Chapter 24
Wilhelm finally caught up with Marty a couple of minutes later. "Kirschelein," he said quickly, "I can explain if you just…"
"I don't blame you!" Marty said thickly. "It's that Patty! She's such a… ooh!"
"To be fair," Wilhelm said, "I'm not your first gentleman caller, either."
"It's not that I'm not your first," she said as Wilhelm dried her eyes. "It's… did I ever tell you about my first boyfriend?"
"The one who cheated on you for his ex."
"Yeah."
"So you're afraid I might do the same thing, and that's why you're jealous?"
Marty smiled. "I know I shouldn't be, but… kind of. We're still on for the bonfire I take it?"
"Oh absolutely," said Wilhelm, "but we should head back to class, or the teacher will have both our heads."
The next class was, to Wilhelm's chagrin, math. Wilhelm liked basic mathematics well enough, and algebra was alright… but pre-calculus algebra? He wished himself dead for the whole class period! After school, Wilhelm and Marty drove to her house and were greeted by Vincenzo Maraschino.
"Bill!" he said heartily. "You rescued my daughter from the bus?"
"I did," said Wilhelm. "As much as I hate to part with her, here she is. She and I are going to Saturday's bonfire."
"Have her back by 11:30," said Vincenzo. "Church on Sunday morning."
"The thirtieth of November," said Wilhelm with a grin, "got it."
"Clam off," said Vincenzo good-naturedly.
Three days later, the Rydell High Bonfire was underway. It had just started when Wilhelm and the T-birds arrived with the Pink Ladies. As Wilhelm took his seat, he ran into his cousin. "Alex," he said. "Why the long face?"
"Eh, I miss her, Bill," Alexander replied. "She was the best thing that's ever happened to me and now she's all the way in Australia."
"I know how you feel," Kendra piped up. "It's hard, but… you'll find someone else, I'm sure."
As the cheerleading squad went into their routines, Alexander noticed that one of them looked familiar somehow. "Speaking of finding someone else," he said, "I'm gonna chat up that cheerleader after the whole shabang's over."
Couch Calhoun was driving home the fact that the Rydell Rangers were going to make absolute mincemeat out of the Glendale Gladiators, but Wilhelm and Marty weren't paying attention. They had, in fact, snuck off. After the rally was over, Alexander walked over to the familiar looking cheerleader he'd seen earlier, who was talking with Frenchy.
"There's a whole world of chemistry out there, Sandy," Frenchy said. "Who knew?"
Alexander stopped dead in his tracks and gasped. "Sandy?!" he exclaimed.
Sandy turned on her heels in amazement, her mouth falling open. "Alex?!" she gasped. She jumped into his arms and panted excitedly as Alexander spun her around, kissing her deeply. "I'm never letting you out of my sight again!" she cried excitedly, kissing his cheek repeatedly. "Never!" He kissed her neck. "Never, never, never!"
"Frency, you didn't tell me Sandy was staying! I thought you were going back to Australia!"
"We had a change of plan!"
"Wha… but how?! Why would you stay here when all your stuff, and your whole lives are…"
"Daddy wanted to surprise us, but the secret's out! He found a job here and he's secretly been moving our things by airmail. We got a house just before school started, and here I am!"
"Look, Sandy, I… I have to go find Wilhelm and tell him the good news. You do your own thing and… and I'll see you at school, okay?"
Sandy nodded, breathless as they shared a final kiss, and Alexander practically skipped away.
"I can't believe it!" she cried. "He's… he's here?!"
"Sandy, listen to me," Frenchy said. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but…"
"No, no, it's alright," sandy panted. "I'm just so happy to see him again!"
"You need to celebrate somehow. The girls and I are having a sleepover tonight at my place, do you wanna come?"
Sandy nodded enthusiastically.
Frenchy wrapped her arm around Sandy's shoulder and smiled. "Come on," she said, "let's go."