The babysitters club|| Steve Harrington

15

"Erica?" Matteo hissed, "That's your great plan?"

"It's the only plan I have," Robin whispered back.

Matteo and Steve held the ladder while the younger girl was looking down the vent. For some reason, Robin thought she was their only hope since the ten year old was the only person they knew who could fit through the air duct.

Matteo wanted to veto the idea immediately. Maybe they could find someone else or hell, find a new way into the room. But dealing with Erica? No thank you.

Robin hadn't taken his opinion into account and went up to the girl to approach her about the idea. Obviously, like every single day, Erica was waiting by the counter to try a hundred different free tastes of ice cream, so they didn't even have to actively seek her out.

Today, her hair was done in braids with pink and yellow beads. Even though she was dressed in a bright yellow t-shirt with denim short-alls, she still had the terrifying air to her.

Matteo tried to help her down but she smacked his hand away and jumped the last few steps of the ladder. "Yeah, I don't know," She said, facing Robin.

"You don't know if you can fit?" Dustin asked.

Matteo let the ladder go and walked over to Robin, leaning against the counter and folding his arms across his chest. He really didn't want to add Erica to this team.

"Oh, I can fit," Erica corrected. "I just don't know if I want to"

Steve scoffed, making eye contact with Matteo who had an expression of- I told you so.

"Are you claustrophobic?" Robin asked.

Erica just chuckled, "I don't have phobias"

"Okay, well... What's the problem?"

"The problem is," Erica planted her hands on the table and leaned ahead. Matteo thought she would make an excellent interrogator. "I still haven't heard what's in this for Erica"

Matteo had to admit, she was good.

...

Two sundaes, five scoops of different flavored ice creams, a milkshake and a banana split were all arranged on the table. Robin and Dustin were seated on one side of the table in the booth, Erica had one side and Matteo was on another.

Steve brought over the last of the sundaes Erica had requested and slid it across the table toward Erica, the exasperation clear on his features. "Scooch," he told Matteo.

"There's no space to scooch," Matteo shot back.

The two of them whisper yelled at each other a bit more until Steve and Matteo were pressed shoulder to shoulder so close to each other, Matteo could smell his hair products.

"More fudge please" Erica said, bringing them back to reality, sliding the sundae back toward Steve who just groaned and let his head fall against Matteo's shoulder. "Go on," She made a shooing gesture.

Steve to his credit, flashed her a fake smile and took the sundae before walking away. If they wanted her help, they were going to have to tolerate her.

When he had left, Matteo felt a distinct lack of warmth by his side. Something that shouldn't have bothered him as much as it did.

"Alright" Matteo pulled out the blueprints, showing Erica the red circle and the line drawn from Scoops Ahoy to the room they needed to get into, "You see this? This is the route you're gonna take. Then we just wait until the last delivery goes out tonight— you knock out the grate, jump down and open the door."

"Then you find out what's inside those boxes?" Erica stabbed her plastic spoon in her sundae.

"Exactly," Robin agreed.

"Mmmhhmm" Erica looked skeptical. "And you say this guard is armed?"

Matteo was really starting to regret bringing her fully into their plan.

"Yes, but he won't be there," Dustin assured her.

"And booby traps?"

"Booby traps?" Matteo questioned.

"Lasers, spikes in the wall?" Erica said as if it was a completely normal thing for Russians in an American mall to have booby traps in the door to their secret base. Actually, the more Matteo thought about it, she was starting to make sense. He took that to mean that he was losing his mind. He would never agree with Erica in a sound mind.

"Calm down Indiana Jones"

"You know what this half baked plan of yours sounds like to me?" Erica threaded her fingers together like Matteo had seen the highschool principal do regularly, "Child endangerment"

"We'll be in radio contact with you the whole time—" Robin tried to assure her.

"Ah, ah, ah—" Erica shook her hand, "Child. Endangerment."

Matteo sighed, exchanging a look with Robin.

"I told you this was a bad idea"

"Erica? Hi. Uh..." Dustin tried, "We think these Russians want to do harm to our country. Great Harm. Don't you love your country?"

"You can't spell "America" without "Erica"" She shrugged, which Matteo had to admit made sense. She went right back to slurping her milkshake.

"Uh. yeah, oddly that's, uh, totally true" Dustin agreed.

"So—" Matteo tried, "So, don't do this for us. Do it for your country. Do this for America... Erica"

Erica just slurped as he talked.

"Oooh" She shivered, "I just got the chills"

Matteo blinked, was he really that good? Before he could congratulate himself, Erica shook her head.

"Oh yeah, from this float, not your speech" She turned to Robin and Dustin, "You know what I love most about this country? Capitalism" Oh wow, she had to be the weirdest ten year old Matteo had ever met, "Do you know what Capitalism is?"

"Yeah," Dustin and Robin snorted.

"It means," Erica went ahead anyway, "This is a free market system. Which means people get paid for their services depending on how valuable their contributions are"

Matteo, Robin and Dustin shared a look. Matteo felt sorry for Lucas— Erica's brother.

"And it seems to me," Erica kept going, "My ability to fit into that little vent is very, very valuable to you all"

That's what Matteo had been saying- to not tell her the whole plan. Erica was sneaky and too smart for her own good. Now that she knew how badly they wanted to get in that room, all she would have to do was name her price and the Scoops Ahoy crew would have no other choice than to agree.

"So, you want my help?" She looked at each one of them in turn, "This USS Butterscotch, better be the first of many"

"Brownie's better," Matteo shrugged.

"Then go get some, pretty boy" She made another shooing gesture, "And I'm talking free ice cream for life"

She plucked a cherry from her sundae that she had saved and popped it into her mouth.

"Yeah, I'm not sure we're going to be working here for life" Matteo gave her a small smile, "Free ice cream for this summer"

"For all my friends too" She made a counter offer.

"As much free ice cream for you as you want and one ice cream a day per person for all your friends" Matteo argued.

"Shake on it?" She smiled and it reminded Matteo of the way politicians smiled after they got exactly what they wanted.