JUNE OF 1985 SWEPT OVER HAWKINS, bringing heat waves and the conclusion of Amara's junior year of high school. It had been a turbulent year for her, one of self-discovery that had begun with her only having one solid friend and two companions she was merely bonded with as a result of their shared experiences and ended with her surrounded by a substantial number of friends and an increased level of confidence in herself. Her final exams had gone without a hitch, even if her English test had required her to exercise a segment of her brain that wasn't as strong as other areas, and the school had celebrated the end of the year with a surprisingly well-put-together prom in the gym, complete with streamers and glittery lights positioned to give off the impression they were inside a marquee.

        Robin had defied expectations by attiring herself in a suit and tie ("The dress code was either a dress or a suit and tie, they didn't say which gender had to wear which," she had pointed out) and Amara had sported a light blue chiffon dress with off-the-shoulder straps that extended long enough for her to wear her converse as opposed to heels, her hair twisted into an elegant chignon. They had spent the night drinking crappy punch and dancing together in the center of the gym to Footloose, not caring what people would think of them for dancing with someone of the same gender. And as he observed Amara with amusement in his eyes and no date at his side, Steve was forced to come to the conclusion that he was falling for her.

        He hadn't even been disgruntled when Billy Hargrove, long gone with the girl who had been lucky enough to be his date, had been named prom king. Not when Amara dragged him onto the dance floor upon noticing that he had nobody to dance with.

        It terrified him, and not because he didn't want to have feelings for her. Similar to how Amara believed that nobody would want to be with her if they found out about her autism, Steve was under the guise that Amara didn't deserve to be tarnished by him. A girl who fought tooth and nail against the flaws she didn't choose to have, cast aside by a world that refused to see her beyond her diagnosis, and still remained fundamentally good, in his view deserved far better than a douche with a history of crude remarks and no future ahead of him. So he repressed those newfound feelings the best he could and hoped Amara wouldn't notice anything. After all, she had informed him on numerous occasions that she had a short attention span.

        Steve graduated from high school in early June, and to his surprise, the Party showed up to congratulate him. It more than made up for the fact that his father hadn't been present, too caught up on what was likely another business call while his mother looked as though she'd rather be anywhere but there. Even if he wasn't going to college in the fall, he still felt a sense of pride in receiving his diploma, just as he did when he was offered a position at Scoops Ahoy over the summer.

        Steve and Robin didn't get along very well, which was a shame for Amara who wanted nothing more than for her two closest friends to form a bond the way she had with both of them. However, Robin took pleasure in watching Steve fail abysmally at winning over any girl he attempted to flirt with behind the counter, leading her to create a scoreboard keeping track of his wins and losses. Amara wouldn't be lying if she said she found it comical, even if she felt a twinge in her stomach from witnessing him flirt with other girls.

        "Looks like he's oh-for-three," Robin commented one day, craning her neck to glimpse a girl with a head of permed hair leaving the ice cream parlor with a chocolate ice cream but no plans to meet up with Steve that weekend. The two girls were on their lunch break, sipping saccharine milkshakes in one of the booths. "Wonder when he's gonna give up this whole charade and realize he has the perfect girl in front of him."

        Amara blanched, immediately peeking in the direction of the cash register to ensure that Steve hadn't overheard. He was merely drawing in a breath, preparing himself for the next girl to inevitably order ice cream on a day so scalding. "Rob, for the last time, that's not going to happen," she hissed, pivoting to face her best friend. "Why do you want us to get together? You don't even like him."

        Robin had figured out that Amara liked Steve before even she did, their closeness guaranteeing that Robin immediately pinpointed Amara's recent nerves around him as an indication that she was beginning to see him as more than a friend. But like Steve, she had resorted to obscuring those feelings because she wasn't sure if she was ready for the level of vulnerability that came with being in a relationship. She liked what she and Steve already had and dismissed what she felt to be a fleeting attraction that had resulted from months spent in close company with him, hoping it would fade if she tried hard enough.

        Despite her continued grudge against him for being the object of Tammy Thompson's affections, Robin was pushing for Amara and Steve to get together. If only Steve would quit his endeavors to score a date and Amara would overcome her fears could her dream become a reality.

        "You're right, I don't like him," Robin acknowledged, dabbing at the strawberry residue smudged over her cupid's bow. "But he's definitely improved from when I'd complain about him in sophomore year. You're a good influence on him."

        "I think that's mostly Nancy's doing," Amara contended, checking her compact mirror to ensure the minimal amount of makeup she had applied onto her face was intact. While she only wore lip balm and concealer on a daily basis, her work getup consisted of mascara, bronze eyeshadow, and coral lipstick, a look Nancy insisted would help her appear more professional even if she was required to wear that ridiculous sailor outfit. "She's the one who convinced him to become a better person in the first place."

        "And yet he's struggling to ask out a girl as we speak," Robin muttered, tossing her empty milkshake in the path of the trash can, where it hit its mark. "Wonder why that could be."

        Amara had no chance to respond, for a commotion by the cash register caused them to spring to their feet. In the process of spooning cookie dough ice cream into a cone, Steve amid his nerves had propelled caramel sauce onto the Madonna tee worn by a girl with raven hair and honeyed skin. Steve rushed to apologize but the girl was already exiting Scoops with an affronted glare.

        "God, I'm hopeless," Steve murmured. Aware that any remark she made wouldn't be of any help to him, Amara strode into the backroom to fetch a mop and clean the caramel spill Steve had left on the tiled floor. Meanwhile, Robin added another tally to the 'you suck' category with a sharp squeak. "Jesus, would you quit it with that thing?!"

        "No can do, Popeye," Robin replied with a 'tsk,' joining Steve behind the counter. "No can do."

        It was during times like these when Steve wondered how Robin and Amara were best friends when the former clearly enjoyed it when he got rejected and the latter had a way of making him feel like he was more than the disappointment his father saw him as. Amara had reappeared from the employee room with a mop in hand, where she began cleaning the mess Steve had made. She could only offer him a sympathetic smile as she arranged a caution sign in place of where the caramel sauce had been a few minutes prior.

        That was how their routine operated most days – long hours where the most interesting thing was Steve's botched endeavors at asking girls out on dates, because even that was better than Erica Sinclair and her posse weaseling their way around Scoops' company policy to help themselves to free samples, or the Party taking advantage of the employee hallway that connected the ice cream parlor to the theater to watch movies for free.

        But even then, Amara supposed her job was better than Nancy's.

        "It's like they don't even value me as a person," Nancy ranted one evening in the middle of June when Amara was over at the Wheeler house for a night of painting nails and watching trashy rom-coms. It was peculiar to remember that this was the same bedroom she had found solace in the night they had unearthed the Demogorgon and the existence of the alternate dimension known as the Upside Down. "Jonathan and I have been working there for the same amount of time and they're already letting him develop photographs for the paper while I'm stuck on lunch duty."

        Nancy and Jonathan had taken jobs at Hawkins Post as part of her aborning interest in journalism and his lifelong passion for photography, although the patriarchy guaranteed that Jonathan would be valued more just by being a man. Part of the reason why Eurydice insisted that Kevin work rather than her was due to the wage gap between men and women and the fact that women weren't offered high-ranking positions most of the time. Like Eurydice, Nancy's status as a woman guaranteed that she wouldn't be valued as anything more than a pretty face when anyone who truly knew her understood that she was so much more than that.

        "I feel like I got a good deal at Scoops," Amara spoke, hoping for the millionth time that she wasn't saying the wrong thing. "It's the same job for all of us – scooping ice cream, dealing with Erica and her squad, letting the kids into the movies for free every week. We all make three bucks an hour and we split it evenly. But at least you actually know what you want to do with your life."

        "Have you ever thought of what you'd want to do in the future?" Nancy queried, cocking her head to the side. "I think I always wanted to be a journalist, but the whole thing with Murray ignited it."

        Nancy's question was one Amara had been asked frequently by anyone who didn't know her well enough to grasp that she hadn't expected to make it to high school, let alone be on a path to graduating in a year. She doubted she could embark upon a career out of her love for science fiction, and she was good at math but had no desire to explore that field. It was part of the rationale for why she had chosen Scoops Ahoy as a summer job, because it didn't require her to be good at anything other than memorizing the specific amount of change to give to customers, her proficiency in the matter leading her to become the designated cash register operator for all the times she wasn't on break. It also helped that her parents were in no rush for her to launch a career, given that nobody had expected her to make it this far in her life.

        "I don't know," Amara responded thoughtfully, golden brown tresses splayed out on the satiny pillows as she stared up at the ceiling. "At least I've got a whole year to figure it out."

        "I just feel like Jonathan doesn't get it," Nancy had shifted the conversation back to her own job. "Like, he keeps reminding me he needs this job to pay for his tuition, but I don't think he understands my perspective. I might not know what it's like to have to worry about money, but he doesn't know what it's like to be written off by your bosses from the moment they meet you."

        Amara understood what had drawn Nancy and Steve together in the first place. Even if they had opposite personalities and were ultimately wrong for each other, both hailed from wealthy families with parents that had never loved one another, so they had searched for that love in each other only for Nancy to realize that Steve posed a prospect of her venturing down the same path as her parents. One of her becoming a melancholy housewife while he worked hours at some corporation, just like their parents before them. Jonathan was exciting, he supported Nancy's dreams and had ones of his own, but his lack of money and the lack of respect she earned resulted in them not seeing eye to eye on this particular issue.

        In regards to money, Amara's family fell somewhere between Jonathan's and Nancy's. Enough money for them to afford a two-story house, but not enough to never have to fret over expenses. Enough for Amara to recognize that they both presented valid points.

        "Well, I think we both know by now that playing by the rules didn't get us anywhere," Amara chose to say, propping herself up with one of her elbows and facing Nancy. "So take up space. Contribute your ideas, remind them that you were the one who released the incendiary tape, that what you have to say matters more than whether or not you put enough sugar in their coffee. However, you might get fired if you take a step too far. But even that can't be the worst thing in the world – you wouldn't have to buy lunches for those idiots when you could be, I don't know, slinging ice cream instead."

        Nancy laughed. "Is slinging ice cream really as fun as you make it out to be?"

        "It is when Steve's lost his ability to flirt and Robin's keeping track of all his failures," Amara pointed out with a grin. "I'd take that any day over Hawkins Post."

        "Okay, I guess I'll take your advice," Nancy decided, her voice emanating confidence. "Thanks, Amara."

        "Anytime," Amara beamed. "My only suggestion is that you don't involve Jonathan in this. Maybe you could handle losing your job but he can't."

        "Good point," Nancy stated, even though it saddened her to know that Jonathan wouldn't be supporting her in her effort to prove that she was more than just a delivery machine. But just because she and Jonathan loved each other immensely didn't mean they needed to agree with one another on everything. "Tomorrow commences Operation Take Up Space."

POWER OUTAGES WERE BECOMING A REGULAR occurrence as June drew to a close, the air thick with moisture and honeysuckle. Amara had to rush to work one morning, another spontaneous outage resulting in her alarm not going off. Now she was weaving her way through townspeople congesting the escalator, keen to make it to Scoops Ahoy before they were supposed to open in five minutes.

        "Relax, 'Mara!" Robin called, jogging to keep up with her best friend. "The whole town lost power, it doesn't matter if we're a few minutes late!"

        "Yeah, well a power outage didn't stop the mall from being this crowded at nine in the morning!" Amara retorted, accidentally bumping into an elderly man she was attempting to pass by. Shooting him an apologetic glance, she finally made it to the bottom of the escalator. "No one's gonna cut us any slack when it's already hot outside."

        Fortunately for them, Scoops was still closed, meaning Robin and Amara didn't have to suffer the embarrassment of being later than Steve. They unlocked the parlor and proceeded to set up shop; they'd sold so much ice cream in the past month that a new shipment from Michigan would be arriving imminently, but that may have been in part due to Erica requesting so many samples.

        "Steve should really sleep in more often," Robin muttered, handing a cherry jubilee to a customer while Amara gave him back his change. "It's so refreshing not to have to see his stupid face for once."

        "If you don't mind me asking, why don't you like him?" Amara inquired, adjusting her hat to sit better on the crown of her head. "Is it about Tammy?" she whispered, mindful that anyone could overhear them.

        "Maybe?" Robin tried, shrugging her arms. "I mean, he's not as much of a prick as he used to be, but I just can't help but resent him, y'know? Maybe if his hair wasn't so perfect I would've had a chance with her."

        "I hate to break it to you, but she probably would've stared at someone else," Amara theorized. "Besides, she eventually got over Steve and started dating Christian Flemming. It's her loss for not noticing how awesome you are."

        "I guess you're right," Robin mumbled, dipping her scooper into the vanilla ice cream. "Either way, I'm still going to keep messing with him until one of you plucks up the courage to ask the other out."

        "Robin!"

        "Shutting up now," Robin giggled, passing the vanilla cone to the next customer in line. "Anyway, did your parents leave for New York yet?"

        "Yeah, they left last night," Amara informed Robin, depositing more money into the cash register. "Kevin and I have the house to ourselves for a week."

        "Maybe you should throw a party," Robin brought up with a wry smile. "You know what they say, big house, no parents... "

        "Okay, first of all, my house isn't big," Amara replied, listing with her fingers. "Second of all, I went to Tina's party and it nearly drove me insane."

        "I'm kidding!" Robin exclaimed, briefly removing her hat to dab away the sweat that had accumulated on her hairline. "But maybe you could invite those children of yours over or something."

        "I think they prefer Mike's house," Amara mentioned, though she saw Robin's point; Max, Lucas, and Will had all come to Starcourt frequently but Mike wasn't usually with them unless they were all catching a movie, and from what Kevin had told her, Hopper had been more preoccupied with Mike and Eleven's relationship than he was with the ongoing demonstrations against the mall, implying that the two had to be linked. "But I'll take it into consideration."

        "Ahoy, ladies!"

Steve Harrington had journeyed to Scoops half an hour after it had opened, hair styled to perfection with Farrah Fawcett spray and hat dangling loosely from his fingertips. Amara smiled in greeting while Robin waved halfheartedly as if hoping he wouldn't have shown up at all that day.

        "Brilliant line, dingus. Did you come up with that one on your own?" Robin drawled, retreating to the employee room as Steve took her place. "That alone should earn you a 'you suck' tally."

        "What?! I haven't even started yet!" Steve spluttered. Robin simply smirked and wiped the board clean, adding the first tally of the day to the 'you suck' section. He turned to face Amara. "How are you best friends with her?"

        "It's like I said back in December. She was the first person to accept me," Amara whispered. "And she's just an awesome person in general."

        "That doesn't explain why she gets so much joy out of making fun of me," Steve complained. When he redirected his gaze momentarily he jolted upon noticing that a girl with golden blonde curls was next in line. "Oh hey!" he exclaimed, propping himself against the counter with one forearm and flashing her an attempt at a charming grin. "You look so familiar. Didn't we take a class together, 'cause I could've sworn we had chemistry."

        "Oh God, he's doing pick-up lines now?" Robin lamented from behind Amara. "Gag me with a spoon."

        Nine hours and six 'you suck' tallies later, the bell rang in that frantic motion that informed Amara that her favorite middle school graduates were here, and definitely not for ice cream. Lucas and Max had stopped by Scoops the other day and the latter had noted that the Party was looking to watch the preview of Day of the Dead, a film they wouldn't be able to see without a little help from them when their ages were taken into account.

        "Hey, dingus, your children are here!" Robin hollered in the direction of the backroom, glowering at the four teens bedecked in bright apparel they'd undoubtedly purchased from the Gap.

        Steve threw open the sliding windows with a heavy sigh. "Again? Seriously?" It was bad enough that he'd been rejected six times that day, but he couldn't even get a break at this point. Dustin would never take advantage of him as the rest of his friends did – he couldn't wait until he got back from whatever summer camp he'd been at for a month.

        Mike struck the bell once more as if to prove that Steve was putty in all of their hands. With that, the aforementioned boy relented and gestured for them to enter the employee room, all while Amara kept watch to ensure nobody detected anything. Fortunately, everyone else at the parlor was too occupied with their ice cream to take notice.

        "It's like I'm not even here," Amara grumbled, shutting the door behind her and rejoining Robin. Will always made sure to remind her how thankful he and the rest of the Party were for allowing them to catch a film for free every week, but that was about it.

        "You should come up with a compromise or something," Robin suggested, swabbing down the counter with a napkin. "Like, maybe only let them in if they also buy ice cream."

        "One movie a week was our compromise," Amara disclosed to Robin. "They originally wanted to go every day but I told them it would appear suspicious."

        "Fair point," Robin conceded.

        Steve burst out of the backroom, slamming the door closed. "I swear these kids are going to be the death of me," he groused, leaning his elbows against the table.

        "Wait until Back to the Future comes out in five days, they'll be all over it," Amara brought up, moving to stand in front of the cash register. "And Dustin's going to be with them next time."

        Back to the Future was the latest science fiction movie Amara was anticipating watching. Ever since the first trailer was released, she had been waiting for months for it to come out and had every intention of dragging Steve and Dustin along with her. The only issue was that ice cream was in high demand at the moment and she couldn't find any time in her schedule when Scoops was closed and the theater was still open. The mall was only enjoyable for those who could actually reap the benefits of capitalism.

        "Weren't we going to see that movie?" Steve recollected, scooping ice cream for the two people in front of them. "Us and Henderson?"

        "That depends on whether or not people get sick of ice cream," Amara mused, checking her watch. They had about two hours left before Starcourt closed and she could finally go home. Their employee status gave them access to free ice cream, so Amara always made sure to bring home a pint of mint chip for Kevin whenever he asked for it. "Otherwise he might join them instead."

        "No, no, no, no, no, that can't happen," Steve began pacing, and Amara wondered if he'd picked it up from Dustin. "We can't let Henderson fall victim to the dark side."

        Amara's eyes widened at Steve's phrasing, her mouth falling open in a perfectly round circle. "Did you just make a Star Wars reference?!"

        "I mean, with the way those knuckleheads have been bothering us, they could qualify as the Empire," Steve reasoned, not helping his case. Even Robin was finding it odd that someone who had viewed himself as being above science fiction for so long was now immersed in the culture, a development she determined Amara to be responsible for.

        But before she could yell at her two co-workers to snap out of it and admit their feelings for each other already, the power shut off.

        "Again?" Amara questioned, bemused as to why the power kept going out every few days. The summer of '85 was a sweltering one, but the heat alone couldn't be the only reason behind the frequent blackouts.

        Steve had resorted to flicking the light switch repeatedly as if it would regenerate the electricity. "That isn't going to work, dingus," Robin said flatly.

        In response, Steve flipped the switch even faster to Robin's annoyance. The sound quickly got under Amara's skin, though that might have been because of her sensory issues.

        "Steve, you're a great friend but you're going to give me a migraine if you keep doing that," she spoke up, prompting Steve to glance at her. "Could you please stop?"

        "Fine," Steve gave in, aware that her discomfort was most likely a result of her diagnosis. As he leaned against the wall by the light switch, Robin faced Amara in a mixture of astonishment and confusion; Amara had never told Robin that Steve knew about her autism, not believing it to be of the utmost importance.

        "How the hell did you do that?" Robin interrogated. By now the power had returned to the mall and with it came the never-ending nautical music echoing from the speakers and the queue of customers they needed to serve. If Steve's tendency to be less of a douchebag when Amara requested him to do so wasn't a sign that he was falling for her, Robin didn't know what else was.

        Amara merely pursed her lips and answered, "What can I say? I can be pretty persuasive when I need to be."

published to quotev: 10/29/22
published to wattpad: 9/21/24

AUTHOR'S NOTE

can you tell i had so much fun writing this season? i'm currently in the middle of season 4 and i miss how lighthearted season 3 was in comparison