Crush Culture [M.Wheeler]

[42] DUMP HIS ASS

"No, no. No way." Steve comments, looking to Nori and Dustin, who we're currently sharing an ice cream sundae.

"Hotter than Phoebe Cates? No." He refuses to believe what Dustin had told him. "Mm-hmm. Brilliant, too. And she doesn't even care that my real pearls are still coming. She says kissing is better without teeth." Dustin adds, causing Nori to set her spoon down, losing her appetite.

"Gross." She comments. "Wow. Yeah, that's great. Proud of you, man." Steve responds awkwardly, unsure of how to react. "That's ro— That's kinda romantic."

"So do you really just get to eat as much of this as you want?" Dustin asks, looking down at the ice cream. "Yeah. I mean, sure. It's totally not really a good idea for me, though." Steve shrugs.

"I gotta keep in shape for the ladies." He concludes. "Yeah, And how's that working out for you?" Robin calls out, earning a laugh from Nori.

"Ignore her." Steve says in annoyance. "She seems cool." Dustin states. "She is cool." Nori confirms. "She's not. So, where are the other knuckleheads?" Steve sighs.

"As you know, they ditched me yesterday. My first day back. Can you believe that shit?" Dustin snaps. "At least Tiny came to apologize and spend time with me. No one even called after last night." He adds.

"Whoa. Seriously?" Steve furrows his eyebrows. "I swear to God." He nods, taking another spoon of ice cream into his mouth.

"They're gonna regret it, though, big time, when they don't get to share in my glory." Dustin yells. "Glory? What glory?" Steve questions, Nori just as curious.

Dustin smirks, scooting over a little closer to Steve. "So, last night, we're trying to get in contact with Suzie.." Dustin begins.

"Oh. Mm." Steve grins. "And, Uh.." he pauses, glances around the shop. "I intercepted a secret Russian communication." He whispers, barely audible over the chatter from everyone else.

"Should I pretend like I heard that and act shocked?" Nori whispers loudly to Steve, who shrugs. "What?" Steve decides to ask.

"Uh.." Dustin clicks his tongue. "I intercepted a secret Russian communication." He repeats, a little louder, yet neither of the Harringtons understood.

"Wow, Dustin! That's— awesome?" Nori attempts to play along, sending her brother a shrug. "Just speak louder." Steve shakes his head.

"I intercepted a secret Russian communication!" He screams, causing everyone to turn around and look to the boy.

"Jesus, shh. Yeah, okay, that's what I thought you said." Steve says calmly. "Yeah— me... Me too, I guess." Nori stammers.

"What— What does that mean?" She asks, Steve nodding. "It means, Eleanor, we could be heroes." Dustin explains, using her full name that she hated.

He seemed to do that a lot when she annoyed him. "True American heroes." He smiles. "Huh." Steve says, interested.

"American heroes." He smirks. "Just think, you could have all the ladies you want and more." Dustin fantasizes. "More?" Steve raises his eyebrows. "More." Dustin nods.

"Oh, Jesus." Nori rolls her eyes, leaning her head on the table. "I like more." Steve says. "What's the catch?"

"No catch, I just need your help." Dustin responds. "With what?"

He reaches inside his bag, unzipping it and pulling out a Russian to English dictionary. "Translation."

"Hey, I'm gonna go give Max a quick call on the payphone. I've got important girl matters. I'll be right back, alright?" Nori says, standing up. "Don't ditch me again." Dustin calls out.

"I would never!" She makes her way to the payphone, dialing the Mayfields. She figured if anyone  knew what to do about how Mike was acting this morning, it would be her.

"Hello?" Says a young girl on the other line. "Hey, Max. It's Ellie." Nori says, leaning up against the wall, letting other people pass by. "Oh, hey, Ellie. What's up?" She asks.

"Mike was acting weird on the phone this morning, and I think he's lying to me." She informs. "Well, What did he say?" Max inquires.

"Well, he said that his Nana was sick and could possibly die, even though Steve told me she was completely fine, and then he said he— he missed me. And then he just hung up." She explains.

"He's at piece of shit." Max comments. "What?" Nori furrows her eyebrows. "Mike doesn't have jack shit to do today, and his Nana obviously isn't sick. I guarantee you, him and Lucas are playing Atari right now." Max accuses, causing Nori to sigh.

"But Mike said he wasn't lying, and we agreed that—"

"Boyfriends lie, Ellie. All the time." Max cuts her off. "Anyways, El and I are going to the mall later for some new clothes, wanna join us?" She offers.

"I'd love to, but I promised Dustin I'd be with him. I might see you guys, though. I'm at Scoops." Nori tells. "Alright, So here is my final conclusion from this situation before your time runs out on this thing.." Max trails off.

"You're going to stop calling him. You're going to ignore his calls. As far as you're concerned, he doesn't exist." Max instructs. "Doesn't exist. Got it." Nori repeats, hesitant.

"He treated you like garbage. You're gonna treat him like garbage. Give him a taste of his own medicine." She adds.

"I don't know, Max.. I mean, it's just gonna make everything worse." Nori sighs. "Ellie, just do it, alright? And if he doesn't fix this, if he doesn't explain himself, dump his ass." She states.

"Wait, you want me to dump Mik—" before she could finish, the time on the payphone runs out, causing the girl to groan, having run out of quarters.