Hey Jude | A STRANGER THINGS Story

CHAPTER FORTY ONE

From that day on, Steve and Judy stayed in a constant tug-a-war with each other. Always bickering and teasing and never letting the other one have the last word. For Judy, the only way to keep herself from getting hurt was to treat Steve like he was nothing more than her best friend. And for Steve, he just wanted to be near Judy at all times even if she was trying to throw hot fudge at him.

Even still, Steve also didn't want to get hurt. He knew that fate didn't have Judy as his. It was apparent to him since that night on the bus. Something would always come between them, keeping them the friends that they were. So why wouldn't he flirt with every female that came into the ice cream shop? If he couldn't be with Judy, why shouldn't he try with someone else? That's at least what he told himself. Even if it hurt him to try and get a date with another girl while Judy was right there next to him. Even if it hurt him more than it seemed to hurt Judy.

It did actually hurt Judy, of course, though Steve couldn't see it. Seeing him act like the hot commodity that he was. Things were a little different now since most girls didn't want to go out with an ice cream scooper, but Steve wanted to go out with them. That's what hurt Judy the most.

But, for the most part she could keep her mind off of it. Scoops Ahoy was busy enough that Judy could get into a mind numbing rhythm. A rhythm that still unfortunately involved Mike and his band of brats.

Judy stood at the counter, in her chipper sailor's uniform, watching Mike, Lucas, Max and Will walk into the parlor and stand in front of the cash register. She didn't have to say anything to know why they had come. Even though she knew that Mike knew that she knew, he still tapped the service bell repeatedly, forcing her attention on him. Judy could only give him a blank expression before calling out to the back, "Steve! The parasites are here!"

Behind Judy, was another counter. The sliding plastic window opened, revealing Steve adjourning his own charming sailors uniform. Under the sailor's hat, his hair is longer and fluffier than the year before.

"Again? Seriously?" He asked, even though he knew as well.

Mikes gave Steve his own blank expression before ringing the bell one last time. The service hallway ran behind the food court restaurants. It was normally used by staff for deliveries, but today, like many days before, Mike, Lucas, Will and Max used it for a different purpose; to skip paying for movie tickets.

Each of the preteens ran past the register but not before Max could stop to say, "Hi, Judy. Bye, Judy."

Judy laughed without being able to respond before Lucas pulled Max away. Every Friday, Max would come to the mall and sit in the corner of the ice cream shop and when Judy would go on break, the two of them would gossip about any and everything. Judy kept her promise about being there for Max whenever she needed and Max kept her promise that she wouldn't keep everything in all the time. Judy could tell that Max still kept up a wall for some things, but trust worked in stages. Judy stayed hopeful that Max would trust her completely in due time.

Besides the occasional visit from the geek squad and a few of their parents, Steve and Judy kept to themselves when working. They worked well together and never really tussled unless it was teasing. Honestly, work was pretty boring.

Judy and Steve stood at the counter, like usual waiting for another customer to come in. Judy had just started to doze off before the lights in the room shut off without warning, the hum of electricity disappearing around her. With alert eyes, she looked around to the rest of the shops didn't have light either.

"That's weird," Steve said, moving toward the light switch panel on the wall. He started to inspect it, flipping the switch back and forth. Of course, nothing happened – the power had very obviously gone out.

"The whole mall is out," Judy groaned, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, "that's not going to do anything."

"Oh, really?" He began to flip the switch even faster, staring at Judy while doing so. If the lights would have come back on, they would've flashed so quickly that it would've been difficult to process the change in light.

"That's not gonna-"

When Steve cut the switch on for the last, the lights suddenly came back on, and the nautical tune that always played sounded through Scoops Ahoy once again. The ice cream fridge quickly gained power and the whole mall began to buzz back into neon lights and smiling faces. "Let there be light."

Knowing how proud he was at what just happened, Judy could only roll her eyes, "That's just a coincidence."

After the power outage the mall seemed to empty out for the most part and there were only three people at Scoops. At about 9:30 each night, the mall turned into a ghost town after people would leave before closing at 10. That's when Judy and Steve would eat dinner before leaving.

Even though Judy worked literally in the food court, Hopper still came in and bought her food, setting it on the counter like a ghost. Judy never saw him in Scoops Ahoy but she'd walk out of the back room and there would be a container of food on the back counter. With a little note of course, like the ones she used to leave him.

They'd say something like,

Working hard or hardly working???

Be careful getting home kid

Hop

And eventually Hopper stopped holding a grudge over the fact that Judy and Steve worked together and there would be two containers of food with a note like,

I suppose the boy should eat too

Keep up the good work sailors!

The break room had been a very common location for Steve and Judy to have there dinner. It hadn't been much of anything, considering there were only a couple of chairs, a table, and a counter that Judy frequently found herself perched upon. It had been a plain room until Steve started working there. Dave was a stickler for cleanliness and hated personality. But Steve didn't really care about what Dave thought and had started bringing funny posters and magazines to look at during down time.

It was nearly everyday that Judy and Steve would ride to work together, spend their day at the mall and finish off with a meal together, then drive back home together. They'd spent the entirety of summer working together.