Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was nearing midnight at Empire Records; a small music store tucked into an alcove of Indianapolis. In the back of the store, a boy was pacing around the manager's office, muttering under his breath.

“Count money twice. Put money in the bag. Close the safe. Lock the safe.”

His fingers ran through his brown curls as he searched for the post-it note with the safe's code.

He stopped in his tracks as a girl with bright red hair swung the door open. She peered at him in the dimly lit room. “Dustin?”

“Hey, Max.”

Max looked him up and down suspiciously. “Dustin, what are you doing in here?”

Dustin grinned. He opened his arms dramatically.

“My life has reached its pinnacle," he announced. "Eddie is letting me close tonight.”

“You’re kidding,” said Max, staring at him with an unchanged expression.

He grinned further. “Nope!” 

Max walked in and closed the door behind her. She crossed her arms. “That’s a big responsibility, Henderson.”

Dustin blew sharply out of his nose. “Yeah, but Eddie’s rules are extremely simple."

He held up his fingers one at a time. "A). Count money twice. B). Keep my 'grubby little hands' off of his beer, cigarettes, and guitars. C). Don't snoop through his drawers. D) Lock the door behind me.” 

“Wow, how will you remember it all, Mr. ADHD?” Max smirked.

“Responsibility like this requires the obedience of a saint.”

Max opened the door, “Don’t screw up," she said as she slipped out. 

Unfortunately, Dustin quickly screwed up. 

Not purposely. Simply, his curiosity had gotten the best of him.

He began snooping. 

He set a Journey record onto Eddie's very fancy record player and began dancing around the room. He counted the money three times. He found Eddie's mind-altering substances hiding in a cabinet next to the door. He didn't touch them, because he had to drive, and also because Eddie would be able to tell and would probably be pissed.

But something caught his eye. Stashed clumsily in an already half-opened drawer were a stack of papers. Dustin pulled them out.

On the front, in big letters: 'Music Town franchise option agreement'

Music Town was the end-all of music stores; a chain sprawling across the U.S. and Canada with jacked-up prices and passive aggressive employees. And, according to this paper, Empire Records was about to turn into one.

“Holy shit, they’ve gotta be kidding," Dustin muttered.

This was his worst nightmare. He had to save the store. 

So, impulsively, he thought up a plan.

He stuffed the money in his backpack, hopped into his Volkswagen and headed to Chicago. 

This was the best idea he’d ever thought up. 

Did Dustin know anything about gambling? Not at all. But that didn’t stop him. 

“$9,104. I counted it thrice," he told the worker at the betting table. The worker grumbled something under his breath. 

“So I just throw it and get a seven?” he asked genuinely. 

“If you're lucky," a man muttered with disbelief.

Carefully, Dustin rolled the die. 

Please let my DnD experience come in handy, he thought.

And he rolled a seven.

A couple cheered. He grinned. 

"You wanna go further?" the worker asked. 

"What the hell, sure, let's go all in."

“That’s an 18,000 dollar bet," a man in a Hawaiian shirt said, patting him on the back. "You sure you know what you’re doing kid?”

“What I know," Dustin stated dramatically. "Is that if I win this roll, I save the place I work and the jobs of my friends who work there from being sold to a multi-million dollar company. Thus striking a blow at all that is evil and making this world a better place to live in."

He blew on the dice. "This is for you, Eddie."

And...

He rolled a three. 

"Shit," he muttered. “I wonder if i’ll be held responsible for this."

This was the worst idea he’d ever come up with.

Dustin woke up parked outside of the store, and quickly remembered the lack of good decisions he'd made the night before. After leaving the casino, he'd decided to sleep outside of the store so that he could see Eddie as soon as possible, but since making that decision he'd realized he very much did not want to see Eddie's immediate reaction to the events that had unfolded.

He collapsed onto his steering wheel and groaned.

The sound of someone knocking aggressively on the car window made him jump.

“Dustin?” a muffled voice shouted. “Dustin!"

Dustin glared out the window, where two boys stood. One with a light skin and a brown bowlcut, the other with dark skin and two-strand twists.

Dustin reached across the seat and rolled down the window. "Will, Lucas," he greeted to them both respectively.

“What the hell are you doing here, man?” Lucas said.

He sighed. “Something happened last night in Chicago.”

“You went to Chicago?” Will said with disbelief.

“To gamble,” Dustin said.

Lucas's eyebrows furrowed. "Isn't the minimum gambling age, like, 21?"

Dustin shrugged. He was tapping his thumbs against the steering wheel rythmically. "I guess my fake was convincing."

Will rolled his eyes.

But Lucas was intrigued. "Did you win anything?” 

“Nope. I didn’t win." He glanced in the rearview mirror to see Eddie's car pulling closer in the distance. He smiled sadly at the two boys. "And by the way, it was nice knowing you.”

“What happened, dude?” Will said worriedly.

Dustin turned the key with flourish. “I don’t regret the things I’ve done, but the things I did not do.”

Will's eyes widened.

“Dustin, how much?” he shouted as Dustin sped off. “How much?"

But Dustin was gone.

“Shit,” Will muttered, pushing his bangs back and resting his hand on his forehead, thinking. “Okay. Everything’s fine.”

Lucas was staring at him. “What do you mean by ‘shit?’”

He shot a look at Lucas. “Well Dustin doesn’t have any money, and Eddie let him close last night.”

“Yeah, so?” And then it dawned on him. “Oh. Fuck. I guess he didn’t live up to the responsibility of the position, then.”

“No, not the full responsibility." Will looked to the side, where his boss was walking towards them. "Also, shut up.”

“Hey Eddie!” Will chanted.

“What’s up, man?” Lucas added.

Eddie looked the same as always; messy hair, ripped band tee, Doc Martens, and a leather jacket. But his face was full of loathing. "It's Steve Harrington day,” he seethed. 

“What’s with the hostility?” Lucas asked, attempting to act normal. He grinned. 

“Say no more, mon amour,” Will muttered sarcastically as he walked through the front door, Eddie holding it open begrudgingly.

“Lips are for kissing, baby, je t’adore,” Lucas finished with much more enthusiasm. He blew a kiss towards his boss, who glared and mumbled some choice words under his breath.

Eddie closed the door behind him. 

A phone rang from the front counter.

He sighed. “Lucas, get the phone.”

Lucas nodded and jumped behind the counter. He answered the phone with a click. “Empire Records, open till midnight, this is Lucas," he recited absently. "Yeah, sure.” He mute the phone. “Hey, it’s the bank," he said to Eddie.

“Yeah, it’s Eddie," the man said into the reciever. He furrowed his eyebrows as the other line spoke. “Uh, it should be.” Another pause. “I dunno, i’ll have to check."

The second phone rang. Lucas jumped to it. “Empire." A shout came from the other line. "Oh, uh, sorry. Um, Empire Records, open till midnight, this is Lucas.” He frowned, then muted the phone. “It’s the boss," he told Eddie.

“Gimme a second,” Eddie told the bank before switching the lines. 

Lucas seized his chance to slip away, just as he heard yelling come from the phone. “Brenner, Brenner, Brenner, would you stop yelling, please?” Eddie asked, pinching his forehead.

Will had just punched in his time card as Lucas burst into the employee's room.

“Act normal,” Lucas said, sliding onto the couch.

Will hurried and sat down at a large wooden desk, hastily picking up a pen and beginning a sketch. Lucas picked up a magazine. 

Eddie burst into the breakroom and slipped into his office.

He crouched in front of his safe, inputting the code carefully.

The safe opened.

The money was absent.

“Damn it Dustin!"

He walked out of his office, a glare stuck on his face. 

“Uh, what’s the matter, Eddie?” Will asked casually.

“The money’s gone,” he said.

A few minutes away, Max drove her red convertible through the suburbs. She parked in front of a small brown cottage with bright blue windowboxes.

Within seconds, a girl with long brown hair and a rainbow striped sweater came running to her car. She was grinning widely and carrying a large Tupperware. 

“Surprise!” she giggled, pulling a cupcake out of the container. 

Max grinned at her friend's excitement. “What is it, El?”

El handed her the sprinkle-adorned cupcake. “Happy Steve Harrington day!”

“When did you have time to make these?” Max said in slight disbelief.

“Hop says that there are 24 usable hours in every day." El swung open the car door and hopped in. 

“You amaze me,” said Max. “Nerd.”

El took a bite out of her own cupcake and smiled cheekily.

As they drove, the girls sang along to Steve Harrington's new album at the top of their lungs. (El was infinitely more excited about the arrival of the celebrity than Max, but Max would never let that show.)

They parked behind the store, singing Don’t Be Sad Girl, by, of course, Steve Harrington, but before they could enter, Will burst out. 

“Hey, um, you shouldn’t go in there yet," he said hastily.

“Happy Steve Harrington day, Will!” El said giddily.

“I'm serious, El. I’ve got something to tell you before you go in. It’s insane news.”

He led them around to the side door.

In his office, Eddie held the phone up to his ear. “Come on, Dustin, pick up the phone."

Dustin did not answer.

"Come on buckethead!"

“Good morning, Eddie!” El sang as she walked through the door. She set her Tupperware full of cupcakes on the coffee table. 

“Does Eddie know?” Max asked under her breath.

“No, so act normal,” Will enunciated.

“Hi Eddie!” Max called giddily and very abnormally. 

“I brought cupcakes!” El chimed.

Eddie slammed a stack of papers that he was looking through onto his desk. “GOD DAMMIT!” he shouted at nobody in particular.

Max's eyebrows shot up. She'd never seen Eddie angry before. “Okay then."

Will hummed.

Max and El punched their timecards before the three of them headed to the front. Max pulled a packet of Skittles out of her pocket and handed one to each of the employees. 

“Well, lets see who picks the song first,” she said. She opened the bag dramatically and pulled a candy out. “I got a green! Anybody got green?”

The others sighed. “No."

She pulled another. “Orange?” 

Lucas held up his orange enthusiastically.

“Oh, no,” said Will, who was not a fan of Lucas's music taste.

“Oh, shit,” said Max with a grin, who was also not a fan, but appreciated her boyfriend's weirdness.

To the annoyance of everyone except El, Lucas enthusiastically slid "Say No More" into the CD player. 

"Seriously, Lucas?" Will nearly shouted. 

"It's Steve Harrington day!" Lucas shouted back in response.

The speakers blared to life. 

"Oh, Stevie, you're so sexy!" Max, Lucas, and El all chanted along with the song.

Will glared at all of them. But his people pleasing tendencies forbade him from dwelling.

At 9:56, the store awoke. Everyone got to work making sure everything was straight. Will took to cleaning the front counters and adjusting the cash in the register. Max went around the whole store, dusting things that probably didn't need to be dusted in order to look helpful. Lucas checked all of the listening booths to make sure they were neat. El made the rest mugs of coffee.

“Hey brochachos!” a man with waist-length shiny hair called as he walked in, immediately heading to the back to clock in.

"Hey, Argyle," Will answered, too irritated to attempt a smile.

The background music stopped with a static buzz as Max pressed the ‘eject’ button on the CD player.

“Hey, what are you doing, man?” Lucas said, running over.

“Exercising my veto,” said Max with a smirk.

“It’s only 9," Lucas said. "You’re sure you wanna do that?”

She looked at him with fake sympathy. “Lucas, just look at Will. He's having an aneurysm. Plus, listening to this crap is guaranteed to make you sterile."

Lucas smirked. “What if I want to be sterile?”

Max rolled her eyes and stabbed him lightly with her elbow. “Loser.”

When Lucas walked away, she held a lighter under the CD and burned a small notch into the side before shoving it back in its case. 

Lucas and Will had been tasked by Eddie to look around the store for the money. Since both of them knew that the money was nowhere to be found, but were also in no way going to explain that to Eddie, they were simply walking around, pretending to be productive. 

Will had been nervously fidgeting for a few minutes, gathering courage to say something. 

“Um, Lucas,” Will said finally. “I need to ask your advice.”

“Advice?” Lucas asked, turning his head to look at him. “What kind of advice?”

“You have experience with... romance, right?”

Lucas laughed half-heartedly. ‘Experience’ was quite a stretch, as he seemed to have simply stumbled into his amazing 5 year relationship. 

“If you count Max asking me out to homecoming freshman year romance, then I guess,” Lucas said. "Why?"

“Well… there’s… a person.”

“What kind of person?” Lucas asked, trying to be supportive, but also secretly knowing full well who that person was.

“Just… someone.” Will muttered, clearly not in the mood to confess anything big. “Look, Lucas, I just- I think today, I might tell… my person… how I feel about them.”

“Uh-huh,” said Lucas, egging him on, his face holding a suspicious smile.

“Okay, hey, I know what you’re thinking, but I am. I really am.” Will was nearly shaking with nerves and started to ramble. “I mean, I kind of just decided I’ve gotta tell my person how I feel, you know? I’ve gotta tell them that, well, I, that, I…” 

“That you love him?”

Will was taken aback. He hadn’t actually admitted that he was gay to anyone, and it surprised him that Lucas might know. “I didn’t say him.”

Lucas gave his best friend a look that was simultaneously ‘you’re an idiot’ and also ‘I love you no matter what.’ Will softened.

“Okay, yeah, it’s a him,” he admitted. “But either way, l don’t know, like… how do I do that?”

His friend pondered for a second. “You say, ‘I love you.’” When Will cast him a negative look, he said, “What, do you want written instructions or something? To be honest, I have no idea how I’m even dating Max. I wish I could be more helpful but I can’t." He sighed. "I guess, just… be honest with him. Tell him everything. If it is who I think it is, you've got nothing to worry about."

“Okay…” Will started, and then, stronger; “Okay. I’ll tell him this morning." He hesitated. "Well, by noon, definitely."

“Great!” said Lucas.

“No, by noon or one.”

“Uh-huh…”

“1:37!” Will announced with finality. “By 1:37 exactly, Lucas.”

Lucas patted his friend on the shoulder. “Well good luck, man.”

“Thanks,” said Will with a small smile.

Chapter Text

Eddie walked out of his office and into the employee room. El was sitting at a desk, her pencil scratching against paper. There were worksheets all around her and she punched numbers into a calculator unenthusiastically.

“What are you doing here, El?”

“Geometry,” she answered sadly. “It is not fun. But I have to get a good grade to graduate.”

“No, I mean, you know you’re not on until this afternoon right?”

El rolled her eyes and smiled. “Eddie, it is Steve Harrington Day.”

Eddie smiled, but it did not reach his eyes. “Yup. Steve Harrington day.”

“Lips are for kissing, so say no more!” Argyle sang upon hearing the singer’s name. He was lurking in the back corner, messing with some boxes of CD’s.

“Could you please not sing, Argyle?” Eddie responded. 

But Argyle didn’t answer. He stared through the window on the swinging doors, behind which stood Dustin. 

“Uh-oh,” Argyle said.

Dustin burst through the door. “Argyle!”

Dustin was carrying a bucket of quarters, for reasons that were beyond anyone’s imagination. Likely, it was his form of an apology.

“Dustin!” Eddie said fake enthusiastically, turning around at the sound of Dustin’s voice.

“Eddie,” Dustin said jovially.

“Where’s the money, Dustin?” Eddie said with a false smile, hands on his hips.

“Eddie, the money’s gone.”

“Yeah, I know it’s gone," Eddie snapped, losing his playfulness. "Where’s it gone to?”

“Chicago," Dustin answered shortly.

“Is it coming back from Chicago?”

“I don’t believe so, Eddie,” said Dustin, rocking back and forth on his heels.

“What’s it doing in Chicago?”

Back. Forth. Back. Forth. “Recirculating," Dustin said.

“Recirculating."

In an intense beat of anger, Eddie smacked the bucket of coins out of Dustin's arms. They clattered to the floor, scattering across the room like chipped glass.

“Are you pissed off, Eddie?” Dustin said, his voice small.

“Listen, Dustin. I told Brenner that you forgot to deposit the money. I told him that the money was still here."

“Eddie, that’s not true. It’s in Chicago. I swear!"

“Shut up,” Eddie snapped, pinching his eyes closed. “Shut up, sit down, and don’t move.”

“I mean it could be in other cities by now, but-”

Eddie held up a hand. Dustin's mouth closed with a soft click.

Everyone stared at them, waiting for Eddie’s punishment. Unfortunately, it was simple.

“Under no circumstance do I want you to leave that couch,” he muttered, pointing at the mustard yellow floraly cushions. “Unless it’s to get me $9,104. And when you do get me $9,104, you bring it here, and you give it to me. Capisce?"

Dustin didn't respond.

Eddie turned to walk back to his office. 

“Hey, I think it’s gonna be okay,” Dustin said after a second, an encouraging smile tracing his lips.

“What in God’s name makes you think that?” Eddie answered incredulously.

“Who knows where thoughts come? They just appear.”

Will sighed. El burried her face in her hands.

The look on their boss’s face was priceless. He was completely stricken by disbelief. “What a moron.”

Eddie slammed his office door.

On the sidewalk outside of Empire Records, an old bike drifted around the corner. On it, a tall, lanky teenage boy wearing a black hoodie and a pair of loose jeans. 

He shoved his bike in the stand and clicked the safety lock around it. He glared at the door like he wanted nothing less than to turn back around and leave.

But he walked through entered the store anyway.

“Hi, Mike!” El said happily as she manned the cash register.

Mike waved and smiled at her half heartedly. “Hey, El.”

“Hello, Michael,” said Max. 

Mike rolled his eyes and flipped her off as he stalked to the back room. 

Max sighed with fake disappointment. “He hates me,” she pouted aloud as she handed a customer her change.

“No, he does not,” said El with a frown.

“Liar. Luckily for me, I have enough sense to hate him back.”

That was the actual lie. Mike and Max were about as close as they could possibly be, and their constant bickering was a way in which they bonded and showed their appreciation for each other. Everyone in the store knew that. 

El smiled at her friend’s antics and went back to counting cash.

“Morning Mike!” Dustin chanted as Mike trudged through the employee doors. 

“Good morning, Mike,” Will said nervously.

“Good morning, Will,” Mike said with a smile that seemed incredibly forced. He walked into the bathroom without another word, clicking the door locked behind him.

“Wow,” said Dustin sarcastically. “I feel so loved.”

Will rolled his eyes. He was gluing quarters to the ground; his idea of an interpretive art piece.

Eddie burst out of his office. He seemed to come and go through there a lot.

“Dustin, are you in trouble?” he asked sincerely. “Did you need the money? ‘Cause if you’re in trouble, you can tell me. You know that.”

Dustin looked back at his boss dramatically. “Eddie, we’re all in some kind of trouble. Am I the only one who sees it? Will’s in trouble-”

“I am not in trouble,” Will muttered in disagreement.

“El’s in trouble-”

Eddie cut in again. “El’s not in trouble, she’s doing fantastic, she told me so this morning.”

“Argyle’s in trouble-”

“No, I’m great, man.”

“Lucas is in trouble, Max is in trouble-”

“Hey, Henderson, I’m the one in trouble here,” said Eddie. He was moving his hands around as he talked, further emphasizing his point. “I’m in trouble, because every minute that goes by and I don’t call the cops, I look like a bigger idiot.”

Eddie sighed. He looked Dustin in the eyes. “You screwed me, Henderson, you know that, right? What do you want me to do? Call Brenner? Tell him I lied?”

“It seems like a viable option,” said Dustin.

God, this kid was blunt.

Eddie looked at him in the eyes. “I swear to god, if you are fucking with me I will kill you."

Dustin hummed.

“Hey, Will, I need a new closer,” said Eddie sympathetically.

“Eddie, I opened,” Will complained. 

“Look, you know I wouldn’t ask, but I have no choice."

“I can close!" Dustin said.

Eddie glared at him.

Will sensed the tension and gave in. “Fine, I’ll close. It's cool. They raised Jon and I's rent, so we could use the money.”

Dustin threw up his hands. “Well, damn the man," he said.

Eddie dragged a hand down his face. "Oh, God I am in Hell."

Mike was standing in the bathroom, staring at himself. Specifically, he was staring at the long curls he’d grown out way back when he was fourteen and he’d had a celebrity crush on his boss. 

God, he was weird.

Mike shuffled through the sink cabinet. Tampons, pads, bandaids. And in the back he found what he was looking for. A pair of scissors. Big ones–kitchen shears, most likely.

Definitely not hair cutting scissors. 

But that didn’t stop him.

He raised the scissors to a chunk of hair near his chin. In one big clip, he cut it all off.

Did he know what he was doing? No. But his sister had done it for him before, so he copied what she usually did. She could fix it when he got home either way.

Within a few minutes, his shoulder length curls were chopped off. What was left was short and shaggy but not quite terrible.

It was liberating. It was new.

He missed his long hair, but at the same time, he felt… calm.

Calmer than he had felt in ages.

“Hey, do you think it’s possible for someone to be in love with someone else and not know it?” Will asked Dustin, placing a glue covered quarter on the red patterened rug.

“In this life, there are nothing but possibilities," said Dustin.

“Well, that’s good,” said Will, “because I’ve gotta tell someone I love them by 1:37.”

Dustin looked at him. He smiled. “That’s an excellent time."

Lucas walked into the break room. “Hey guys,” he said. He frowned. “Will, are you gluing quarters to the ground?” 

“Yep,” said Will. 

A second later, Mike walked out of the bathroom.

For a minute, Will was shell shocked. “Mike.”

Jesus Christ, he’s pretty, Will was thinking. He could actually see Mike’s face, instead of curls drooping into his eyes, which was also gorgeous, but this was… something else. In a good way.

Dustin was confused and shocked. “You did have hair when you went in there, right?” he asked.

Mike rolled his eyes. “Yes, Dustin, I did.” He punched his time card and looked to Will with a smile. “It’s still in the sink if you want to glue it into another voodoo doll, or something.”

Will felt himself blush.

Mike walked up behind Dustin, patting him on the back. “Hey, is it true you committed the perfect crime?”

“Not entirely perfect,” Dustin muttered, thinking over his, quite frankly, tragic plan.

Mike reached over and shoved his head playfully. As he did, his sleeve slipped. On his right arm was a bright white bandage stained with the smallest bit of red. His face went pale. He hastily covered it again, but it was too late.

He was seen. 

He started to walk away, avoiding the questions. 

“Hey, Mike, wait a minute,” Lucas called as him and Will walked over. He stepped in front of Mike, keeping him from walking forward. “What’s with you, man? You alright?”

“Bad hair day,” he said sarcastically, gesturing to his head. “Why?”

Lucas gave him a look. “I mean with this.” He grabbed Mike’s arm and pushed down his sleeve, revealing the gauze.

“Lucas!” Will exclaimed with shock. “Come on! You can’t just expose people like that.”

Will pulled Mike’s sleeve back up and glanced back at him with empathy. Mike was clearly in shock, his eyes wide.

“What’s with… that man? What happened?”

Mike yanked his arm away and shoved his hands in his pockets. He rolled into himself subconsciously.

“I went up to Heaven,” he said sarcastically. “Guess I wasn’t on the guest list.” He went to push past, but Lucas stepped in front of him.

“No, no, hey, tell me what's going on,” Lucas begged. 

Will tried to interject, but Mike beat him to it.

“Fine. I decided I’d rather kill myself than meet Steve Harrington. Now excuse me, I’m going.”

He pushed past Lucas and out into the store.

“Hey,” Will said, catching up to him just as the doors closed behind them. “You know you can talk to me.” He looked at Mike intensely, begging him to listen. “Right?”

Mike looked at him with appreciation, and, maybe, the slightest bit of love. “Thanks, Will.” He glared at the door. “But please tell Lucas to knock it off and save the concern for his girlfriend.”

“And, uh-” Will started when he began walking away. “Your hair, I like it.

He blushed. “Oh, um, thanks,” he said before stalking to the front counters. 

When Will re-entered the employee room, he was close to tears. Lucas wasn’t doing much better. 

“Guys,” said Dustin, calling their atention to the couch. “He’s in the store.” He smiled sadly. “He’s gonna be okay here, alright?”

Will nodded. Mike was okay.

Mike joined Max and El behind the counter. They both looked at him in shock. Subconsciously, he raised his left hand to his hair.

“Oh, wow, Mike,” said El with astonishment. “Your hair.”

“Yeah, it’s gone,” he said.

“Why’d you do it?” El asked.

“Was tired of matching Eddie,” Mike joked, elbowing El in the side. She smiled and walked away.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t David Bowie,” Max quipped, scanning a pile of vinyls. “Gonna go for a Ziggy Stardust look next?”

Mike grinned, grateful for her normalcy. “That’s clever. I swear to God, you get smarter every time you fall off your skateboard.”

Max rolled her eyes. “And you get smarter the shorter your hair gets, so it’s good you went with that. It’s a great look for you, Michael.”

Mike hummed.

She nudged him playfully. “Are you gonna ask out Byers now? Did you finally decide that your curly rat’s nest was bad for a first date?”

“Ha, ha,” Mike answered tonelessly, but his face was red. “Speaking of dating, tell your boyfriend next time you see him to get off my back.”

“About what?”

He shrugged. “You’ll find out soon enough. I’m sure he’ll tell you as soon as he can.”