Wonderful

“Oh my gosh, I’m so excited for you!” is Connie’s response to Stevie telling her about playing hooky to hang out with Hugh. Which is not exactly what she’d been hoping for.

“Why? Aren’t you worried? He might be a serial killer? Or worse!” And Stevie doesn’t believe this, because Hugh doesn’t give off the vibe at all, and she would know. She has this eerie ability to discern if a person is a scumbag or not.

“You don’t believe that -- come on. He’s probably super nice,” Connie says, doing a fine job at reassuring Stevie that this is not a complete poo bag of an idea. “You’re a terrific judge of character. Remember that time you figured out that guy I was dating was a peeping tom even before you got a hold of his criminal record?”

“It was online. And his mustache was kind of a dead give-away.”

“I thought it was just an ironic ‘stache. Like, a hipster mustache.”

“Why would you go out with a hipster in the first place?”

“He had a parakeet on his shoulder. I was intrigued.” Stevie lets out a frustrated noise and she hears Connie sigh on her end. “Come on, sweetie. You deserve a day off. You haven’t missed a day of school in all your life. You’ve earned this.”

“No! You’re supposed to talk me out of this!”

“No, don’t, stop,” Connie says without any real fire.

“Dammit, Connie. What if -”

“You can take care of yourself; you’ve showed that more than once.”

“There are so many things that can go wrong here,” Stevie groans.

Connie’s voice turns gentle. “Stop worrying. You’re just two people getting to know each other, having a nice day in the city. It doesn’t have to be anything important. Don’t over-think this. Let yourself enjoy his company.”

Stevie closes her eyes, mentally willing herself to block out every fear and every possible disastrous scenario that could ever possibly happen. “Yeah, okay,” Stevie says, letting out a long breath. “Okay, I’m doing this. This is going to happen.”

“Just be yourself, honey. Don’t think, just do.”

“That doesn’t sound even a little bit like me.”

“I know, but it doesn’t hurt to try, right?”

“Right,” Stevie snorts. “I’ll see you later.”

“Yep. Love you.”

“Bye.”

Stevie exits the restroom and walks back to the main part of the diner. Hugh is leaning against the counter and talking to Seymour, her coat draped over his arm. Stevie forgets to breathe for a second.

“Look, we can argue day in and day out about the Chiffons,” Seymour is saying as Stevie approaches them. “But you can’t ignore the irrefutable fact that Lesley Gore is the absolute best.”

“What’re you guys talking about?” Stevie asks, taking her, gesturing at Hugh to give her her coat.

“Girl pop groups of the 1960s,” Hugh says. He holds the coat open for Stevie. Reluctantly, she slips her arm through the sleeve and lets him help her with the other. It’s the most intimate she’s ever been with anyone, not counting the hugs she’s gotten from Connie and Mickey’s wife and daughters.

“Lesley Gore is one person,” Stevie says, buttoning her coat. “You like Lesley Gore?”

“I adore her,” Seymour enthuses, and Stevie files this away for later use. “Shouldn’t you be getting back to school?”

“Uh, not - not today,” Stevie mutters and picks imaginary lint off her coat so she doesn’t have to see Seymour’s questioning look. “I’m taking a day off.”

“From high school?” She’s sure that his incredulity can be heard from space.

“Hey,” she turns to Hugh, “you said you had something to tell me.”

“I... yeah,” Hugh lets out a short laugh. “I’d forgotten. Um, see you later, Seymour.”

“Later, you two.”

They head out and of course Hugh holds the door open for her, because he’s a nice person and all.

“But seriously,” Hugh says as soon as they’re outside. “Shouldn’t you be going back to school?”

Stevie shrugs in what she hopes is something that resembles a careless way. “I’m sure I can afford to miss one day. You... lead the way.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Wait,” Stevie adopts a mock-serious tone. “You’re not gonna serial kill me, are you?”

“Hardy har har,” Hugh grumbles, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

This is terribly considerate, but utterly ridiculous. “One day of school that I miss isn’t going to hurt me, Hugh. All my applications are out; I’m not worried about anything, to be honest.”

Hugh gives her a pointed look.

“Okay, so I am predisposed to worry, but I can be carefree for small amounts of time. With some assistance.”

He seems to consider this for a moment, his bottom lip going between his teeth in thought. Stevie is sure that she should not be this aware of someone else’s mouth.

Finally, he seems to come to a decision because he begins to nod. “Yeah, let’s go.” He grabs at her hand and pulls her down the street.

“Um,” she starts, trying to make her voice not crack. “Weren’t you gonna tell me something?”

“I quit my job,” he says, and gives her a quick smile. “It seems stupid to drag you away from your friends to tell you that, but yeah. I quit my job because of you.”

“Oh no -” she begins, suddenly terribly worried about his financial situation, but he quiets her with a snort of laughter.

“You kidding? It’s the best thing I could’ve done. I was using that job as an excuse to not move on. Thanks to you, I’m making some progress.”

So... changing someone’s life was never Stevie’s plan, but, well, seeing Hugh this bright with purpose is invigorating. Even more so when she thinks about how she actually made that happen. It makes her break out into a smile.

“Where are you taking me?” Stevie asks, picking up her pace. “Should I stop by my house for a change of clothes? Will it involve more strenuous activity?”

“I was gonna go meet up with my friends at the park after lunch. I thought maybe you could meet them?”

Stevie doesn’t miss the doubt that seems sneak into Hugh’s eyes.

“Yeah,” Stevie says, squeezing his hand. “I’d like that.”

~~~

They make their way down a bridge, and Stevie can feel Hugh vibrating with excitement. “Are you nervous?” Hugh asks as they pass an elderly woman who is pushing a stroller. She glances at them, takes a look at their linked hands, and gives Stevie a soft smile. Stevie snatches her hand away.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she mumbles, looking for an imaginary object in her purse, so she doesn’t have to look at Hugh’s beaming face.

“I am,” he says, honestly. “I hope they don’t scare you away.”

“Well, if they don’t like me they don’t like me,” Stevie says, not unreasonably. “There’s nothing much I can do about that.”

“Do you want them to like you?”

“I suppose that would be more convenient.”

He rolls his eyes. “I’ll take whatever I can get. Come on.”

Stevie spots them before Hugh even points them out. They’re a guy and a girl, each with huge pretzels in their hands. The girl, with jet black hair cut so that her bangs fall above eyes so blue Stevie can see them from yards away, has a napkin tucked into the collar of her coat, and is devouring the pretzel with gusto. The guy is looking at her with amusement, pretzel half-eaten in his hand. His dark skin is a stark contrast with her pale-white complexion, and Stevie is struck with how good they look together.

“That’s them sitting on the bench,” Hugh says, pointing at the couple. “The small one is Bobbie. The other one is Mac, her boyfriend. They’re my roommates.”

“Yes, I see -”

“Yo, Chicken Shit, aren’t you gonna introduce us?” comes the girl’s voice from the bench.

“I - “ But before Hugh can answer, Bobbie is running towards him, tackling him and jumping on his back.

“I think I should be jealous of how much time you spend on top of Hugh,” Mac muses, chewing on the last remnants of the pretzel in his hand.

“Aw baby, you know I only got eyes for you.” She winks at Mac, who goes a little soft-eyed, and then proceeds to lick the side of Hugh’s face.

“Ew, get off me, you deprived excuse of a human,”Hugh practically screeches and pries her off him.

“One of these days,” she says, skipping toward Mac, “you’re not gonna be able to resist my feminine wiles.”

“I’ve seen your feminine wiles. I don’t think I’m missing out on much.”

“You are the worst,” she tells him, scrunching up her face in distaste. She seems to remember that Stevie is there as well because she turns to her and smiles. “Hey. You must be Hugh’s fake high school girlfriend.”

“I’m not his girlfriend,” Stevie snaps. She clears her throat and says in a much more dignified tone, “I’m not his girlfriend.”

“Yeah, Hugh mentioned that you might get prickly,” Mac says. “I’m Mac, by the way. This is Bobbie.”

“Holla,” comes Bobbie, making a peace sign.

“Stevie,” she says, making no move to shake their hands. She’s determined to keep a safe distance until she’s sure about them.

“Okaaaay, this is definitely not awkward,” mutters Bobbie.

“It’s not!” Hugh goes, a little hysterical. “You just need to get to know each other. Just - I don’t know, ask each other stuff.”

“How big is it?” asks Bobbie, in all seriousness.

“What?!” is the others’ answer.

“That’s the first thing that came to mind,” she says, shrugging. “Sorry.”

It’s suddenly totally clear that this was a very bad idea, and Stevie begins to plan an escape. The fact that she basically gave herself up to Hugh for the afternoon is gonna make the thing a little tricky, but if anyone can pull it off it’s her. She’s pretty much an expert in getting out of uncomfortable situations. She opens her mouth go give Hugh some lie about what the fuck ever when his phone rings.

He curses under his breath as he takes the phone out of his coat pocket. “I’m gonna take this, but we are gonna make this work when I get back.” He gives the three of them a pointed look. They nod in unison, and he walks away to take the call.

“He’s so assertive now,” Bobbie says, petulantly. “I hate it.”

Mac wraps his arm around her and rubs her shoulder comfortingly. The sudden feeling of want does not escape Stevie’s notice, but she pushes it away. “It’s okay, baby. You can still boss me around.”

“It’s not the same, though.” She turns to glare at Stevie. “This is all your fault. You with your talk of like, confidence and taking life by the horns -”

“I’ve never used those words in my life,” Stevie says, rolling her eyes.

“- you ruined him for the rest of us who love bullying him.”

“I didn’t do anything -”

“Um, you changed his life or whatever -”


“Hey,” Mac interjects. He gives Stevie an apologetic smile. “She’s not usually this grumpy. She’s obnoxious, but she had a long day at work. I hope we don’t come off as immature or - Ooh, puppy!” Mac rushes to pet a passing woman’s dog.

“Look,” Bobbie starts, folding her arms across her chest and giving Stevie a “serious business” look. “I appreciate everything you’ve done for Hugh - the motivating and the boost of confidence - but I don’t know if I feel comfortable with you two spending so much time together.”

“Wait,” Stevie says, suddenly getting it. “Are you jealous of me?” Bobbie tries to hide sudden flush on her face. “You’re jealous of the time I’m spending with him, aren’t you?”

Bobbie opens her mouth to deny, but this is when Hugh walks up to them, a shocked look on his face.

“Are you okay?” Stevie asks. Her heart jumps to her throat at the thought of any misfortune falling on Hugh’s fluffly and adorable head (these thoughts are being thought and how is this her life?).

“I have a job,” Hugh says, seemingly to himself, like he’s assuring himself of that fact. “Reinard and Perkins. I met with them about a week ago. They - they liked me, so they’re giving me a job.” He finally focuses his gaze on Stevie and his face breaks into a blinding smile. “I start on Monday.”

Stevie doesn’t have time to think before she envelops Hugh in a completely unexpected hug.