Complicated • Stranger Things

19 - The Mall Rats

"What? You have a girlfriend?" I tore my eyes off the road to look over at Dustin.

"Why is that so surprising? You didn't think anyone would want to date me?" He asked.

"No, no, no, no. That's not it at all. I just didn't expect you to find someone at a camp. I'm really happy for you, Dustin." I told him, and I really was. "So, tell me everything."

"I'll explain everything once we're with Steve." He told me. Today was my day off of work, but Dustin wanted to go see Steve, so I offered to give him a ride to the mall. "Speaking of Steve, has he asked you out yet?"

"What? No." I told him and he just shook his head in disappointment.

I pulled into a parking spot and before the car even had time to come to a complete stop, Dustin jumped out and ran towards the mall.

"Wait! Dustin!" I called, but he was already gone.

Once I got to Scoops Ahoy, Steve and Dustin were ready doing their handshake and laughing together. Robin was looking between the two, having seen the whole thing play out.

"How many children are you friends with?" She asked Steve.

"Oh, hey Jordan." Dustin greeted, finally noticing me standing there.

"Hey." I smiled. Steve looked over at me and paused for a moment before saying anything.

"Hey." He said and I nodded.

"Okay, I have a lot to talk about," Dustin stated before walking over to a booth, Steve following.

"Jordan!" Robin called to me just as I was about to go join the two boys. "So, how'd it go?"

"I kind of...chicken out," I told her.

"Come on. You need to make a move before one of these airheads come in here and actually say yes to his lame advances."

"I know, I know." I sighed. "I will. Soon."

I headed over to Steve and Dustin and as I approached the table, Dustin went rushing past me up to the register.

"Where's he going?" I asked as I sat down next to Steve.

"He wanted to order something," Steve told me and I nodded. Dustin came back a few minutes later and sat down with his order. "So, what's the news?"

Dustin took a few bites before answered. "Okay, first, I got a girlfriend." Steve looked over at me with a surprised expression and I just nodded. "Her name is Suzie, spelled with a 'z', and she is hot."

"Hot? How hot?" Steve asked and I rolled my eyes.

"Hotter than Phoebe Cates," Dustin told us.

"No, no. No way. Hotter than Phoebe Cates? No." Steve asked in disbelief and Dustin hummed in confirmation.

"Brilliant, too. And she doesn't even care that my real pearls are still coming in," Dustin added. "She says kissing is better without teeth."

Steve and I nodded as we glanced at each other.

"Wow. Yeah, that's great. Proud of you, man. That's ro-that's kinda romantic." Steve said and I put my hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing. I wouldn't really describe that as romantic; cute, maybe.

"So do you guys really just get to eat as much of this as you want?" Dustin asked as he looked down at his ice cream.

"Yeah. I mean, sure. It's not really a good idea for me, though. You know, I gotta keep in shape for the ladies." Steve said and I rolled my eyes.