DAYDREAM, ROBIN BUCKLEY

THREE

Wendy doesn't like the mall. She realizes this about five minutes after being dropped off at the over-crowded space, a thick layer of sweat settling at the small of her back, from the weather and the anxiety. She decides that she won't be getting that sweet, cold snack from Scoops Ahoy today, there's too much on her mind and she's worried that she's going to say something stupid in front of Robin.

      She stops in a couple of places, mostly looking at things that she doubts she'll ever wear (buying a blue top that's kind of sparkly because these girls were making fun of her looking at a simple, black and white, striped, thin, turtleneck, which she went back and bought after Lindsey told her she was being ridiculous) and getting oddly excited to try a pretzel from Hot Sam's. By the start of lunch, Wendy had changed her decision and went to get ice cream. Her will power isn't very strong.

      "Hey, Wendy." Robin smiles when she sees her heading over, already reaching for the container that Wendy always requested; the new waffle cone wouldn't support her gummy bears, which was very important to her, Robin remembered. More specifically, the red ones.

      Wendy can't stop the blush from creeping up her neck at the thought of Robin remembering such a thing about her. "Oh, uh, I actually forgot the bears, so I'll take a cone if you don't mind?"

      Robin's ears turned red. She held up a finger, signalling Wendy to give her a moment, and then she disappeared into the back. Wendy, a little confused, waited patiently. Robin came out a couple of seconds later, a gummy bear package hanging loosely from her hand. "Um," she says, "I bought these a little while ago and left them in the fridge in the back, just in case you... forgot or something."

      At this point, Wendy can barely breathe. She didn't even think that Robin noticed her being there a lot, let alone this little thing that seemed so minuscule. "T-Thu--" She clears her throat. "T-Thanks, Robin. I'll, um, take the container, then."

      She curses her stutter. It wasn't this bad before high school, she had even been able to say whole sentences without stopping, but when people started to bully her, it got worse. Her father said that she was weird, that if she didn't stop with her nonsense he would bring her to a doctor to get something that would make it stop. But, even after seeing several doctors and psychiatrists, the stutter stayed. Granted, when she was alone and worked on saying certain words she knew she had trouble with, it worked. It was saying it in front of people that was the problem. 

      "So," Robin begins, tapping her fingers on the counter in front of her for a moment, "I, uh, didn't know you were working today."

      "Oh, I'm not," Wendy laughs nervously, tucking her hair behind her ears as her cheeks flush in embarrassment. "I-I was just, um, looking around the new mall. Haven't really been able to."

      "Yeah," Robin says. "Totally."

      Steve Harrington pushes open the door from the back, entering with a bored huff. He notices Wendy at the counter, lips spreading into a grin at the sight of his newly acquired friend. "Hey Wendy!"