The Fruity Four

“Harrington… Harrington. Earth to dingus!” Robin’s last warning jerked her best friend’s mind back to reality. Whatever perversions he was daydreaming about instead of working could wait. 

“Sorry, sorry. Just got distracted for a second.” Steve replied while reaching into the freezer to scoop mint chocolate chip for a very pissed off pre-teen.

The customer scoffed when he handed her the dessert and stomped out of the tiny mall shop without a glance at the tip jar.

“Dude, you’ve gotta stay focused.” Robin lectured once the little gremlin was out of earshot. “We both need the extra cash. Start using that Harrington charm on our gracious customers instead of saving it all for you-know-who.”

At the mention of his crush, Steve’s cheeks heated beet red and a sly smile crossed his objectively attractive face. Robin was gay, not blind.

“I don’t even know if he likes me back.” Steve sighed. “I’m so much better with girls.”

“Of course he does! Eddie asked you to read the entire Lord of the Rings series with him. As nerdy as that sounds it means he wants to spend time with you. A lot of time.” Robin winked suggestively but it closer resembled someone who had an eyelash stuck in their eye.

“If that’s what you think a wink is supposed to look like I feel sorry for the next girl you date.”

“Oh shut up.” Robin grabbed an unused ice cream scoop and jabbed Steve in the ribs. He yelped and dodged her next assault, reaching for his own weapon, a plastic spoon. The pair dueled behind the counter, laughing uncontrollably at their own immaturity. Their game came to a screeching halt when the piercing sound of the call bell announced another customer was waiting to order, and had probably been waiting for a while.

Robin, who had her back to the register, began her usual greeting in a monotone, “Welcome to Scoops Ahoy. How can I-” Her speech was cut short when she turned around to face who was ordering. The girl had a strong jawline and high cheekbones complemented by cropped brown hair. Robin could’ve drowned in her wide blue eyes. The people standing behind this mystery woman were nothing more than a blurry backdrop.

“Help you.” She finally finished, realizing she’d been staring for far longer than was socially acceptable. “Sorry. I just- uh. You… I like your… earrings.” She mustered, almost a question as much as a statement.

The girl gave a shy smile, her deep red lipstick pursing together. She brought a hand up to her ear and touched a basic heart stud. A few bags from an apparent shopping spree dangled off her arms. She opened her mouth to reply, Robin hopeful for a ‘thank you’ and not a ‘stop hitting on me, freak’ but was interrupted when one of her friends chose the latter for her.

“Back off the new girl, Ruby. Nancy has a boyfriend.” Like a devil hunched over her shoulder, Tina appeared from behind “the new girl.” Unfortunately for Robin, she’s had the pleasure of knowing Tina and her two sidekicks since kindergarten. Although ‘tormented’ is a more appropriate term. The teasing only got worse when Robin came out of the closet freshman year. Evidently by junior year nothing had changed.

“It’s Robin, actually. But points for getting the first letter right. I can’t expect someone with such a low IQ to remember all the details.”

Tina and her ginger minions gawked like Robin had leaned over the counter and kissed them. Guess they weren’t used to comebacks. Being the most popular girls in school, nobody stood up to them. Robin was sure she saw Nancy let a quick smirk slip through, but when she looked in her direction, her ocean blue eyes had frozen to ice.

“You’re such a bitch.” Tina snarled. “No wonder your only friend is a washed-up drop out. You’re lucky I don’t get you fired, dyke.” With that last insult to really seal the deal, Tina strutted away with her posse. The only one to look back was Nancy. She was too far away for Robin to tell if it was out of pity, or disgust. Neither optimal.

“Ouch. Not sure why she had to throw me under the bus too.” Robin knew Steve was only trying to lighten the mood. His casual and effortless humor normally did the trick, but not today. Robin sunk to the floor, hiding her head between her knees. She could hear the couple people still in the parlor scrape their chairs against the floor as they exited in an awkward rush. Once Steve had ushered the last mallgoer out he flipped the sign by the entrance to ‘closed’ and plopped down opposite his best friend.

Robin looked up to meet his eyes, tears obscuring her vision.

“It’s okay Rob. I’ll get Henderson and Eddie to put a curse on those jerks for you.”

Robin couldn’t help but let a small chuckle escape. “I’d like that. And sorry for hounding you on being nicer to customers. Clearly I need to take my own advice.”

“Don’t sweat it. We don’t need their daddy’s money anyway.” He wiped the last tear off her face with a gentle thumb and helped her to her feet. “Besides, you’ll probably never see that new girl again anyway. If she’s anything like those airheads she’ll be taking freshman level classes.”

Robin nodded her head, regaining some of her former composure. “You’re probably right, but don’t jinx it.”