//The Summer of '85//

I pull up to the mall and the group of kids climb out of my car, tripping over each other in the process.

"Guys, calm down!" I laugh.

We walk to the entrance and Lucas groans, "Mike was supposed to meet us here."

"He'll probably be here soon," I assure him. As the words leave my mouth, Mike pulls up on his bike, "See?"

Lucas crosses his arms over his chest, "You're late. Again."

"Sorry." Mike apologizes.

"We're gonna miss the opening." Will sighs.

"Yeah, if you guys keep whining about it. Let's go!" Mike walks past us and we all follow him into Starcourt mall.

"Let me guess," Lucas starts, "You guys were busy." Lucas makes a kissy face and I laugh and roll my eyes, walking ahead of the kids.

"Oh, yeah," Mike says sarcastically, "Real mature, Lucas."

Lucas starts to mock Mike, "'Oh, El, I wish we could make out forever, and never hang out with any of our friends."

Max sighs, "Lucas, stop." Will and I both laugh quietly.

Lucas points at the two of us, "Will and Y/N think it's funny."

"Because it is," Will chuckles.

"Yeah, it's so funny that I wanna spend romantic time with my girlfriend." Mike says, throwing his hands up in frustration.

"I'm spending romantic time with my girlfriend." Lucas counters.

I chuckle, "Yeah, but you're with your babysitter and friends. It's a little less romantic."

"Hey!" Lucas squeaks, "You aren't my babysitter. If anything, you're just the cool girl we hang out with because her boyfriend can get us into a movie for free."

"You guys had no problem hanging out with me before I was dating Steve. I mean, I used to basically be part of the party."

"That's because you had no friends."

I gasp, mocking offense, "I had friends. Just really shitty ones."

We get to the escalator and push past all of the people, running down it. I mumble apologizes to everyone as we make our way down.

We get to the bottom and Mike runs into a girl, "Watch it!"

"Sorry!" I apologize for him.

"Yeah! Watch it, nerd!" Erica, Lucas's little sister says, perched on a bench with her friends surrounding her.

"Isn't it past your bedtime?" Lucas asks her ass we walk by.

"Isn't it time you died?" She retorts, earning a laugh from her group.

"Psycho!"

"Butthead!"

"Mall rat!"

"Fart face!"

Lucas blows raspberry at her and Max grabs his arm, "Now, that was mature."

We get to Scoops Ahoy and Mike rings the bell repeatedly.

"Hey, dingus!" Robin, Steve's co-worker, calls, "Your wife and children are here."

Steve opens the little windows and appears in his cute little sailor outfit, "Again? Seriously?"

Mike rings the bell again and Steve sighs and Burns us to a back door that leads to the theatre.

"Come on, come on," he rushes us.

"I swear, if anybody hears about this--"

"We're dead!" The kids say, cutting Steve off.

Steve grabs my arm, "You wanna come hang out with me here tomorrow?"

I sigh and shake my head, "Can't. Dustin's coming home tomorrow... Which was supposed to be a surprise, so when he shows up, act like I didn't just spoil that for him. But we're having a welcome home thing for him. Then I have to leave from there to go to the pool."

"Come on, Y/N, can't you skip out on Billy for one day?"

"Steve, I can't. I already promised I'd be there. He's so mean to those kids when I'm not. He threatens to ban them for the smallest reasons."

"Fine. Just hang with me for a few minutes. The kids can go without you for a while."

"I don't know, Steve..."

"Please."

"Okay," I sigh, "But just for a few minutes, then I need to get back to them." Steve cheers and pecks me on the lips.

We walk back inside and the two of us sit at a table. I look around at the room and spot a whiteboard with a line down the middle. On one side, it says 'You Rule' on the other 'You Suck' the latter has five tally marks while the other had none.

"What's that?" I ask, pointing at the board.

"It's just a game Robin and I play."

"Oh, Cool. I wish we have time for that at the pool. Shit, that rhymed." I laugh.

"There's no way the pool is that busy, Y/N."

"You'd be surprised. Between boys pretending to drown to get me to save them and girls pretending to drown to get Billy to save them it's pretty time consuming. Yesterday, I almost did mouth-to-mouth on one of those little turds before I realized he was faking it." I shiver in disgust and Steve laughs.

Steve and I sit in silence until he speaks up, "So... I've been thinking."

"Oh, no. Did it hurt?" I tease.

"Haha, very funny," Steve replies in a monotone voice.

"Sorry," I chuckle, "I saw the opportunity and I took it."

Steve rolls his eyes, "Seriously, Y/N, I was wondering if you'd maybe-- Maybe you'd wanna... I-I don't know. Mo--"

Steve gets cut off by the power going out. We walk out of the room we're in to see that the power has gone out in the whole mall.

"That's weird." Steve mumbles. He walks to the light switch and starts flipping it back and forth.

"That isn't gonna work, dingus." Robin says.

"Oh, really?" Steve starts flickering the light switch back and forth quickly.

"Steve, it's obviously not working just give it up." I sigh.

He flips the switch once more and the lights turn back on.

Steve shrugs, "Let there be light."

I smile at him, "I gotta go. I'll see you tonight. I love you!" I kiss him quickly and leave Scoops.

"Love you, too!" He calls after me.

I walk to the movie theater and spend useless quarters on a claw machine as I wait for the kids. I turn around, feeling eyes on me and glance around. I don't see anyone, but goosebumps form on my skin.

I shake it off and continue trying to win a prize from the machine.

I wake up and get dressed quickly. I pick up all of the party members, including El, we get party supplies and head back to my house to wait for Dustin.

Will and I work on a poster while the others plan on what we're going to do until my mom's car pulls up

"Hide!" I yell.

We hide in my room and wait until we hear Dustin go into his room to come out. All of us hide behind a wall and El starts using her powers. I hear cymbals crash from Dustin's room and then a bunch of toy sounds.

I hear Dustin's footsteps padding down the hall, we all rush around the corner to get out of his view.

"Now!" Mike whispers to El and she opens her eyes and the toys stop.

We all quietly walk from the wall and behind Dustin. He leans down to inspect the toys with a can of Farrah Fawcett spray.

We put the noisemakers up to our mouths and Lucas holds the sign up. Max counts down as we blow into our noisemakers.

Dustin screams and lifts the can up, spraying Lucas in the face with the contents.

Lucas screams out in pain and Dustin takes a moment to realize what he's doing, "What the hell? Why'd you guys scare me like that?"

I take the can and throw it on the ground, "It's a welcome home party." I turn to Lucas who is still whining from the pain, "Go rinse your eyes. I gotta go."

I get in my car and drive to the pool. I climb out and run inside. I go to the employee locker room and quickly change into a bathing suit.

I walk outside and see Billy perched on the lifeguard chair.

I pad over to him and he looks down at me, "You're late, sweetheart."

"Yeah, I know. But it's my day off, and I'm only here for you. I'm glad I missed the show though," I jab my thumb behind me at the group of middle-aged ladies, "It's gross, Billy."

"It's fun." he counters, "Besides, it gets them excited. I say one thing to them, and they talk about it for weeks. I'm helping them, Y/N. Giving their boring lives a little entertainment."

"Well, aren't you a sweetheart." I say sarcastically.

"Nope, that's all you." He smirks.

I chuckle, "You're disgusting."

"You love it."

"I tolerate it."

"Wanna stay late and go for a swim? Get some training in?"

I think it over, "Sure. As long as you don't try to give me CPR."

"No promises."

"Billy."

"Fine."

"Thank you. I'm gonna go get a chair. I'm not gonna stand for your whole shift."

I grab a chair and put it next to the lifeguard ladder. I watch the pool and a little boy is dunking his friend.

Billy blows the whistle, causing everyone to stop and lol at him "Hey! No dunking! I gotta warn you again, and you're banned for life!" he blows the whistle again and all of the activities resume.

"Billy, you can't keep saying that," I chuckle, "We don't even have a ban policy."

"Those little shits don't have to know that."

//A Few Hours Later//

Billy watches as Mrs. Wheeler swims in the pool. I audibly gag and Billy shushes me.

"It's nasty!"

"It's hot."

"No, it's not. Not even a little bit. She has a daughter our age and a son my brother's age."

Billy ignores me and continues staring down Mrs. Wheeler.

"I can't watch this," I mumble, getting out of my chair. I put the chair back where it belongs and leave the pool as she climbs out of the pool and Billy goes over to talk to her.

I go into the locker room and pull out a notebook and pen from my locker. I write Billy a note, explaining that I changed my mind about swimming with him tonight and slide it into his locker.

I quickly change out of my swimsuit and put on my street clothes. I get in my car and drive home.