17.

"ʸᵒᵘ'ʳᵉ ⁱⁿᵗʳᵘᵈⁱⁿᵍ ᵒⁿ ʷʰᵃᵗ'ˢ ᵐⁱⁿᵉ
ʸᵉᵃʰ, ᵃⁿᵈ ʸᵒᵘ'ʳᵉ ᵗᵃᵏⁱⁿᵍ ᵘᵖ ᵐʸ ᵗⁱᵐᵉ
ᴰᵒⁿ'ᵗ ʰᵃᵛᵉ ᵗʰᵉ ᶜᵒᵘʳᵃᵍᵉ ⁱⁿˢⁱᵈᵉ ᵐᵉ ᵗᵒ ᵗᵉˡˡ ʸᵒᵘ, 'ᵖˡᵉᵃˢᵉ ˡᵉᵗ ᵐᵉ ᵇᵉ'."
—ˢᵖⁱᵈᵉʳʷᵉᵇˢ ᵇʸ ⁿᵒ ᵈᵒᵘᵇᵗ

There were kids running around disregarding all the 'no running' signs by the pool, all of them yelling as they played in the pool. Amber and Halle were lounging the chairs in the sun trying to work on getting a bit sunkissed in the late June, early July heat. Halle read off different articles from her magazine to Amber from time to time but for the most part they enjoyed the peacefulness just chilling by the pool.

"So, you're telling me you would prefer Rob Lowe over Tom Cruise?" Halle asked Amber.

"Yes. Don't even ask me why, Halle. It just makes sense to me." Amber shrugged.

"Don't tell me you would choose Johnny over Daniel." Halle let out.

"Oh my god, Halle. Give it up, we both know you wouldn't even choose between those two. You would choose Ali in a heartbeat." Amber said.

"She's just so pretty. How could you not choose her?" Halle sighed which caused Amber to roll her eyes.

"You wanna know who I would choose over anyone?" Amber questioned.

"Please say me, if you say Harrington I will throw up." Halle pleaded.

"Why wouldn't I choose him? Sorry Halle, but he has my heart." Amber told her.

"Please, he's had your heart since like middle school. King Steve constantly was making googly eyes at you. I was actually proud of you when I found out you stopped being friends when he became a grade A asshole. But the end of your senior year surprised me." Halle said.

"He's changed."

"Trust me, I know. The Harrington you're with now vs. the one from high school shocks me to the core. You made him soft." Halle commented.

"Oh, please. That was all Nancy Wheeler. He was in love with her. She made him soft." Amber said.

"Believe what you want to. I only sit back and observe." Halle put her hands up in defense.

"Oh, god." Halle let out, Amber sat up slightly in her chair, sunglasses moving down her nose slightly to see what had Halle's attention. Seeing all the mom's begin to perk up in their seats and fix themselves quickly as the lifeguard, Heather, began to leave her post. Billy Hargrove came walking out of the bathrooms in his lifeguard suit with a cigarette resting in his mouth. All the mom's were drooling as they eyed the eighteen year old boy.

"I would say I don't get the appeal of him, but I do. He's literally golden." Halle couldn't help but gawk slightly. Amber sighed, resting back onto her chair, pushing her sunglasses back up.

"I can't believe you dated him." Halle said.

"It was literally for a few months. Not that big of a deal." Amber brushed off.

"Girl, he was so hung up on you. I remember Tina's halloween party, he kept trying to get your attention but you weren't having any of it." Halle recalled.

"He was an ass. I mean, he still is, just not as bad as he was a few months ago." Amber said once she heard him yelling at one of the kids for yelling.

"Mrs. Wheeler got a whole puddle of drool coming out of her mouth, I swear." Halle pointed out as Billy walked by saying something to the other woman before he made his way up onto his chair. Amber kept her eyes shut as she continued to lay there on the chair, not listening to Halle go on about Billy Hargrove or the thirsty mom's who wanted him.

Amber and Halle were packing up their belongings once Amber looked at her watch to see the time. The girl rushed, gathering her things. Halle tried to slow her down, but Amber wasn't having any of it. She needed to get to Scoop Ahoy, she wanted to see Steve and he had asked her to come last night so she didn't want to miss out on this day after she hadn't been gettin around to the ice cream shop in a bit.

"Hate to be the one to tell you this, but incoming." Halle warned as Amber slipped her sandals on, turning around to come face to face with Billy Hargrove.

"Amber." He greeted with a smile. The girl crossed her arms as she stared at the blue-eyed boy.

"Billy." She sighed, he nodded his head in Halle's direction before directing his attention back to Amber.

"The fourth of July is coming up." Billy mentioned and Amber took her sunglasses off, not caring where the conversation was going at that moment. She just wanted to go see Steve.

"And?"

"Well, last fourth we had some fun and hung out. I was thinking maybe we could try that again. Nothing else behind it, just two people hanging out and talking. Maybe go to the fair." He suggested.

"Last summer is far from being the same as this summer. But I'll have to kindly decline. If I go to the fair I'd be going with Steve. Maybe we can catch up some other time?" Amber shrugged, just trying to lead the conversation to an end.

"Yeah. I've tried calling a few times but it goes right to your voicemail." He scratched the back of his neck. "Maybe when you drop Max off sometime, we can talk. We've been getting on a bit better." Billy tried to tell Amber.

"Yeah, I know. And she's talked about that. I'm happy and glad that you aren't being an extreme asshole now. Change is good." Amber said, which caused him to chuckle slightly at her being straightforward.

"So, uh, how's Harrington?" Billy couldn't help but ask. Amber looked at her watch before looking back at the boy.

"He's good. Probably a little upset that I'm late." Amber told him.

"Oh, don't want to keep him waiting." Billy tried to tease in a playful manner even though it was slightly painful for him. But he knew that Harrington was good for Amber, even if he didn't want to admit it at first.

"Yeah, and I don't want to keep your fan club from their gawking." Amber motioned to the mom's who were watching the young adults intensely.

"You're right. Well, I'll let you go. Hopefully we can talk soon." He said hopefully, before Amber was pulling Halle along with her.

"Was that painfully awkward to you too? I wasn't even talking to him and I felt weird." Halle spoke up as the girl's made their way through the small building out to the parking lot.

"Yes, it was weird."

"Is he still in love with you?" Halle asked, curiously.

"No. I don't think so. He would have to know what love is. I feel like he just thinks they're words." Amber played off. Slightly feeling unsure. Her mind instantly goes back to the day her mom died, which was the same day Billy had fought Steve and then came to her house to apologize to her. When he had apologized for not telling her he loved her when he knew he did. It just didn't settle right with the girl even months later. She knew there would always be a piece of her buried far down inside that cared about him, but he didn't deserve her love. Steve Harrington was the boy who owned her heart, and the one she couldn't stop loving even if she tried. She was constantly falling more in love with him everyday and deep down she knew that it was like a flame that wouldn't stop burning. Her love for him just seemed to get stronger as time went on. But she didn't realize just how dangerous that could be.

*

"Ahoy there sailor." Amber greeted Robin who was at the counter of Scoops.

"Oh, the princess has graced us with her presence. I thought you became too cool for us for a moment." Robin teased.

"Sorry, I've been literally waiting for something to come in at the music store. The shipments usually don't come in until around my break time so I spend my time sifting through everything. But I still am having no luck." Amber rambled.

"No worries, Hayes. I'm just messing with you. But clearly whatever you're waiting for is important." Robin said. Amber nodded sheepishly.

"Is he here or did he go on his break?" Amber questioned.

"Oh, he's back there moping. He thought you bailed at the last minute. He had this haunting thought that he was losing his mojo and that you were starting to not like him anymore. So I kind of started this harmless game to see if he could even flirt with a customer. He's failing miserably but it's because mid-conversation he starts gushing about you to random girls." Robin explained to Amber which caused her to chuckle.

"He's so dumb." Amber shook her head.

"I also have been keeping track of how much he talks about you. It's non-stop." Robin groaned.

"Sorry. That's my fault. I guess." Amber shrugged.

"You can go in the back, I'll make your sundae. And no funny business." The Buckley girl pointed at Amber. Amber disappeared through the door to see Steve with his head laying on the table in the back room. Creeping over to him to wrap her arms slightly around him. The smell of her perfume instantly hit his nose which caused him to turn around quickly.

"You came." He exclaimed, standing up from the chair and his lips instantly latched onto hers. Pulling away after a moment, he rested his chin on top of her head.

"Obviously I came. I just lost track of time so I rushed here." Amber told him. Robin opened up the middle wall opening placing the sundae on the little ledge.

"Spoons up." Robin announced. Amber walked over to grab the sundae, thanking the girl before the divider was shut again. Steve took his seat again as Amber sat down on his lap, putting the bowl in front of them on the table. He wrapped his arms around her waist, she leaned slightly back into him in content.

"How was the pool?" He asked.

"It was alright. Halle read me her magazine while I just laid there in the sun. She really doesn't stop talking sometimes." Amber chuckled.

"Sounds like Buckley." Steve commented.

"So how was testing your 'mojo'?" Amber couldn't help but ask, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"She told you?" Steve breathed out.

"Of course Robin told me. I'm not even upset about you flirting with other girl's honestly. Knowing that you screw it up because you start talking about me makes me feel honored. It's kinda funny." Amber admitted.

"Oh, so you would be able to do better than me? I don't think so." Steve slightly scoffed, not wanting to believe that Amber would be better at flirting with someone than him.

"Yeah, popeye. I'm almost a hundred percent sure I would do better than you." Amber told him, scooping some of the ice cream up before feeding some to him then scooping some and eating some herself.

"I bet you won't." Steve said like a child. Amber stood up, taking on the challenge.

"Watch and learn." She let out as she went to walk out the door. He sat there dumbfounded for a moment before he scrambled from his seat to go out onto the floor. His eyes followed his girlfriend who went past the counter out to one of the booths where a guy around their age sat with his friends.

"Hi." Amber greeted with a smile.

"Do you mind if I sit down here for a sec?" She wondered. The guys scooted over and let her join. Instantly falling into conversation with them. Steve watched from the counter with Robin next to him laughing.

"She's schooling you right now." Robin told him.

"Shut up." He grumbled.

"What are they even talking about? Wait. Why is he touching her hand? I don't like this at all." Steve said as he began to make his way towards the booth. Robin had gone in the back to grab her board and marker, writing on the board and opening up the divider. Steve had tugged Amber by the arm, up from the booth as she playfully waved by to the group, her boyfriend guiding her away.

"Quit it." He whined.

"Oh, is Stevie jealous?" She faked a pout. Their eyes falling onto Robin who had written "Amber Rules" with a tally on the board. Amber laughed at the board turning to Steve who looked annoyed.

"Come on you big baby. You help me finish my sundae and maybe we can take a little walk." She raised her brow mischievously as the boy's eyes lit up. He instantly pulled her along with him back to the back room to finish the ice cream so he could claim his reward of a little rendezvous with his girlfriend.