"Sorry 'bout that, man." He apologized, and she laughed slightly.
"Geez, Fillmore. I know my hair is like bunny fur, but I'm not exactly a bunny." She teased, making the others laugh.
"How soft IS your hair?"
"Like bunny fur, and Fillmore obviously thinks so too." She added with a wry grin in Fillmore's direction. Sheriff hesitantly reached over and stroked her hair gently with a tire, and drew back.
"She's right. I reckon it does feel like bunny fur." With that said, he resumed petting Foxy's hair.
"Come on, you guys gotta try this." Harry said after experimentally petting her hair also. A few minutes later, Luigi, who had been petting her hair for at least three minutes, experimentally tugged on her hair gently. She yelped sharply in pain, and turned around.
"Hey, that hurt!"
"Luigi's-a very sorry. Luigi was-a just making sure it-a wasn't a dream." He told her guiltily, and she giggled.
"Of course my hair isn't a dream! It's attached to my head, Luigi!" Lightning was next, and he hesitantly rubbed his wheel through her hair. His eyes grew wide, and he kept petting her head.
"This is so soft, it's better then bunny fur."
"Okay, thanks, that's great. Now could you stop, please? You're not exactly being very gentle." Foxy pleaded, and Lightning blushed a deep red.
"Sorry. Hmm..." He hesitantly scratched her head, and heard her sigh quietly.
"Why?" She asked, and he didn't answer for a little.
"I'm not exactly sure. Thunder likes it, I thought you would too."
"It does feel relaxing..." He laughed, then patted her head before backing away.
"Anyone else? That way I can just take my ponytail out, since you guys keep messing it up." She teased. She felt a tire running through her hair again, and sighed, taking her ponytail out.
"Now it won't get as messy." Fillmore replied, petting her hair again.
"Why was I so sure you were doing the petting, Fillmore?" The others chuckled, and Fillmore shrugged.
"I dunno. You got eyes underneath all your hair?" He asked suspiciously, and she burst out laughing.
"Fillmore, if I had eyes underneath all this hair, I'd be an alien, not a human."
A few hours later, when she was tired of being stroked and petted like a Persian cat, she turned around to face Fillmore. "Haha! Now I'm not your pet bunny anymore!" She announced triumphantly.
Fillmore reached up and ruffled her bangs with a tire, then replied, "Ya still are, man."
She sighed, then replied, "Crap." Sheriff began petting the back of her head, and she sighed in defeat. "Anyone else want to come pet the human?" She mocked, and Lightning started forward before Sally stopped him with a glare. DJ hesitantly came over and began petting her timidly, as though unsure if she was going to snap at him, like Thunder when he accidentally petted him too hard. Thunder laid his head down next to Lightning, watching the others pet Foxy with a bored look in his eyes. 'I know how you feel.' said Foxy's expression as she looked at him.
"Thunder looks bored, and I'm being petted at the moment. Anyone else want to pet him?" Lightning began petting Thunder, who sighed happily. Between Fillmore ruffling and gently petting her bangs, DJ petting the sides, and Sheriff petting the back of her hair, she really felt like she was a Persian cat.
"Hey, man, move over. Save some petting for the rest of us." Wingo complained, shoving DJ out of the way to begin petting Foxy none too roughly.
"Hey! Watch it!" She complained, and Wingo was instantly shoved aside by Brian, who began petting her hair gently, although there was a repetitive action to it that made Foxy sleepy. She sat there, eyelids drooping, but was instantly jolted awake by Boost, who was petting her in uneven, choppy, quick strokes that made her wince in pain when he hit a snag every few seconds. "Okay, okay, OKAY." She almost shouted after a particularly painful session of petting with Wingo and Boost. "You four-" She pointed at Snot Rod, Wingo, DJ, and Boost, then reconsidered. "Okay, you three-" She gestured at Boost, DJ, and Wingo. "Don't know how to pet anything, at all. I suggest you learn on a dog or cat before petting a human."
"Ain't it just movin' your wheel down their back?"
"No. Not at all. You've got to be gentle, and you can't press down too hard or whatever you're petting will turn around and try to bite your wheel off." As if on cue, Fillmore began petting her bangs gently, flattening them down so she couldn't see through them. "Fillmore!" She giggled, and lost her composure. "I'm just glad one of you guys knows how to pet an animal." Foxy said, looking sideways at Brian, who grinned.
"I grew up with a dog, which of course, is the one thing I don't get a sneezing fit over." He petted Thunder, who wagged his tail. He moved closer to his friend, wanting to be petted, and began dozing, snoring quietly as he usually did.
"Wait, what's today?"
"Friday. Why?"
"I've been here for five days, haven't I?" Doc nodded, and was surprised to hear Foxy sigh miserably.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm missing a whole week of school."
"Don't kids usually hate school because they have to learn things?" Lightning asked, and Foxy nodded.
"Yeah, but this year, all my classes were fun, unless you count swimming. And math." She replied, and Lightning looked even more confused.
"Why don't you like swimming?"
"My teacher is point-blank THE WORST, and will most likely give me detention for the rest of the marking period because I missed a whole five days."
"You're right. That is pretty mean." Lightning said, nodding in agreement.
"If you'd like to go swimming, there's a waterfall near Wheel Well." Sally replied, and Foxy smiled.
"Thanks, but where is Wheel Well exactly?"
"Leave that to me, man." Fillmore replied suddenly, and Foxy looked up at him, slightly weirded out.
"All right..." She replied, and leaned against him again.
That night, the duo went to the movie theater, and Foxy was surprised to see the others as well. They called out greetings, and she returned them, Fillmore driving alongside her. They stopped in the back row, then settled in to watch the screen, which was projecting a load of static at the moment. With Ramone working the projector, the movie soon started playing, and the crowd grew quiet.
The screen went to a faded black, and the sound of a car starting up was heard. George Thorogood's 'Bad To The Bone' began playing, and across the screen appeared the word 'Christine' in red letters. Underneath that was the director, whose name was John Carpenter. Foxy loved this movie, and she snuggled against Fillmore's side to watch. A spinning fan, dusty air, and faded sunlight in the background of the scene opened the movie towards the ceiling of a factory, and the view panned downwards to reveal that it was a car factory. At the bottom right-hand corner in white letters was a date. It read, "Detroit, 1957."
There was a line of off-white Plymouth Furys running down the assembly line, brand new. All except for one. Bright, sparkling new, the color of a freshly picked apple with a white stripe going along its sides, a white roof, and brand new whitewall tires, it was an intimidating sight. The shot changed to the red car's fins, which were sexily curved at the start, and chopped off abruptly, parallel with the trunk of the car, and the back bumper. A man lifted the hood of the red car, looking around under it at the engine.
Suddenly, the hood of the red car came down on the man's hand, which he had carelessly set down on the top of the grille. The music cut off abruptly, and the man screamed in pain. The dismissal bell rang for all the workers, just after the man was escorted out of the factory by another coworker. One stayed behind, seeing the red car. He wandered over, and opened the driver's side door, stepping in easily. He shut the door, and smoking a cigar, turned the radio on. A fifties rock and roll song jumped out of the speakers, and he reclined against the bench seat, which was just as red as the outside of the car. He thought nothing of it as he dropped a thick cigar ash on the seat.
The factory manager came out to the assembly line, checking on the progress, and soon heard the music. He turned around, and saw the red car. He walked back towards it, looking in the windows and seeing no one. He opened the door, and the cigar-smoker slid out of the car, apparently dead, the cigar still in his mouth.
"Oh, shit!" The manager exclaimed in shock, and pressed down on the horn ring repeatedly, honking for help.
The scene changed to a suburb, and at the bottom right-hand corner appeared the words, "Libertyville, 1978." A dark blue 1968 Dodge Charger 500 pulls up into a tree-shaded driveway, blaring loud rock and roll music.
As the movie wore on, Foxy noticed something. Her and Fillmore were the last ones in the back row, which was filled with nothing but couples. Flo and Ramone were parked at the other end, next to them were Lightning and Sally, and there was her and Fillmore. She fleetingly wondered if he thought they were dating, then decided that she didn't care. This was one of her favorite movies, and she was going to enjoy it with her newfound best friend. She snuggled closer to Fillmore, and he glanced down at her with a smile before returning his attention to the movie.
By the time the movie was over, she was shivering lightly, since it was nearly midnight, and cold. She was also shaking because of the excitement the movie caused. She loved the Plymouth Fury because of the book, and the movie in her opinion was pretty good too.
"C'mon, man. The movie's over." Fillmore said quietly, nudging her gently. He felt her shaking, and gently pressed against her, trying to warm her up sufficiently enough so she would stand up. She gave him a smile, then looked up at his roof, thinking, she looked back to his eyes, then back up to his roof. "What's wrong, man?" Fillmore asked, confused.
"I was just thinking, since we're going to go swimming at a waterfall, do you make a good diving board?" She giggled, then stood up. "Just kidding, Fillmore." She assured him, then they left the drive-in.
They followed the road out to Tailfin Pass, and up to Wheel Well, where they stopped, looking out at the town at night. "Woow. It's so pretty up here." Fillmore nodded, and smiled as he felt her lean against his side as she usually did. He didn't know it, but Foxy felt some kind of a spark between the two of them as they rested there together. It was more then just friendship, but wasn't enough to be a relationship. It was more of a brother-sister relationship.
They sat there for a while, then Foxy stood up. "Where's this waterfall at, then?"
"We passed it, man."
"We did? Then let's go back and find it!" Foxy replied, obviously eager to start swimming. Fillmore chuckled, then switched on his headlights. He led the way back to the waterfall, which was thundering, even at night.
"Is there a way down?"
"Besides jumpin'? Nope."
"Figures." With that, she stood at the edge of the bridge, looking down at the water, which was reflecting a full moon. "Here I go." She said, not jumping. "Get ready." She told him, still not jumping.
"I'll push ya in, man." Fillmore teased, and Foxy gave him a horrified look.
"You wouldn't dare!" She exclaimed, and Fillmore drove closer, and nudged her gently, she tottered on the edge, her arms flailing wildly. Fillmore nudged her again, this time a little more roughly, sending her over the edge.
"FILLMOREEE!" Her shriek floated up to him, and he chuckled.
Hi you guys! Sorry for the late update, I was as busy as Lightning today! Anyways, it's up, and I hope you enjoyed this extra-long chapter to make up for my lateness. :) See ya next Friday, Liz