Chapter ten.
Please R&R.
I do not own The Outsiders. :]
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"Goddamn it, Friday," Steve said resentfully, massaging his sore chest tenderly. Friday being, well, Friday, had grown bored of fussing over the insides of her car and subtly moved on to the windshield wipers. She removed one without Steve's knowing, and took it upon herself to fiddle with it. Somehow, though, it had been thrown from her hand and rammed smack into the borderline of Steve's chest and stomach. And it didn't tickle, either.
"Heh…. Sorry, Steve…" Friday replied regretfully. She backed away from him carefully, knowing fully well how temperamental he could be.
Steve sighed in irritation and waved his hand at her, shooing her out of the garage.
"Leave. Now."
"But—"
"I said leave."
"All right, all right. Don't get so fussy, car boy," Friday grumbled, picking the windshield wiper up from the cemented floor. She placed it on the counter, resting it side-by-side with Steve's wrench and other instruments she could hardly recognize, then added in a chirpy sort of monologue, "See you tomorrow!"
She skipped her way to the outside of the garage, and Steve kept his eyes on her through the window until she had vanished around the corner of the sidewalk. Once she was gone, he mostly wished that Soda was there. His best friend spiced up the workplace. Especially since they'd made up, which Steve naturally assumed they'd done because of the hours of discussion he'd had with Soda the previous night.
In order to relieve himself from his mind—mostly thoughts of Soda, his mysterious feelings for Friday, and his possible enlistment in Nam—Steve inserted all of his effort into the correcting of the car. He got pretty darn far with it too, but sometime during the day the haunting voice of a familiar past girlfriend echoed a simple "Hello, Steve" from behind him, and he turned.
"Evie…?"
"Hey…" Evie said sweetly. She was standing in the doorframe of the garage. Short skirt, sleeveless shirt. Evie had gotten a hell of a lot scantier since she and Steve had broken up.
"What d'you want?"
"Need my tank filled," Evie responded smoothly, gesturing outside the garage. Steve dropped the wrench that was currently residing in his fist and followed her to her car, filling it just as she wished.
As Steve was clutching the handle of the gas pump, watching as the tank filled steadily, he noticed Evie swing her hips and step behind him. She smiled and placed a hand stealthily on his shoulder and fingered the collar of his shirt in an alluring sort of manner. Steve shifted his body weight a little bit, pulling away from Evie, but she mimicked his movements exactly and returned her hand to his collar. Finally, fed up of Evie and noticing that the gas tank was full, Steve glared at her and dropped the pump.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he snarled at his ex, taking away her hand.
"I heard about your fight with Lisa," Evie said, unfazed by Steve's hostility.
"Yeah. What about it?"
"Nothing. I'm just sayin' that I heard about it…" Evie mumbled, bringing her body uncomfortably close to the greaser boy. He shoved her away forcibly, and she flinched, as if shocked by his response.
"Quit it," Steve snapped. "We're over, remember? Done. Broken up. Ain't you got a new boyfriend, anyway?"
Evie did not answer this question, but instead smirked attractively and brought her hand to Steve's thigh, rather than the usual collar of his shirt. He moved it away, and, again, she flinched as though surprised.
"You should leave," Steve hissed.
"But I don't wanna…"
"I don't give a fuck. Leave." He felt like he was growling at Friday all over again, although this time the girl he was scolding he actually wanted to get lost.
"Aw, come on, Steve. Dontcha miss me?" Evie purred, inclining the side of her body against the bumper of her car and grinning. It was a grin that was pouring Evie's well-known charm.
"No." Steve puffed a weighty breath and shook his head. "Get lost, Evie."
"C'mon, Steve—" Her fingers were handling his thigh again.
"Evie, I swear if you don't get lost, I'll punch you. I don't even care if you're a broad. Just get outta here," Steve hissed. He was nearly shouting now.
Evie dropped her hand to side and stared at her ex-boyfriend. Her eyes were wide with dejection.
"Fine…" she agreed grudgingly, and she entered her car and drove off. Once she had disappeared from visible sight, Steve pounded his forehead against the gas pump in exasperation. Stupid Evie.
-
Work ended in a tedious few hours. Steve wanted to go to Soda's place—his mind was urging him to head straight there—but instead, he chose to go home. Once he arrived, he hiked up to his bedroom and sat down on his bed, twisting the comforter between his thumb and forefinger. For nearly half an hour, he only sat there. Then he decided to do something productive and grabbed a half-torn piece of paper and a pen off the nightstand. He titled the sheet Pros and Cons: Nam.
He started out his comparison with the cons. They were mostly obvious. Danger. Risking his life. Taking lives if needed. Being away from his family and friends (excluding Soda). And it wasn't even assured he'd be stationed in the same place as Soda. They could be in different countries. Steve was almost positive they'd have no control over that.
The pros were harder to list. One was definitely being with Soda, not having to sit back while he fought his ass off. Another was being away from Evie. But as Steve scribbled down his ex-girlfriend's name, something else burrowed itself into his mind, and it wasn't a pro, either. He added the con in capital letters, and then realized his paper resembled something he'd once drawn out during his school days.
Pros and Cons: Nam.
Pros: being with Soda, no Evie.
Cons: danger, risking my life, killing, no family and friends, stationed with Soda…?, NO FRIDAY.
Yeah. That last one was definitely a con.
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AN: I thought I'd apologize to any Evie fans, just in case anyone's offended by her characterization in this. Actually, I'm an Evie fan. Stevie/Evie. Haha. Cheesy, I know. But anyway...usually, I wouldn't picture her like an obnoxiously trampy sort of girl. I quite like her. =] But in this story, this is how she is. And I doubt she's going to change, unless the ending leads to that. And to close this author's note, I'd like to say thank you for reading and please review if possible. (: