Distortion [S. Harrington]

chapter 42

On good days, Steve and Lucy got off work at the same time. On even better days, Lucy got off before him and went to hang out with him and Robin at Scoops. This was a day where she got off before him so she went over to see him and Robin, but someone she wasn't expecting to see was Dustin Henderson back from his summer camp.

"Dustin!" Lucy yelled running over to give him a hug. She hadn't seen him since he left for his summer camp and no one told her he came back yesterday.

"Lucy!" He said pulling her in. "I have so much to tell you."

"I'll get the usual spot prepared so we can talk," Steve said, going behind the counter to get ice cream while Dustin and Lucy went to sit at the biggest booth in the shop. They only began talking when Steve came over with their ice cream, which was two sundaes.

As Steve sat down into the booth, he slid his arm around Lucy's shoulder and smiled at her. She smiled back and then they both looked towards Dustin, who was already shoveling ice cream into his mouth. He looked up from devouring his sundae to see them staring at him and slowly placed the spoon down, then he started talking about Suzie.

Steve and Lucy listened intently to Dustin talk about his girlfriend from summer camp. They hadn't heard from him much this summer and Dustin obviously held a special place in their hearts, mostly Steve's. With the occasional comment from Lucy, Dustin continued to describe her and tell stories.

"Hotter than Phoebe Cates? No way," Steve said, shaking his head.

"Brilliant too! And she doesn't care that my real pearls are coming in either," Dustin said, taking a scoop of ice cream and putting it in his mouth, not before pointing towards the older teens in the booth. "She says kissing is better without teeth."

Steve and Lucy immediately looked at each other, slightly disgusted. Not knowing exactly what to say about the information that they never asked for, Steve spoke up.

"Wow, um, yeah. That's great, man. I'm really proud of you," he said, trying to be supportive. The only thing he could think of now was what it would be like to kiss Lucy without any teeth. He shook the weird thought out of his head and said, "That's kind of romantic. It's like.... Yeah, wow."

As Dustin took another bite of his ice cream, he looked over at Steve in disbelief.

"So you just get to eat as much of this as you want?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, sure, but it's not really a good idea for me. You know, because I gotta stay in shape for-"

"If you say Lucy I'll throw up all over," Dustin said with the most serious face he's ever had. Exchanging a look with Lucy, Steve did not finish the sentence, knowing that Dustin would probably do it.