One

Chapter One- Part Two

"Yeah, have a scooptastic day! Or whatever."
Phina can barely hold back her laughs as the two girls in front of her start to leave with their ice cream. They giggle to each other, laughing at the awkward boy behind the counter. His bright blue and white outfit makes him look like a comic book sailor, his white hat covering his obnoxiously perfect hair.
"Aye aye, Captain," Phina says, halfheartedly saluting as she moves forward in line.
Steve scowls at her, "Don't start."
Phina leans forward on the smooth countertop, "Or what? Ya gonna throw me in the brig? Make me swab the deck?"
Steve rolls his eyes, leaning forward to be eye level with her, "Har har, very funny."
She grins, "What? You don't like my jokes? I think you look quite nice in your, uh, get up, Captain Steve."
Steve shakes his head, letting the smile take over his lips, "Sure you do. You are so lucky you get to wear normal clothes for work."
Phina smiles as she leans forward, bridging the small space between them. She gives him a small, quick peck on the corner of his mouth, leaning back before he can capture her lips in a full on kiss.
"That was rude," Steve whines, trying to capture his girlfriend before she can pull completely away.
"You're at work," she repreminds, pulling back, her eyes lit up with playfulness, "Speaking of which, can I get my usual, please?"
Steve grumbles again about the half kiss but moves back to make her ice cream, her order memorized by this point. Always the same thing, French Vanilla with gummy bears mixed in. She never ever changed it and Steve learned to never make fun of her for it unless he wanted to have his ice cream melt before he could even get a spoonful.
Ever since the night out on her roof, they had slowly grown into their relationship. First, they tried their hardest to keep it a secret, mostly so they could figure everything out themselves. When they finally told everyone, finally established that they were actually a couple, it had been crazy, mostly for Steve. He received the if you hurt her, I'll kill you talk from the entire party, Nancy, Karen, Joyce, and Jonathan.
"Here ya go." Steve holds out the cup to her. "Ice cream for my lady."
Phina reaches for it but he holds it slightly out of her reach, "That'll be $1.75."
Phina already has the change ready, placing it into his outstretched hand. He hands her the ice cream and sticks a spoon right into the middle of the cup.
"Pleasure doing business with ya," he says, leaning back on the counter so he was closer to her again, "are you free tonight?"
"Hey! Love birds! Wrap it up!"
The two turn to look at the girl peaking through the window that leads to the back room of the ice cream shop. She leans all the way out, looking at them with an annoyed expression.
   "Sorry, Robin!" Phina moves away from the counter a bit. "Was just about to head out."
   Robin nods, "Sure you were."
   The girl leaves the small window, rolling her eyes at the couple. Phina chuckles to herself, she liked Robin, they'd gone to school together and Robin was one of the only people that didn't look at her like she was the freak of Hawkins.
   "Meet me at the fountain after work?" Steve asks, bringing her attention back to him.
   Phina nods once, scooping some of her ice cream into her mouth. "Ok, I'll see you later."
   She doesn't give him much time to respond as she starts back towards the flower shop. Her break was almost over anyway and she was willing to bet that she would have a long list of orders to complete before the end of the day.
   Steve watches her leave, his smile wide enough to make his cheeks almost ache. It was still a wonder to him that they were together, that these past six months had been real and not just a dream. How they had gone from hating each other to this, it was almost surreal. Granted, they were given the most surreal start to their relationship, having almost died to something supernatural together, twice.
   "God, you two are sickening," Robin says.
   Steve turns to look at the girl, rolling his eyes.
   "Seriously, I don't know how much more I can take before I vomit from it."
   He just shakes his head and turns to help an approaching customer, "A'hoy!"

   Phina runs her fingers through the water of the fountain, the water doing small, unnoticeable dances beneath her palm. It calms her as she sits on the concrete edge of the fountain, staring at the mass amount of bodies moving through the mall.
   People laugh and talk and shop like there's no tomorrow. It was impossibly loud in the large space, crammed full of teens, kids, and adults who frequented the mall almost everyday.
   The Starcourt mall was the biggest thing to hit Hawkins since the shut down of the lab six months ago. People were unbelievably excited to have something new to do in the little town that never did anything. That being said, the mall was also a nuisance to the small business owners of the town.
   Some of Phina's favorite shops on Main Street were going out of business, Joyce's job was putting everything on sale, and people were protesting outside the mayor's office almost everyday.
   "Hey! You ready?"
   Phina looks at Steve, back in his normal clothes, shorts and a band tee that Phina had bought him. She pulls her hand from the water and dries it on the bottom of her flannel.
"Where are we going?"
Steve grabs her hand and starts to lead her through the maze of people.
"We are gonna make a quick pit stop at your house."
She keeps as close as possible to him as she can so she can actually hear what he's saying.
"And then?"
He turns to look at her with a grin, "You'll see. All you need to know is that you need a swim suit."