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__________ c h a p t e r t h i r t y - e i g h t
"Dark wizard, can you believe that?" Steve questions as he pulls into the Hawkins Records parking lot.
"No, I really can't," she dryly chuckles. "It was fun while it lasted."
"Yeah, hopefully, this time I don't get my ass kicked," he jokes.
"Yeah, you're way too pretty for that. You wanna come over?" she asks.
"What about your dad's "no boys after 8" rule?"
"My dad is working late tonight," she explains, grabbing her keys. "And my mom is great at keeping secrets. I just... I really wanna talk to you about something."
"Not ominous at all," he furrows his eyebrows.
"Just come."
_____
Once they arrive at the home, Sam unlocks the door to see her mom at the dining table, sipping some tea as she makes a board for new hairstyles.
"Hey, Ma," she hugs her from the side.
"Hi, Mrs. Flores," Steve smiles warmly.
"Hi, my love. Hi, Steve. How was work?" she grins with tired eyes.
"It's Saturday, so it was super busy, but it went by quickly," he shrugs.
"Good, good."
"What are you working on?" they both look down at her notebook.
"Mapping out all the different hair trends in the magazines. Gotta keep up with the times or I'll lose customers. Wanna be my mannequin?"
"Absolutely not, after the crimped hair disaster of 1985."
"Hey, you made it work," Steve objects.
"See? But fine, I'll ask Karen. How was the sleepover?" she questions, making Sam and Steve pause for a second.
"Hm?"
"The sleepover at Robin's?" she raises her eyebrows, a knowing grin on her face.
"Oh, yeah. So fun. Beyond fun. We did face masks and watched cheesy rom-coms," she rambles.
"Oh, which ones?"
"It was a Molly Ringwald kinda night," she nods, glancing at Steve. "So we're just gonna head upstairs-"
"Door open."
"Ma," she frowns.
"Don't whine. If your father was here, you two would be sitting on the couch," she chuckles.
