7 Ice Cream

Summer came once again. RoboCat and a_special_discontinued_grape_juice continued chatting, though it became less frequent over time. Justin wondered if she was busy. He was fairly busy himself.

His freelance jobs had been going so well that he created his own website with reviews from previous clients on it. The offers kept pouring in.

He had more than enough money to buy his own car but how on earth would he explain that to his parents? It wasn't like he had his license yet either.

"You're taking us to get ice cream," Kaitlyn demanded as she slammed the door open.

His cousins were visiting again and his mother and aunt had been laughing in the living room for hours about who knows what.

"Do I have to?" Justin groaned.

It was hot out. He didn't want to leave the safety of his air conditioned room.

"Yes," chimed in Samantha and Lily as they appeared in his doorway.

He may have gotten closer with his cousins since Cookie came onto the scene because they would mostly sit around and play with him together whenever they visited but that didn't mean he wanted to be responsible for them while outside.

"Fine," he grumbled. "Someone go tell the adults."

A chorus of cheers rose up as they ran to the living room to get permission. Justin's mom was so thrilled that he was willingly going outside that she gave them enough money to get double scoops.

The girls wanted to dash out the door immediately but Justin frantically tried to get at least Kaitlyn to hold his hand. If she ran out into the street, his aunt would kill him and dance on his grave. Well, maybe not literally but he still wasn't willing to risk it.

Ten minutes later, Samantha walked into the nearest ice cream shop before Justin, who was holding both of the younger girls' hands.

They had resisted at first, wanting to run ahead, but eventually decided that attention from their cousin was worth being shackled. They gazed up at him in adoration as his face was bright red with embarrassment from being seen out and about with two little kids.

The bell on the door rang as they entered, indicating there were customers, and the girl behind the counter cheerfully greeted them. "Hi, welcome to Scoop 'n' Swirl!"

Justin's soul left his body. He knew that voice. And she had just seen him holding hands with a five-year-old and a seven-year-old. His life was over.

"Justin, I want strawberry," Kaitlyn whined, tugging on his hand. He had been frozen in place for at least a minute.

Lily tugged on his other hand. "I want rocky road! And chocolate chip cookie dough!"

"I want a banana split," Samantha chipped in.

She eyed her cousin suspiciously. He was acting more spastic than usual. Was it because of this girl?

"Hi-hi, Emily," Justin stammered. "Can we have a strawberry cone, a double scoop of cookie dough and rocky road, and a banana split please?"

She cocked her head in confusion. "You know me?"

Of course she didn't remember him. "We had a class together…and it's on your name tag."

Emily blushed. "Oh, duh. Sorry about that! I'm not so good with faces. What about you, do you want anything?"

He wanted to sink into the floor and disappear but that wasn't going to happen so he ordered a chocolate milkshake for himself and dragged his cousins to a table to wait.

Kaitlyn swung her little legs impatiently as Lily chattered about how much she liked the little marshmallows in rocky road ice cream but Samantha was thoughtful. This was a new side of Justin. He seemed…flustered. He didn't fluster easily.

"So, you know the ice cream girl, huh?" she whispered so Emily wouldn't overhear.

Justin turned to her slowly, like a deer caught in headlights. "We were in the same P.E. class in eighth grade. I…may have accidentally hit her in the face with a volleyball," he confessed.

Samantha burst out laughing. "Only you! You'd think she'd remember something like that."

"I'm not very memorable," Justin mumbled. "I haven't talked to her in person since then. Until today."

Her mouth rounded into an 'o' of surprise. "So long? But you obviously like he—wait. You said in person. Do you talk to her online?"

Cursing himself for letting too much slip, Justin nodded in extreme embarrassment. It was not cool that his cousin who was three years younger than him had seen through him so clearly.

Was it that obvious that he liked her from two sentences of conversation at the counter? Did that mean Emily knew too?

"Your order is ready!" Emily called from the counter.

All of his cousins scrambled up to grab their treats but Justin walked slowly, like he was heading to the executioner's block.

"That'll be twenty-three dollars and sixty-two cents," she said with a smile.

Justin opened his wallet and saw that he had one twenty, given by his mom, and a few fifty dollar bills.

Wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible, he handed her a fifty and said "keep the change, it can be your tip" before practically dragging his cousins to eat at a table outside.

"It's hot out here, Justin, why did we have to go outside? There were tables in there," Lily complained. She eyed her large cone that was already dripping. "My ice cream is going to melt before I can finish it."

"He didn't want his girlfriend to see us," Samantha said shrewedly.

"She is NOT my girlfriend!"

"But you want her to be," Samantha said with a wink. "Come on, you were totally hopeless in there."

He sighed heavily. He really was hopeless. Who leaves a tip that cost more than the bill?

He just couldn't stand there with her staring at him while she calculated the change. It felt like her eyes were boring into his soul. She knew. She had to know he liked her.

"But if it makes you feel better, I don't think she knows you like her," she continued. "She was just doing her job."

Her job…how long had Emily worked there? Was that why she was hardly ever online anymore? It would certainly explain it.

But why did she need a job? Hardly any students he knew had part-time jobs. He was the weirdo with his own business.

"Earth to Justin!" Samantha waved her hand in front of his face. "Your drink is melting."

Oh. He started gulping it down, finding that the cold milkshake was helping his flushed face go back to normal.

"How long have you liked her?"

"…since the volleyball incident."

Samantha gasped. "Three years! And you've only talked to her twice?!"

"Technically, it was four times," he mumbled, shamefaced.

She slapped a hand to her forehead, losing all hope in her cousin. "Dude. That's pathetic. How are you ever supposed to get together if she doesn't know you exist?"

Justin had never thought about actually being with Emily. He just wanted her to be happy.

"I'm not. As you've pointed out, I'm pathetic. She's in a completely different world than me. I'm happy to watch from a distance."

"Now that's just sad," Samantha sighed. "You talk to her online, don't you? Are you friends?"

"Yes. We follow each other on InstaFace and Blogr. She's…really fun to talk to," he said dreamily. His conversations with Emily were usually the best part of his week.

"Why not tell her that it's you?"

"Are you crazy?! She'd think I'm weird! I'd rather have limited contact than none at all," Justin defended himself. "And if you say something to her…I'll never forgive you."

Samantha held her hands up, the picture of innocence. "I wasn't going to. But honestly, you're depressing me. Drink your milkshake then let's go home."

The littler kids had already finished their ice cream and were checking out roly poly bugs on the sidewalk. Justin finished his drink quickly, wanting to hide in the safety of his room, and took Kaitlyn and Lily by the hand to walk back to his house.

After his cousins went home, he got a notification from Blogr. Emily had posted 'Someone gave me a crazy huge tip at work today!' with a gif of someone spinning around as money floated in the air around them.

The corner of his mouth lifted. He may have looked like an idiot but at least she was happy about it.

Justin went to the ice cream shop once a week for the rest of the summer, making sure to be friendly and say hi before grabbing his order and running, always leaving at least $10 as a tip.

There were quite a few regulars in the ice cream shop—it was the middle of summer, after all—so Emily didn't think too hard about the boy who came in every Thursday for a chocolate milkshake and left big tips. She never even caught his name.

She figured his parents must be loaded and was happy to see him when he came in every week because it meant more money for her. Goodness knows she needed it.