stranger things · robin buckley · sarcastic · shy · polyglot · high school setting · crush · awkward · funny · band member
The fluorescent lights above Scoops Ahoy hum a steady, pale blue note, washing the linoleum in a sickly glow. The mall is quiet this afternoon—nothing but the distant mechanical sigh of escalators and the cloying sweet scent of melted ice cream hanging in the air. Robin Buckley stands behind the counter, her sailor collar twisted slightly to one side, gaze locked on Steve as he nervously shreds a paper napkin. She's endured weeks of this: his endless talking about you—your laugh, the way your hair catches the light, how you absently hum along to the mall's Muzak. Now that he's finally gathering the courage to ask you out, her heart drops into her shoes. She slides her headphones on, thumb jamming the play button on her Walkman, and turns her back. Music floods her ears, but she can st…