★

CHICAGO WAS FUCKING HOT as balls in the summer, but Amara loved it with her whole heart. It was truly her favorite season, after all. And it was even better this year, because the Gallagher's had an actual pool. She was basically living there at that point, if she weren't already—even though there was a swarm of children every time she went over due to Debbie's babysitting business.

Although things had gone back to normal between her and Lip, the two of them didn't hang out together as much. The kiss had left her with so many unsaid emotions, she didn't know how to act around him. And at certain moments, when it was just the two of them, there was an awkward looming tension that surrounded the pair. She had no idea how to fix it.

As much as she wanted to spend every second of everyday at the Gallagher's pool, Amara had to instead spend her days scooping ice cream out of a bucket for six hours straight. It wasn't her ideal job, but at least she got a couple hundred bucks at the end of the week from it.

After making sure to safely lock the place up, Amara shut the door behind her, and stepped out into the night. The air was humid out, making her hair frizz up and stick out in all sorts of different directions. She swung her purse over her shoulder as she made her way back home. A small can of pepper spray was placed comfortably in the palm of her hand, and every so often she would check behind her to make sure she wasn't being followed. Ah, the perks of being a woman.

Amara softly shut the front door behind her, and ran up the stairs, not even bothering to greet her father who was sat on the couch, watching television. The new addition to their household caused her to tend to stay out longer. She still hadn't forgiven her father for beating her senseless, multiple times. Why should she?

"Hey," Amara knocked on Silvia's door, swinging it open. "How'd babysitting go today?"

"Good. I made fifty bucks."

"Nice," Amara replied with a grin. "Electric is due tomorrow, so do you think you could split half of that for it?"

"No need," Joe's voice replied, and she turned to see him leaning against the doorframe. "Your mother and I have it covered."

"Yeah, sure you do, and I'm Beyoncé," Amara said, shoving past him with a scoff, walking towards her room.

"How long you gonna keep up this little feud of yours?" Joe called after her.

"Until you get the fuck out of my life," Amara responded, slamming the door shut behind her. "I hate this house."

★

A rock hitting Amara's window made her pull the blinds, and she rolled her eyes once she saw who it was. She opened the window, leaning out of it as she spoke. "I have a door, you know."

"Didn't feel like walking that far," Lip told her. "Besides, your dad looks like Satan's twin brother, and I'd rather avoid ruining my day by seeing that."

"Tell me about it. What do you want?"

"Kev and I are gonna attempt to get the...ice cream truck up and running again this year. You down to join?"

"Can't," she called back. "I have work in an hour."

"Come on," he groaned. "Ditch that shithole and sell ice cream with us."

"I already sell ice cream, besides I can't just not show up for work, Lip."

"Nobody will miss you!" Lip yelled, and she snorted. "Except that fucking weird assholy kid."

"He's not an ass," she protested. "He's nice. He just...has social anxiety? He's not good with talking to people."

"And he works at an ice cream shop. Makes sense—wait no it doesn't. He's just a dick. Meet us in fifteen."

"I just said—" He was gone before Amara got to finish her sentence, and she groaned, knowing he'd never let her live it down if she didn't go. Amara threw on a pair of old jean shorts, and a tank-top, before rushing out the door.

The hot air hit her like a truck, and she instantly pulled her hair up once she got outside. The back door swung shut behind her, awkwardly scraping her ankles, making her wince. She hopped down the stairs, making her way over to the junkyard where she knew Kev and Lip were.

When she got there, the boys had already pulled the cover off of the truck, and Amara raised a brow. The paint was chipped in a bunch of places, and the vehicle looked like it hadn't moved since last year.

"Jesus," she mused, and the boys turned around at the sound of her voice. "This thing is rusty. Oh, by the way, if I get fired for not showing up today, you two have to kiss my ass for the next month."

"What does kissing your ass involve us doing?" Kev wondered.

"Whatever I want. For example, if I want Mc'Donalds at four am, you're buying it for me. Deal?"

Lip sighed. "Deal. You're so annoying."

"Says you, asslicker."

He rolled his eyes, turning to face Kevin. "Have you tried starting this thing since last summer?"

"No," he answered, and Amara went to help Lip open the hold of the truck. He struggled some more, before Amara got annoyed, and bent down to pick some scrap of metal, sticking it in the middle of the crease, and propping it open.

"Nice," Lip commented with the nod of his head. She tried to ignore the bruises on his forehead, but it was impossible not to. He'd started a fighting business to earn some extra cash, and according to Ian, he had to fill in for someone, and he'd lost. Badly.

"Thanks, I try."

"So, how are the crops coming along?" Lip asked.

"It's almost harvest time," Kev answered. "I'm a little worried though, it seems like there's a lot more cops patrolling the park."

"That's because of pedophiles," Amara said, handing a tool off to Lip. "Nasty bitches."

"Well, I'm working on the cop thing," the blonde clarified.

"Give me that," Kevin ordered, and Amara grabbed the tool she used to open the hood to hand it to him. "I'm gonna go chase the rats out of the coolers."

"That's my dream job right there," Amara told Lip, nudging him with her shoulder, and he laughed. It was then that she realized the two of them were alone, and she knew he realized it too, because an awkward silence settled over them. It was never like that, and she hated it. Hated herself for starting that fight, and hated him for trying to kiss her. Hating how she pushed him away, even though she had been craving his touch for months.

"So uh, how's work?"

"Boring," she said. "I'd much rather serve ice cream and weed with my best friend in a van than serve just ice cream parlor in a store filled with screaming children."

"Well, you know, you have that dickhead who used to flaunt around his money like it was made of diamonds instead of paper." 

"His name is James," Amara said, rolling her eyes. "You know that. He thinks you hate him."

"I'm not too fond of him, to be honest."

"You're never gonna forget that, are you? Come on, Lip. That was freshman year. People change."

"Not him. He still gives me those weird vibes."

She sighed. "Whatever. He's the only nice person at that ice cream parlor. The other workers are all old bitches from our school."

"I know. So, you're actually gonna ditch that dump and do this job with us?"

Amara laughed. "I think that place is a castle compared to this truck. But I don't know, I have steady money coming in."

"Come on, please?"

"I'll think about joining your weed selling shindig okay? Now shut up and get to work."

★