All Our Favorite Songs • Ronance

1. Africa

ROBIN'S POV

"Robin?" Steve called from across Family Video. I considered ignoring him for a moment just to be an asshole but I decided against it. "Yeah?" I yelled back. Steve emerged from behind the shelf, dawning his classic puppy eyes. "Can you help me set up this new shelf?" he begged. Seriously, Harrington? I'm literally... ugh. "Fine," I said, rolling my eyes. "Thank you," he said smugly. I dragged myself over to the shelf he was attempting to build (and failing miserably at). It's Steve Harrington, you'd expect him to be the ultimate handyman, but in reality, he can barely use a hammer and nails. I had the shelf built before he had finished unpacking the new shipment of tapes. "Holy shit, dude! How'd you do that so fast?" He exclaimed. I gestured with my hands before winking, "Magic." He snorted, then gathered a stack of tapes from behind him and set them on the counter. "I'm gonna register and check all these in, can you take out the trash?" Steve asked as he began scanning them. I nodded before turning around to grab chunks of cardboard to throw out. I heaved a fat stack over my shoulder, then carried them out the back door to the dumpster.

Once I got outside, I set all the cardboard on the ground so I could fold it up. Taking tape off of boxes was always tedious for me but it was satisfying in the end. I stood there in the blazing Hawkins summer heat for a good 10 minutes before I felt a hand wrap around my waist. What the hell? "Steve, I swear to god, I'm going to ki-" I whirled around to find Nancy Wheeler standing there with her arms crossed and wearing a smirk. "Hey sweetie pie," she said jokingly. "Jesus CHRIST Wheeler!" I exclaimed. "Don't ever do that again. You scared the shit out of me!" Nancy laughed before backing away. "So, what's up Robbie?" she asked, leaning against the back wall. "Robbie, huh? That's a new one. And you're looking at it. We've been open for nearly three hours and have had ZERO customers," I complained. "I've been stuck with Steve "The Hair" Harrington all morning" "Well, now I'm here. Saving the day, as always," Nancy said, flipping her hair dramatically. I snorted before chucking the cardboard into the dumpster, rubbing my hands. "Well, now that you're here, Nance... wanna come help?" I asked. Nancy looked down at her wrist watch and shrugged. "Sure, why not. I've got nothing else better to do." I pumped my fist before grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her inside.

I pushed open the door to find the store completely empty, with no Steve in sight. I approached the counter and saw a note taped to the computer screen:

Robin-

Something came up, sorry :(

I'll cover your next shift, I promise!!
- Steve

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I laughed, holding up the paper to Nancy. She scoffed before rolling her eyes, "Classic Steve." Literally. Hey, I guess that means I don't have to do anything since he's not here. "Oh no, I have to close early!" I said sarcastically, "What ever will I do?" I skipped to the front door of Family Video, then flipped the sign from open to closed. I turned around and skipped back towards Nancy, plopping into the office chair behind the counter and rolling towards her. "So Nance, what now?" I smiled. Nancy raised an eyebrow before leaning against the counter. "Wanna come to my place? Mike is off with Dustin and Lucas doing god knows what, and mom and dad are out of town," she suggested. "Bet!" She nodded, and then we grabbed our things, and locked up Family Video for the night.

As we drove down the road, Nancy hummed faintly to the song playing on the radio, but I was spaced out watching the scenery fly by, lost in though. I'm so glad, I started talking to Nancy. I know I hated her at first... but she's pretty decent. She's smart, pretty, creative, surprisingly talented, really strong, pretty, good with kids, she smells like flowers, pretty... wait what? I snapped back from reality to find that Nancy had broken fully into song. "It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you," she sang, wearing a smiled. I debated for a moment over whether I should join the duet or just leave it, but I went for it. "There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do," we harmonized. "I bless the rains down in Africa. Gonna take some time to do the things we never had." Nancy turned to me and smiled, laughing. "That was AMAZING. Africa is like... my favorite song EVER," she said. That comment led to a lengthy conversation about our  favorite songs and albums, and before we knew it, we had arrived. But, not at the Wheeler's house, at the local 7/11. "What are we doing here?" I asked. Nancy locked the car before turning around. "Getting snacks, duh," she remarked. "Ah, gotcha," I said. "Well?" she said, grabbing my hand. "Let's go!"