"I can't take you to New Jersey like planned," Leyna said in a slightly annoyed tone.
Madeline gave a slightly confused look at her friend. "Everything alright?" she asked.
"My Ma called and said that my cousin got engaged. Based on past engagements in the family, thought, it'll be nuts. Trust me, you really don't want to be with my family when they're all planning a wedding."
She let out a chuckle. "Alright then, I'll take your word for it. You'll just have to show me where Abbott and Costello are from some other time, then."
Madeline was actually not completely disappointed by her friend's news. If she was able to stay home in Tulsa, she'd be able to see Dallas more before she had to go back to college. Granted, she'd have to be more careful, considering her parents were back home, but she'd be able to go out with him to certain places. Either way, she wasn't completely disappointed by the trip cancellation.
Besides, it's not like New Jersey was going anywhere.
"You're reacting better than I expected you to," Leyna said in a confused tone, "What's that all about?" She had a confused look on her face.
"No offense, but it's not like New Jersey isn't gonna be there next summer, Leyna," Madeline said with a slight shrug, "Again, no offense.:
"None taken. But you sure you don't mind 'bout skipping the trip this year?"
"Don't worry 'bout it. I know you gotta leave for New Jersey soon though, so I'll dirve you to the train station."
"This is about being able to spend more time with Dallas, isn't it?" A smirk formed Leyna's face as she finally understood her friend's reaction.
The redhead's cheeks turned pink. "Yes, now let's go." Leyna let out a laugh at her friend's embarrassment as they walked out of the house and to the car.
-/-/-
Cherry tidied her room up to make it seem to her parents like she had been in there a lot in the past couple of weeks. She knew her parents would be home at some point between the afternoon and the evening, so she wanted it to seem like she had really been grounded like they said for the past two weeks.
Cherry had done everything- with a bit of help- to make it look like it'd been only herself, Madeline and Leyna in the house the past couple of weeks. She'd also done things to her room to make it look like she'd spent a lot of time in there and that the only people who had entered the room was herself, and maybe once or twice by her sister.
Dallas and Sodapop had already left the house- Soda only slept there for a few days, and Dallas had left that morning. They both would still be around Tulsa, but only up to a certain point. The younger of the two would be around until the middle of August, which was only about another month until he had to leave for Vietnam. The New York City native would most likely be coming back and forth every month between Tulsa and Norman so he could still see Madeline but not leave home just yet0 if that's what you wanted to call it, but we won't go there.
As Cherry rearranged the flower's she'd been drying and that she'd been pressing, she heard the front door open and close. "I'm drivin' Leyna to the train station, I'll be back in an hour," she heard in her sister's voice call before the door closed. She walked over to the window of her bedroom and watched as her sister and Leyna got into the car and drove off. She then walked away from her window and back toward her desk where her flowers were.
As Cherry went back over to her desk, she spotted the album she'd hidden- but left out while her parents were away- that was the soundtrack for the 1961 film Blue Hawaii. She had bought it in town while out with Soda once, not too long after they'd seen it at the drive in together and he had proved to her that Elvis Presley wasn't as bad as people from the West Side made him out to be- she would be paraphrasing when she said that, but still.
"Check this out," Cherry said with a smile as she ran to the window of the record store.
Soda chuckled at his girlfriend's actions and ran up beside her to the window. "It's Blue Hawaii," he said, "You liked it a lot."
"This has my favorite song from the movie on it, I Can't Help Falling In Love With you. The one he sang to the girl's grandmother." She then went into the store and straight to the crate labeled "P" in the "Rock Music" section. He went in after her with a slightly confused look on his face. He let out a laugh when she pulled out another Blue Hawaii album, held it up and made a funny face as she did. She slightly pulled the record from its cover to look for scratches, slid it back in then went to the front to pay for it.
"Won't your parents get mad at you if they find that record?" Soda asked a bit unsurely.
Cherry shrugged it off. "They might be," she answered, "But I'm willing to take that risk. But if you're so worried, I'll hide it behind a Wayne Newton or a Beatles record."
Cherry chuckled to herself at the memory of the day she bought the album. When she bought it, she didn't say the whole reason she wanted it. She didn't quite understand the full reason at first, but for some reason, she wanted to remember everything from her relationship with Soda- both the good and the bad. She wanted to remember it all, even if they ever broke up. She didn't quite know why though.
Cherry was brought from her thoughts when she herd the front door open and close again. She left her bedroom, making sure to put something in front of the Blue Hawaii record and headed down the stairway to see if it was Madeline who had opened and closed the door. When she reached the first floor of the house, she saw that it wasn't her sister, but rather her parents.
"Hi, sweetheart," Mrs. Valance smiled at her younger daughter and went to hug her.
"Hi, Mom," Cherry smiled, "How's Aunt Midge and Uncle Bob and their kids?"
"They're good, and so is Valerie, Donna and Tina. Everyone says they missed you and your sister. Speaking of her, did she leave for New Jersey already?"
"I don't think she's goin' this year. She said she would be back in hour after she drove Leyna to the train station. And her bags are still in the living room."
Mrs. Valance nodded. "Well, if she's not back soon, we'll worry then. So how was your two weeks? You didn't do too much, right? Cause you were grounded."
Cherry shook her head. "Barely did anything except working on my flowers and listening to records."
-/-/-
Captain Harry Munroe re-entered his home, looking through the envelopes that were in his mailbox for the morning. When he mentally noted that it was all just the usual bills and such, he set them down on the end table in the living room and started toward his kitchen to make breakfast.
When Captain Munroe arrived in the kitchen to start making breakfast for himself, his wife and his two daughters, the phone in the living room began to ring. He looked down at the eggs he had already cracked open in the metal bowl on the counter then back at the phone. He let out a chuckle when he jumped at the sound of his wife's voice saying, "I'll get it" as she walked into the living room, chuckling at her husband. He let out his own chuckle as he watched her walk over and pick up the phone.
"Hello?... no, this is wife. May I asked who's calling?... who?... how do you know Harry?... oh, I see. Alright, hold on," she said and covered the phone with her hand, "Harry, it's for you."
The captain continued to cut a banana into smaller pieces on the counter as he asked, "Who is it?"
"A boy who says his name is Sodapop Curtis."
The captain looked up and rushed over to the phone and took it from his wife as she handed it to him, a confused look on her face. "Hello?"
"Hi, is this Captain Harry Munroe?" the boy asked.
"Yes, that's me. Who is this?"
"Sodapop Curtis. You've talked to my older brother, Darry."
"Yes, I did. Is there anythin' I can do for you, son?"
"Well, my brother mentioned you sayin' you might wanna talk to me. And based off what he said you told him, there sure are a hell of a lot of coincidences goin' on 'round here."
The captain let out a chuckle. "You're preachin' to the choir here, kid."
He heard Sodapop let out his own chuckle from the other end. "Yeah… so anyway, I was wonderin' then if you could come over the house sometime today so I could meet ya?" he asked.
"Yeah, sure," Captain Munroe answered and nodded to himself, "Look, it's almost nine now, how 'bout I drop by your house around one o'clock. That way, everyone's already awake and fully functioning."
He heard another laugh from the other end. "Yeah, I'd say that's a fair deal. Uh, also, I was wondering if maybe my girlfriend could be there too? I mean, cause she's gotta deal with this too, ya know?"
"I wouldn't mind that at all. Maybe I could bring my wife to talk to her, too. I've been told by your brother that your girlfriend is a very charming and sweet girl."
"She really is somethin', I can tell you that much." He could hear the smile in the younger man's voice. "I just gotta call her and see if she can come too."
"Alright, great," Captain Munroe said, "I'll see you in a few hours."
"Alright. Thank you, Captain. Bye."
And with that, the two men both hung up their phones.
The drama soon starts in this story, mwha- ha- ha- ha. I'm evil. Fear me. Grrrrrr.
So I think I mentioned about Alice's Teacup for my best friend's birthday last time I updated, we ended up taking a rain check- literally. But then that Friday (January ) we went to NYC for my mom's birthday- we went up to all nine floors of the Macy's in Herald Square!
Anyway, I'll be starting another new story soon, so five at once- wish me luck. It's gonna be for The Expendables trilogy (so far, a trilogy, there's rumors about a fourth one coming up). So yeah.
Also- Rest in Peace, David Bowie. I've heard your music nearly all my life and it's hard to believe you're gone. I remember imitating the word Fame in "Fame" with my mom ever since I was three or four years old, years before I would become a fan of yours. And always love seeing the quote at the beginning of The Breakfast Club from "Changes". You are missed by many different age groups, and have affected us all.
Alright- peace from all the hippies of the world. =^-^=