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ZOE HAD NEVER KEPT ANYTHING FROM HER FATHER. Simply because she had no reason to. She hated the idea of lying to the only person who was family. Ever since her mom had passed away— it was hard. Which was why Zoe Addams contemplated whether or not she should tell her dad about the so-called evil Russians. It was silly, but now knowing they were real, would her father even believe her? Sam Addams trusted his daughter, one-hundred percent, but evil Russians? In Hawkins, Indiana? Fat chance.
As she walked through the densely packed mall, she couldn't help but think about her dad. The only person she had ever loved, the only person who knew her— and now, the only person who she had to lie to; to protect him. She squinted her eyes, finding two figures creeping around the bush that she recognized almost instantly. She couldn't help but snort at how idiotic they looked. She walked over to Dustin and Steve, who seemed to be spying on people at the mall.
"What the hell are you guys doing?" Zoe asked curiously. The two boys flinched, jumping from their spot on the floor. They calmed down realizing it was only Zoe, resuming their task on spying.
"We're looking for evil Russians." Dustin said, "And talking about Steve's love life." He added on.
Zoe laughed, "Oh, that's got to be interesting." She crouched along with them, tired of standing and looking down on them.
Steve huffed, "Let's not even get started on Dustin's 'girlfriend'. Hotter than Phoebe Cates my ass..." He intentionally put air quotes around girlfriend, letting both Zoe and Dustin know that he thought it was completely fake, or at least, exaggerated.
Zoe laughed again, "Hold up– Dustin's got a girlfriend? Who's hotter than Phoebe Cates? Way to go man!" She high-fived Dustin, causing him to laugh. Steve grew more annoyed, if that were even possible.
"Wait! Let me see that!" Dustin snatched the binoculars from Steve's neck, spectating a particular person. "Holy crap, I think I just found our guy."
"Well, then? What are we waiting for?" Steve asked, standing up almost immediately with Dustin by his side. Steve helped up Zoe next, which she was grateful for. "Let's go!"
The three kids rush up the escalator, rushing out sorrys' to everyone they passed. "Who exactly are we following anyway?" Zoe whisper-yelled. Dustin pointed to the man in front of them, who was slinging a duffel bag on the side. His hair reached his shoulders, and his attire was all black. So yes, he did look a bit suspicious.
The man began to turn around, almost suspecting that people were watching him. Steve turned and pretended to be interested in the glass window, Dustin grabbed a nearby phone and began having the most robotic conversation Zoe had ever heard, and she began to inspect a plant beside her as of it were the most interesting thing in the mall. The man turned back around, causing the group to begin following him again.
They watched as he entered a room called, 'Jazzercise', quickly the three hid behind a marketing board, each peering their heads next to the others. The man began to speak loudly, "Alright, everyone, listen up!" He placed his duffel bag on the table. "I just have one question for you. Who... is ready to sweat?" He spoke to the group of girls in the store. He pulled out a large radio from his duffel bag. The women cheered, and Zoe instantly realized what was going on. "That's right! Okay! Let's start it nice and easy now. Move those hips ladies!"
The room began dancing to the man's instruction, the numerous women began rotating their hips, their hands placed on them. Steve and Dustin stared with dumbfounded expressions, causing Zoe to smack the back of both their' heads. "You guys are disgusting." She groaned.
Steve turned to Dustin, hitting the back of his head as well. "Yeah, you're disgusting." Zoe rolled her eyes at Steve's attempt to make himself look innocent while Dustin only glared at him.
She laughed, "Let's go tell Robin all about your disastrous fail." Zoe, along with Steve and Dustin began walking back to Scoops Ahoy. Steve and Dustin continued bickering with themselves, although they really meant no harm. As they arrived at the ice cream shop, Robin burst through the back door, running in-between Steve and Zoe as she came to her new revelation. "That was... odd."
By the time Steve, Zoe, and Dustin caught up to the girl, she had stood upon the fountain ledge, a well-known grin attached to her lips. "I cracked it." She said simply, although her excitement was evident.
"Cracked what?"
She jumped from the ledge, her eyes scanning the three people in front of her. "I cracked the code."
Zoe shuffled on her feet, "Care to explain?" She asked.
Robin nodded excitedly, "Alright– the first line, the one about the silver cat? It represents the company— Lynx, the one where we get all of our deliveries from." She explained the first part, which Zoe recognized. She was always assigned to sign off the package, and restock the shelves when an employee from Lynx would come over. She was always stuck doing it because Bea was 'conveniently' never there.
"The line," She paused, reading from her notebook. "A trip to China sounds nice— it's talking about the Chinese food place, Imperial Panda." She pointed to the restaurant, across from her. "The next line was, If you tread lightly." Robin raised her finger to point at the show store— Kaufman Shoes— which was directly above Imperial Panda. "The last line was, When blue and yellow meet in the West." She then pointed to the large clock that hang on that wall of the mall. The hour hand was painted blue, while the minute hand of the clock was a yellow color. They were currently pointing in the East direction. "We were right, everything's happening here, in Starcourt."
The three processed the information in silence, confirming that Robin was indeed correct. Zoe furrowed her eyebrows, "So, whatever these evil Russians are up to... it's happening tonight? Here?" She asked. The boys gasped as if it were finally coming to them.
Robin nodded, "Tonight. And we're all going." Zoe nodded as well, a feeling of pride washing over her system. She knew Robin was smart, smarter than her, smarter than Steve and Dustin combined, and this proved it. Just like Dustin had, Zoe had found her Phoebe Cates.
AUTHORS NOTE!
IM SORRY I REALLY LOVE ROBIN AND ZOE AND I JUST— I WANNA UPDATE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!1!1!
