It's summer in Hawkins, Indiana. The days are short and bright, Morgan just waiting for it to end before she can leave for college. Steve gets her a job Scoops Ahoy, the ice cream parlor in the new Starcourt Mall that's slowly sucking the life out...
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"Some hearts break from grief, some from joy. Some even break from love. But hearts break because they are too small to contain the gifts life gives us. Your task will be to let your heart grow large enough not to break" - CATHERINE M. WILSONSON
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[TRACK 12] PLAY: I Only Have Eyes for You by The Flamingos
A Nina Simone record plays softly in the background as Morgan flicks through a magazine on her bed, knees bent. She had moved on from the stack of books on her bedside table, a worn copy of The Handmaid's Tale sitting on the top of it. The girl was almost done with it, making a mental note to give it back to Robin the next time she sees her.
They (Robin, Steve and her) had been hanging out more recently, going to diners and walking aimlessly around Hawkins. But she had darker days, of course. They all did. Times where she can't even bear to dim the lights even a fraction, where one of them couldn't even get out of bed; but they all helped each other through it. It helped.
The ringing of the phone on her wall breaks into her train of thought, Morgan letting out a sigh before putting the magazine face down on her bed before getting up.
"Morgan!" Steve's voice breaks into the speaker just as the girl picks up the phone, head tilted toward it as she leans against the adjacent wall.
"Hey, Steve," she replies easily, legs crossed over each other and brushing a strand of hair as it falls over her eyes. "How's it going?"
"Good, it's good," the boy answers after a second, nodding to himself. A muffled voice in the background echoes through the phone line "Oh right yeah, so Robin stayed over last night, and she had the greatest idea that we should all go like, bowling," Steve's excited rambling continues on, oblivious to her lack of response. "So, are you free today? I know you have the day off."
"Oh right," Morgan snaps back into the conversation, blinking a few times. "Yeah, sure I wasn't really doing anything anyway," she bites her lip a little, hands shoved in her pockets.
"Great! We will see you at, what? Six?"
"I'll be there," the short-haired girl replies with a smile before putting the phone back on its hook.
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It had been an hour and she couldn't figure out what to fucking wear. Morgan was meant to leave, like, three minutes ago since she had to bike to the bowling alley but she's tried on every item in her closet and nothing looks right.
This wasn't a date, of course, it was Robin and Steve and they were all hanging out, like normal. But it was Robin, and the crush wasn't going away, no matter how hard she tried. It was annoying as hell, trying to hide it, but she couldn't bring herself not to see her.
