note: So, just a break down of the girls' screenames, in case it gets confusing:
Wanda:
LilDancerLi05
- "Little Dancer Li 05"
Keesha:
keesh
is gud - "Keesh is good", a play on "quiche"
Dorothy
Ann: DAblondie86
- "D.A. blondie 86"
Phoebe:
pheebsLuvsDCFC - "Pheebs Loves Death Cab For Cutie"
popular
mechanics
for lovers
by,
the ultimateSora
chapter
four
in
which phoebe dates two guys at the same time (kinda)
Tim was showing off his Volkswagen GTI's engine as they barreled through the town. Phoebe held onto the bar on the door, fearful for her life. To calm herself, she nodded to the stereo.
"Who's this?"
He smiled. "Brand New. You like 'em?"
She shook her head. "In all honesty, they kinda sound like everyone else."
"Well, who do you like?"
She thought about it. "I don't listen to much, but I like Spoon and Death Cab For Cutie, mostly."
He chuckled. "Death Cab? And I'm emo?"
"They're not emo," she said. "Ben Gibbard isn't whiny."
"Spoon's okay," he said, shrugging.
She was thankful they got to the coffee shop in one piece, and he left her so he could get ready. The Triple Entente was the second to last band to go on, and Phoebe sat through two other bands, lead by the same looking skinny, pimply 15 year old boys with cracking voices. Phoebe wasn't impressed. She sipped on her frozen coffee drink, and she was getting funny looks from the emo kids there.
She was thankful when she saw Tim's band set up, and Tim came up to his mic when they were done. "Hey, everyone, we're The Triple Entente, and we're going to start off with a new song. It's called 'He's a Pretty Nerd'."
He didn't, Phoebe thought to herself.
"And this is dedicated to a special girl in the audience." He counted the band off, and they started off with a fast rhythm.
He did, Phoebe sighed to herself, her cheeks turning pink.
"He's just a pretty-boy, yeah, just a pretty-boy," Tim sang. "And there's nothing he can give you./You can have a guy so much better than him, so much better than him/And that guy is me."
Phoebe didn't hear the chorus, but she didn't have to. She got up and left the coffee shop, and she sat outside on the patio. She waited for him to finish his set, and he came outside half an hour later. He was grinning, and he sat down beside her.
"So what'd you think?" She smacked his arm. "Hey! What was that for?"
"You wrote a song about this situation?" she demanded.
"No!" Her eyebrows arched. "Okay, yes, I did."
She got up. "Take me home now."
He grabbed her arm. "Pheebs, don't be mad, please? I'm sorry." He pouted. "Please forgive me?"
"I'll only forgive you if you promise never to perform that song again," she said, her eyebrows still arched.
He grinned. "I promise." He got up. "I'll take you home now." They got in the GTI, and he drove her home. He parked out in front of her house, and he took her hand in his. "I still had fun spending time with you."
She forced a smile. She wished she could say the same, but she couldn't. She was surprised when he leaned forward and planted his lips on hers. She had never been kissed, but she knew this wasn't a good one. He was just as awkward as her, and his lips were wet. He pressed his tongue against her lips, and it felt limp and slobbery. She pulled back and patted his shoulder.
"'Night, Tim." She got out, discreetly wiping her mouth of saliva, and Tim watched her walk up to the front door. She went inside and went upstairs. She had left her IM on, and she took off her away message. She was instantly invited to a chat.
LilDancerLi05: pheebs, how was it?
keesh is gud: yeah, srsly
DAblondie86: Did you two kiss?
pheebsLuvsDCFC: whoa whoa can i please sit down first?
LilDancerLi05: NO! TELL US HOW IT WAS!!
pheebsLuvsDCFC: eager lil beaver, arent you?
keesh is gud: hahaha! wandoucher is a beaver!
LilDancerLi05: I WILL KEEL YOU, KEESHA
DAblondie86: Calm down, Wanda.
LilDancerLi05: cant. all hopped up on mountain dew
pheebsLuvsDCFC: wanda, what'd we say about your sugar intake?
LilDancerLi05: um...always intake a lot?
keesh is gud: dumbass
pheebsLuvsDCFC: you know, you guys could just come over...
LilDancerLi05: I CALL RIDING WITH DA!!!
DAblondie86: Or...you could drive your own damn car. I'll be over in a few, Pheebs.
keesh is gud: same here. im not gonna make da drive me, UNLIKE SOME SHORT PEOPLE WITH NAPOLEON COMPLEXES HERE
LilDancerLi05: keesha, ur so dumb. pheebs isnt short.
DAblondie86 has signed off.
keesh is gud has signed off.
LilDancerLi05 has signed off.
Phoebe sighed and threw off her "punk" clothes, and she put on her pajamas: girl-boxers and a grey wife beater. She sat back down at her computer when TDR Entente signed in. It was Tim.
TDR Entente: i'm sorry about tonight. give me another chance. one more date
pheebsLuvsDCFC: no, that was the deal. one date with you, one with arnold
Her bedroom door opened, and the girls walked in. They all lived about the same distance from Phoebe, so they all roughly arrived at the same time. Wanda jumped onto her bed, and Keesha laid down on the floor, spreading her arms and legs out so she looked like an X. D.A. sat down on her butterfly chair near the window.
"So, how was it?" D.A. asked.
Phoebe signed out so Tim would stop begging her for another date, and she turned off the monitor. "Awkward, humiliating, down right sad."
"Everything that embodies Phoebe A. Terese," Keesha said with a smile.
Phoebe groaned. "It was awful. He had written a song about this love triangle, which I wouldn't really call a love triangle because I'm so mad at the whole situation that they're both annoying to me." She sighed.
"Well," Keesha said. "Tim doesn't really have people skills. We all know that. Did he kiss you?"
Phoebe closed her eyes and groaned. "Yeah, he kissed me, which was the worst first kiss ever. It was so awkward and bad, even I knew it was a bad kiss."
"So Tim's a bad kisser," Wanda said. "Maybe what he lacks in kissing, he makes up with in sex." She snorted. "Who'm I kidding. That's never true."
The tree was cramped with the two of them sitting on it sharing binoculars. The two figures dressed in all black fought over said binoculars as they watched the couple come back to the boy's house. The two figures in the tree began to smack one another, and the taller one pushed the shorter one a little too hard.
"OH, SHIT!" the short figure in black screamed when she fell.
Ralphie and Janet turned to see Wanda fall out of a tree in his yard. "Wanda?" he asked, going over to her. He noticed she was in tight black pants, a black turtle neck, a black cap, and black boots. "What're you doing here? Were you spying on me?"
"Um...no. I have this, like, thing where I like to sit in people's trees in all black," she said, matter-of-factly, still on her back.
"That's a good look for you, Wanda," Janet said. "On your back. Isn't that how you met the entire basketball team?"
"Janet, if I wasn't sure my tail bone was broken, I'd scissor kick you in the back of the head."
Ralphie helped her up. "We should get you to the hospital."
Wanda shook her head. "I'm used to falling. Remember when you and Carlos dared me to jump off of Phoebe's roof? Or the time I fell off the water tower?"
Ralphie thought about it. "Which time?"
"Doesn't matter." She broke from his hold and limped to her car. "My ass is going to be sore for a week."
Janet laughed. "That's what she said."
Dorothy Ann had ever letter her admirer had sent her spread out over her floor Saturday morning. Each one was the same. All typed out, all cryptic. She knew it couldn't have been Carlos. He could never keep a secret, or so she thought. She shook it from her mind and put the letter back in her desk as her bedroom door opened. It was Phoebe.
"Hey, Pheebs."
"Hey, I need some help," she said, sitting on D.A.'s bed.
"Sure. What?"
Phoebe bit her lip. "If tonight's going to be anything like yesterday, I want you to call Arnold for me and tell him I have mono or something."
D.A. sighed. "Phoebe, I'm not doing your dirty work. Why not ask Keesha or Wanda? They're bitchy enough to do it."
Phoebe shook her head. "Keesha's in the photography lab all day, and Wanda said something about a broken ass. I didn't want to ask any more."
D.A. nodded. "Understandable. But I'm still not calling Arnold. Just go through with it. How bad can it be?"
Phoebe got up and went over to her, hands on her chest. "D.A., I'm a Terese. We're meek, insecure, filled with paralyzing self-doubt, and bad luck follows us wherever we go. It's going to be bad."
"Well, I can't argue with that truthful logic," D.A. sighed. "But I'm still not doing it. You're 17--"
"16."
"--years old. You're a grown woman..." She looked up and down Phoebe's gangly body. "...kinda. I think you can do this."
Phoebe heaved a big sigh. "I guess. Then I need to do some shopping, because I don't have anything to wear."
D.A. nodded. "Your clothing is a little below par, and I may be no Wanda, but I know a thing or two about clothing."
D.A. helped her pick out a cute polo and skirt, and she helped Phoebe with her make-up. D.A. wore make-up, but she wore it in a "natural" way so it didn't look like she was wearing any. Phoebe, who never wore it, still looked to be wearing it, and D.A. packed a lot on around Phoebe's left eye.
"Done and done," D.A. said, stepping back. "You don't look so whorish like last night."
She nodded. "That's good." The doorbell rang, and Phoebe got up. "Wow, he actually rang the bell. Tim just honked."
"I'll stay here until you leave," D.A. said. "Good luck."
"Thanks. I'll need it." She slipped on the leather flip-flops D.A. picked out, and she went to the landing and saw Arnold down in the foyer chatting with her dad.
She went down the stairs, and her dad and Arnold looked over at her. "There she is," Mr. Terese said with a smile. He shook Arnold's hand. "Pleasure talking to you, son. Have her back before midnight."
Arnold grinned. "No problem, sir."
He escorted Phoebe out, and he opened the passenger door for her. She was surprised, and he got in on the driver side. He was different when he wasn't fighting with Tim.
"You and my dad seemed to hit it off," she said, buckling her seat belt.
He shrugged, starting the engine. "Growing up an only child, I've had a lot practice talking to adults."
"Where're we going?" she asked.
He turned on the radio. "I was thinking dinner at the Greek restaurant downtown, and then we'd hit the butterfly center at the science museum."
She was taken aback. "Really? Wow, I haven't been there in forever."
"I like to go see the geology exhibit hall, and when I was there, I saw they're doing an IMAX movie tonight of rainforest butterflies." He smiled at her, and she smiled back. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. "How was last night?"
She shook her head. "Don't want to talk about it."
He grinned. "That bad, huh?"
She held her hands up. "I actually want to try to have fun, so let's just drop it."
He drove them to downtown, and she saw they were at the Greek restaurant called Alexander the Great. She gasped. "Arnold, isn't this place kinda expensive?"
He shrugged as he turned off the engine. "Dad gave me some money for tonight. I figure might as well take you somewhere nice."
They got out, and he held out his arm for her to loop hers through. She was hesitant at first, but she went ahead. They walked in the restaurant, which was small and dim inside, but it seemed cozy in a way. There was a live band playing Greek instrumental music in the corner of the restaurant, and Phoebe almost felt underdressed for the place. She guessed she was dressed fine as Arnold was wearing jeans and a nice polo.
"Reservation for 'Perlstein'," he said to the hostess.
She smiled. "Right this way."
Phoebe leaned close to him and whispered, "I feel so adult."
He grinned. "That's always a good feeling." He pulled out her chair for her when they got to the table, and she sat down. They soon ordered, Phoebe getting a vegetarian dish. "I didn't know you didn't eat meat."
She grinned. "That's why I weight 42 pounds."
Dinner went off without any awkwardness or anything going wrong. Phoebe hoped her Terese-luck wouldn't surface. It wasn't that she liked Arnold; she just wanted to have a nice evening out. After dinner, he drove them to the science museum where they saw the butterfly IMAX film, and he tried to stay awake since she was alert and interested in the movie. When the movie finished, they walked around the butterfly center, which was built like an artificial rainforest for the butterflies. Phoebe giggled when one landed in Arnold's hair, and she held out her finger so it would get on it.
"What kind is it?" he asked.
"I think it's a Blue Wave Butterfly," she said.
"It's pretty," he said, looking closer at it.
Phoebe felt his hair brush her forehead, and she looked up from the butterfly to find her nose against his. She knew he was going to kiss her, and she hoped it'd be better than last night's. They were the only two in that section of the center, and Phoebe was glad for that when he pressed his lips against hers.
The butterfly flew off of her finger when Arnold brought his hands up to cup her face. He knew what he was doing, and he wasn't a slobbery kisser. He gently parted her lips with his tongue, and she felt a warm tingle between her legs when his tongue touched hers.
Well, that was different, she said to herself.
He slowly pulled away, and Phoebe realized she wasn't breathing. She took a breath and slowly let it out. "Um, wow."
He nodded. "C'mon, I'll take you home."
They walked back to his SUV, and he drove her back home. They sat in front of her house, and he kissed her again. Phoebe felt the warm feeling again, and when he pulled away, she looked at the clock.
"You know, it's only 11:14. You wanna...I dunno...come in and watch TV or something?"
"Sure. My curfew's one, so that's fine."
They got out, and she opened the front door and saw her parents in the living room down the hall. "I'm home."
Her mom waved. "We were just making sure you'd be back before 12."
Her dad got up. "Well, I have to go to bed. You two going to watch TV here or in the upstairs den?"
Phoebe shrugged. "Den, I guess."
"Don't stay up too late," her mom said, also getting up. Their room was downstairs, and Phoebe heard their door shut.
She and Arnold went upstairs, and she turned on the TV. They sat on the couch, and she felt Arnold's lips on her neck. She turned and he caught her lips with his. She didn't know why she was making out with him. She wasn't attracted to him, her crush on him long gone, but it just felt so good.
She felt his hand slide up under her shirt along her back, and she didn't care.
Phoebe felt sunlight his her eyes, and she turned on her side, feeling warm, bare skin against hers. Her eyes shot open. She looked under the sheets and gasped when she realized she and her bedmate were both naked.
Arnold turned over, smiling, and muttered, "Good morning."
note: yes, Arnold and Phoebe did it...but you'll have to wait until five to see what happens. :)
