𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐔𝐄! ✽ 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻

55

𝐓𝐔𝐆𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐏𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐉𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐓, sherrie happily marched into the ice cream parlor next door. sitting atop the counter was robin buckley, a friend that both her and steve had grown close to over their first month at starcourt. her honey-light hair was sloppily chopped just beneath her ears and her blue eyes gazed into the girl's soul. robin was adorned in her striped sailor's uniform, the feminine version of steve's getup. "hey dani," she greeted through a warm smile. her voice was charming and naturally had the perfect amount of raspiness to it; that was one of robin's many qualities that sheridan envied.

dani smiled in return. "where's tweedle dumb?" just as she had asked, he emerged from the back freezer of scoops. in his hands was the "sherrie special" as he so passionately dubbed it: two scoops of cherries jubilee (inspired by billy's nickname for her, which steve thought was absolutely hilarious, despite who came up with it) in a waffle boat with a healthy heaping of chocolate chips, whipped cream, and of course, extra cherries on top.

sheridan's lips pursed into a smile, her hands on her hips and her head tilting to the side. steve handed her the treat with one hand and flicked the back lights off with the other. robin hopped from the counter as sheridan shoved a spoonful of the ice cream in her mouth. a chuckle fell from the other two's lips as the girl's eyes went crossed. a moan bubbled up in her throat. "is it that good?" steve asked through a chuckle as he twirled his keys on his finger, the three of them navigating out of the shop.

"i'm not lying when i say i wanna be buried with this," she responded, muffled by her crammed mouth. robin's nose scrunched as her body shook with laughter. steve shook his head. he shut off the last of the lights and began to lock up the front doors. "it hits the spot every time!"

as the trio treaded into the abandoned food court, steve peeled his hat from his head and gently placed it atop dani's. using her free hand, she pressed it further down, securing it nicely. "if it's any consolation, you look better in that hat than steve does," robin teased. sheridan silently disagreed.

the harrington boy scoffed, gingerly smacking the girl's shoulder. "good, she can have my job," he huffed.

"i think i'd rather die," sherrie replied, digging through the waffle boat with her obnoxiously red spoon. "sam goody's no tower records, but it beats slingin' ice cream for shithead kids, man."

"tell me about it. your brother and his band of misfits came in again today." dani smiled once more. she knew that, no matter how much steve loved to complain about those kids, he loved them just as much—if not more—than she did. "i think they caught day of the dead."

sheridan let out a low groan. "i can't believe they went without me!" she cried as she crunched the remains of her waffle boat. both robin and steve giggled at the redheaded girl and her sorrow. the three teens shoved open the glass doors to the employee parking lot, entering the sticky summer night. the only two cars in the lot were steve's bmw and betsy, which shimmered in the lot lights and the pale glow of the moon.

"we'll pick you up tomorrow?" steve questioned sherrie, who walked at his side. the girl turned her head and met his eyes; they were the perfect deep brown, almost tender and holy. the color mirrored the various moles and freckles that littered the boy's body. his lashes curled perfectly away from them.

dani caught herself staring and shook herself out of the daze steve had put her in. "sounds good to me," she smiled. steve's lips curved. sheridan's gaze flitted from the tempting pink back to his eyes.

"i'll see you then," he stated softly. sherrie nodded, and plopped into betsy's driver's side. she watched as robin sat in her usual seat next to steve; something else for her to envy.

steve never left before dani did, always following her to make sure she made it back home in one piece. sheridan wiped the corners of her mouth and sped in front of the harrington boy. robin glanced over at him as the mellow yacht rock station trickled from his stereo. "you know she feels the same, steve," the buckley girl sing-songed, almost as if she overheard his inner dialogue.

steve's expression fell. his eyes flew from the car in front of him, to robin, and back to betsy. he struggled to find the words to defend or explain himself. "did she tell you that herself?" he inquired. he asked as a joke, but secretly hoped and prayed that maybe sherrie did confide in robin and confess her feelings for him.

"no, but did you not just witness that?! she was literally drooling over you, like, i think i saw a fly come out of her mouth," robin retorted. steve rolled his eyes, running a hand through his highlighted hair; something sheridan had done in his bathroom a few weeks prior. "honestly, steve, i admire your bravery. even after nancy stomped your heart into oblivion, you still are chasing after dani. and while i think that says a lot about her, i also think that says a lot about you. you even learned how to make a mixtape for this girl, for pete's sake!"

steve nodded. she truly did have a point. "but what if it never happens, huh? w-what if some hunk comes into sam goody's and sweeps her right off her feet? i might as well cut my losses and get over her now," the boy sighed.

"you know as well as i do, steve, that dani is the only one for you." steve smiled at robin's sentiment. "at least, the only one willing to put up with you."

✽