Chapter Text
Robin threw her head back, staring up at the fluorescents boring down onto the nearly black carpet dotted with bits of color nearly haphazardly.
“We can’t be through everything,” she complained.
Steve stamped prices onto tapes. “Everything but the adult section in the back. You should know, we’re the ones stocking this joint.”
Robin lifted her head with a huff of air. “How much time do we have left?”
“An hour.”
"You didn't check!"
“Robin, believe me, you have not been bored out of your mind for an entire hour. It’s been seconds at least.”
“Could you at least check?”
Steve sighed, placing a tape down to go check his watch. “Fifty-nine minutes.”
“See? It’s been a minute.” Steve shook his head and continued down the row of movies, stamping each one. A long moment of silence passed. “Do you want to check the adult section?”
Steve finally looked over at Robin with an unbelieving expression. “You want to check the adult section?”
“I feel like it would be worth a laugh.”
“Robin, we can’t even watch that stuff out here and we gotta stay at the counter.”
Robin groaned. “I know. I’m just bored. No one has come in for so long.”
“We could start making plans for tonight?”
Robin hummed thoughtfully. “Wherever it is, it’s gotta be a place where you can hide the car.”
“Or it has to be somewhere I can park my car and we can walk.”
Robin looked up and thought. “Mm. Yeah, but we’d have to run out so the,” she glanced up at the security camera in the corner, “ushers don’t catch us watching without tickets.”
“What movie we going to see, though?”
"Not All the Right Moves."
Steve furrowed his brow before the memory of him spraypainting the movie theater came to mind. “Yeah, no, I’m still not sure about seeing that one. That and it’s gonna be tough to get. . . tickets.”
“Yeah. But. . . gotta admit, it’d be a classic. I feel like that’d be a nice throw in the mix especially after watching something like Elm Street.”
Steve gave a light chuckle. “Yeah, I guess.” He leaned back on the counter, looking up at the ceiling. “I’m assuming that means a no on Sixteen Candles then?”
"I am a little offended you brought that one up."
"Hey, we don't judge on movie picks here."
"Well, I'm judging that one," Robin said sternly.
"Sorry. My bad." Steve thought for a moment then he smirked. “Well. If Sixteen Candles is out, you up for a muppet movie?”
Robin let out a laugh. “Man! Muppet movie? I hadn’t even thought of that one.”
“This is why you need me.”
“Sure. But you’re also the guy who’s not afraid to get his hands dirty sneaking snacks. You know me, I’m good at selling, not so much dealing.”
“Yeah, your coordination and your anxiety is a bad mix for sneaking snacks." He looked over his shoulder at Robin. "Sooo, how’s about it? I can go grab the phone book, see what theater might be open for that.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I could go for a muppet movie. I mean, I doubt they’ll be in theaters for long anyhow.”
Steve pumped his fist and came off of the counter, going to fetch a phone book from outside. He strolled out to the payphone. The night was cool and dark, the moon illuminating the dark corners of the payphone its cheap lights couldn’t afford. Whistling along, Steve opened the door to the payphone, not caring for it shutting behind him as he took the large phone book from it, briefly flipping through it to get to the T’s. For theaters, of course.
Then just as he was about to leave, he caught something out of the corner of his eye. A flash of light. He whipped around, eyeing the empty parking lot. Steve raised an eyebrow. He stepped out of the booth and looked about, adjusting his eyes the best he could to the darkness.
“Hello?” he called out. The wind through the skeletal trees whistled in response. “Huh.” After a moment of hesitation, he retreated back into the Family Video Store, flipping through pages. “So, Rob, you sure this theater doesn’t have like a similar name to. . . ?” He looked up. The store was dark. Robin was nowhere to be seen. He set down the book on the counter with a thump. “Okay, hardy-har-har, Robin. You got me. Now can you come out and help me with this book?” Steve was met with silence. “Robin? I know you’re here. You couldn’t have booked it, I drove you here.”
Something clattered out by one of the shelves. Steve shook his head, marching over to go retrieve the thrown off tape. “Robin, you went with me to that haunted house. I nailed that one guy in the face because he popped out at me.” Still, no response. He bent down, picking up. “Halloween. Ha-ha, because he stalks babysitters. Very funny.”
Steve went to drop it out of spite, but knew better than that. These tapes were expensive. He put it back up onto the shelf and turned around to the end of the aisle, hands on hips. “Alright, Rob. I know what you’re gonna do. As soon as I turn around, you’re gonna pop out with that mask. And I’m telling you now neither of us are gonna be happy once you do that.” He paused, looking left to right, seeing only the empty store. “Alright.” He turned around and-!
. . . Nothing. Steve’s brow furrowed. “Rob?” He slowly emerged from the aisle in search of his friend. “Alright, dude, this isn’t funny anymore.” His heart started to sink. If Robin was hurt or kidnapped and he didn’t go look for her that very second because he thought she was messing with him- he got sick thinking about it. “Robin?” He looked over the counter, surveyed the aisles, not a sign of her. “Robin?!”
He hopped over the counter and rushed to the adult section, peeking behind the curtain. Still nothing. “Shit, shit, shit, shit!” He ran out of the scarlet room, gunning it for the storage behind the shop, the only other place she could have been. He threw open the door and let out an agonized scream, finding Robin on the ground, knife in her back.
Tammy Thompson was home alone. She had spent a good portion of her time in Hawkins having dinner with friends, catching up on the local news, and of course showcasing a little bit of what she learned in Nashville to her school. It felt good being back in Hawkins, but like her high school years, there seemed to be a lot of strange happenings. And not strange as in weird, more strange as in scary.
Teenagers were coming up murdered with no explanation as to how or why. Admittedly, there was a couple of murders a few years back, but they were scattered and the chief of police even got put behind bars for it. But they’re back again and they’re. . . deliberate. Frequent. Less messy. As in the covering of tracks that is. The corpses themselves were grisly, gruesome, it made Tammy’s stomach churn just thinking about it.
She shook her head, letting out a deep breath. There’s no need to dwell on something so dreary. While she had fun with her friends and family, this was her night off to just get a little Tammy-Time.
She shrugged off her jacket, hanging it up on a dining room chair as she went into the kitchen. She was thinking about popping in a movie with a little snack. Her parents had recently bought Gremlins. She didn’t know much about the movie, but she did know about a cute furry creature being in the center of it, so she was pretty excited for some fluffy fun.
She pursued her parents' pantry for something. . . sweet preferably. Her eyes landed on a pack of nerds. She picked it up and went to relax in the living room when the phone rang. She looked over at the house phone, giving a little sigh and strolling over. She was supposed to be on vocal rest, but a few words shouldn’t hurt. It was probably her mom checking in anyway.
She took it off of the receiver. “Thompson residence?”
“Hello,” greeted a voice. It sounded like a man, but there was a slight. . . echo so to speak to it? Tammy didn’t give it much thought further than that other than the fact she rather liked the raspiness and hitch within the flow of the voice.
“Hello?” she repeated. “Do I know you?”
“I don’t know. Do you?” Tammy scrunched her face in confusion. It almost made her nose look pig-like.
A smile slowly spread on her lips. “Who is this? Harrington. . . is that you?”
“What do you think?” Tammy giggled, her voice going up a few pitches, having a certain cadence that screamed “Miss Piggy”. “I like your laugh.”
“I like this voice thing you’re doing.”
"Really?"
“Uh-huh.” Tammy bit her lip. Steve was possibly the only one of the only people she knew in school in which she hadn’t contacted again. Still, he made her heart flutter. “Wanna tell me why you’re calling me at this time of night, Steve?”
“I just wanted to talk with you.” Tammy grinned. She leaned on the wall, her face turning into a piggy pink.
"Oh? About what?"
“Mm. I dunno. Do you like scary movies?”
She shook her head. “Oh, no. They give me nightmares.”
"Aww, that's too bad."
“Do you like scary movies, Steve?”
"Oh, yeah. Tons."
“What’s your favorite scary movie?”
"Why do you wanna know?"
“I don’t know,” Tammy said coyly, tracing the tip of her shoe over the grout in the linoleum. “I’m only in town for a while but, hey, if you’ve got something you wanna do. . . .”
“Even if it gives you nightmares?”
“I’m sure if anything happens, you'll be there to protect me, Steve.” The voice over the phone laughed. For entirely too long. And in that break of an entirely too long laugh, the voice shifted. Just slightly, but enough for Tammy who was hanging off of “Steve’s” every word to notice. Tammy frowned, her face scrunching up again. “Steve?” she asked hesitantly.
“Whatcha doing tonight, Thompson?”
Tammy relaxed a bit, brushing off her previous thought as overthinking. “Watching a movie.”
"Really? What movie?"
“Gremlins. A little kid flick. You know, something comforting.”
"Thompson."
"Yeah?"
"That's a scary movie."
“Really?! But the commercials just kept–.” The voice laughed again. Tammy’s stomach dropped. “Who is this?”
“Tell me your name and I’ll tell you mine.”
Tammy shook her head. "No, I don't think so."
“Aww, c’mon. We’re having a good time, aren’t we, Tammy?”
". . . How did you know my name?"
“You said it when you picked up the phone.”
“N-No. I said- I said Thompson residence. How did you know my name?”
“We’ve been talking for this long and that’s your first red flag?”
"I'm-I'm hanging up now."
"Tammy. Don't hang up on me."
"Bye!"
“You’re going to regret-!” Tammy hurriedly put the phone back in its place, slightly slamming it, her breath quick as she stared at the phone, almost worried it would explode or something. She took a quick peek over her shoulder, confirming there was nothing there. She let out a slow breath.
“It’s just a prank caller. Breathe, Tammy. Breathe.” She picked up her nerds and went to retreat into the living room when the phone rang again. She stared at it for a long moment. She picked it up and held her breath.
"Helloooo? Taaammy?"
Tammy took in a shaky breath. “Listen, I don’t know what kind of a sick joke is this, but I’m really not in the mood for it, alright?”
"Oh, we were just having fun."
“I don’t think this is fun anymore.” Tammy went to hang up again.
"Tammy! Don't hang up on me!"
“I swear to God, asshole, I’ll call the police!”
“They’d never make it in time.” Tammy wanted to say something to prove them wrong. Something to scare them. But she was too scared herself to say anything to that effect.
"What do you want?!" she cried.
“To hear you SQUEAL , Miss Piggy!” Tammy let out a gasp, going to slam the phone down. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Tammy.”
Tammy froze. “. . . How did you know I was about to hang up?”
"Mmm. . . lucky guess?"
Tammy’s breath shuddered. “My parents will be back here any minute.”
“I’m getting scared,” they said in a condescending tone.
“I am serious! My dad is no one to fuck with! He will beat the shit out of you!”
“Whoooa. Such a mouth on Ms. Nashville. Tell me, Tammy. Why do you think I’d be afraid of your pops when I’ve already beaten him home?”
Tammy shrunk, pressing her back against the wall, her heart racing. “Where are you?” she said quietly.
“You won’t have to find out. You just need to play a little game for me, Tammy. Can you do that?”
Tammy’s lip began to quiver, tears burning her eyes. “I don’t wanna play a game, I don’t wanna–.”
“Shhh. Tammy. Everything will be just fine, alright? We’re gonna start off easy. You can answer a few questions, can’t you, baby?” Tammy whimpered. “I need an answer. . . .”
"Yes! Yes! I can- I can do it."
“Atta girl. We’ll start off easy. Trivia. You're a singer, aren’t you, Tammy?”
She nodded. "Uh-huh."
“Good. We’ll start off with that. Now, Tammy. Who sang Total Eclipse of the Heart?"
Tammy squeezed her eyes shut. “Uhh. . . .”
“C’mon, Tammy. You know this one. You used to sing it all the time.”
"Uh- uh-."
"Tick-tock, Tammy. Tick, tock, tick, tock-."
"Bonnie Tyler! It was Bonnie Tyler!"
“Correct." Tammy let out a breath of relief, relaxing against the wall, feeling the cool of the paint against her sweating skin. "See? You’re doing great. Now for a real question.”
Immediately, Tammy tensed up again. “Please!” she wheezed. “Please, just let me go!”
“We’re having so much fun, don’t stop now.”
"I don't wanna do this, please."
“Just a little longer, Tammy. Just stick with me a little longer. I promise, we’ll let you on the hook.”
Tammy's mouth went dry. "D-don't you mean 'off'?"
"Sure." Tammy whimpered. "Taaaammy."
She sniveled. "Yeah?" she asked meekly.
“What was the first music video to air on MTV?”
Tammy looked up at the ceiling in despair. “I don’t know.”
"Come on, yes you do."
“Pl-please. Please, just stop,” Tammy sobbed, tears streaming down her face in fat waves.
“What’s the video, Tammy?” they demanded in a threatening tone.
“Billie Jean!” she cried out, praying, praying somehow, someway, her shot in the dark would save her life.
“That’s." Her pupils dilated. "A." Her heart knocked against the cavity of her chest, nearly being audible. The voice waited in a gleeful anticipation in where it was completely possible to see their sickening grin. "Miiiisss,” they sing-songed. Tammy clamped her eyes shut, shrinking to the floor. This didn't stop the flood from her eyes.
"Please," she hiccuped. "Please, please, please, I'm begging you-."
“Tell you what, Tammy, since I like you, I’m moving you to the final question. You get it right? You get to live, this all being some far off nightmare.” Tammy’s chest heaved as she tried to suppress her crying, hanging onto every word for her life depended on it. “You get it wrong? Well. You know what they say. Video killed the radio star.” She whined as the voice let out a cruel laugh. “Tammy.”
"Y-yes?"
"Where's your jacket?"
She went bug-eyed, blood draining from her face as she crawled away from the phone to peek around the corner. The chair that once bore her jacket was gone. Completely. At once, Tammy clambered, pushing herself from her hands and knees to get to her feet, booking it for the backyard. She all but slammed into the locked door, fearing of losing any momentum after her slow start. The phone cackled as she fiddled with the locks. Her parents were very protective and in most cases, she was rather grateful for it, however with the excessiveness it was rather hurting her as heavy footsteps came stomping her way.
She gave a cry of frustration. Whoever was behind her crept close. Slowing their steps as if they wanted to savor the moment. She finally got the door unlocked and flung it open and by the sounds of it, she seemed to have hit her pursuer while doing so given their grunt and curse. Their voice sounded familiar, but she wasn’t taking any time to take it to memory.
She ran out into the grass, tripping, but quickly picking herself up. She just needed to head to the fence, if she could get to the fence then she might be okay. She might just have a shot at living to twenty-seven and maybe even surviving further than that, breaking the curse of those great musicians before her.
She gunned it, running faster than she’s done since elementary. Pain traveled up her shins at the impact she was making against the ground, grass was kicking up around her. Time seemed to tick like boulders while her adrenaline made her mind go numb to everything except for getting out of here alive. She stuck out her arm, fence in reach. . . then a sharp ungodly pain cut through her back, causing her to squeal. Her murderer laughed as they took her by the shoulder and drove the knife further. And further. And further. Until Tammy could look down and see the tip of it stick out in front of her. And then suddenly, it dragged down in a motion that felt all too slow. Tears pricked her eyes, but she no longer had the strength to scream while blood seeped out of her onto the grass, bits of torn organs peeking out from her wound.
The murderer yanked the knife out and Tammy dropped to the ground. She looked up, consciousness being something she had to hold onto. Before her was a dark figure in a ghostly mask, holding a bloodied knife. They picked her up from the ground and she let out a pained sob. They trotted along to her family tree as if this were another day on the job. She liked that tree. She liked to go to the top, see her neighborhood, knowing one day this would be the place she will thank for her success. Well. So much for dreaming.
She was pulled and suspended onto something. She wasn’t sure what. Everything was getting lost in the pain. The killer said something. She didn’t understand what they said, but she finally finally recognized the voice.
"Steve?" she croaked.
The killer in the ghost mask reached into her open wound and pulled out her entrails with a practiced hand of a butcher. Tammy lost consciousness then. And never gained it back.
Steve grinned underneath the mask. He fixed her jacket onto her and stalked off with that to the shadows where Robin was waiting, pushing down the antennae on her phone and slipping it into their bag.
“See?” she spoke through the voice modulator. “Told you I’d make up for pranking you back there.” She turned it off, slipping it into her pocket.
“No, this is not ‘making it up’ to me, ‘kay? If anything, this was for you.”
“Come on. You had fun, didn’t you?” Robin asked, taking the mask off of him and tossing the soiled knife into their duffel bag.
“I thought you were legit dead, Buckley, alright? Little sprinkle of murder isn’t gonna make up for that.” Steve ditched his gloves and Robin helped him out of the robe.
“How about a shower?” she said with a look of disgust.
“. . . A shower of murder or like a shower-shower?”
“I think a little bit of both is an order. You get so sweaty during these things.”
“It’s a little tense in there, alright? It’s like I’m back on the basketball court.”
Robin raised her eyebrows. “Basketball? You’re comparing what we do to basketball right now?”
"Well, what would you compare it to?"
"Not basketball."
“Yeah, yeah. We getting out of this place or what?”
“Keep your pants on.” Robin zipped up the duffel and handed it to Steve.
“Why do I always have to carry the evidence?”
“Because I don’t have good coordination. I might drop it if we have to book it.”
“Eh, that’s true. You run like you’re doing it for the first time.”
Robin lightly hit Steve on the arm. “Shut up.” Not having any more time to waste, they ran for Steve’s car which was a few blocks down at a girl’s house he dated on and off. Enough distance and viable information for no one to be any the wiser.
They made their escape, leaving Tammy to hang decoratively in her backyard, awaiting her parents who will be all too late.
Steve spun his car keys around his finger. “Alright, kids, move it or lose it, Rob’s gonna be out of band practice any minute and I’m not leaving her out alone.”
“No shit,” Dustin said. “Did you hear about what happened to Tammy Thompson?”
“Henderson, I told you not to keep digging through that. You’re gonna give yourself nightmares.”
“What? So are we supposed to just ignore it?” Lucas questioned.
“It’s kinda hard to do that when every other girl at this high school is getting gutted like a fish,” Mike added.
“It’s not just girls,” Steve said, quickly recomposing himself. “We’re just as much at risk. This guy seems to go after. . . guys too.”
Will walked up to the group, books in hand with a confused expression on his face. “. . . What are we talking about?”
“I’m just saying that while I don’t think you guys should be poking your noses too much in this murder stuff, you should watch out,” Steve said. “And not just because a killer is on the loose, but also it’s just common sense. Don’t care if you’re a boy or girl or whatever. Keep - an - eye out. Got it?”
Mike rolled his eyes. “Yes, mom.” He began to walk off.
"And where are you going, Wheeler?"
“It’s Hellfire night,” he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Eddie says I can hang until our session.”
“Munson?” Steve asked with an incredulous look. “Uh-uh, no, you’re not going alone with that dude.”
“Will’s coming. Aren’t you, Will?”
“Uh. . . I don’t really want to get in between this. I can take a ride from you, Steve, if that makes you feel better, but Eddie’s not a bad guy.”
“Will’s right, he’s a really cool dude,” Dustin backed up. “I honestly think you two would get along.”
“Yeah, sure, dude with no job, on his third senior year, and selling hardcore drugs. Real cool.”
“Aww, I’m flattered, Harrington.” Steve jumped, turning around to see none other than Eddie “The Freak” Munson. Eddie grinned at his reaction. “Whoooa. King Steve is a bit jumpy today, eh?”
“Yeah, well, when one of Robin’s friends gets bled out like a pig, I get a little skittish.”
Eddie rolled his eyes. “Please. You two always made fun of her. Which granted, for someone that put in all that effort and money to go to Nashville and be a singer. . . she was a little disappointing. But she was really one of Robin’s ‘friends’?”
“Eddie, how do you even know all about that?” asked Lucas. “You never go to school events."
“No, but every once and a while I could hear her from the Hellfire room. The first few times I thought my Porcein figure started singing. All due respect to the departed, though.”
“Look, either way, Robin’s a bit shaken about it and I’m. . .” Steve checked his watch, “late to pick her up. So! Whoever’s taking a safe ride home better hop in now.” He retreated back to his car and climbed into the driver seat, looking expectantly toward the group of kids. Mike made a face and walked toward Eddie’s van. Will made a sort of apologetic expression and followed. Eddie held out his arms in a questioning gesture to the remaining kids. Dustin and Lucas glanced over at Steve.
Lucas patted Dustin’s back and walked over to Steve’s car. Dustin threw up his hands, but decided to shake it off and just follow the rest of the group to Eddie’s van.
Eddie turned to Steve. “Kids are in good hands, Harrington.”
“If any of them have so much as a scratch, Munson, it’s your head.”
Eddie dragged a finger across his throat and cocked his head to the side with a face-splitting smile. Steve rolled his eyes. Eddie walked off with that.
Steve began to pull out of the school when Lucas spoke up. “Why do you guys keep acting like you're divorced?”
“What the hell do you mean?”
“It’s like you’re always fighting for custody or something.”
“We’re not fighting for custody, we aren’t entitled to any of you. You’re all your own people, especially you, Lucas. That means I don’t want to hear anymore of you feeling guilty about taking up basketball.”
“It’s hard not to. Especially with this game coming up.”
“What? What’s wrong with the game?” Steve asked as he took to the road.
“It’s the same night as the end of Eddie’s campaign.”
"Have you told Eddie about this?"
“Of course. He just can’t move it. Says it’s the only time he and the rest of the Hellfire club is free.”
“ ‘Free’- wait, how are they free shouldn’t they be watching. . .” Steve glanced over, seeing Lucas staring out his window gloomily, “no. No, no, no, you’ve been working up to this game for months! They can’t just skip out.”
“They’re saying I’m. . . ‘betraying the team’. So. What’s the use, you know?”
“You just took up another interest. No shame in that.”
"Yeah. Try to tell them that."
“Well. I’ll be there. So will Robin.”
"Robin's forced to be there."
“That’s really on her. She took up band. But I bet you anything, if she hadn’t, she would go just to see you, Lucas.”
“I don’t know if I’m going to be any good. I’ve been benchwarmer for forever.”
“Lucas. Take it from me. You’re going to do great.” Lucas managed a small smile, but didn’t give much more than that. He didn’t really believe Steve, but he appreciated him trying. He was at least giving him more support than his friends were at this point. That’s worth something. Steve pulled into the football field where Robin was waiting on the curb, alone, holding her hat. “Bad luck, Buckley?”
“Yeah, something like that.” She climbed into the backseat, hauling her instrument and her additional costume accessories. “Lucas, how was school?”
"It was. . . fine."
“Yeah? How are you and Max doing?”
“I don’t know. She’s been. . . distant. Which isn’t a surprise ever since that mall fire.” Steve made eye contact with Robin through the rearview mirror. The mall fire was really a masterpiece. To begin, it started off with the massive mistake of using Billy as their puppet of sorts and they soon quickly realized not only had they created a monster, but he was surely going to put an end to their. . . hobby. They had always planned to kill Billy, but with his erratic behavior leading up to the fire was proving that to be difficult. His death had to be spontaneous, unpredictable, out of the blue, nearly improvised. And it was. The kids got somewhat into the crossfire with the worst of it being Jane getting a scorched leg, but otherwise, it was the perfect crime.
All of their evidence, their hideouts within the mall, all gone. Unfortunately, that also meant losing their job at Scoops. But luckily they found Family Video and it only improved their code. Still though, Steve felt bad for Max. She’s a good kid. Billy was not evidently and he’s glad he and Robin put an end to him, he just only wished Max didn’t have to watch. Out of all the things, Steve regretted that and separating Jane from Hopper the most. “Still, though,” Lucas continued, “I don’t know what to say to her to help.”
"Give her time," Robin said.
“Yeah, she’ll come to you when she’s ready,” Steve assured.
“Yeah, hope so.” An instant of silence passed. Lucas opened the glove department to pick out a tape. He looked through the options. “Steve, when are you going to get something that’s not Abba, Queen, Thompson Twins, or Tears for Fears?”
“When they stop being good. Put one in.”
That got a laugh out of Lucas. For the rest of the ride the three listened to Thompson Twins. Both Steve and Robin thought this was very funny.
Lucas was dropped off and Robin climbed into the front seat. “So. Where to now? We’re off tonight,” Steve reminded.
“Just. . . take me home, Steve.”
"You sure?"
“It’s almost the pep rally and I need to go relax.”
Steve raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure that’s the problem?” Robin looked away from Steve. “Let me guess. Something’s up with Vickie?”
“ Nothing is up with Vickie.” Steve nodded as he started up the car again. If You Were Here began to play. Robin threw her head back in a huff.
“Oh, so that’s the problem.”
She ran her hands over her face. “ Yes . That’s the problem. I don’t even know how to begin to talk to her- if I should talk to her! I can’t go through what Tammy put me through again, Steve. Not to mention, what if it works out? What if somehow I make it without everyone in this town gathering like an angry mob to burn me to the stake?”
"You're not a witch."
“But we’re 'movie-makers', Steve! I can stay in the closet if I have to, but if I manage this relationship with Vickie, I’m gonna have no explanation as to why I go out so late at night, why I’m gone for so long-” Robin gasped, appalled, “what if she thinks I’m cheating on her with you?!” She buried her face back into her hands, rocking in her seat. “I don’t know how you keep dating like this.”
“Robin. Hey. Relationships aren’t that different from friendships, alright? We’ve been doing this together for what, two years? Four for me, three for you? Kids are none the wiser. Neither are the parents or anyone at school. We’re fine. We agreed, we run into any trouble, we find someone to take the blame. We’ve done it before, we can do it again.” Robin let out a long breath, allowing her hands to fall into her lap. “Hey. What’d you say we pick a movie for this week, huh? We can squeeze something in before this pep rally.”
“What are you thinking?” As Steve pulled out of Lucas’s suburb, he spotted some cheerleaders coming home from practice.
“Ehh, maybe a bit of The Thing , a lot of Friday the 13th ?”
"I don't follow."
“I know a few cheerleaders still.” Robin gave him an incredulous look. “Well. I know people who know a few cheerleaders still. We can infiltrate, act all buddy-buddy, maybe lure them through the woods?”
"Why the woods?"
"Eddie deals there."
“What makes you think a cheerleader would go with Eddie ‘The Freak’ Munson into the woods?”
“Eddie’s one of our biggest weed peddlers.”
"How do you know that?"
“. . . He’s got pretty good deals for pretty decent weed, Rob.”
"Steve!"
“Relax. It’s just marijauna. Anyway! Popular cliques like say cheerleaders are gonna be Eddie’s best customers, trust me. We manage to set up a deal - fake or otherwise - we manage to set up a movie.”
"It's a lot of moving parts, Harrington. Especially with Eddie being involved."
"We can work with it."
“How are we even gonna start targeting cheerleaders?”
“Easy. Pick on the weaker link. They’re gonna start bringing in the cheer squad into band practice in a bit, right?”
"Sure."
“Then start poking around, see if you can find anything interesting. That is if one of them doesn’t cave before the pep rally.”
"Guess we'll see."
"Still wanna go home?" Steve prompted.
“Yeah. I did mean I needed to relax. Besides, we can’t just keep doing home movies. We’re friends with some of the smartest people in Hawkins. They suspect something and everything falls apart.”
Steve glanced over at Robin. “Listen, I’m not the one to point people in the direction of Munson, but are you sure you don’t want me to hook up some sort of deal so that you can try a little weed?”
“I thought you were all uppity about Eddie selling drugs?"
“ Hardcore ones. Marijauna’s not as scary as everyone tries to make it out to be. Think that dude- uhhh, what's-his-name. . . ?" Steve snapped his fingers. "Argyle–.”
"From that pizza place?"
“Yeah, Eddie has him over sometimes to smoke. But anyway, yeah, Argyle was telling me how weed started to be ‘bad’ because the government needed another way to target minorities.”
"Oh. Wow."
“Yeah, imagine hearing that while high.”
Robin leaned back in her chair. “Still. I don’t think weed’s gonna be for me. If anything, with my luck, it’d probably make me paranoid.”
“Well, if you ever change your mind, you know where to find me and Munson.”
"Unfortunately."
“Oh, come on. It’s not like you’d watch movies with anyone else.”
“Eh. Yeah. Suppose that’s true.” The two smiled and Steve drove off, unaware of the pair of eyes following them as they did.