ivy : robin buckley

-002.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Ivy grunts as she puts her pants on. Her alarm had failed to turn on again and she knew she wouldn't hear the end of it from Aislinn. Ivy hurriedly buttoned her shirt and tucked it into her pants, slipping on her worn-out converse, and ran to her car, speeding away (without breaking the law) to Starcourt Mall.

Ivy parks in her reserved space and runs into the mall, bumping into strangers who gave her dirty looks as she mumbled, "I'm sorry, excuse me." Four teenagers ran past her, nearly causing her to trip. The red-headed one turned around and apologized to Ivy, reminding her that she hadn't properly apologized to the poor Scoops Ahoy employee.

Ivy booked it to Enchanted Florist to get her shift over and done with.

The group of teenagers she saw earlier ran into Scoops Ahoy, one of them ringing the bell obnoxiously even though the employee stood at the register. Ivy didn't have time to analyze what was going on and finished running to her job, swiftly pulling her apron over her head and tying it in the back.

"You're sweating," Aislinn called out.

"I'm very aware." Ivy snapped back, clocking into work. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap."

"It's fine, Ivy. Your alarm didn't work again?" Aislinn leaned on the register and fiddled with the baby's breath that rested on the register.

"No, I thought I fixed it yesterday." Ivy took Aislinn's place on the register as Aislinn walked around the store, their pale hands watering the pots scattered around the shop.

"Why do you sleep so late? We only work from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m." Aislinn questions.

"I have summer school and I do all of my work last minute." Ivy sighed and smelled the baby's breath. "You know, you would think baby's breath smelled like an actual baby's breath. It just smells like spit up."

Aislinn chuckled. "That's why it's best to smell one, not the entire bouquet." Aislinn and Ivy continued to do their work in silence, only asking each other questions about what to do with certain plants and where to put the seeds.

The lights flickered in the flower shop and seemingly the entire mall, making Aislinn and Ivy look at each other quizzically. Gasps and hushed whispers scattered throughout the mall as everyone tried to figure out why the lights went out.

"What the hell?" Ivy sets her broom down and leans against the counter. "Did Hawkins forget to pay their electrical bill this month?"

Aislinn shrugs. "Probably." They go to try the light switch to see if it could help.

"That's not going to work, Ash." Ivy bluntly states. "You know what? I'm going to apologize to the person I bumped into yesterday. I'm taking the chance while I can," Ivy starts walking out of the store but Aislinn calls her back, asking a plethora of questions.

"Do they work here?" This is the only question Ivy makes out from the babbling nonsense coming out of their mouth.

Ivy nods. "Yes, they do. Okay, I gotta go!" She jogs out of the shop and makes her way to Scoops Ahoy. It didn't help that Scoops Ahoy was on the far end of where Enchanted Florist was, so it took Ivy a while to even make it halfway there.

The lights flickered as they turned back on, resulting in everyone cheering as their eyes adjusted to the lights. Ivy groaned in annoyance, seeing Scoops Ahoy just a couple of years in front of her. She internally fought with herself, debating on going forth and apologizing to the employee or going back to work.

Eventually, she decided on jogging back to Enchanted Florist.

Aislinn greeted her at the entrance, their arms crossed as they had an unreadable expression planted on their face. "Did you apologize to your person?"

Ivy shakes her head no. "I was halfway there when the lights turned back on."

"Aw, that's too bad." Aislinn walked into the employee's only room, silently telling Ivy it was time to take a break. Neither of them had done any work, as the people filing into the shop came every twenty minutes or so.

Ivy follows after her coworker and takes off her apron, hanging it on the rack by the door. "I'm going to use my break to apologize to my person."

"Alright, stay safe." Aislinn waves goodbye and opens the mini fridge, pulling out the lunch they packed.

Ivy walks out of Enchanted Florist like a man on a mission, stuffing her hands in her pockets as she power walks to Scoops Ahoy. There were a couple of people in line already and Ivy waited impatiently, anxiously tapping her foot on the ground.

When she finally gets to the register, she's greeted by a boy with fluffy brown hair wearing the uniform. His name tag reads 'Steve.'

"Welcome to Scoops Ahoy, what can I get you today?" Steve smirks, trying to win over Ivy.

Ivy scoffs at his poor attempt at flirting. "Can I speak to the other employee? Short, blonde hair and blue eyes?" Steve looks at Ivy in confusion, eyebrows furrowing upon her request.

"Sure, but why?" He looks into her brown eyes, hoping he had won her over at least a little bit.

"I just need to apologize to them." Ivy shortly explains, not wanting to give Steve more information than needed.

Steve nods and turns around to face the windows in the back. "Robin! Someone wants to talk to you!" The blonde, whom Ivy now knows is named Robin, pokes her head out of the window, locking eyes with Ivy.

"Also, can I have a large strawberry cone?" Ivy asks, pulling her wallet out and taking out a crisp ten-dollar bill. Steve looks at her in bewilderment before completing her request as Robin steps out from the back, leaning on the counter to face Ivy.

"Uh, hello?" Robin greets them, recognizing her as the girl who had bumped into her the day prior.

"Hi!" Ivy returns, clasping her hands together. "Um, I just wanted to apologize for bumping into you yesterday. I know I already did, but I just wanted to do it properly."

Robin opens her mouth to speak when Steve's arm pokes through, handing Ivy her ice cream. "One large strawberry cone for the pretty brunette."

Ivy and Robin cringe at Steve's attempt at flirting.

Ivy takes the cone from Steve, smiling at him through pursed lips. "Is he always like that?"

Robin nods and turns to face her coworker. "Yeah. Hey, dingus!" Steve rolls his eyes and looks at Robin. "That's another point on the board!"

Ivy looks confused by what Robin means but decides it's best not to ask. "Anyway... That's why I came here. I just wanted to apologize."

Robin waves her hand in dismissal. "It's okay, man. It was just an accident, there was really no need to apologize."

"I know, but still. I can see the scrape on your knee from when you fell." Ivy points out, looking at the wound on Robin's left knee.

Robin looks down at it in amusement. "Wow! I didn't even notice that it was there."

Ivy laughs and Robin joins her. The two lock eyes for a second until Steve calls out to Robin.

"Dingus, I'm taking my break. Have fun!" Steve says, walking back into the employee's only room. Robin groans as she moves closer to the register.

"Speaking of breaks, mine is over soon," Ivy said, looking at the clock in the ice cream parlor. "I'll see you later?"

Robin saluted at Ivy. "So long, try not to bump into anyone else!"

Ivy chuckled as she waved goodbye to Robin. "I'll try."