Attention: I have revised and edited the whole story and have posted the new and improved version of Slicked up to the Nines! Some things have changed, others have stayed the same and some have simply just been explained a bit better. After an unfortunate relapse in health (I'm feeling much better now) the story is back on track…expect the new chapter soon (I'm actually working on it right now as we speak). Enjoy the story!!!

Pannychan

Disclaimer: We own NOTHING!!!! We really wished we owned Peter and Thomas but that's what dreams are for. However, we do own Charlie and Lorelei. They are our own creations from our insane mind!

Please let us know what you think of our new story, concerning the movie Swing Kids! It follows the movie timeline and will actually go past that and follow true History of WW2. Cause one of us actually happens to be a history major and I can finally put my homework and learning to good use.

Slicked Up to the Nines

Chapter One

"Ouch!" Lorelei gasped as the paper sliced her finger. She had been wrapping books in the brown delivery paper for the past thirty minutes and that was her second paper cut. Who thought that working in her father's bookstore would be so dangerous?! Of course, it had been rather distracting these last month, making it harder to focus on the tasks Lorelei's father had entrusted her with at their antique and book store.

"Good morning, Lorelei." Peter Mueller grinned, leaning on the desk. Lorelei looked up surprised to see Peter standing there. She hadn't heard the bell ring, announcing that someone had entered.

"Hello Peter! I didn't know that you were coming in today." She grinned, the pain in her finger forgotten "I figured you might be too busy lately, with all the fun you boys must be having?"

"I told your father yesterday. I guess he didn't mention it." Peter shrugged; ignoring what he knew was an attempt to pry information from him. Regardless of that fact he really was looking for the owner of the store but it seemed like Herr Schumler was out. "Are you running the store by yourself?"

"No, my cousin is in the back. Dad had to run an errand but he should be back later this afternoon." Lorelei said finishing up the book she was working on. Peter nodded, unsure about how to continue. No one knew the exact details, but there was more than one reason as to why Lorelei had been so distant from the group. The recent death of one of their family members had hit them hard…and brought some new changes. One of these was the arrival of Herr Schumlers' newly orphaned niece.

"How have you been? None of us have seen you in a long time." He asked. The group had been worried about her since she stopped coming to the swing clubs and had been avoiding them at school. They had all tried to approach her at one point but she had made it clear that the subject would never be discussed.

"I'm fine, Peter." She sighed, knowing where the conversation was going. "You don't need to worry about me. It's not like it was a serious relationship anyway…at least not to him." Ever since she found Thomas cheating on her a little over a month ago, she had avoided the whole group altogether. There was no way she would ever hang around the boys now. And even worse, so that Thomas himself would realize how much their breakup really hurt? There was no way she would ever admit to that.

"You should try talking to him." Peter suggested. In honest, Thomas had been trying to get in contact with Lorelei but she refused to see him. "You dated for a year. I would call that pretty serious. Besides are you going to let a misunderstanding ruin it for you both?"

"There's nothing to talk about." She stated, looking at Peter square in the eye. Just then a girl walked out from the back room, carrying a stack of books. "He made it pretty clear as to what he thinks about our year together."

"These need to be sent out with the rest." Lorelei's cousin said setting them down next to the ones that had just been wrapped. Lorelei gave the new pile a dirty look. Sure she wanted to avoid the conversation about Thomas but not with more work.

"Charlie, I'd like you to meet Peter Mueller. Peter, this is my cousin Charlie." Lorelei said, introducing the two, as she started to wrap the new stack of books.

"It's nice to meet you." Charlie smiled, shaking Peter's hand.

"Likewise," Peter grinned. "Charlie's a strange name for a girl." He remarked, but then mentally kicked himself for the insulting comment.

"It's short for Charlotte." Lorelei spoke up. "But don't call her that!" Charlie shot her a glare, which sent her back to wrapping the books so Peter could deliver them.

"Well I need to get back to work. It was nice to meet you." She said and went back to the back room where she was filling out the paperwork that her uncle had neglected to do earlier that morning.

"So how long is she staying with you?" Peter asked, turning back to Lorelei. She immediately noticed how transfixed he seemed with her cousin. He was still staring towards the door despite the fact that she had already walked towards the back room and was no longer visible.

"Permanently, I suppose. She arrived from Munich last weekend. "Her father" She coughed before continuing "my uncle was executed two months ago for helping some Jews escape the country." She replied. Charlie's father has been smuggling Jews across the borders into Switzerland but he was caught and was executed, leaving his daughter orphaned. After several weeks of being watched, she was finally allowed to move to Hamburg to live with her uncle and his family.

"I'm sorry Lor. We had no clue."

"It's alright Peter. It's not like I publicized it or put it in the newspaper. Thanks though."

"So are you going to be at the Café Bismarck on Saturday?" Peter asked, quickly changing the topic. He could relate with Charlie's story, since his father was arrested for protesting the dismissal of the Jewish professors at the University. He wasn't executed but died shortly after being released from a work camp.

"It's not that I don't want to go, Peter..." she sighed.

"Then why not? Is it Thomas?" he asked. "You don't have to talk to him, if you don't want to."

"I know." She said. And she did know that she could easily avoid talking to him but just seeing him hurt. Besides, Lorelei knew exactly where tonight would be headed. Either she would be subjected to seeing him with another girl or Thomas would stubbornly follow her around the Bismarck until she finally relented to hear his "side" of the story.

"Please come. You can bring Charlie with you too. It'll be fun. You need to get out, Lor." Lorelei studied him for a second then a grin slowly spread across her face. "And what about your cousin? We could show her the sights and sounds of the city since she lives in Hamburg now. How does that sound?"

"You like her, don't you?" she guessed. "You like Charlie!!"

"I don't even know her." Peter denied, but in reality he found her to be very attractive.

"What about Evey? Have you finally given up on that snooty faust?" Lorelei teased. Peter had had his eyes set on Evey for the past couple of months but never really made an attempt to go talk to her. This was fine by Lorelei because she couldn't stand the girl. Her and her friends always thought and acted like they were better then everyone else, especially the Swing Kids.

"There was nothing going on with Evey, you know that. She never gave me a second look." Peter shrugged. He wasn't that heartbroken over it. She just wasn't the girl he was meant to be with. What Peter needed was a girl who loved swing and was independent. As far as he knew, Evey wasn't like that. Her and her friends followed the crowd, conforming to societies standards.

"So now you set your sights on my cousin. Honestly, I think you would be good for her." Lorelei admitted. She could see the two of them together. Charlie was one of the most caring people she knew but she also stuck to her beliefs. "We'll be there on Saturday but you make it known that I am not talking to him."

"Don't worry. I'll try and make sure he won't bother you." Peter assured her.

"Ok well you better get these delivered before father comes back." Lorelei said, handing him the stack of books. "I'll see you on Saturday."

She watched him head out and couldn't help but wish things were back like they used to be, with Thomas being her boyfriend and all of them hanging out at Arvid's hot club. But it's useless to dwell on the past. With that in mind, Lorelei headed into the back to tell Charlie of Saturday's plans and to find out what she though of Peter.

Next Chapter: It's a reunion at the Bismarck! But how will it end up?