ACT TWO
the primitive constructs.

     ARLO KEPT HIS EYES trained on Steve as the brunette looked through the binoculars, he had been assigned the duty of spotting any evil Russians; which was difficult seeing as he didn't know what to look for.

His irritation caused his lips to turn downwards, his eyebrows furrowed as he stared. Not noticing Arlo's intense stare.

Arlo could confidently say the boy looked pretty, he always did but something was different today. He looked prettier than normal. He seemed to have a certain glow about him.

Unfortunately, Arlo couldn't look for longer seeing as Steve spoke up. Causing Arlo to snap out of his longing gaze.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me."

"What?" Dustin spoke up, instantly intrigued.

"Anna Jacobi's talking with that meathead Mark Lewinsky." Steve stared, his eyes never moving off the flirting duo. "What ever happened to standards? Lewinksy never even came off the bench!"

It was then that Arlo sighed, grabbing ahold of the binoculars as he did so.

He didn't care about Mark or Anna, but he wanted Steve to stop talking as if he was jealous of them. Which is why he had grabbed the binoculars.

He then placed them to his own eyes, staring at the duo from afar. Unaware that Steve's cheeks were now tinted a light pink.

The binocular strap had still remained around the Harrington boy's neck, meaning when Arlo had taken them. He had tugged Steve closer to him as well, the boy being only a few inches away now.

Steve wasn't sure why the sudden burning feeling erupted in his stomach, he didn't think much of it. Far too busy staring at Arlo's side profile.

A few freckles sat upon Arlo's tanned cheeks, he had a few light purple bruises along his jaw. His hair had just recently dried, the smell of vanilla and cinnamon shampoo suddenly becoming more evident to Steve.

Arlo Leone was genuinely ethereal.

Steve's chest tightened as he examined the boy, temporarily forgetting about the couple that stood far away. The couple that Arlo had currently been staring at.

Thankfully, before Steve could say anything that would make him look like a fool. Dustin spoke up, yanking the binoculars away from both boys.

He then placed the binoculars strap around his own neck, using the lenses to look for clues himself. "You two are the worst spies in history, you know that?"

Steve cleared his throat, not fully processing what Dustin was saying seeing as he was still confused on what he was feeling.

"I don't even get why you're looking at girls—Arlo, you might be alone but Steve? You have the perfect one in front of you."

It was these words that made Steve snap back into it, brushing off the weird feeling in his chest as he denied the kid's implications. "Seriously, if you say Robin again—"

"Robin. Robin, Robin, Robin."

"No. No, stop. No—"

"Robin, Robin. Robin."

"No, no, no! No, man. She's not my type, she's not even in the ballpark of what my type is, alright?"

"What's your type again? Not awesome?" Dustin questioned, temporarily removing the binoculars from his eyes as he glared over at Steve.

Steve couldn't give an honest answer, he didn't know what his type was. While he knew he liked girls like Nancy, he also had a strange feeling that wasn't the only type he liked.

"For your information, she's still in school.. She's weird, she's a weirdo. She's hyper, I don't like that she's hyper—and she did drama! That's a bad look, and she's in band? No, no. Absolutely not."

Arlo couldn't help but let out a sly smile at his words, seeing as they didn't describe him. Not in the slightest.

Maybe, just possibly, he could become more likable to Steve. And for the first time in awhile, Arlo felt hopeful.

"Steve, now that you're out of high school—which means you're technically an adult, don't you think it's time you move on from primitive constructs such as popularity?"

"Oh, primitive constructs? That some stupid shit you learned at Camp Know Nothing?"

"Camp Know Where." Dustin corrected shaking his head. "And, no. It's shit I learned from life. Instead of dating somebody you think is gonna make you cooler, why not date somebody you actually enjoy being around?"

"Enjoy being around?—that's dumb. That's not how it works Henderson, I enjoy being around alot of people. I enjoy being around Arlo, I kind of enjoy being around Ida, you don't see me dating them right? Exactly, it'd be weird. All right, pea brain?"

"Have you ever thought that that is not the same at all? Arlo is a guy! And Ida doesn't even like you—It's not the same. Not in the slightest." Dustin rambled on, unaware of how the conversation was making Arlo's hope dissipate more and more.

Steve just mumbled a sarcastic alright, whatever in response. Turning back to the mission at hand, dropping the conversation.

"Target Acquired." Dustin spoke, breaking the silence that had been sitting over the duo for a little too long.

"Where?" Steve questioned, Arlo's head shooting upwards as he attempted to see the Evil Russian using his naked eyes.

"Ten o'clock. Sam Goody's."

"Give me that." Steve then yanked the binoculars away, putting them over his own eyes once he did. He jaw dropping. "Shit. Duffel bag."

He then handed the Binoculars to Arlo, mumbling Evil Russian to Dustin as he did so. The boys waiting until Arlo had spotted him as well.

"What do we do?" Steve questioned when Arlo removed the binoculars, his words making Dustin mock him.

"We follow him." Dustin spoke in a duh tone, standing up and quickly walking away. The other two boys following suit.

The trio had been speed walking through the mall. They had bumped into many people, only a few of the people being ballsy enough to call them names.

Nonetheless they ignored it, keeping up with the blonde Russian who walked not too far ahead of them.

"Slow down! We're too close." Dustin warned, Steve ignoring his words.

When the Russian then paused in place, slowly turning his head. Dustin's words were proved true, making the trio run towards the wall. Attempting to look busy.

The Russian only looked at them for a second, turning around once his suspicions had ceased. Unaware that as soon as he started walking again, so did the boys.

The blonde stranger was fast, meaning they had to practically run to keep pace. While Arlo was about to complain, he was put to a stop when the man walked inside a building.

His action caused the three boys to stop in place, staring from afar.

The Russian had walked into a building that had huge letters on the outside, the rainbow sign making it clear what it was.

Jazzercise.

Dustin, Steve and Arlo watched the man intently. Their mouths dropping once he had unzipped his jacket, revealing a purple leotard.

It was then that he had begun to order the women inside to workout, none of the boys pulling their eyes away from the exercise just yet.

       Ida sat criss-cross-applesauce on the counter, Robin in front of her. The Buckley girl had been rereading the phrase over and over, trying her hardest to find any pattern. So far, remaining unsuccessful.

"The week is long, the silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west. A trip to China sounds nice if you tread lightly... Tread lightly?"

"You're lucky you have a nice voice—Otherwise I would've had my shit packed hours ago." Ida spoke, temporarily pausing Robin from her reading.

Robin's cheeks tinted a light pink at the girl's words, before she was able to come up with a response. A knock on the back door had interrupted her thoughts.

She waited a few seconds before getting up, rushing to the backdoor as she realized it was most definitely the delivery man.

Ida watched as Robin rounded the corner, a tightlipped smile on Ida's face as she did so.

   Unfortunately, Robin didn't come back to sit with Ida. No, instead she rushed back around the corner. Running past Ida as she did so, leaving the girl extremely confused.

Her caramel hair bounced as she ran, her legs carrying her out of the ice-cream shop. The trio of boys reentering the nautical themed shop just as she left.

"Robin?" Ida called as she stood up, sharing a confused look with the boys when they had looked to her for answers.

The group then followed behind her, now all equally confused on where she was going. Temporarily leaving the ice cream shop completely unoccupied, not that they cared.

The four friends followed her to the middle of the mall, their confusion only growing when she had stood on-top of a bench. Spinning around in a circle as she mumbled to herself

"She gonna clue us in or—" Arlo muttered, mainly to Steve seeing as the boy stood right beside him.

Before the brunette could answer, Robin got down. Now standing in front of her friends. "I cracked it!—I figured it out! The code—A trip to China? The silver cat—It's all stores, it's stores!"

The group still seemed confused, not being able to further question her seeing as she ran back to the ice cream parlor. The group following her once again, the Leone siblings annoyed at the constant running back and forth.

     Arlo once again sat in the dreaded breakroom, while he had never hated it before. The amount of time he sat in the uncomfortably cold space only caused his annoyance for the room to grow.

Dustin had left an hour ago, binoculars in hand as he snuck to the roof of the mall. Keeping an eye on the delivery men, leaving the rest of the group waiting.

The silence that consumed them was placed on pause when Ida checked her watch, standing from her spot. "Shit."

"What's wrong?" Robin questioned, taking note of Ida's worried expression.

"I forgot I have a babysitting today—I'm gonna be late."

"Why don't you just skip it?"

Steve's question only made Ida furrow her eyebrows, her eyes slightly squinted as she glanced at him. "'Cause I like babysitting the kids—I get paid—Listen, I gotta go."

The trio nodded, Robin mumbling a quiet see you later while the Leone girl walked out. Leaving them in silence once again, thankfully not for long. Seeing as Dustin had rejoined them, a proud smile over his lips.

    Steve slightly leaned his body towards Arlo, his knees brushing against the side of his friend's pants. Not that either of them cared.

Dustin had been pacing around the room, explaining everything he had seen.

"So they have this keycard—They use it for deliveries only. It opens this door, unfortunately, the Russian with this keycard also has a massive gun. Whatever is in this room, whatever is in those boxes—they really don't want anybody finding it."

"There's gotta be a way in."

"Yeah, there is.. The keycard—Did we not just go over that?" Arlo questioned, genuine confusion lacing his voice.

Steve smiled subtly at his comment, patting his shoulder as he spoke. "Yeah, exactly—you know what.. I could just take him out."

"Take who out?"

"The Russian guard." Steve stated in a duh tone, continuing when none of his friends seemed convinced. "What? Is sneak up behind him, I knock him out and I take the keycard. It's easy."

"Did you not hear the part about a massive gun?"

"Yes, Dustin, I did. That's why I would be sneaking, I wouldn't just charge at him—That'd be dumb."

Arlo smiled at his words, ignoring the pain that ran through his bruised jawline due to the smile. "Yeah, charging, that's the dumb part." The boy said sarcastically, Dustin adding on to his sentence.

"Steve, have you actually won a fight?"

"Okay, that was one time."

"Twice. Jonathan, year prior." Dustin reminded, holding two fingers up while Arlo laughed.

While Arlo had already stopped being friends with Steve at that time, due to him dating Nancy. He had heard about the fight around school, still in shock someone as scrawny as Jonathan had beat up Steve.

"Listen, that doesn't count."

"Why wouldn't it? Because it looks like he beat the shit out of you—Fat lip, crooked nose, a lot of blood."

"I was off my A-game, it was different—No, okay, you can stop listing stuff." Steve scolded waving a hand at Dustin as the boy continued to name wounds that Steve had gotten because of the fight.

"Oh, and the black eye." Arlo added onto Dustin's list, making the kid nod and repeat the words.

"Seriously? You're getting in on this—" Before Steve could scold his friends further, Robin stood up. Rushing out of the room.

The trio shared a look, standing up as they walked around the corner. Watching as Robin had stolen all the tip jar money, beginning to exit the store as she did.

"Is she clocked out?"

"Hey, Robin? Half of that is mine, what are you doing? Where are you going?" Steve yelled, causing the girl to turn around. Still walking further away from them, this time backwards.

"To find a way into that room, a safe way. In the meantime, sling ice cream, behave and don't get beat up. I'll be back in a jiff." Robin then bolted away, leaving Steve slightly annoyed.

His annoyance only grew when he glanced over at his friends, catching Dustin licking his scooper. "Dude, come on, man. Not my scooper."

Dustin remained silent for a second, Arlo grabbing a sample spoon from the counter before handing it to him.

The curly haired boy then sent Arlo an appreciative smile. Using the sample spoon to sneak some ice-cream.