It was a dry and surprisingly pleasant February day in Castle Rock. It was a Saturday, and me and a few of my friends had decided to spend our afternoon at Suzette's Diner on Brock Street. The diner was pretty full and the weather was unseasonably nice, so to accommodate the four of us we decided to sit outside while we drank our sodas and picked at our one shared basket of fries. Spirits were high; Phoebe had just gotten onto the yearbook committee and Linda had just been asked by George Garrett to go steady. There was plenty to gossip about.

Suddenly the aggressive revving of engines sounded out nearby; a telltale sign of Cobras, not unlike the rattle of a rattlesnake. One convertible car and a blue car pulled in nearby, the sounds of shouts and laughter ringing out as the young men rowdily left their vehicles. Doors slammed amid the noise, and the Cobras began making their way over to the diner.

"Oh God," Linda sighed. "Can those guys do anything without being obnoxious?"

"That Ace Merrill sure has a nice car, though," chimed Wanda.

"Wanda, don't look over," hissed Linda. "You'll only encourage them."

"They're going to make some remark anyway," I reasoned.

"Yeah, a bunch of horn-dog guys, they're always gonna try something," Phoebe backed me up.

"We won't tell Georgie on ya," I smirked.

"Well, hello there ladies!" a voice rang out nearby, just as predicted. The gang all wolf-whistled or called out as they entered the diner. We ignored them completely, although Linda noticeably stiffened during the ordeal.

"See?" said Phoebe once the guys were out of sight. "Not so bad. They're just being jerks."

"Otherwise they'd explode," I offered.

"It's not funny," Linda quietly seethed.

"It's a little funny," Wanda giggled.

And with that gossip resumed as normal, Linda quickly warming up again as she was pressed for the details of her latest date with her new beau. The Cobras were firmly out of sight and out of mind.

"I just don't know if Roger is ever going to ask me out," Phoebe sighed after a few minutes. "The tension in debate club is getting too much to handle."

"Why don't you drop a few hints?" I tried to advise. "Mention that new movie a couple of times, and he'll probably ask if you want to go."

"I think I've mentioned roller rink like eight times," she countered, slightly exasperated.

"Yeah, but maybe he can't skate?" Wanda reasoned. "Not easy to look dumb during a movie. Real easy to look dumb falling on your butt."

"Just ask Frankie, isn't that right Donna?" Linda gave me the eyebrow.

"And that was the moment I knew I would marry that boy," I laughed. Poor Frank, he would never live that pep rally fall.

While we giggled we failed to hear the jingle of Suzette's bell as the entire Cobra gang exited the diner.

"Ladies," Ace Merrill's voice interrupted our laughing. "Awful chilly day out here."

"Yeah," Eyeball Chambers interjected. "You ladies need some warming up?"

"We're fine, thank you," Linda replied emphatically. I couldn't help but feel that Linda's stiff upper lip would only encourage them.

"Well, there ain't no seats inside," Eyeball continued. The guys were now close to the table. It felt uncomfortable. The all too familiar feeling of boys needing to take space away from girls.

"You broads mind if we joined you," Ace directed the question directly to Linda, who looked visibly bristled.

"It's fine," I replied, before she could snap back. I could feel her glare as soon as the words came out. "We're almost done. You guys can have this end and we'll move down."

"That's very diplomatic of you," Ace nodded. He looked directly at me, as if he could recognise me but not recall how. "You'd give Eisenhower a run for his money."

Before we had the chance to move down, all six members of the gang had infiltrated the large picnic table we were sitting at, placing themselves in-between and all around us. It was intimidating, but I told myself that that was what they wanted. They would get a power kick out of making us girls feel powerless and then move on like the lunkheads they were. It was awful, but they would get bored soon enough if we played our cards right. I could sense Linda's outrage and Wanda's guilty thrill immediately. It was going to have to be me and Phoebe who kept everything calm. Ace had plonked himself down beside me after the Eisenhower comment, and I was determined to give him as little satisfaction as I possibly could.

"So Deb," he began. "Long time, no see. How's it going?"

"Well, I don't know how Deb is doing…" I replied, bemused. "You should go ask her, John."

"What?" he looked confused.

"It's Donna," I clarified. Cleary our middle school science partnership had not made a memorable impression in a young John Merrill.

"Well, shit, boys!" Ace laughed. "Turns out my grandpa ain't the only one losing his marbles."

The Cobras all laughed in unison. A waitress approached in the midst of the clamour.

"What'll be fellas?" she pulled out her notepad, all too ready to handle any rudeness or disrespect.

The Cobras called out their orders in rapid succession, one after the after, like a surprisingly well oiled machine. To my surprise, Ace was the last to chime in.

"Root beer, no. 10, no onions," he rattled off. He then eyed up the remains of our lunch.

He then looked back up at his comrades.

"Where's our manners, boys?" he grinned, before turning to the waitress who had just finished writing down the last of the order. "Another four cokes for these ladies." He gestured to our empty glasses.

"You don't have to… " Phoebe began.

"I insist," Ace cut her off. "Besides, it's on Vince."

"Hey!" Vince huffed, blindsided by his captain.

"Gee, thanks, Vince!" Wanda chimed, sitting across from him.

"Oh?" Vince snapped back to look to be caught by Wanda's happy brown doe-eyes. "Um… no problem."

A couple of the guys snickered at this, including Ace.

"Little apology for getting your name wrong, Donna," Ace nudged me, bringing my attention back to him.

"It's cool," I assured him, all too aware that these drinks were contract cokes; designed to keep our company at their table for longer than we had intended.

"Better to call me, Ace though," he suggested. "John's a little confusing nowadays."

"You got it, Ace," I gave him a thumbs, internally cringing straight afterwards. A thumbs up? What a weird, dorky thing to do. Why did I do that?

"I mean, we really ought to get going," Linda attempted, giving me a look from across the table. "It's getting late, and we've got…"

"You can stay for a little soda pop, can't you?" Eyeball Chambers stopped her. He was sitting on the outside edge of the bench, fencing her in. "I mean, seeing as it's on the way and all".

"It's just we've got a lot of homework to do," she insisted.

"What kind of homework's gotta be done on a Saturday?" he pressed.

"Yeah, Eyeball don't know much about homework," sniggered Ace. I could tell they were quite happy making Linda squirm.

"Home economics," Phoebe dived in to help. "We've got… just a bunch of sewing to do."

The excuse would have worked a little better had Phoebe chosen a class we all actually took in school, but the super manly Cobras would hardly catch on to that fact, especially since barely any of them attended school still.

"Sewing?" Eyeball raised his eyebrows, feigning enthusiasm. "Well, that sure is an important one, gals."

"Now I just feel awful for keeping you ladies here," Ace replied sardonically.

"What say you stay for a little sody-pop, though?" Eyeball offered. "And we give you a lift home, so as your not losing time walking."

"Sounds like a plan," Charlie Hogan piped up from the back.

"That sure is a nice car, Ace," Wanda chimed, clearly not at all worried or unhappy with the situation. I wanted to kick her right then and there.

"Why, thank you," Ace smirked. "How's about you ride shot gun then, doll?"

"Actually my car is a smoother ride," Vince quickly retorted.

"But it can't go fast for shit," Ace shut him down. The entire gang laughed in unison again, Vince reluctantly joining in to save face.

"What d'ya say, Don?" he then asked me directly. "You want my back seat?"

"I don't mind," I answered quietly, genuinely flummoxed.

I could feel myself involuntarily blushing. Mercifully the waitress returned at that moment, carrying an impressive amount on her thin arms to the table. The food was greeting with a cheer by the young men, and they immediately occupied themselves with consuming it, while the waitress deftly took a couple more trips back and forth to complete the order. The last to come were the four cokes.

I'm almost a little ashamed to say the following half an hour in the company of the Cobras was not a wholly unpleasant one. Wanda, always happiest in male company, enjoyed the attention she was receiving from Vince and Charlie at one end of the table, while Phoebe, the most pragmatic of us all, was more than able to keep up with Norm and Billy as they traded jibes. Linda, already devoted to her new beau, was resolutely determined to be as reserved as possible; remaining largely quiet as she sat between Norm and Eyeball.

Ace participated in the banter in a smaller capacity. It was evident he was secure enough in his status to not need to constantly chatter. And as for me, I joined in, though not as assured as Phoebe, who had plenty of practice being the sister of four brothers. I found the unfamiliar energy of the gang oddly refreshing, I think. They were not, as I had assumed, as hardline unpleasant as 'hoods' were supposed to be. They were fun and funny in their own way, far more daring than any of the boys we usually hung around with, and yet not as threatening now as they ate their junk food.

"So, Don," Ace had decided to speak to me directly now. "What you been up to since middle school?"

"High school, actually," I joked. "I don't know if you're familiar."

"I've dabbled," he shrugged. I laughed a little, despite myself. That was funny. He was funny. "But I bet you're one of those straight-A girls."

"Damn, you got me," I feigned disappointment. "I thought I could hide it by constantly get B's and C's, but you sure got me pegged."

"I'm sharper than I look," he grinned. "Grades aren't the only way to prove you're smart."

"Can you please say that to my mom?" I tried to laugh.

"Sure thing. When we drop you gals off I'll walk right up to her and tell her myself."

It was around this time the penny dropped and I realised that Ace was flirting with me. That might make me seem dumb or oblivious to you, but honestly I wasn't expecting it. I hadn't spoken to Ace since middle school; It hadn't even subconsciously been on my mind that I might run into him and his friends today. The fact that he had taken a sudden shine to me caught me off guard. I mean, I had it on good authority from my ex-boyfriends and my grandma that I was pretty cute, but that this almost-stranger would so quickly and blatantly show an interest in me felt… exciting.

As we chatted further, I suddenly found myself noticing how blue his eyes were. Isn't that cliché? Oceanic blue. I didn't even mind the way that the bleach he had used on his already fair hair had left a slight yellow hue in places. Looking back now I would liken it to falling under a spell. Not that Ace wasn't a handsome guy, in fact, of all the Cobra's he was the most obviously handsome; lean and sleekly dressed, not too short or too tall, with an almost cat-like quality to his features. But there was something else about Ace; a self-assuredness that proved most irresistible of all. The kind of demeanour that said 'If you don't like me, well, then to hell with you". Many young men have this quality, still too young to know that we never really know ourselves at all. They are usually the 'rebel' of their school or small town; the type of boy that parents hope their daughters won't fall for, or that the upstanding members of society say will come to no good. Sadly, he would prove them right.

It is that unshakable sense of self that pulled me in that day like a sudden tide. I had never developed a crush on anyone so quickly, and I was all of suddenly totally unsure of what to do or say apart from pretending that I wasn't feeling anything at all. I answered all his quips as swiftly and cleverly as I could, attempting to give nothing away, all the while more and more conscious that we were speaking only to one another, and not engaging with anyone else at all.

"Yo Ace!" Charlie called out from the other end of the table out of the blue. "We going fishing or what, huh?"

Ace looked up at Charlie, not hiding his mild irritation.

"You on the clock, bud?" he asked flatly.

"No, man, it's just…" Charlie back-pedalled. "You don't want to get to the lake and see some other assholes in our spot, right."

"Yeah, it's a nice day," Phoebe decided to speed things up. "The lake could get a little crowded."

And with that the Cobras having less luck with the ladies (those circling Phoebe and Linda) began murmuring in agreement, suddenly concerned that there would be nothing to be gained at all from this afternoon, while Ace and Vince remained less concerned.

"Well, how would you ladies care to join us for some fishing?" Vince suggested, trying to keep his tenuous grip on Wanda's attention.

"Sure!" she chimed, forgetting our previously agreed lie.

"Wanda," Linda gently chided. "What about our sewing?"

"Oh… yeah," Wanda deflated slightly.

I found myself quietly annoyed by this. In their defence, we had set this plan in motion hoping for a swift getaway from these interlopers, but now I was less enthusiastic. The logical part of my brain had been switched off temporarily, and I was functioning solely on teenage hormones; so the irrational fear that this silently thrilling feeling would have to dissipate became all consuming. I couldn't stop myself.

"Well, Wanda and I are nearly done anyway," I blurted out. All three of my friend's heads popped up at my dissension; Linda -seething, Wanda -confused, Phoebe -bemused.

"Donna," Linda cautioned. "This is a pretty big assignment…"

"I know," I countered. Not really sure what else I could say at the moment. I could feel Ace's knowing eyes on me. I had completely taken the bait and I sensed he knew it. I prayed that I wouldn't turn red.

"If you and Wanda are nearly done then why not take the afternoon off," Phoebe finally cut in. "Me and Linda will go home and try to catch up."

I'm not really sure why Phoebe decided to diffuse the situation like she did. She obviously sensed my desire to go and pursue whatever I was feeling, and for whatever reason was ok with letting me do that. It was better for Wanda and I to have one another in this situation, and there would be no way we could leave Linda behind and all three go instead. Being the wisest and most pragmatic of us all, Phoebe made the call to stay with Linda and keep up the cover story, while letting us two be idiots.