That morning, you woke up at 2 a.m., did your workout, then woke Dustin up. You and he did random shit till noon, then you went to the mall. You and Dustin went to scoops ahoy, where Steve works. You both walked up to the counter. Robin, your bestie, and Steve's work partner, was at the counter. "Hi, I'm Dustin," Dustin said, "Is he here?" "Is who here?" Robin asked. "The big guy," you interrupted, knowing she would say yes to that. Steve barged through the door. "Dustin!" He exclaimed, making a trumpet noise, "he's back!" Steve ran to Dustin and they did their handshake, then he turned to you and did your guys' handshake. You took the hat off Steve's head and tossed it to Robin. "But the company-" Steve started. "Fuck the company policy," you stated, "It ruins your best feature."
Steve got Dustin a banana split and you, Steve, and Dustin sat down in the customer seats. Dustin explained Suzie to Steve. "Hotter than Phoebe Cates? No," Steve jokingly scoffed. "Hmm-hmm," Dustin hummed, ice cream all over his face, "Brilliant, too. And she doesn't even care that my real pearls are still coming in. She says kissing is better without teeth." "Wow," Steve mouthed to you. "So do you really just get to eat as much of this as you want?" Dustin asked, directing the question to both you and Steve. "Yeah," you both answered at the same time, "But we prefer to keep in shape." "So, where are the other knuckleheads?" Steve asked. "They ditched Dustin yesterday," you answered. "No way!" Steve said dramatically. "On my first day back!" Dustin nodded, "They're gonna regret it, though, big time, when they don't get to share in my glory." "What glory?" Steve asked. "We intercepted a secret Russian communication," Dustin whispered. "What?" Steve asked. "Jesus Christ! Are you deaf? Want me to say it in Russian?" You asked, "Мы перехватили секрет Русское общение." (We intercepted a secret Russian communication)"It means, Steve, that we could be heroes. True American Heroes," Dustin said, "You could have all the ladies and more." "More?" Steve asked, "I like more."
You checked your phone and saw a text from Max. You and Max had become good friends. You and she loved skateboarding, so it kinda worked out. The text read "Meet @ front of mall pronto". You texted back " K, b right there". Your face straightened and you got up. "Hey, uhh, I just remembered, I have to... Do some stuff," you said, looking distracted, "I'm really sorry Dustin, but here." You gave him a kiss on the head and handed him a piece of paper with the Russian, from last night, translated, in your sloppy writing. You walked away.
You went to the front of the mall and met Max and El there. You gave El a big hug and did your handshake with Max. "Judging on your text..." You started, "Boy problems?" "Yeah," Max answered, "Mike-" "Told El his Nana was sick," you raised an eyebrow, "And now he won't come to see her. Sound about right?" "How did you-" El started. "What can I say?" You shrugged with a smug smile, "I have my ways." All three of you walked inside. "What should we do first?" Max asked El. El stayed silent and just looked at everything. "You've never been shopping before, have you?" Max asked. El shook her head "No." "Well, then I guess we're just gonna have to try everything," you smiled.
"Ooh, c'mon," Max grinned, taking El's hand, and pulling her to The GAP. You followed closely behind. It was kinda weird for you, the girl dressed in all black, to be at the GAP. You didn't hate it there, but there was absolutely nothing you would wear. El, however, was deeply intrigued. She was looking at everything. She eventually came up to a blue, puffy sweater(?) with colorful stripes and splotches on it. "Like that?" Max asked El. "How do I know... what I like?" El asked. "You just try things on," Max giggled, Until you find something that feels like you." "Like me?" El replied. "Yeah," you answered, "not Hopper, not Mike, you. That's how I came to look this good." You laughed and did a pose. El and Max burst out laughing.
El tried almost everything on. She ended up buying 3 outfits at the GAP, then you were on your way to a picture booth. Max and El were looking snazzy in the pictures while you were in the background doing your dorky poses, which you were happy with.
Next, you went to a shot and El tried to walk in heels for the first time. She ended up falling over, and you three were a laughing mess. Stacy, the bitch who wouldn't dance with Dustin at the Snow Ball, was there and rolled her eyes at you. She was such a bitch. You all continued laughing, anyway.
A while later, you were spying on Stacy. You had a plan up your sleeves. Stacy had a drink in her hand and was flirting with some random guy. You pitied him. "Now," you whispered to El. With a twitch of her head, Study's drink exploded all over Stacy and her friends. You, Max, and El burst out laughing and ran away.
After that, you went to Scoops Ahoy. You didn't go inside, cause you didn't want to lie to Steve. El and Max went in. "I'll have strawberry," Max said. "Vanilla with sprinkles," El added. Steve scooped the ice cream and gave it to them. "Wait, are you even allowed to be here?" Steve asked. "We have supervision," Max giggled. "Who?" Steve asked. "Blade," El answered, pointing to you, who was waiting and watching from the entrance. You saw Steve look at you, and you rose your eyebrows and gave him a light smile. "I think she likes you," Max whispered teasingly before running back to you. You, of course, didn't hear the conversation they had with Steve.
After that, they let you go to the Carhartt shop and try on a million things. Once you were done there, you had a nice pair of steel-toe work boots, an oversized, black t-shirt, an oversized, navy blue t-shirt, an oversized, army green t-shirt, and a pair of black, baggy, work jeans. You were happy with that.
Once done there, you had to get going. You went outside and, to your surprise, the boys, Mike, Lucas, and Will, were there too. "Shit!" You sighed. "You gotta be shittin' me," Max huffed. You all approached them. "Isn't this a nice surprise?" Max teased, in a serious tone. "What...are you doing here?" Mike said seriously. "Shopping," El answered. "This is her new style," Max said, looking at El, "Like it?" "What is wrong with you?!" Mike exclaimed, "You know she's not allowed to be here!" "Actually, she is, if Blade, and Blade only, is here, too," Max explained, a large amount of sass taking over her tone, "Is she your little pet, or something?" "Yeah, am I your pet?" El added. "What?! No!" Mike protested. "Then why do you treat me like garbage?" El sneered. "What?" Mike asked, thinking his ears were deceiving him. "You said Nana was sick," El stated. "She is sick," Mike said. "She's super sick," Lucas added. "That's why we're here, actually," Mike continued. "Yeah, we're shopping," Lucas said. "Not for us, but for her," Mike lied. "For Nana," Lucas nodded. "Also, we're here to get a gift for you," Mike explained, "Just, we couldn't find anything that suited you and I only have, like, $3.50, so it's hard." "Super hard," Lucas agreed. "You lie," El stated, "why do you lie?" El took a slow step closer to Mike. "I dump your ass," she said aggressively. You and Max looked at each other in disbelief.
El turned to you, and you all rushed to your truck. Your truck was grey with a red stripe across it. Once in the car, you all started laughing. Max and El were giggling, your laugh was more of a cackle. You three had fun today.
