Three Worlds Collide

Chapter Two

I spend the following days getting my room set up at Robin’s house, placing all the posters I was able to bring with me on the walls. I am setting my guitar on its stand in the corner beside its amp when there is a soft knock on my bedroom door, I turn to see Robin smiling at me from the doorway, “Hey Robin, what’s up?”, I greet her as I stand up straight. “She’s a beauty, you still play?”, she asks, nodding towards my most prized possession. “Thanks, Mom got her for me on my birthday last year, and yes I still play.”, I stick my tongue out at her playfully, to which she does it back. “Oh Dad got a call from the school, it seems they are having issues getting your transcripts from Colorado, he is trying to get them to move it along, but it looks like it may take a few weeks.”, she tells me.

I let out a sigh of frustration, “Assholes, they never liked me back home, so now they are trying to make it harder for me to graduate, this keeps up I’ll have to repeat my senior year yet again.”, I state in a bitter tone. Robin comes into my room and sits down on the foot of my bed, “I’m sorry Y/n, we can always use another set of hands at Scoops if you don’t want to stay home all the time while you wait.”, she suggests. “Are you sure? I don’t want to impose or step on any toes.”, I ask, I am grateful she is looking out for me, and also there is the fact that I’ll be working with Steve, but I can’t let her know my excitement about the fact this will allow me to get to know him better.

She nods, “Yes I am sure, our boss is literally trying his best to get people to join, but they don’t seem to want to.”, she explains. I stand there for a moment in silence chewing on the inside of my cheek as I think, “Yeah, yeah. It’d give me something to do and it will allow me to rake in some cash to finish paying off Mom’s hospital bills.”, I tell her. She smiles big, I have a pleasure of seeing a side of Robin many don’t, she puts on this mask to cover how she truly is and I hate that she does, but it simply who she is at this moment in time. “Awesome, well it is the weekend and my shift doesn’t start until 3, come with me and we can see if you can get started today.”, she offers. 

I give a nod, “Great, cool. Yeah, thank you again Robin for all of this.”, I smile at her, I feel tears fill my eyes. I try to hide it, but end up failing because Robin stands and crosses the room to where I am standing and wraps her arms around me. I can’t stop myself from crying as she hugs me tightly, “Of course, you’re family Y/n, Mom and Dad are more than happy to have you here, as am I.”, she says in an attempt to comfort me, which does help. I pull away from the hug to wipe my eyes and give her a small smile, “It means a lot because my Mom didn’t have a lot of family left that would speak to other than you three. And she only had me at home.”, I add sadly. Robin nods before turning to leave the room, “I have a little bit of homework to catch up on, I’ll also give the boss man a ring to let him know you are coming in with me today. I’ll see you in a bit.”, she says, to which I give a nod in response before going back to finish unpacking my belongings.

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~A Little Before 3pm~

Robin sits in the passenger seat of my car as we drive to Starcourt Mall, I am wearing my usual outfit of ripped black skinny jeans paired with my boots and yet another dark gray crop top sweater that hugs my chest and arms tightly. Today I have decided to pull my dark brown hair back into a loose braid to keep it out of my face. A few stray hairs frame my face as the wind blows through the open windows of my car. Once again parking is a nightmare once we pull into the parking lot of the mall, “There!”, Robin shouts out as she spots an empty spot close to the entrance. I manage to snag the spot before someone else does, this leads to a person honking their horn at me angrily, I stick my hand out the window and flip them off, to which Robin lets out a loud laugh at my action, “First come, first served asshole.”, I swear under my breath.

Robin looks down at her watch and curses softly, “Shit, we can’t be late.”, she states, I agree and we both hurry to grab our bags and exit my car. I giggle softly as we pretty much run through the crowded mall to get to Scoops Ahoy. We pant softly once we are inside the shop, “Let me go get changed and talk to the boss man real fast.”, she states before running off to the back of the shop, leaving me behind. I take a seat at a table near the front counter as I wait to see what is going to happen. I am brought out of my thoughts by a familiar voice ringing out in greeting customers entering the shop, Steve. I can’t help myself but look over at him, the way his perfectly quaffed hair seems to have a life of its own, bouncing atop his head as he moves about getting ice cream for people.

I am finally met by the manager and he gives me a pretty much on-the-spot interview, “Uniforms are in a storage closet in the back, go get changed and I’ll let Steve know he is going to train you today. Him and Robin will alternate until you feel comfortable enough to do it on your own.”, he explains to me. I feel excited knowing I pretty much got this job on the spot, he must be really desperate to get people to work here, I tell myself. He leads me to the storage closet, he hands over a set of the uniforms I have seen Robin and Steve wear, I cringe internally, but I can’t complain since I need this job. I am greeted by an excited Robin once I exit the restroom with my normal clothes in hand, the Scoops uniform and hat now being worn.

I tug at the collar slightly, “How the fuck can you wear this thing?”, I ask her, she rolls her eyes and chuckles, “You get used to it.”, she assures me. “I’ve been told Steve is training you today, then me and him alternate.”, she says, I nod in response. I gently wipe my sweaty palms on the legs of the shorts once I have put my stuff in the breakroom, “You got this Y/n.”, I tell myself. I take a deep breath before stepping out from the back and behind the counter, “Hey Steve.”, I say with a soft smile, he turns his face to look at me with a slightly awed expression. I am fully aware that the few tattoos that litter my arms and legs are fully on display, this also makes me a bit nervous and I move my hands behind my back as if to hide the ones on my arms a bit. 

“Oh hey Y/n.”, he finally says once he is able to speak, he is absolutely adorable when he is flustered, I tell myself. Once again I chide myself for quickly forming a crush on a guy I just barely met the day before, and he is also now my co-worker. He claps his hands together, “I’m going to run you through the basics today, I’m just going to have you shadow me today, nothing too hard.”, he explains. “If we get a rush I’ll get Robin out here so we don’t overwhelm you on your very first day.”, he adds. I have had a few jobs in my earlier years of high school, but they were never like this where my employer and co-workers were actually this nice, I always just got thrown to the wolves to see if I sank or swam. 

Steve runs me through the training for a few hours, I am left up front by myself for a moment for Steve to go use the restroom, Robin isn’t too far from the front in case anyone comes in. “Is he here?”, a young boy asks me once he reaches the counter, I raise a brow in confusion. “What?”, I ask, before another word can be spoken the back door flies open, “Henderson!”, Steve’s loud voice echoes throughout the nearly empty shop. I watch with amusement as the pair hug one another tightly and exchange a very odd handshake, it makes me giggle softly at the innocence of it. “Are all of his friends little kids?”, I ask Robin once she steps out from the back and stands beside me. She shrugs, “No clue, all I know is that is one of his ex-girlfriend’s little brother’s friends.”, she informs me. The interaction between the young boy and Steve makes me smile, he seems great with kids, I think myself.

By the time Robin and I get home from work, my feet are screaming at me and I am in dire need of a hot bath. “I’ll make us something to eat and we can finish catching up.”, she tells me before leaving me to go bathe and soak. We spend the rest of the evening in the living room in front of the TV eating and talking, my heart feels a bit lighter knowing I am now home in a sense, being around someone who doesn’t judge me for simply just being myself. Hopefully the transcripts come in soon, these words are the last words to come into mind before I fall asleep for the night.