"You know," Lindsey Ryan says, walking up to the service counter of the Gap, "staring at the clock won't make the time go any faster."

Wendy turns red at her friend's words. "I-I wasn't... I wasn't staring."

It didn't take Lindsey long to figure out where Wendy disappeared to for her lunch break every day. The food court was the obvious answer, but something about how excited Wendy was when leaving for it made Lindsey a little suspicious. When she tagged along one day, she met the very girl that seemed to make Wendy's whole world turn around and finally understood. The girl had a crush on Robin the ice cream scooper.

"Sure you weren't." Lindsey nods. "Look, don't worry about not making it. Robin's shift doesn't end for another hour."

A burst of shock-laughter is her reply, followed by Wendy stumbling out, "That's not why I want to leave! I just... really want ice cream."

Lindsey laughs. She reaches under the counter to grab Wendy's bag, handing it to her with a short smile. "Go." Wendy shakes her head, feeling a bit guilty, but Lindsey shakes her head in amusement. "Go. I mean it, go see your girl."

Wendy clutches her bag to her chest, excited for the first time in a very long time. "Thank you! I will— I'll work extra time tomorrow for this!"

"Sure you will, Wendy. Sure you will."

Wendy couldn't stop the giddy feeling from spreading over her chest. The thought of seeing Robin again made her feel as though she was floating, as cheesy as it was. It was something that Wendy looked forward to at the end of the day, and she hasn't had anything like that for a very long time.

As the food court comes into view, Wendy finds her smile brightening. It was silly, this little crush on Robin, seeing as she was sure Robin would never feel the same for her, but that was fine. As long as Robin was in her life and happy, then Wendy was okay.

The sign for Scoops Ahoy winks at her from across the food court, a haze of blue, yellow, and red that she has become so familiar with. Bustling through the tables inside the court, she finally hits the booths just outside of the parlour. Almost immediately, Steve Harrington notices the brunette waiting patiently for the children ordering ice cream to leave.

Steve waves her over with a grin, but it drops when he sees her teasing smile. "No," he says immediately. Wendy nods, shrugging lightly. "Wendy, come on—again? Why? What purpose does this serve?"

"Just do it, dingus." Robin smiles softly at Wendy from beside the boy, enjoying the small smile on the girls face. "It makes her happy."

"Yeah, it makes me happy, Steve—"

"Alright, alright. Jeez." Steve tilts his sailor's cap slightly, turns around so his back is to her. Then, with an odd amount of flourish, Steve turns on his heel, singing, "Just take those old records off the shelf!" He pulls his ice cream scooper out, bringing it to his lips to sing, "I sit and listen to them by myself!"

Wendy claps, laughing as the boy rolled his eyes, placed his scooper back into the holster-y thing hung around his hips, and leaned against the counter. "Wow, Steve. That was beautiful. Truly."

Steve Harrington was a boy that Wendy knew from high school. He was popular, an all-around douche alongside his friends Carol and Tommy H., and Wendy would never ever associate with him. Then again, Wendy didn't really associate with anybody, but Steve Harrington was the highest person on that list of do-not-associate-with. After Steve got with Nancy Wheeler, she broke his heart, and he got sweeter. These were all facts that Wendy had learned from school, her mother (she's a gossiper), and Steve himself, when Wendy had shown up for her ice cream and Robin had not been there. And, well, she didn't like to judge people off of things she's heard around town, anyways. When he didn't make fun of her stutter the first time they spoke, she decided that she liked him.

"I still can't believe you won't tell me what that inside joke is," Robin says, glancing between the two. "This is completely unfair. I've known her longer."

"Yeah, two days longer—"

"Actually, we went to high school together—"

"Strawberry!" Wendy blurts. Steve and Robin's heads snap toward her, making her blush at the sudden attention. She clears her throat, glancing at the register to see that the children previously there were now gone. "Uh, yeah, um... Can I have some strawberry ice cream, puh-please?"

Robin smiles. "Sure thing, Wendy. Comin' right up."

Robin moves towards the cooler a few feet away, Wendy side-stepping slightly to align herself with the girl. Her gaze drifts over Robin's features, taking in the array of freckles and her thin lips. Robin glances up, catching the girl staring. Her lips quirk up slightly. "What?"

Wendy's cheeks tinge pink. "N-Nothing."

"So," Steve says, placing his hands on his hips. He purses his lips, pausing for a couple of seconds, "Wendy, how's Lindsey?"

"Still single, Steve."

"Really?" He drums his fingers on the top of the cooler. "That's, uh, that's cool. Really, really, cool."

Wendy pinches the skin on her left arm, unsure of what to say next. Steve's been interested in Lindsey since they met a little while ago, Steve apparently liking how 'chill' she was. The only thing wrong with it was that Lindsey has made it clear that she doesn't want to date anyone this summer, or at all, really. It's just not something that she's interested in.

Robin passes Wendy her ice cream container, followed by a red spoon.

      "Thanks, Robin."

Wendy steps to the side to let the couple behind her order. She pulls her bag out in front of her, taking out the bag of gummy bears she stores in there for this very occasion. She places some gummy bears on top of the ice cream, smiling as she does so.

The lights blink out. Wendy looks at Robin. Steve stops scooping ice cream to look up at the lights. "That's weird," he concludes.

Wendy bites her lip nervously, watching as Steve steps towards the light switch on the wall farthest from him. He flicks the light. It doesn't work. Frowning in irritation, he starts flicking it on and off repeatedly.

"That isn't going to work, dingus," Robin says, walking over to him.

"Oh, really?" Steve starts flicking the light more aggressively. It still doesn't work.

"Steve, it's not working," Wendy whispers. "Um, it could be—"

The lights flicker back on. Steve lifts his hand up, looking at Robin with an unamused expression. "Let there be light."

Wendy shakes off her nerves. "Uh, I should— I should go. My dad is probably wondering where I am."

"Yeah," Robin says, trying to hide her disappointment. "See you after your next shift?"

Wendy nods, a tiny smile on her face. "See you then."

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I love my two girls much, please adore them as much as I do