Love in the Future

Chapter 2 : we're not in the 80's anymore

Flashing lights blinded them, the sound of the motor whirring drowned out their screams, too loud to think. Then...silence, darkness. After blinking a few times to adjust their eyesight, the girls stumbled out of the machine, disoriented.

"Wha- What happened?"

"I don't know, it was bright and my ears are ringing."

Robin crouched down, taking a second to breathe and get her hearing back to normal, while Nancy looked around, taking in the new surroundings. This wasn't the lab. This wasn't even the Starcourt Mall. Where were they? Turning around, Nancy gasped. The machine was gone!

"Okay, what the hell happened?" Robin asked, standing up and walking next to Nancy. "This looks nothing like the mall." They were in front of the entrance, pointed straight to the parking lot. "Where's Steve's car? Did he leave us?"

Nancy looked up, face scrunching up in confusion. "Hawkins Mall?" Where was the obnoxiously bright Starcourt sign? A group of kids walked past them, wearing very different clothes, talking on handheld phones, and her eyes widened. "I don't think Steve left us, Robin. I think we left Steve."

"What does that mean?" Robin asked, looking over at Nancy with confusion.

Nancy looked at Robin. "I'm saying I don't think we're in 1985 anymore."

"OMG! Look at those outfits! The 1980's called, they want their clothes back," a teenager said, pointing and laughing at the girls, "Where did you get those? Thrift shops? Ugh! Not even designer."

As the teenager walked off, Robin frowned, looking down at her clothes. "What's wrong with my outfit?" Her voice was small, offended.

"As rude as that little brat was, she's right. Until we get back to our time, somehow, we need to blend in," Nancy explained, "But first, we have to figure out how we got here."

Robin nodded, looking around. "Steve was right. Time travel. He's not as dumb as Dustin thinks. Maybe the Russians figured out the technology. I don't know how to get back, though, but knowing them, they're probably trying to get us back." She then thought about it. "Or maybe they forgot about us. I mean, it's been what, over twenty years? Maybe they told our parents that we just vanished. They never got closure because they don't know where we are! I'm right here, mom!" She was starting to panic, her chest growing tight as her thoughts spiraled.

"Robin, calm down! We don't know that! Let's just calm down and try to figure out some things. But first thing's first, we have to blend in. I mean..." She paused to meet the gaze of some strangers who were giving them looks, "We're sticking out right now."

Robin nodded, taking some slow, deep breaths to try to calm herself down. After a few moments, she looked over at Nancy. "Okay. Okay. I'm good. Let's go inside."

They slowly made their way into the mall, ignoring the strange looks they got as they walked around. Noticing the fashion people were wearing, as well as on the mannequins displayed around each shop window, they had an idea of what to wear.

In the first store they looked in, Robin was inspecting a shirt she liked, smiling. "This is cute." She then looked at the price. "$22? For a tee shirt? What's wrong with the future?!" She reached into her pocket and pulled out her wallet, sighing as she saw she didn't have much money. "I have $15 to my name. I don't know how we're supposed to buy clothes when they're so expensive here."

Nancy had already looked in her wallet, finding no cash. "I'm out too." With a sigh, she grabbed Robin by the wrist. "Let's just figure out what year we're in. It's obviously not too far, because as far as I can tell, there's no huge technological advances like flying cars." She walked out of the store with Robin, sitting down by the fountain.

Robin sat next to Nancy. When she saw a woman walking past them, she said, "Excuse me? Can you tell me what the day is?"

The woman pulled out her cellphone. "It's June 30th."

"Of what year?"

The woman gave Robin a weird look. "2010?" She shook her head and walked away, mumbling, "Weirdo."

Robin looked down at her feet, tearing up. "It's been twenty-five years. So much has changed since we left. I miss Steve. He's annoying, but he's my friend." Something on the ground caught her eye, and she reached down and grabbed it. When she opened it, she teared up, a shaky gasp falling from her lips. It was a wallet. Steve's wallet.

"What did you find?" Nancy asked, looking down at the brown, leather wallet in Robin's hand. Her eyes widened. "Is that...Steve?"

The picture was of Steve, but he looked different. He had glasses now, his signature hair no longer moussed up, now parted. A light gray streak was in his hair, showing his age.

"He looks good," Nancy commented, nodding, "I figured he would need glasses. Do you notice how much he squints when he's trying to read something?"

Robin wiped her eyes, sniffling. She couldn't help but to let out a soft laugh in response. "Yeah, he does. And the streak suits him. Makes him look distinguished." She couldn't pull her eyes away from the picture. "Wait. If we have his wallet here, then that means... He's here somewhere! We have to find him!"

The girls ran around the mall, into every store, but finding nobody that looked remotely like their friend. They found themselves in the food court, the different smells making their stomachs growl.

"All that running around made me super hungry," Robin said, "I'm starving. But we have no money."

Nancy thought for a moment, then smirked. "Well, we don't have any money, but we know someone who does," she replied, motioning to Robin's pocket, where she was keeping Steve's wallet.

Robin frowned. "No way. What if we get in trouble? He'll be mad at us!"

"How will he find out? Besides, he's our only source of blending in. We could buy some clothes while we're at it," Nancy explained, "I don't know about you, but I'm very tired of the looks."

Robin nodded in agreement. "You're right. I guess he wouldn't mind helping out his friends," she replied, "Let's get some food."

They agreed on a pizza place, using Steve's credit card to purchase the food. After eating, they walked back into the various stores, buying a few outfits, trying different clothes on and buying them. It took an hour, but once they were done, they sat outside of the building, wearing some of their new outfits.

A phone rang. "Hello?"

"Mr. Harrington? We saw there were recent charges on your credit card, and we would like for you to confirm them for us. Were you at the Hawkins Mall today?"

Steve frowned. "Earlier, yeah. I've been home for a few hours now."

"Well, there are new charges from Pizza Palace, Rue 21, and Wet Seal."

Steve's frown deepened. "I don't go to those stores. I can't even eat pizza, it makes me gassy. Wait, someone's using my card?"