— THE STARCOURT POWER OUTAGE
season three — episode one

CHAPTER ONE

      "YOUR TOTAL IS $7.36." Oliver smiled sweetly at the lady that stood in front of him, sliding over her stack of books that she was purchasing. She nodded and handed him a ten-dollar bill, standing there while he grabbed her change, setting it on top of the stack of books, along with her receipt. "Have a good night." The lady didn't say anything after that and grabbed her books and left, not sparing him a single glance. Oliver furrowed his eyebrows but shook his head, not really caring about it.

      Oliver sighed and peered out into the crowded area of Starcourt mall. That's right. Hawkins opened up a new mall and it was the talk of the town. New job opportunities, new stores, and a shit ton of things to do. Oliver was lucky enough to get a job there, especially as manager of a book store. It happened fast but he didn't care, he was getting paid good money.

He really enjoyed his job. It was something he had dreamed of doing since he was really young. However, he was only here until he found a college he wanted to go to. He had gotten quite a few scholarships and he was currently trying to figure out which one he would prefer. On top of that, His life had started to get a lot better since the end of last year. His mother never contacted him anymore — aside from his birthday — and his father had gotten a better job, as did he. He had also gotten a lot closer with everyone he had gone through everything with last year. Specifically Max, Steve, Nancy, and Dustin.

He was actually shocked when he and Nancy started to get closer. He had always assumed that she really disliked him but that was proven to be wrong when she came to him for help with a newspaper thing. He couldn't quite remember it, but it had to do with something that had happened in Hawkins.

      Shaking his head once more, he turned to look at one of the other employees, giving her a soft smile. "I'm heading out now! Make sure to close at 10." She nodded as he slipped a lanyard — that held an ID card, a name tag, and a small carebear keychain — over his head, backing out into the crowded halls of the mall. He waved and turned on his heel, making his way over to a small place. Scoops Ahoy. Thankfully, it was across from his store so he didn't have to walk very far.

      It's where Steve and his new friend Robin worked. To be honest, he thought Robin was absolutely amazing. She made fun of Steve almost as much as he did, and she was funny. "Hey there, Robin," Oliver said with a smile, pushing open two small doors and walking behind the counter. "Oliver!" Robin said, halfway through scooping up some ice cream.

      "He's in the back, go ahead and go." She smiled at him and he nodded, pushing open the large swinging door that led to the back. "Hey, Steven." Steve scoffed at the nickname and turned, pausing whatever he was doing. "Please stop calling me that. That's not even my name." Oliver shrugged and sat down at the small table that was in the middle of the room, slouching.

      "No. I think I'll continue calling you that." Steve sighed but couldn't help the smile that was starting to grow on his face, laughing softly. "Do you enjoy bullying me?" He asked, sitting in the chair across from him. Oliver nodded and started to mess with his lanyard. "Yes, I very much do." He gave him a cheeky smile and reached over, poking his cheek.

      Steve nervously coughed and turned away, trying to keep his cheeks from heating up. "You want some ice cream? On the house." Steve asked him out of panic, hoping to change the subject. Oliver sat up straight and nodded, a goofy smile on his face as Steve got up. "Of course I do. Is that even a question?" Steve chuckled and opened up the window that separated them from the rest of the store. "Hey, Robin! One Rocky Road please." She gave him a thumbs up and got to scooping, handing it to him just as quickly.

      Oliver smiled and took it from Steve when it was in front of him, humming when the cold substance hit his tongue. "It gets better every time." Steve laughed and fixed the hat that was sitting on the top of his head. "You say that every time you're here." Oliver shrugged and took another lick. "And I mean it every time." Steve shook his head with a small smile on his face, looking at Oliver.

He had somehow gotten even more gorgeous over the past few months. His hair had started to grow out into a very short mullet, his freckles were a lot more visible thanks to the summer heat, and, overall, he just seemed to get more and more ethereal as the days passed.

      Suddenly, the two of them heard a series of rings and turned to the direction of the rest of the store. "Hey dingus, your children are here!" Oliver and Steve looked at each other with unamused looks. Steve sighed and walked over to the window, slamming it open, Oliver following quickly. "Again? Seriously?" Mike pursed his lips and annoyingly rang the bell once again.

      Steve shook his head and waved them back, all four of them rushing into the back. Oliver shook his head with a snicker and leaned against the wall, watching as Steve opened the door that led to almost every store in the mall. Including the cinema. The younger teens had been using this to their advantage to watch new movies for free. They did the same thing to Oliver whenever he was working.

He walked over when Steve started to hold the door open as the teenagers ran down the long hallways. "I swear if anybody hears about this—." Steve was cut off by all of them — who had received this pep talk a thousand times by him. "We're dead!" They honestly preferred going to Oliver for this sort of thing since he happily let them go. "Have fun!" Oliver waved at them, receiving waves from both Will and Max.

"Why do you encourage them?" Steve asked, lightly smacking his arm. Oliver looked up at him and smirked, fixing a piece of hair that had been messed up by the hat. "Because they're teenagers and they want to have fun. Let them be." With that, he turned on his heel and walked back into the store, smiling when he saw Robin grabbing another scooper. Steve stammered but in the end couldn't say anything as he watched the boy walk away from him, not being able to hide his blush this time.

"Steven, you're a little red, you alright?" Robin asked and Steve rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest before giving her an unamused look. "Oh please, not you too." Oliver and Robin both laughed, Robin quickly going back to work when she heard the bell ring once again.

"Do you know what movie they're going to see?" Oliver asked Steve, messing with the collar of his button-up, Steve internally freaking out after catching sight of his collarbone. "No. . . it's probably a horror movie, though." Oliver hummed with a nod and took his lanyard off, wrapping it around his hand instead. Oliver then leaned up against the wall with the window and looked over at Steve.

"What're your plans for tonight?" He asked the taller boy as he walked over to lean next to him. Steve only shrugged and took his hat off, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know. . . maybe go home and sleep." He said sarcastically, basically reminding Oliver that it was literally 9 PM. Oliver gave him a blank stare and crossed his arms over his chest, looking away stubbornly. "Fine then. Maybe I won't invite you to come watch A Nightmare on Elm Street at my house tonight."

Steve's mouth fell open and he quickly moved to stand in front of him. "Now, wait a minute—." Oliver shook his head and looked away once again, a stuck-up look on his face. "No. You obviously have better plans." Steve sighed and looked down at him, Oliver slowly looking up at him with an amused smile on his face. "I'm joking. Would you like to come watch A Nightmare on Elm Street with me tonight?" Steve nodded with a smile.

The two of them stayed silent as they looked at each other for a few moments, one of them looking at the other's lips for a quick moment before the door was swung open harshly with an annoyed Robin holding it open. "Would you two stop flirting for a moment? I need your help out here, Steve." Steve seemed flustered by the claim while Oliver only smirked, shoving Steve a little. "Go get them, pretty boy."

"Yeah. Pretty boy." Robin teased as he walked back into the actual store, ice cream scooper in hand. He turned to her with an annoyed look. "Shut up." He hissed, causing both Robin and Oliver to smile. Oliver looked down at his shoes and furrowed his eyebrows when he noticed that one of the shoelaces had come untied. Quickly, he bent down and tied it before also walking out, moving over to the side of the counter before pushing through the small doors, going to sit in a booth while he waited for the two to finish up.

Not really having anything else to do, he simply brought his feet onto the booth and laid back, closing his eyes from the lack of sleep he had been getting. However, his "nap" was cut short when, suddenly, all of the lights went out. He pried open one of his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows when he was met with complete and utter darkness. He turned to look at Steve and Robin, who were just as confused as he was. "That's weird," Steve muttered, walking over to the light switch that was on the wall behind him.

      He flicked it a few times, hoping that the lights would turn back on. Robin rolled her eyes and looked at him, annoyed. "That isn't gonna work, dingus." She pointed out. Steve only looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?" Stubbornly, he continued to flick the light switch — only a lot faster this time. The sudden power outage didn't last very long, maybe a few minutes at most. The lights flickered back to light and Steve pointed toward the light switch, a smug smile on his face. "Let there be light."

      Oliver smiled at his usual behavior but soon felt his face fall. Something felt wrong. He didn't know what it was, but he just knew. . . something was definitely wrong.

oliver flirting with steve >>>>
welcome back you guys!!! can't wait to continue writing season three!! this chapter is rlly short because not much happens during this time, but i hope it was a good introduction!!