𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐒 • Robin Buckley

XVIII: REEFER RICK

"So, Vickie seems nice," Claudia said to Robin.

"Yeah, she is. That was a little random, though, everything okay?" Robin asked. The two were alone. The store hadn't opened yet, and Steve hadn't arrived. They'd decided not to open until he showed up, because no one came in unless he was there, anyway. Claudia sat behind the counter and Robin sat next to her, so they couldn't be seen.

"Yeah, I'm great, I'm great."

"Dia, babe..."

"You looked at her the same way you looked at me when I came out to you, and, I don't know, I just found it a little weird. And then you said something, and got all nervous, and Vickie smiled, and she's so pretty, and I-"

Robin grabbed Claudia's hand, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. "I looked at her nervously because I was talking about you, and almost blew our cover. Vickie's pretty, but she's nowhere near as pretty as you. Listen, I love you, okay?"

"Okay, I'm sorry."

"Don't apologise, you've just given me an excuse to do this," Robin cupped Claudia's face and brought it to hers, kissing her lips. Make out sessions behind the counter were frequent when waiting for Steve, they got bored easily.

Claudia took hold of Robin's shoulders, moving close to sit on her lap. When they pulled apart, robin rested her forehead against Claudia's. "You're so beautiful," she said.

"You more."

"No way."

Robin flipped them around. "Don't you think it's wrong of us to make out in our place of work all the time?" Claudia asked.

"Shut up."

They kept going until they finally heard Steve pull up in the parking lot. Robin crawled off of Claudia, jumping to her feet. Claudia got up slower, she knew that jumping up the way Robin did just made things look suspicious, even though Steve had probably caught onto their little routine by now anyway.

"Good morning, Steven," Claudia said.

"Good morning, Claudia. Making out with my best friend again?" Steve asked.

"I'd rather make out with my girlfriend than some random girl who genuinely believe Tammy Thompson can sing."

"Fair."

The three we restocking the tapes, when Robin ran over to one of the shelves. "I think I found our morning movie. Doctor Zhivago!" She said, holding up the tape.

"Ugh, you know I don't do double VHS," Steve complained.

"But it's about doomed love," Robin said.

"Oh, well, that's relatable."

"For you," Claudia said.

"Also, Julie Christie is b-b-b-bonkers hot in this. Like, seriously, the second most beautiful creature I have ever seen in my life. Next to Dia, of course."

Claudia smiled as Robin turned on the TV. A reporter showed up, stood outside a trailer. "We're in the Forest Hills trailer park in east Roane County. We don't have a lot of details now, but we can confirm that the body of a Hawkins High student was discovered early this morning. Police have not yet released the victims name, although we are told they're currently in the process of notifying the family."

"Oh my God," Claudia said, "Dustin!"

"Claudia," Steve said, "Dustin's fine. What would he be doing in a trailer park? Don't worry, alright. It's probably not anyone you're friends with."

"Yeah," Robin said, "He'll be fine. We'll all be fine. Let's just try and get it off our minds."

Robin wrapped an arm around Claudia's shoulder. Her and Dustin had grew closer since the mall incident, he'd became like a little brother to her, so the worry she felt when they spoke about a student being killed was immense.