A/N: Noë really is a spitfire.

[ 7 ]

LEGENDARY

Noë Nixon leads her boyfriend and best friend to protest the Kent State shooting by licking a patriotic landmark.

June 1970

Philadelphia, PA

"Trust me, it'll be fine."

Few sentences in the English language were as dangerous as the one that had started off that night. Noëlle still thought it was a great idea. They were in Philly for the Reunion that year. Will Guarnere's home turf, so he'd had to come. And it meant that leaving him out of her escapades would hurt that much more.

But that was just the icing on the cake. She didn't know how many more reunions she'd be able to come to. She and Scotty had already decided to head cross country; with the massacre at Kent State and the protests increasing around the country, they wanted to get moving. It was a perfect opportunity to book shows and help protest the war.

Max Luz had come down for the reunion this year. That meant she'd been able to get him on board her plan, too. She, Scotty, and Max. Uncle Harry called them the terrible trio of Easy Company. A Nixon, an Alley, and a Luz, causing property damage and breaking the law wherever they went. Noë didn't think they were that bad.

They'd only had to pay for property damages at one hotel. And that had been Max's fault. He was the one who bet she couldn't do parkour in the bedroom. They'd had a bit too much to drink that night. But she blamed Scotty for that one. He always wanted to play spin the bottle so he could kiss her, and to get bottles they had to empty them first. Somehow they always broke the bottles and needed more.

"This was a terrible idea," Max said.

Scotty just snorted. "Calm down, Max, this'll be fine."

Noë rolled her eyes at the sarcasm dripping from her boyfriend's voice. The building would be closing soon. If they wanted to do this, they only had one shot. And there it was, the Liberty Bell, in all its cracked, patriotic glory. She nearly laughed. Basically a commentary on the state of the nation. Policemen gunning down students on their campuses, men dying for a war they didn't believe in. It made her blood boil.

"Are you in?" She spun to look at them. Their frowns made her pause. She didn't want to do this alone, but she would. It would be an incredible story, and an even better public display of disgust at the United States. "If I'm the only one to lick it, that makes it mine."

Neither brown haired, brown eyed guy responded. Scotty watched the security guards as they wandered up and down the building. At least he was being productive. Max was was just a scaredy-cat. Noë huffed, spun back towards the Liberty Bell, smoothed down her white tee shirt that showed just enough of her midriff to drive Scotty crazy, and paused.

"If you're not coming, Max, stake out a good way to make our break," she told him. Noe turned back. "Or you really are useless and next time I see you I'm not helping pick up girls."

Max just scoffed. "Good. The last time we did that, you started kissing her."

Scotty hissed at them to be quiet. "If we're doing this, now's the time. The guards are out of sight."

He didn't need to say anything more. Noë straightened up to her full five foot six height, smoothed down her orange and pink plaid skirt, and walked straight towards the Liberty Bell. Her platform sandals clicked with each step. The velvet ropes that separated the landmark from her disdain swung a bit as a toddler played with them.

As she felt Scotty to her left and just behind, able to smell the cologne she knew oh so well, Noë grinned. The little girl in front of her furrowed her brow and then moved away, holding onto her mother's skirt. Noë made a fist, trying to contain her excitement.

One.

Two.

Three.

Leaning in, Noë stuck out her tongue and licked it. It tasted horrible, and she drew back, laughing as Max and Scotty just gaped at her. They should've known better than to doubt her resolve. The girl dropped her lollipop as she stared at Noë, open-mouthed.

"Mommy—"

"Not now Lisa."

"But—"

Noë, face still making all sorts of weird shapes as she tried to get the metallic taste from her mouth, shook her head. Putting a finger to her lips, she silently begged the girl not to tell.

"Are you serious?" Scotty muttered. "Nobody saw that? Nobody minded you just licked the fucking Liberty Bell?"

Noë laughed. "Suckers. You chickened out."

Max scoffed at her. He waited no more time before leaning in and licking it too. "Fuck that's horrible!" he choked out, stumbling back.

"Hey! What are you doing!"

Shit. Noë, Max, and Scotty turned left. A guard had started moving towards them. Noe backed up. She reached down and undid her shoes. "Go, go!"

None of them wasted any time. Noë tore out the backdoors barefoot, Scotty in front and Max just behind. Her hair whipped into her face as she took the few steps down and then pounded across the grass. She didn't stop to apologize to the boy she knocked over. "Go!" she shouted again.

In the crowds of early summer, Noe lost track of her boyfriend. She could hear Max just behind, though, and didn't look back. They sped through the park. Her feet hurt but she kept going.

"This way!"

At Scotty's voice, Noë dove left down one of the streets. He pulled her into an alley and Max followed. Noë collapsed, choking on her laughter against the wall. "That was for the students of America," she huffed out between laughs. Her laughter faded, anger replacing it. "My sister shouldn't have to go to school scared for her life."

Scotty pulled her into a hug. "Yeah, fuck them."

"Nah, just you," she teased. Standing on her toes, she kissed him.

Max, sitting on the ground, groaned and let his head hit the bricks. "Jesus. Get a fucking room."

Noë broke apart from Scotty and laughed. "You're just jealous, Max. Never good enough for these lips."

He shook his head. "I think you're forgetting spin the bottle last August. You weren't so hesitant to throw yourself at me then."

"Well, what was I supposed to do?" she said. "Ignore the rules of the game? Pretty sure you rigged it."

He stood up, shaking his head. As Noë eased herself back into her shoes, Scotty looked around the entrance of the alleyway. The coast was clear.

"So, when are you two heading out cross-country?" Max asked. He led the way out into the street, running a hand through his hair to straighten it.

"We're meeting the rest of the band outside New York City in a couple of weeks," Noë told him. "Then we're heading out west."

"Noë and the Screamin' Eagles. How's it feel to not even be in the band name, Scotty?" Max asked.

Scotty just scoffed. "Scott and the Screamin' Eagles doesn't have the same ring. Besides, she's the one in charge of this shindig. I'm just the guitarist."

"Can't be a band without a vocalist," Noë agreed.

The sun kept shining as they moved down the busy sidewalk towards the hotel. Ettie hadn't come to this reunion, insisted on spending time with her boyfriend in Connecticut. Noë wished she'd come down. She hadn't seen her since the Kent State shooting earlier in the year, only talked to her on the phone.

"Hey, cheer up," Scotty said. He threw his arm around her, letting it rest on her shoulder. He pointed down the road. "Just wait till we tell Will what he missed."

Noë broke out into a smile again. "Anna is going to be so mad at him. What kind of brother doesn't do crazy shit with the Terrible Trio?"

"The kind who doesn't get invited," Max reminded them.

With a sharp laugh, she nodded. "Oh, right. Was that me? Oops. That's what he gets for spending years making fun of Erin."

"How is she?" Max asked.

Noe looked right. She hadn't seen her ex-girlfriend in nearly a year. Last time she'd been out in San Francisco, they'd avoided each other like the plague. "Probably doing good. I don't know."

No one asked anything else. It was still a touchy subject, and she didn't want to discuss it with Scotty. Erin had broken up with her, not the other way around. But it was fine. She'd moved on.

"Think Mr. Guarnere will let us play at the reception tonight?" Noë asked.

Scotty and Max both burst out laughing. They'd reached the hotel, and Scotty led the way in. "That'll go over well. Inviting a war protest band into a veterans reunion."

But Noë rolled her eyes. "They know we're protesting the war in Vietnam, not their war. It's totally different, ok?"

"Touchy, touchy," Max teased. "Is that what you tell yourself?"

"Shut the fuck up, Max." Noë punched him in the arm. As he shouted and rubbed it, she just glared.

Max grumbled. "Thought you were a pacifist."

"That's why I didn't shoot you. Uncle Ron taught me many ways to kill a guy," she added with a grin. "Come on, wuss."

They moved into the hotel lobby and found a few of the veterans wandering around, chatting. She didn't see any of her favorites. Uncle Ron was in Germany, Uncle Harry and Aunt Kitty were probably out with her mom and dad, and she had no idea where Mr. Lipton had gone off to. He'd mentioned exploring the city with Mr. Guarnere.

"Well. That was fun," she said. Noë stopped in the middle of the lobby. "And we didn't get caught."

"There's a first time for everything," Max said.

Scotty and Noë both laughed. He was right. She'd known everything would be fine. Not that she wouldn't have tried either way. Licking the Liberty Bell was too good a story. Truly legendary.