[Chapter Seven: Movie Plans]
Eventually, the twins' conversation just sort of dwindled into a ponderous silence. Both were just staring into the distance at the hazy sunset… At first, Gabby's thoughts revolved around Dallas and the book and all that, but it morphed into a mental recap of their trip thus far; so presently, she was wondering how their excuse for her little charade had passed with no ridicule. Like, seriously? Heat stroke? It was the middle of autumn! Jacket weather! Cold breezes! Frost! How could she have gotten heat stroke? Honestly, sometimes she wondered about Mel…
But her train of thought was cut short, because just then, the faint sound of distant laughter echoed from down the street. The sisters' gazes snapped to attention, and their eyes locked in a quick exchange. Then they turned to locate the source of the laughter… And their mouths promptly fell agape at what they discovered.
Carly and Steve were rounding the corner, and they happy laughter was coming from… them? (Yes, it was quite shocking.) Carly was nudging Steve… in a good-natured manner? And he was… holding her pudding for her? Something was clearly wrong. These things don't just happen. Right?
Ellie jumped to her feet and was already halfway through the front yard by the time Gabby registered what she was observing. (It was a big surprise, remember.) Soon, though, she was up and following her sister, tearing down the sidewalk.
"…so all I had was this pop bottle, and—" Steve stopped abruptly, noticing the twins racing towards them. The two pairs ended up meeting right at the front gate.
"Something wrong…?" Carly questioned casually, continuing her stroll to the screen door.
Gabby stared at her friend incredulously as she turned and retraced her steps towards the house. "Um, yes," she declared.
"Since when did you two—" Ellie paused to jerk her thumb between Steve and Carly "—like each other?"
The two in question exchanged a knowing smirk before grinning slyly at the sisters.
"Let's just say…" Carly began smugly, "that he's one of the very select few people (four, to be exact) that switched off of my hate list…"
Gabby's eyebrows shot up in disbelief. There were only three things in history that got Carly to stop hating someone (several long, slightly odd stories were involved)… and the only plausible explanation for this situation was that Steve had just saved Carly's life. But that didn't make any sense! They'd just gone to the corner store to get pudding! How could that possibly be life-threatening?
A quick glance at Ellie told her that her twin had arrived at the same conclusion: her eyebrows were scrunched together and her nose was wrinkled slightly in doubt. Still, all she said was, "It's a miracle."
"Yeah, I'm surprised, too…" Steve smirked. "Not that I'm complaining…"
Carly rolled her eyes and brushed her bangs to one side. "Watch yourself, Randle... I can always change my mind."
Steve just shrugged and grinned cockily as he strode into the Curtis household; they'd all reached the porch by then.
The corners of Carly's mouth twitched upwards slightly into a small smile as she followed him inside, as if she sincerely enjoyed their playful banter.
Ellie and Gabby stopped in front of the door, exchanged a final bewildered look, and stepped into the house after their friends.
Since the first second the twins had deserted her, Melanie's ears had been slowly burning a deeper shade of red with every passing minute. It wasn't as if she could help it; she was left alone in a room with four of the hottest guys in Tulsa… What was she supposed to say? Her mind was going a mile a minute (like it always did when she was nervous), and she still couldn't think of anything…
Lucky for her, though (or was it more unlucky?), it looked like she didn't have to start up her own conversation.
"So…" Two-Bit began, his signature goofy grin lighting up his face as he addressed the younger Curtis brothers, "where'd y'all pick up the broads—"
Melanie forgot her nerves for a moment to shoot him a venomous glare; hadn't they already established their hatred of that word?
"—girls!" Two-Bit finished with a sheepish glance at Melanie, hoping he'd caught himself in time. She glared at him dubiously in return, though, so he threw his hands up in mock-defeat. "Okay, you got me! Force of habit!"
"It's a bad habit…" Melanie muttered, but she shrugged resignedly all the same.
"They really found us…" Soda supplied, deciding that Two-Bit wouldn't suffer the same fate as Dallas and that it was safe to answer his question.
Two-Bit cocked one eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Pony sighed and rolled his eyes; he knew he was just allowing the jokes and ridicule he'd surely receive by explaining this, but he figured everyone would find out eventually. "One of them hit me with a rock."
Two-Bit blinked, momentarily speechless at this random revelation; only for a moment, though. In a split second, he was doubled over, howling with laughter. And in all honesty, Pony's ears were nearly as red as Melanie's (and that's saying something)…
Lucky for Pony, Darry had already exited the room to make dinner, so he didn't hear that part and wouldn't get the chance to over-react. Unfortunately, though, Two-Bit still knew… And that was almost worse.
Two-Bit finally inhaled enough oxygen to form a coherent sentence. "So… a girl hit you with a rock…?" he questioned, holding back more laughter.
"Yeah, Two-Bit."
He looked about ready to burst into more hysterical chuckles, but Melanie cut him off, using an overly-sweet tone and flashing him an angelic smile. "And you'll find out what it feels like if you don't shut up."
Two-Bit's expression calmed almost immediately; they'd all decided at this point that the girls carried out their threats. "And here I thought you were the non-violent one…"
Melanie groaned and face-palmed. "You're right; I've been spending too much time with Carly…"
"It's alright," Two-Bit reasoned, his tone dripping with false seriousness, "she sounds like a bad influence…"
"Watch it, Matthews…"
Soda grinned, lightening the tension. "You know, I think you guys are gonna get along with us real well."
Melanie returned his smile. "Really?"
Pony nodded. "Sure. You already know enough to ignore everything he says, so you should be fine," he said, gesturing towards Two-Bit.
Two-Bit frowned comically, dramatically crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm hurt, Pony. That's offensive."
Pony smirked at him. "Good."
Two-Bit opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, the screen door was violently kicked open and the missing members of both gangs (minus Dally, of course, since he was off who-knows-where) sauntered in.
"Hey, y'all," Steve greeted, setting the paper bag of pudding down on the coffee table and taking a seat on the couch. Carly followed, sitting next to him. The twins, still extremely confused, came in and stood beside Melanie.
"Hey," Soda responded casually. Before he could say anything else, however Melanie interrupted, addressing Carly and Steve.
"So, how'd you two manage to go down the road and back without strangling each other?"
Carly rolled her eyes (again). "What? You think I have to be violent with everything I do?"
"Yes," the room chorused. By now, Two-Bit had guessed it was Carly that nailed Pony with a rock; he made a mental note to congratulate her personally later.
Carly smirked. "You know me so well… But seriously. I've realized that Stevie here isn't so bad." She shot him an innocent smile as his eye twitched slightly; he was really getting sick of that nickname…
"Ditto," he agreed, defeated. He'd long ago (meaning somewhere about halfway between the store and the house) given up protesting against it, anyway. And honestly, it didn't bother him so much now that she wasn't mocking him.
"Oo-kay…" Melanie decided she'd leave that subject alone; best not to question gifts, you know? "Well, I see you got your pudding…"
Carly nodded satisfactorily. "Yes. Now I'm happy."
Two-Bit cocked an eyebrow and gave everyone in the room a strange look. "Well, I'm missin' something…"
Carly smirked at him and started to comment, but Ellie cut her off. "Don't say it…"
Carly sighed exaggeratedly. "Fine… But he totally left himself open for an insult right there!"
"True, true," Gabby agreed, mirroring her smirk.
"Anyways…" Steve interrupted, "not only did she get her pudding, but we're goin' to the movies tomorrow night."
A chorus of surprised gasps echoed around the room, but none was more prominent than Carly's. "What? We are?"
Steve smirked at her. "Yup."
"When did I agree to that?" Carly demanded, her green eyes glinting suspiciously.
"You didn't," Steve admitted smoothly.
Carly cocked an eyebrow. "Then what makes you think I'll go with you…?"
"How about because you don't hate me anymore?" he suggested, sliding his arm nonchalantly in an attempt to wrap it around her.
Carly smirked at him and bluntly shrugged his arm off her shoulder. "Nice try, Randle," she said in a sweet voice, "but we're not going on a date."
Steve sighed exaggeratedly and rolled his eyes. "Fine, but how 'bout as friends, then?" You know what the weird thing was, though? This odd feeling was sort of creeping over him… kind of like… disappointment? Whoa. That meant he really wanted to go on a date with her… right? But he'd just been kidding. Whoa.
"'Kay." She let her gaze sweep the room. "Who else wants to come?"
"Me!" Melanie yelled almost immediately, and with much enthusiasm. When everyone in the room turned an amused gaze towards her, though, her cheeks flushed. "…What? I want to see what the movies from this time are really like…"
Obviously, her comment caused a bombardment of confused questions from Steve and Two-Bit ("This time period?" "What are you, aliens?" etc.), and thus everyone had to go through the entire mini-lecture again, proving that they came from an alternate universe that was ninety years in the future and in which the greasers were all fictional characters. Not too challenging, right? …Wrong.
"I must be way more drunk than I thought…" Two-Bit muttered after a long while of one-sided arguing (Steve had already come to terms with the fact that they were telling the truth; the argument was pretty convincing to him). He didn't really sound drunk (meaning that his speech wasn't slurred and he could still walk in a straight line), but he was Two-Bit, and the girls had read enough about him to know that you could never really tell until he was about ready to pass out.
Gabby rolled her eyes. "Oh, get over it. I don't really care what you think of us, so…"
Ellie nodded. "Whether or not you believe us, we're still here."
Melanie, however, sighed in frustration. "I don't get it… How else can I convince you we're from an alternate universe?" She was taking this disagreement very seriously, and Two-Bit's sheer stupidity and refusal to believe plain fact was seriously just… bugging her.
Two-Bit gave her a funny look. "You can't. I hope you know how stupid you sound…"
Carly shook her head sadly. "He's a non-believer, Mel…" she stated, her tone and countenance extremely serious. "Just forget it."
Melanie rolled her eyes and exhaled deeply. "Ugh! Fine! Be that way!" she hissed, addressing Two-Bit. She then proceeded to cross her arms stubbornly, frowning at nothing in particular.
Soda had been watching their whole explanation with an amused look, a single eyebrow raised. (And he'd been cracking a few jokes, of course; he thought Two-Bit might listen better if everyone wasn't discussing it in such a serious manner, but no one else seemed to catch on.) At this point, though, he decided to steer the conversation back to something a little less aggravating. (Well, it annoyed one person, anyway.)
"So," he began as everyone shifted their gazes towards him. "Me and Pony'll come to the movies with y'all." He knew Pony would be fine with his involuntary attendance; he liked movies, and he probably assumed that was why Soda signed him up. In reality, though, that was only partially true; he had an ulterior motive.
See, there was already at least one other girl going that was around Pony's age (and not clearly already in love with Steve… no matter how much she denied it). And, honestly, Soda was getting worried about him… Already fifteen, with a large quantity of girls who'd easily go out with him, and he wasn't interested in any of them? Soda was starting to wonder if he was even a Curtis… Curtis' got girls. It was just an irrefutable fact. Even Darry would have a girlfriend if he wasn't always so caught up with work… But Pony? He had no excuse.
So, in short, Soda hoped to possibly play matchmaker and get his little brother his first girlfriend.
It's not like he planned to get too involved, or anything… But Pony needed a little push in the right direction if he was going to get anywhere when romance was involved. And if the way Melanie kept blushing was any indication, she did, too.
The twins exchanged an almost unperceivable glance and came to a silent agreement.
"Guess we'll come, too," Ellie verbalized, stifling a yawn. It was getting fairly late.
"Count me out," Two-Bit declined, grinning slightly. "I'm headin' over to Buck's tomorrow night. I might come find y'all if I don't get too drunk…"
One corner of Melanie's mouth pulled upwards a bit as she registered Two-Bit's excuse as the same one he used in the book when Dally had asked everyone about the movies, but she didn't comment on it. Carly, however, caught the movement and smirked in response, her facial expressions clearly saying: "Yeah, I know. It's awesome."
"Actually, that reminds me…" he continued. "I got a date with Kathy real soon. I should get going. See y'all later."
There was a general round of goodbyes from everyone in the room as he started walking out.
"So that means pretty much everyone's coming," Steve summarized, glancing pointedly at Two-Bit, who didn't catch the movement since he had his back turned, already halfway out the door.
Then Carly interrupted, ever the pessimist. "But there's a problem."
"You don't know how to get to the movie house?" Pony suggested.
"Yes," Carly agreed shortly.
"Actually, it's worse than that," Gabby pointed out oh-so-helpfully. "We don't even know how to get to our own apartment…"
"Yes, we do!" Ellie argued. "We've got the address."
"But that doesn't mean we can get there," Melanie countered, crossing her arms. "Look, we've already had this conversation; we have no idea where we're going. Unless-"
"I think we do," Ellie insisted stubbornly, cutting Melanie off. No one really seemed to notice that she had more to say, even though she kept opening her mouth to jump into the conversation.
"Really?" Carly questioned. "Then where's Elm Street from here? Step by step directions, please, if you would be so kind."
Ellie clenched her jaw and muttered. "Somewhere back past the park…"
The greasers all glanced at each other; they knew where Elm Street was, but it didn't look like now was the best time to interrupt the girls' argument; they wouldn't have listened, anyway. Melanie had been trying to say something for a while. Besides that, it was actually pretty funny to watch them all fight…
"Oh, that's specific," Gabby criticized, her tone and expression both full of sarcasm.
"Guys." Melanie finally got a word in (one word, mind you), and everyone just ignored her; her voice was lost in the heated debate currently taking place between her friends.
"Well, at least I remembered the address," Ellie defended herself. "That's a start."
"Not a very helpful one…" Carly muttered darkly. Ellie shot her a skeptical look, so she continued. "What? You could say we live in the White House, for all I care; we still wouldn't know how to get there."
"But we can still—"
"GUYS!" Melanie yelled sharply, cutting Ellie off. "…Why don't we just use a map on my phone?"
Carly, Gabby, and Ellie all fell silent (they'd continued to mutter insults at each other) and exchanged glances. Then Gabby spoke up.
"…That could work."
"Yeah, that's probably the best option," Ellie agreed, her tone somewhat relieved; she was glad everyone had stopped ridiculing the gaps in her plan. It was annoying.
"Yeah, really," Carly intoned. "Why didn't you mention it before?" She was smirking, mostly because she knew Melanie had really been trying to say something; it was fun to annoy her.
Melanie's eyes widened in disbelief. "You're kidding, right? I couldn't! I can hardly finish a sentence when—"
"Good point," Carly interrupted, still smirking. "So we should probably get going soon…"
Melanie's cheeks reddened with frustration and she clenched her fists angrily, but she knew better than to say anything—she'd just be interrupted. Again.
Carly laughed a bit. "Oh, you're so much fun to mess with…"
"We know where Elm Street is," Steve finally revealed, cocking one eyebrow; he officially judged it safe to intervene without being yelled at. Besides, they'd already reached a resolution (more or less). "Just so you know.
"I'm surprised you didn't ask us first…" Soda added. "We're still standin' here, y'know."
"Well, you could've told us…" Gabby pointed out. "It would've saved time."
"I doubt you would've listened even if we tried," Pony argued.
"You were goin' at it pretty good," Steve commented, smirking. "It was kinda funny…"
"Didn't I warn you to watch yourself, Randle?" Carly hissed, her tone partially serious. "You're not doing a very good job."
He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. So do you need us to walk you there, or what?"
The girls exchanged ponderous looks, and reached a silent agreement.
"Sure," Ellie agreed, glancing at her watch. "We should probably get going…"
Soda nodded as he rose from his seat, followed simultaneously by everyone else present (who wasn't already standing, that is). "It's not that far away. Just about ten minutes."
"Good," Carly declared. "Less wasted effort." Then she turned to Melanie. "Looks like we didn't need your plan, after all…"
Melanie shot her a very irked look as she responded, "It would've worked just as well."
"Oh, really?" Gabby questioned, smirking as she cocked an eyebrow. "Were you gonna remember to search for a 1960's map…?"
Everyone started chuckling, since it was supposed to be a joke… (It was a pretty basic thing to remember.) But it soon evolved into full-out laughter as they noticed Melanie's surprised expression and suddenly red ears.
"Oh, Mel…" Ellie sighed, grinning in spite of herself.
"What?" she demanded, her tone defensive. "It was an honest mistake… And it's not like I actually forgot…"
"But you were going to," Carly pointed out. "I rest my case. Your plan failed. And we didn't even go through with it. That's how bad it was."
"That's kinda sad…" Gabby added on.
Melanie sighed in exasperation. "I give up…"
Steve smirked at her. "They're right, y'know…"
Melanie narrowed her eyes at him. "I don't wanna hear that from you."
Soda grinned, still chuckling as he made his way towards the door. "Let's just get goin'."
Everything looked like it was at least mildly normal as they began filing out the screen door, Pony hollering over his shoulder to Darry that they'd be back soon. But then Steve had to go and ask the girls something…
"So, Elm Street," he began. "That's near the other side of town."
"So you've told us…" Gabby confirmed, her tone guarded.
Pony and Soda exchanged glances; the girls had gotten a bit… touchy when they last explored this topic. Surely he couldn't be questioning their social class again… right?
Apparently, wrong.
"So… are you sure you ain't Socs? 'Cause I'm pretty sure that's Soc territory…"
The girls stopped abruptly (they'd just reached the sidewalk) and all turned to stare at him. He raised one eyebrow.
Then they all yelled in unison:
"Middle-classers!"
Notes: Alright! Another chapter up, even if it did take a while. The story's going to get really great from this chapter onwards—the pairings will start being defined… So, get ready!
Only one review for the last chapter... let's see if we can break that unbelievably high score, shall we? ;) I look forward to hearing from you!
Stay gold,
~Rae
