repeatedly whilst looking blankly at you.

"Again, seriously." Steve said exasperatedly as the young Wheeler rang the bell once more.

He looked at you sighing, signaling to open the servers' gate to let the kids in. You roll your eyes at him as you lift the latch, giving the children a saccharine smile.

"Hey, hey, loose the 'tude, kay?"

"You let them in for free every time, but when I tell costumers to round up a dollar for charity when their change is really going to me, I'm the bad guy."

"Using charity donations as a ploy to save up for a car is worse than sneaking a few kids into the theater." He says before following the children out back.

"When you were once apart of the charity it's okay!" You shout as Robin chuckled softly with her arms folded.

"God, watching you two's sibling banter makes this job a lot more fun."

"Well I'm glad I can be of service to you. Next time you need to defend my honor or else you'll be biking to school instead riding in my new car."

"Yeah, like you're gonna make enough serving ice cream for three months to get a car."

"Such a downer, Buckley." You say, shaking your head while stepping toward her. "I'll have you know, my scooping skills have earned me over $100 in tips in just the last month. Step aside, watch and learn." You finish, nudging her left hip with your right to move her out the way of the ice cream buckets.

Though, before you could wow her with your exquisite technique, the power went out, like out-out. Slowly, all the stores, and machinery in the mall lost power, the electricity flickering on and off before going out completely.

You exchange confused glances with Robin, before looking at the door that lead to the back where Steve was flicking the light switch off and on repeatedly.

"It isn't gonna work, dingus." She said annoyed.

"Oh, really." He said before flickering the light repeatedly while holding eye contact with the strawberry blonde. Your eyes roll once again at his actions, turning back to face the confused shoppers while informing them the power would be on shortly.

Like clockwork, the power in the shop, and the mall for that matter, sprang to life. Steve waved his hand in the air. "Let there be light," he said, walking away, waffle cone in hand. Robin shook her head scoffing as you returned to the freezer to greet the next costumer.

"Ready to be amazed, Buckley?"

                           🜸🜸🜸

The next day is relatively slow, especially for a summer Saturday night at the mall, but you weren't complaining. Only a few customers every half hour would usually make for a boring shift. That is if it weren't for the rather pitiful attempts of flirting Steve gave to any girl that stumbled in, and as hard as it is to watch your brother crash and burn, you just couldn't look away.

"Don't you think it's a little cruel to tease Steve's love life?" You questioned.

"I think there has to be actual love in said life for it to count as teasing."

You and Robin were seated in the break room (per Steve's request) while Steve tries and, well as it seems, fails to score a date with one of the two girls at the register. When they walked in, laughing loudly while throwing their heads back, Steve shooed you both away, as he said this was "the perfect opportunity to dust off his game."

There'd been a board in the break room, most likely to keep up with stock, that Robin had seemingly been using to track Steve's score with the ladies.

YOU RULE | YOU SUCK
|||||

"You sure spend an awful lot of your time tormenting my brother." You say, hearing the register ding! and your brother sighing, signaling he, in fact, wasn't ruling at this moment.

"I wouldn't if he didn't make it so easy," she said with a mischievous smile, picking up the board and popping her head in the open window. "And another one bites the dust." She says as Steve sighs and drops his head, turning to face the girl. She adds another tally to the board.

"You are 0-for-six, Popeye!" she said while adding yet another tally to the 'YOU SUCK' column. "Yeah, yeah. I can count." He says annoyed.

"You know that means you suck." She clarifies.

"Yep, I can read too."

"Since when?"

"Alright!" You say, popping my head out from behind Robin. "He's already been rejected today, must we patronize the boy?"

Robin opens her mouth to say what you know to be a 'yes' but before she can, Steve leans forward. "It's this stupid hat. I am telling you, it is totally blowing my best feature."

"Yep, company policy's a real drag," Robin says with sarcasm lacing her tongue, "You know, it's a crazy idea, but have you considered...telling the truth?" She asks honestly.

You nod in agreement. "Yeah, Steve, I mean, you're not gonna get very far by lying to these girls. Maybe a first date, but then what? They'll figure out the truth eventually."

"Oh, you mean that I couldn't even get into Tech, and our douchebag dad is tryna teach me a lesson. That I make three bucks an hour, and I have no future? That truth?" He says, moving his focus to the wall.

You hate seeing him like this, ever since graduating he seems so...not himself. The whole 'King Steve' thing has run its' course, colleges weren't accepting him, and now he's just walking through life, unsure of what to do or where to go.

You bring a hand to his shoulder and begin to sympathize as a girl walks in. Robin notices. "Hey, twelve o'clock," she says, pointing behind him to group of girls.

"Oh shit, oh shit, ok. I'm going in, okay?"

"You got this." You say, with only half the usual sarcasm seeping through your voice.

"And you know what?" He says while throwing the hat into the break room, "Screw company policy."

"Oh my God, you're a whole new man." Robin comments.

"I know." He says before turning around abruptly.

"Ahoy, ladies!" He says with too much enthusiasm, making the girls gasp as he continues. "Didn't see you there. Would you like to set sail on this ocean of flavor with me? I'll be your captain; I'm Steve Harrington."

"Oh, god." You sigh, commenting the same as one of the girls on the opposite side of the counter. They all share a glance of uncertainty and second-hand embarrassment, though this goes unbeknownst to Steve.

"Can I get you a little taste of Cherries Jubilee? No? Anybody? Banana Boat? Four people four spoons?"

Robin shakes her head in a mix of disgust and disappointment and turns to look at me, brows raised.

You shake your head."Hand me the marker."