"Rae, c'mon you really need to pay attention." Gordie insisted, leaning further over his book.
Rae shushed him and turned up the radio, holding a finger in the air. Some broadcaster's voice came over, interrupting the chorus of California Dreamin'. "... Another troop is to be sent back to the states next week, be sure you're ready to welcome our boys home. More air raids are -" at that, Rae shut the radio off and jumped out of her chair, marching to the door.
"Rae, what the hell are you doing?"
"Sorry, I have to call home." She swung open the door, Gordie right behind her, and ran for the payphones, simultaneously digging through her pockets. Gordie watched her with a strange kind of amusement as she jammed a coin into the slot and dialed feverishly, holding the receiver to her ear.
He opened his mouth to say something, but -
"Dad, hi. Look, I heard on the radio... they're sending some boys home..." she trailed off, listening to the voice on the other line. Her expression, which before had been one of nervous excitement, soon fell into a strange combination of disappointment and anger. "Oh... okay, sorry I woke you up... no, it's just, you know, I heard and thought... maybe Mike- … Okay. I love you too... yeah, I will. Goodnight."
She had barely said 'goodnight' before she'd slammed the receiver back down. Swearing loudly, she leaned back and held her head in her hands. Gordie had known about her brother, who had been drafted and sent off to Vietnam several months ago. This constant calling home whenever she'd heard about a tragedy or troop coming home had turned into a fairly regular ritual for her. Had Gordie been paying more attention to her and the radio, and not that stupid history book, he would have seen it coming.
"You all right?"
"I just really thought it'd be him this time, you know?"
Gordie nodded and sighed, of course he understood, however, it was a different kind of understanding. Denny was long dead when the draft had begun, but he felt a significant amount of sympathy for her having dealt with the same absence. The difference for him, was that Denny was never coming back, and despite what people on the streets were saying, Mike still had a chance of coming home.
"Is there anything I can do?"
Rae shrugged, pulling herself up. "Can we just... I don't know, I can't study right now."
"We could annoy Chris and Peyton."
Her quiet snicker told Gordie that the idea was appealing to her as far as getting her mind off of things went. When they got to Peyton's dorm, they spotted Kelsey who, strangely, was sitting outside the door with a book open in her lap.
"What's going on?"
"Oh, Tyson is being a stupid monkey and Peyton is on edge 'cause she's got that project or whatever due Friday." Kelsey muttered, waving her hand in the air; she recited this as though it were choreographed. "So she's pissed at him, he's all jealous and pissed at her and I can't focus with all these negative waves."
As if on cue, Tyson's shouted erupted from inside the room. "I TOLD you I didn't like you hanging out with him all the time, Peyton!"
"Oh Jesus Christ, Tyson, he's my friend! And I'm not going to stop hanging out with him just because you've got it in your head that something is going on when it's not!"
Gordie and Rae both exchanged looks. Never, in the three months Peyton had been seeing Tyson had been seeing each other, had either of them heard Peyton talking back to him.
"Why are you being such a bitch today?"
"BECAUSE I'VE GOT TOO MUCH TO DO TO WASTE MY TIME WORRYING ABOUT YOUR FUCKING JEALOUSY ISSUES!"
"How long have they been going at it like this?"
Kelsey glanced at her watch, "'bout forty-five minutes." She shook her head, "Tyson's a nice guy and everything, but seriously. He takes a lot of this stuff way too far. I mean, it's just Chris." She shrugged and ran a hand through her hair.
"Wanna find Chris and give them time to cool down?" Rae looked up at Gordie uneasily.
Gordie nodded and started down the hallway. "Has she ever lost her mind like that before?"
"Yeah, I think once when she got back from visiting with her family. Wasn't that bad, though." Rae paused, "Do you think Chris will even be in his room?"
"Probably. He said something earlier about Toby keeping him up all night. Since Toby's out with his girlfriend, he's probably trying to get some rest."
"Aw, shouldn't we let him sleep?"
"Pffft, no."
"Men suck." Peyton announced, dropping into a stool at the bar. "Can I have a beer, Maggie?"
Chris opened his mouth to ask what Tyson had done, but Rae touched his arm and cut him off. "How's the project going?"
The redhead made a low grumbling noise and took a long drink of her beer. "I've only got a few more hours or so left on it. So... I've decided to take a break."
"You planning on remembering your name tonight?"
"That was only once, Gordie. Tequila was involved, it had been a long week and I got carried away." She took a long swig from her beer and shook her head. "Besides, I just want to wind down with a few beers and forget my dickhole boyfriend exists for a few hours."
"You playing pool tonight?"
She shook her head, "Not wearing a low-cut shirt."
Rae shook her head, "What's the function of the low cut shirt."
The redhead grinned, "Distraction. If I lean forward when they're about to shoot, throws 'em off and they miss." She shrugged, "It's all mind games really. Act drunk or stupid, look pretty... have a vagina."
Gordie choked on his beer.
"So where's Tyson now?" Rae asked, glancing over at Peyton.
"Probably still at the dorm. I kind of stormed out on him, and I think he's expecting me to make nice with him when I get back." She finished with another long swig of her beer and went silent, glaring at the grain of the bar.
Chris knew her well enough to just keep his mouth shut and let her brood it off. He ordered another Coke and leaned over toward Gordie. "What the hell happened between those two?"
His brown-eyed friend shook his head. "From what Kelsey told me, he started in on her, she got pissed and went off on him. The project she has for philosophy is really getting to her, I guess."
"Isn't that only for extra credit?"
"Have you seen her grades in philosophy?"
"Touche." He leaned against the bar and watched as Peyton and Rae stood to go to the bathroom. "What the hell does she even see in him?"
"Bad taste in guys?"
He shook his head, "Gordie... this is a bad thing just waiting to happen. Don't you see that? That douchebag is just getting worse and worse the longer they've been dating. Something's going to happen."
"Chris, you're relating this way too closely to the shit that goes on in your house." Gordie held a hand up to keep Chris from interrupting. "Look, I don't like it either, okay? She's my friend too, and I hate to see what Tyson does to her. But if you really think that he's going to do anything that could seriously hurt her -"
"- He already does!"
"Who does what?" Peyton asked, re-seating herself at the bar.
Chris focused on his soda bottle as though it were about to do a trick. It was bad enough knowing that, as he as he sat with his friends in The Hideaway, his father was treating his family in an only slightly more aggressive way. It was a difficult thing for him to verbalize, especially knowing that, although he had gotten out of that house, he still had a mother and siblings who were not as lucky. The thought of going that far from home, only to see the same thing happen to someone he had developed a significant amount of feelings for in the last year, made him feel unspeakably ill.
Standing, Chris took her arm, "Come outside and talk to me for a second."
Peyton gave him a curious look and stood up, stepping outside of the bar. "What's up?"
Even though he knew he would have to choose his words very carefully, Chris still couldn't stop himself from blurting out: "What do you see in him?"
She shrugged, "He's a good guy when he's not being a total asshole."
"Yeah, but nine times out of ten, he's a total asshole."
"Chris-"
"You don't deserve to be treated like that, Peyton. I mean, what would your family think if they knew this was how your boyfriend acted toward you?"
"My family still thinks I'm a virgin."
Chris groaned, "I'm not kidding!"
"Neither am I. They still really think I'm a virgin."
"Peyton, for once could you just quit being a smartass and listen to me?"
The redhead crossed her arms. "All right, you have the floor."
Chris let out a sigh, "I've kept my mouth shut about this for a long time. You're my friend and I don't want you to get pissed off at me about this, but damnit Peyton, it's just getting old. I know you care for the guy, but don't you think enough is enough?"
She just stared at him, a mixed expression on her face. Pulling her arms tighter across her chest, she shook her head; "Look, I'll think about it, okay?" She hugged him and gave his arm a tug. "C'mon. It's cold out here."
All right... this is chapter three. As said before: I only own the characters you don't recognize. PS: Review!