Chapter 1
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I hate trains. Not just a little bit, I mean, like with a passion. It mostly because I get motion sickness, but also because trains mean travel and travel means leaving something behind. This time I was leaving a very big something behind. My whole life as I knew it. The year was 1960 and I was 15.
My mother had run off with an umpire when I was fourteen, and my dad had just died of a heat attack a week ago. I can't really say I was too sorry to see him go, he was a workaholic and we weren't very close.
I was being shipped off to live with his brother Junior's wife Polly, and my cousin Ace. Uncle Junior had been sent to prison about a year ago, on account of he was a bad alcoholic and had caused an accident when he was driving drunk. Aunt Polly and Ace lived in a little town in Oregon, called Castle Rock. It was about a four hour train ride from where we lived in Pine Grove, Idaho. I only had a few bags with me on the train that day, since most of my stuff had been sent ahead of time.I had talked to Ace on the phone the day before and he told me my stuff had already arrived and my room was all set up.
"My friends and I painted it pale blue, just like you wanted."He told me.
Anyway, back to the train ride, I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew someone was shaking me and saying my name.
"Martina Merrill?" I looked up to see a young guy smiling down at me.
"What? Oh, I mean, yes, I'm Marti." I mumbled
"The conductor told me to wake you, to say we'll be in Castle Rock in 10 minutes."
"Ok, Thanks." I said. I don't think he heard me, because he was already walking away.
10 minutes!!!My new life was starting a lot sooner than I wanted it to. Ace was supposed to be at the station to pick me up. What if he wasn't there? I'd never been to Castle Rock before, how would I find my way to the house? Grabbing my purse, I pulled out a compact mirror. Looking back at me was a strawberry blonde, with bright green eyes, and a clear complection.Even though Ace and me are only cousins; I could pass for his younger sister. As the train pulled to a stop, I grabbed my 2 bags and fought to get in the walkway. Hopping off the train, I looked around. I saw lots of people, but no Ace.
"MARTI!!!"I turned to my left, to see Ace running towards me followed by the cutest boy I'd ever seen.
"Hi Ace! Well, it's good to see you too!" I laughed as he swept me up in a big bear hug.
"Here let me get your bags." he said, picking them up,"how was your ride?"
"Well, I didn't get sick, if that's what you mean." I told him.
"Um, Ace....."The other boy said.
"Oh, yeah! Marti, this is my best friend Eyeball Chambers."
Eyeball smiled at me. He was tall and muscular, with curly, brown hair, and velvety brown eyes.
"Hello, um, Eyeball" I said. He smiled again.
"Hey."
"Well" Ace said "Let's get to my car, and head home. We have to stop by Eyeball's house first though."
"That's ok"I said I followed them to a beat-up black ford convertible.
"This your car?" I asked Ace
"Yeah"he had begun to put my bags in the trunk"You can sit in the middle,betwen me and Eyeball."
"Ok"Eyeball held the door open for me and I climbed in. As he settled in beside me, I could smell his
colonge.I'm not good at identifying men's cologne, but I think it was Stetson. Eyeball smiled down at me. God, he was dreamy!!!
"Ok, we ready to hit the road?" Ace asked as he climbed in. When he started the car, the radio blared on. One of my favorite songs,' 'My Boy Lollipop' was playing and I reached down to turn it up.
"My boy Lollipop, you make my heart go giddy-up.Oh,oh,oh,your my lollipop."I sang.
Ace started to laugh."I take it you like this song?" I nodded.
"Don't worry,I do to."Eyeball told me."But I'm glad it's over, cause were at my house."
I stared at the one level white house.It was kind of run down,and there were four boys,about 13, sitting on the front steps.Ace sneered at them.'Man,they must be pretty annoying to make Ace hate them'I thought.The boy's stared at me as Ace and Eyeball disappered in the house.
"Who the heck are you?"asked a geeky looking blonde one.
"Teddy!Be nice,she's a girl!"another one,very cute,with dark brown hair."Sorry,he's rude.I'm Gordie Lachance,by the way."I smiled.
"Nice to meet you, Gordie. I'm Marti Merrill, Ace's cousin. And the rest of you are?"
The rude one said"I'm Teddy Duchamp."A chunky short one smiled at me and said
"Vern Tessio"The tallest and cutest one looked at me.There was something familiar about him.
"Chris Chambers" was all he said. That was what was familiar about him! He was Eyeball's little brother!
"Eyeball's brother?"I asked
"Yep"
I leaned against Ace's car.Teddy stared at me even more intently.I had a feeling it was because of my short,lowcut sundress.
"Ace has a cool car, huh?"He asked me.
"Yeah,he does."
"You like fast cars?"I decided to give the kid a thrill.I'm sure it was one of the few he ever got.
I leaned flirtatously towards him.
"I like fast *everything*"I replied with a wink and a smile.The other three looked at each other then at Teddy,whose face was turning very red ,very quick.
"Oh my God."was all he said.Just then Ace and Eyeball came back out.
"Ready to go, Marti? The rest of my gang is gonna meet us at the house."Ace said as he climbed into his car.
"Yeah,I'm ready."i said "bye boys."I waved to the four on the steps.
"See you around, Marti." Teddy said.
"Not if I see you first"With that we drove off.
Chapter 2
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When we pulled into the drive way of my new home, I couldn't believe it. The house was nice, with two stories, a cream color, and dark green shutters. Ace pointed to the third to the last window on the second floor.
"See, that's your room." He said "Let's go inside and I'll show you." He opened the front door.
"MOM, WE'RE HOME!" I heard Aunt Polly's footsteps. She rushed in and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Martina, sweetheart, we're so glad you're here!" she said
"Mom, everybody calls her Marti now." Ace said. Aunt Polly smiled.
"My mistake. Sorry Marti." She said.
"Its ok Aunt Polly. I'm just glad you let me come to live here." I told her.
"Don't mention it dearie. I'm sure you're tired, so I'll let you kid's get on upstairs." She said. Ace lead me and Eyeball up the
stairs and down the hall. I held my breath. This was to be my new sanctuary, my safe haven. What would it be like?
Ace opened the door and to my surprise, there were four boys sitting on my bed!
"Who are they?!!!" I asked Eyeball.
"Those are our friends, the other members of the Cobras." He replied." I'll let Ace have the honor of introductions."
Ace sighed."Ok, this is Billy, Charlie,Vince,and Fuzzy. I started to laugh.
"Whose who?" I said. Eyeball smiled and pointed towards the chunky brown haired one.
"Billy" he said "Now the weirdo sprawled out all over your clean bed is Charlie" Charlie was skinny, and blonde.
Eyeball continued" This is Vince." he gestured towards a very tall guy with a blonde buzz cut. "And, last and least, Fuzzy!"
Fuzzy was a strange looking one. He had,well,fuzzy black hair and *gobs* of zits.
"Hi" I said to them. They all just kinda nodded.
"Well" Ace said "What do ya think of your room?" For the first time I looked around.The walls were pale blue, and a white day bed was against the farthest wall,covered with my blue comforter with white flowers.Matching curtains hung in the windows. A desk faced one wall, and a dresser faced another.Finally a vanity and a bookcase was near the closet.
"It's really nice." I said.
"We all fixed it up." Billy said, speaking for the first time. "All you have to do is put away your clothes and put your posters up."
"Well, thank you very much." I looked around the room again.
"Ok, well, then I guess I'll put my clothes and stuff away. Where are my records?"
"Over there" Ace pointed. With that the six of them left. I grabbed out my Frankie Avalon record and turned it up.In a matter of seconds 'Venus' was playing and I began to put my things away.
"Venus if you will,please send a little girl for me to thrill." I sang along with Frankie. When the song ended I could hear the boy's voices through the wall,so I guessed Ace's room was next door. Then I heard one of them say something that made my stomach twist into knots.
"Jesus,Ace,you didn't tell us Marti would be such a doll!" I finished putting my clothes away, hung my posters, and headed to Ace's room. Since I was nervous, I knocked softly on the door.
Some one yelled "What's the password?" Like I was gonna let that stop me!
"How about: It's childish to have a password so you best open the friggin door,'for I get real P.Oed!" With that I shoved the door open, only to find the boy's scrambling to put out cigarettes and shoving bottles of beer under the bed.
"Well, Ace, old boy, ya just gonna sit there or are you gonna invite me into your little love shack?" So I wasn't so nervous anymore! "And you ain't gotta hid your beer and ciggies from me, I'll like you a lot better if you pass 'em on over this way!"
They all looked shocked; except for Eyeball he looked at me in a way every girl likes to be looked at.It was this soft look, like
He'd never seen a girl before.
"Well, what you waitin for pass the Frankie Avalon-in-training a beer!" he said. Oh,my God they had heard me singing! I decided to make a joke out of it.
"Eyeball, be a *doll* like I am and don't mention trains." I said. His face turned red and the others started to laugh.
"Good joke, Miny Marti !" Fuzzy said as he handed me a beer.
"Miny Marti? What in *thee* blue hell does that mean?"I demanded, taking a swig from the bottle.
"You know," said Charlie, "Like a store, a Miny Mart. And also Miny because you're younger than us and Marti because that's your name…….." He trailed off.
"Ok, we get the point Char." Said Vince lighting another cigarette
"You know Marti I Bet your gonna start hangin 'round with us, huh? Then you'll be actin just like us!" Billy told me. I glanced at Ace to see what his reaction to all this was.He wasn't smiling; in fact he looked kind of mad.
"So what was up with that quiet bit you goons pulled on me earlier, you all had me thinking you was a buncha dopes?!" I asked
Ace finally spoke up "They didn't want you to see what idgits they were right off." Fuzzy looked around and shouted:
"DOG PILE ON ACE!!!" then he jumped on him,the others quickly following.
"Come on, Miny Marti don't be a priss"Fuzzy told me. Vince jumped off the pile and pulled me on to it Of course, I landed on Eyeball. I think it was our first *real moment*.It didn't last long, because of shouts like," Get off me you fags!" and "that was my leg you just pinched!"
"Let me up, you homo's!" I said,but I was laughing "I'm not like that!" Ok,childish, but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do, right?
"Your not like what?" Charlie teased.What do I say, what do I say?
" Duh, I barely know any of you,except for Ace, and I don't want none of you to even think about crawlin all over me!" Eyeball looked uncomfortable "Ace man, I better go. See ya Marti, see ya guys. Then he was gone. The others left soon after that.
Chapter 3 ~
After, I'd been in Castle Rock for about a week, I made friends with a neighbor girl named Angel. It was then that I found out why the people in this town looked at my sweet cousin Ace and his loveable friends with so much disgust. I heard rumors on how they beat up younger kids, smoke, drank, and boosted cars.Romors on how they'd kill you if you looked at them wrong. I learned some of it from Angel, she told me by accident one day.
"So how can you stand to live in the same house with Ace?" she asked I looked at her.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, doesn't he beat up on you and stuff?" she looked puzzled.
"NO!!! How could you say that?" I yelled
"Well, everyone in this town is afraid of the Cobras, mostly Ace and Eyeball, their the worst." I got up.
"I have to go home now."
"You didn't know did you?"Oh, Marti I'm so sorry! I thought you knew……" her voice trailed off.
"OF COURSE I DIDN'T KNOW!!!" I shouted then I ran out of her house, down the street,and into my own house.
I saw Ace lying on the couch watching TV.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!!!!?" Ace looked at me
"Tell you what?" but I know he knew what I was talking about.
"Oh,come off it Ace,you know what I'm talking about! Why didn't you tell me you and your friends were the most feared gang in Oregon?" Ace looked down at his feet.
"Marti, I was going to tell you, I swear, I just didn't want to scare you. I will tell you this though. Once the people in this town find out you kin to me they won't want nothing to do with you. I cried even harder.
"Oh, Ace, I'll just be friendless, then. Your like my brother, I'd never deny you. I'll just hang out with you and the Cobras."
"I don't know about that, but I'm glad you think of me as your brother. I love you, Marti." he said.
"I love you too, Ace. And I *am* going to hang around with you guys.I'd like to get to know um,a few of your friends better."
Ace gave me a knowing smile "Yeah, well, if you insist, just don't blame me if everyone starts saying I'm leading you down the wrong path... Hey, I was about to head over to Eyeball's.You wanna come?" he winked.
"Oh, Ace stop picking on me!" I said
"Admit it Marti, you have a crush on him!" he said.
"Don't worry Eyeball or none of the other guys suspect. I just know you pretty damn good!" he said
"Ok, Ace, you got me. Just don't tell *anyone* or I'll kill ya!"Ace smiled
"Deal, but, Marti, I don't want you to get involved with him. He's not good enough for you. Nobody in this town is."
"I won't Ace." I reassured him.
A month later I still hadn't admitted to Eyeball that I liked him, even though, just like Billy had predicted, I hung out with The Cobras everyday and had picked up their bad habits. I had started to cuss, drink beer, and to smoke. They taught me how to play mailbox baseball and showed me where they liked to hang out at. Then one day it happened. I saw why everyone was so afraid of them. We had just come into town in Ace's car and were all piling out of it when some of those jerk offs from The View walked by. The tallest one looked at me.
"Hey, baby, why don't you drop those hoods and come with us.Oh, I for got you can't drop 'em your one of them!"
I shot him a dirty look.
"Oh yeah,*real*original douche bag!" Eyeball said. Ace was being quiet,which was unlike him.He had stopped walking and was staring at those guys.
"Whats a matter Merrill? You just figure out the girl you were messin round with last night is your cousin?"One of the others said. "No you knew that the whole time!"
"Shut the hell up, Rogers." Ace said.I noticed he had his fist clenched and the other Cobras looked prepared to fight.
"And if I don't?" Rogers asked. Ace pulled a switchblade from his pocket and flipped it open.
"Then you'll have to answer to this." I couldn't believe it! Angel had told me people were starting to say maybe I was a good influence on The Cobras.I guess not.
"Your not the only one who has a knife." Rogers said pulling out his own. He walked up to me and flipped it open. I think that's when I lost it. Screaming like a banshee, I kicked him where it counts,right between the legs.Rogers fell to the ground,howling in pain.I held up my fist to the others.
"I'll kill all of ya, I swear I will." I said They didn't look to scared until they remembered The Cobras were backing me up.
They helped Rogers to his car and they drove off. The Cobras turned to me.
"Mart we are *so* proud of you!!!" Vince yelled,patting my back. The others were smiling ,too.
"Yep, we are." Said Eyeball "I guess this makes you a real Cobra!" Me, I Cobra! That was probably the happiest day of my life. I looked at Ace.
"What do you think Ace? Am I good enough to be one of you guys?" I asked. Ace looked at me his mouth wasn't smiling but his eyes were.
"Hell yes!" he said. The others nodded. I'm not sure how they felt about the first girl Cobra.
"Well,you know what this means." Fuzzy said "We got to give her the tattoo." Tattoo? What the heck were they talking about?
"Now wait one god-forsaken minute……" but that was as far as I got before they were ushering me back into the car.
We headed out to Billy's place. He wanted to show us the fireworks he had bought, since 4th of July was in a week. We hardly hung around his house, so when I felt the call of nature I wasn't sure what to do.
"Um, can one of you show me where the restroom is?"
"I will." Said Eyeball. We walked towards the house.
"Don't follow her into the toilet, Eyeball!" Charlie shouted from behind us.
"Oh, shut up!" I yelled back at him.
"He is so immature." Eyeball said
"I know" Eyeball looked down at his feet, then back up at me
"Um ,Marti, there's somthin I been wantin to ask ya."
"Well, spit it out." I told him Was he going to ask what I had been praying he'd ask every since I saw him?
"Well, I was,um,I was just wonderin if you wanted to hang out sometime? You know, with none of the others around. Like, um, just me and you?" Ok,so that's not exactly what I've been dreaming of,but it's a start right?
"Sure Eyeball. That sounds nice." I hoped I didn't sound as shaky as I felt.Eyeball smiled.
"When do you want to?"
"Whenever you do" He mumbled something I couldn't understand.
"Beg Pardon?" I asked.
"Never mind. Oh,guess what? I have enough money saved to buy a used car!"
"Eyeball,that's fabulous!" ,I exclaimed, "I wonder why Ace or one of the others didn't tell me about it?" Eyeball looked embarrassed.
"That's because I haven't told them yet. I wanted you to be the first to know."
"Oh", I said, "well, which car are you going to buy? He looked at his feet again.
"Well that's something else I wanted to ask. Will you go with me to pick one out tomorrow? Don't tell the others though; I want to surprise them, ok?" I was really surprised.
"Ok sure. Where exactly are we going?" I asked.
"Well, the car I want is in a lot in Harlow, I thought we'd take a train there, and walk to the car lot." He replied.
'Ok, calm down, Marti he doesn't know you hate trains and besides this is your chance to be alone with Eyeball.' I coached myself.
"Sure, I'll go. What time will you be at my house?" He looked around.
"Well, my old man's dropping us off at the station on his way to work, so we'll be there about 6 in the morning."
"Ok what should I tell Ace?" Eyeball looked thoughtful.
"Tell your Aunt the truth and tell her not to tell Ace. I'm sure you'll be up before he is."
Chapter 4
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The next morning, I was up and at 'em at 5:00. I had told Aunt Polly where I was going the night before and she promised to cook up something good to tell Ace. I dressed quickly, grabbed some cash, and hurried down the stairs for something to eat. Just as I was finishing, I heard a car pull up outside.
"Aunt Polly, I'm going. "I said with that I ran to the car. When I got there Eyeball climbed out and let me in the middle.
I had never met his dad before, but he looked nice enough so I introduced myself.
"How do you do Mr. Chambers, I'm Martina Merrill."
"So your the famous Marti heard so much about." Was all he said. Before I knew it we were at the station.
"Your dad's pretty nice, Eyeball." I told him as we waited in line to get the tickets.
"Yeah, when he's actually sober." Was Eyeball's reply. After we boarded the train,we talked the whole time. He told me about how his dad was so abusive, about the time The Cobras all got arrested for theft, and about the time last summer when they went to get that dead body from beside the river, only to have his little brother and his friends to take it from them. 'That explains why Ace hates them so much.'I thought. I told him about my mom and the traveling musician, and about my dancing. I guess I should take the time to explain about that. See, I used to dance ballet,but decided to give it up when momma left.
"Marti I had no idea you were a dancer!" Eyeball exclaimed. I sort of smiled.
"Yeah, well, you know, I didn't want to sound like a braggart." He nodded.
"I guess I can understand that. How long have you been dancing?"
"Well", I said, "about twelve years." Eyeball looked impressed. It only took about 45 minutes to get to Harlow, so it was about7:30 when we arrived. It took about twenty minutes to walk to the car lot. When we got there, Eyeball steered me in the direction of an old car. It was red, with a pop top, and orange flames down the sides.
"Well, whatcha think?" he asked. I looked at him.
"Eyeball its wonderful. I love it!" It really was very nice. He must have saved a long time to buy it. Which he decided to do.
We left the car lot and decided to get something to eat at a small diner called 'April's Place' After we ordered I asked Eyeball something that I had wondered since the first day we met.
"Whats your real name?" He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.
"Richard. Richard Alexander." He said. I rolled the name over in my mind.
"Richard Alexander Chambers" I said "I like that, it sounds dignified. So why do they call you Eyeball?"
"Well," he said, "It's because when I get nervous or upset my eye gets kinda jumpy."
"You mean like it is now?" I asked him. He blushed. He looked so sweet, and I didn't realize how much he meant to me until right then.
"You know your one of my best friends and I don't have friends who are *girls*. I really like you a lot, Marti." It was my turn to blush.
"Well, Rich I really like you a lot, too. Is it ok if I call you Rich?" I asked him.
"Um, yeah it's fine, but just when it's you and me. The other guys would probably never let me live it down." He said. Well, that was understandable. They always picked on me about my name being Martina. I can't say I blame 'em there though. What
the heck kind of a name is *Martina*. I fell like I should be in there along with Mickey and Minnie. Any way back to the story.
After that we headed back to
Castle Rock. As we drove along the highway, I found the local rock and roll station WKTI. When the song 'Earth Angel' began to play Eyeball (excuse me, Rich) started to sing along.
"Earth Angel, Earth Angel say you'll be mine. My darling dear I love you all the time. I'm just a fool, a fool in love with you."
He had a beautiful voice, all rich and deep. I was very surprised. I mean, you don't expect the toughest guy in town to sing like he's Frankie Avalon, but hey who am I to judge? I did notice, though while he gave his little concert, he was watching me out of the corner of his eye.I guess he thought I hadn't noticed. The radio droned on and we didn't speak. Finally we passed a sign that said Castle Rock-5 miles.It was only about 10:00, but it felt much later. (A/N- Recognize that line from anywhere?!)
We pulled into his driveway, with him honking the horn. His whole family(minus his Pop)came out of the house to see what was going on.
"Boss, Rich, is this your new car?" Nick, who was ten and the next to the youngest, asked.
"No dummy he just drove it home." Said Chris.
"Christopher, don't tease your brother." ,scolded Mrs.Chambers, "Hello Marti, its nice to see you." She said to me.
"Its nice to see you to Mrs.Chambers." I told her. Seven year old Shelly ,the youngest and the only girl, smiled up at me.
"Hiya Marti." I looked down at her. She looked like a younger female version of Rich. (A/N- I'm going to have Marti calling him Rich in her thoughts and when the other Cobras aren't around. Just wanted to tell you so you wouldn't be confused.)
"Hello, Shelly, how's life treating you?" she just nodded her response.
"So Richie, why didn't you tell us your chick was going to go with you? Was it so you guys could have some *private time*? Huh? Was it?" Chris asked. I blushed a deep red color.
"Shut-up you little fag. She is not my *chick*! We're just friends! Isn't that right, Marti?" he asked me
"Yeah, that's right." I told them. Rich looked around.
"I told the rest of the gang we'd meet them at 10:30, at Billy's house, so we better get headed over there." He told me.
I didn't realize how nervous I was until then. What if Ace was really mad at me for going with Rich, after he told me not to get involved with him? 'Wait a sec, Marti, Ace isn't your Pop, he can't tell you who and who not to get involved with.' I thought to myself. I didn't have long to think about it, cause Billy's house is only about a mile and a half from Rich's. I could feel my stomach jolt as we pulled in to Billy's driveway. The other Cobras were sitting on the front porch and they came running when they saw us in the new car. Fuzzy was the first to reach us.
"Oh, Eyeball, man this car its…it's…." For once in his life, Fuzzy was at a loss for words. Vince jumped in where Fuzzy had stopped.
"It's boss!! Totally, sincerely boss!" he said. I glanced at Ace. Then I was sorry that I had. The way Ace was glaring at Rich, if looks could kill; he would have dropped dead on the spot. Then Ace switched his gaze to me. His expression softened, but not by much.
"Well, Ace, man, Whatcha think?" Rich asked. Ace tried to smile, but it came off more as a grimace.
"Its,uh, nice Eyeball. Real nice. But Marti and me gotta go. Come on Marti. Later guys." I smiled at Rich and waved at the others. Ace and I climbed into his car. I knew what was coming. We were half way down the block before he turned to me.
"What in the heck do you think your doing???!!!" he yelled "I thought I told you not to get involved with him!" Now that made me mad.
"For your information, Ace Junior Merrill, Rich and I ARE NOT INVOLVED!!!!" I yelled the last part at him.
"Great, now he has you calling him Rich. He better not have touched you, Marti, I'll kill him, I swear I will!" I started to laugh. I couldn't help it.
"Ace, get a hold of yourself! Eyeball and me are *FRIENDS*. Only friends. You're going off like a lunatic, and over what? So we were alone together for a few hours." I shook my head.
"Yeah. In a car. With a big back seat." He said.Ok, what exactly did my cousin think I was? I mean, come on, did he think me and Rich were gonna do? Ok I know exactly what he thought me and Rich were gonna do. But still.
"Goodness Gracious, Ace. Ok, we were alone in a car with a big back seat. We stopped to eat, and we listened to the radio and we held conversation like normal people.*That's*all*that*happened*.Now *drop*It.*" Ace didn't look happy about my instructions to drop it, but for whatever reason he did. Almost.
"Ok, but Marti, I don't like this thing with you and Eyeball. You're too good for him and if I find out he's moving on you, I will kill him." Something came over me when he said that.
"Ace, just shut up. I don't want to hear it. You have no right to tell me who I can and cannot get involved with. I'm a big girl and I'm capable of making my own choices." With that he did drop it, and we drove the rest of the way home in silence.
Chapter~5
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Rich called later that evening. It was a good thing I was the only one home, because he was calling to speak to me.
After we said our 'hellos' and 'what are you doings', his voice got this urgent sound in it.
"Marti, I have to talk to you. Can I pick you up in about 10 minutes?" My heart pounded against my ribcage.
"Of, course Rich. I'll be waiting." I ran upstairs threw on a snug white shirt, a pair of tight blue jeans, and my PF Flyers. I pushed my hair back in a headband, and applied some lipstick. Then I ran back downstairs and almost collided with Aunt Polly.
"Where are you going in such a hurry? And where's Ace?" she asked. I could tell she had just gotten in from work, because she was still dressed in her nurse's whites and smelled like the hospital.
"Um, Eyeball says he needs to talk to me, and he's picking me up in a few minutes, and I have no idea where Ace is. He left about an hour ago and he didn't say where he was going." Aunt Polly shook her head and muttered
"That boy." Just then a car horn honked outside. I looked out the window, it was Rich.
"Um, Aunt Polly, Eyeball's here, it is ok if I go with, right?" 'Please say yes, please say yes.' I prayed silently.
"Well, honey, I don't see why not. Just be sure to be in before 10." I looked at the clock. It read 6:30. That was 3 and a half hours from now. That should be plenty of time. Rich honked the horn again.
"Ok, thanks Aunt Polly, bye." I ran out the door and to Rich's car without a further thought.
"Hey." I said, hopping in. Rich just nodded in return.
"Um, what did you want to tell me?" I asked.
"I'll tell you when we get there." Was all he replied. I shook my head.
"Where exactly are we going? And this time would you please look at me when you answer?" He looked at me.
"I'm sorry, Marti. You just looked so beautiful sitting there that I was afraid if I looked at you, I'd run off the road."
I blushed. I hated myself just then. Why did I have blush every time he complimented me? Why?
"Anyway, where are we going?" I asked again. He looked at me then back at the road.
"Stanton Point." Was all he would say. I felt a little sick. Stanton Point was where kids went when they wanted to party or make-out; or more. What kind of talking did Rich have in mind, exactly? We where driving on a narrow tree lined road, up a hill. I had never been in this part of Castle Rock before. It was very pretty. When we reached the top of the hill, Rich looked around.
"Well, here we are, Stanton Point." I looked around We were parked in a clump of trees. Dusk was just beginning to set and if you looked out the front window you could see all of Castle Rock. It was beautiful. I told Rich so.
"Not as beautiful as you." Then he scooted across the seat and pulled me closer to him. I looked up into his deep brown eyes, one of which was twitching slightly. I giggled.
"Are you nervous, Rich? Your eye is twitching." He just smiled and brought his lips to mine. This is what I had been dreaming about for a month. His lips were so soft and inviting. He pulled away gently.
"You don't mind do you?" he asked. Mind? MIND?? Of course I didn't mind!!! But I just shook my head and said
"I don't mind." He kissed me again, harder this time. I felt his tongue touch my lips and opened my mouth slightly. He brought his tongue in slowly and rubbed it gently against mine. We kissed for along time and when we pulled away this time Rich leaned back against his door, and I leaned back against him, resting my head on his chest. I looked up in his eyes and remembered why we were here.
"What was it you wanted to tell me?" I asked, "Or was that just a ploy to get me alone with you?" Rich blushed.
"No, No I really did want to tell you something. Well, ask you something is more like it."
"Well, ask," Was my reply. Rich looked into my eyes and took a deep breath.
"Marti, will you go steady with me and be my girlfriend? I really like you a lot. More than I've ever liked anyone." I will never forget that moment. A light breeze was blowing through the car, fireflies were blinking everywhere, and the song 'Unchained Melody' was playing on the radio. Then I realized Rich was holding a ring. I looked at him.
"Yes, Rich, I'll go steady with you. I like you more that anyone else, too." He smiled and slipped the ring on my finger. I looked down at it.
"I know it's not much," he said. "But, I think its pretty and I'd be the happiest guy around if you'd wear it." I smiled at him.
"Oh, Rich it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Of, course I'll wear it. Thank you." He smiled back. We lay there together for a long time. I heard the radio say it was 9:30, and I told Rich what Aunt Polly said about being home before 10.
"Well, as much as I don't want to, I guess we better get headed back." He said. Just then something hit me.
"Wait! What are we gonna tell Ace and the guys? Should we tell them we're going steady?" Rich looked thoughtful.
"Well, they're gonna find out sooner or later. And better sooner than later." He told me. "So go ahead and tell 'em."
What would they all think? The Cobras were all very overprotective of me. They said I was like their little sister. What would they think of me and Rich? Would they be upset? I knew Ace would be mad, especially after our shouting match in his car this morning. Rich and I didn't talk on the way home, but when we pulled up in front of my house he gave me another passionate kiss and whispered,
"Goodnight, Marti. I'll call you in the morning, ok?" I nodded and got out of his car. He roared down the street as I made my way into the house. Ace was sitting on the chair by the front window.
"Where have you been?" he demanded, "And don't think I didn't see who you were with, cause I did." I glared right back at him.
"Good for you Ace, I'm glad your visions in order. Now I'm very tired, can I please go to bed?"
"No," he said, "Not till you tell me what is going on between you and Eyeball." I stared at him.
"You wanna know what's going on between me and Eyeball? Fine I'll tell you." I held out my finger with the ring on it. "We're going steady, that's what's going on between us. Happy now that you've meddled in my personal life?" Ace's face turned a reddish purple color.
"I told you not to get involved with him, and now you're going steady! This is great, just great!"
"Yeah, it is great. For me and Rich. It's also our business. Not yours; not Billy's; not Charlie's; not Vince's; not Fuzzy's. Ours. And we would both really appreciate it if the rest of you would stay out of it. Dig me?" With that I swept past up the stairs and went to bed.
Chapter 6~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rich had said he call me the next morning, but in boy time that meant 12:30 in the afternoon. Ace glowered at me over the table where he was eating a sandwich. We hadn't spoken since last night, when I had left him standing in the living room.
"I wish he'd stop looking at me like he's gonna jump the table and stab me." I told Rich over the phone.
"Who," he asked, "Ace?" I gave a sigh of desperation to show him how dumb his question was.
"No, Beaver Cleaver. Of course Ace, who else wants to kill us right now?!" Rich laughed softly.
"I guess Ace didn't take our news to well, huh? What did your Aunt Polly think?"
"She was fine with. She thinks 'you're such a nice boy'. That's a direct quote." I told him.
"Yeah, my mom said the same thing about you. Well, minus the boy part. And my brothers and sister are thrilled. Especially Shelly, you know how much she likes you." I smiled. Almost everyone was happy with us. Now what about our friends?
"What about the other guys; do they know yet?" I asked.
"Yeah, I ran into them last night and told 'em. They seemed ok with it, they weren't exactly shocked. Said they knew it was gonna happen sooner or later and they tried to tell Ace, but he wouldn't listen." I looked over my shoulder. Ace was gone from the table. I wondered where he had gone, when I heard the front door slam.
"Hey, Rich, is it ok if I come over?" I heard him sigh in to the phone.
"No, darlin, I don't think you should. My Pop's kinda on a mean streak. He's drunk and he didn't go to work today. How about if I pick you up and we go somewhere?" I thought about this for a second.
"OK, it sounds good. Can you be here in 10 minutes?"
"Yeah," he said, "10 minutes" While I waited for him to pick me up, I thought about our lives. I really liked Rich; maybe I was even in love with him. I didn't know. I didn't want to tell him I loved him. I was way too prideful to do that. I didn't know what to do. And this thing with Ace was just a big mess. We had never been in a fight. I loved him like he was my own brother. He would just have to understand that I wasn't the little girl who used to come with pigtails in her hair asking for a band-aid for her knees anymore. He would just have to understand that.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________ The next two months passed without incident. I spent my all my time with Rich. I hardly saw Ace, and when we did see each
other we never spoke. It was all very stressful. A stress that Rich began to help me forget after we had been together for a month, but I won't go into that!! Now school would be starting back the next day and I was very nervous. Rich was the only Cobra that didn't go to school and Fuzzy had promised him that the others would look out for me. But that night as prepared for bed, there was a knock on my door. Thinking it was Aunt Polly, I called
"Come in!" The door opened and who entered? Not Aunt Polly, but Ace. I have to admit I was more than a little shocked.
"What is it Ace? Come to chew me out again?" Surprisingly, he smiled.
"No, I….I came to, uh, sayimsorryforfightingwithyou." He said the last part in a rush. I gave him a puzzled look.
"Beg pardon? I didn't quite catch the last part, Ace." He sighed.
"I said, I'm sorry for fighting with you. You were right. What goes on between you and Eyeball is none of my business. Can you forgive me Mart? Please?" My heart went out to him. I couldn't help it.
"Yes, Ace I forgive you." I said, crossing the room to give him a hug. He smiled.
"Good, because I got you something." He held out a piece of paper that looked like a flyer. I took it from him and read it out loud.
"Madam Clair's Ballet Dancer's Academy. A dancing school? You got me a flyer for a dancing school?"
"Well yeah," he said. "I know you stopped dancing when Aunt Lynn left, but I thought you might wanna start again. Besides, you can't back out because I already signed you up and paid for your classes. All your classes." I looked at him
"You did *what*???" He looked kinda sheepish.
"I signed you up for dance classes and I paid for all of them."
"Ace, thank you, but where did you get that kinda money and how did you know I wanted to dance again?" I asked.
"Well I got a job, that's what I've been doing all summer while you charmed my best friend. And I just had a feeling you wanted to start dancing again. Especially after I saw you practicing in the basement last week." He replied. I thought about this.
"Oh. Now speaking of your best friend, have you by any chance made up with him?" Ace smiled again.
"I just got off the phone with him. He also agreed about the dance classes; so did the rest of the Cobras, especially Fuzzy."
I smiled again. We were doing a lot of smiling that night.
"Well, I guess we better get to bed. School tomorrow. Thank God this is my last year!" Ace said, walking out of my room.
"Yeah, zippity doo-da for you!!!" I replied sarcastically after him. As I climbed in bed I thought about school tomorrow. Would I make any friends? I guess I would find out.
*~*~*~*~*
The next morning dawned bright and early. I climbed out of bed and dressed in my 'back to school outfit', which consisted of new blue jeans; a light blue tee shirt, and high tops. I left my hair down long. Then, with a quick look in the mirror, I headed down stairs to get something to eat. Ace was already at the table. He was gonna drive us to school. We also had to pick up Fuzzy, who lived just around the block from us. Vince was picking up Billy and Charlie. We were going to meet in the school parking lot. As soon as we got to the school, I went to the front office to get my schedule. I was standing there when this white haired woman asked me,
"Can I help you miss?" She seemed kinda snooty to me.
"Um yeah, I'm Martina Merrill and I'm here to get my schedule or somthin." The woman gave me the one over.
"Ah, yes, Miss Merrill. I'm Mrs. Owens, the secretary. Here's your schedule and this is Paris Duncan. She has all your classes and is going to be showing you around." Mrs. Owens handed me my schedule and pointed to a pretty girl with long black hair.
The girl took my arm and led me out of the office.
"Hi, Paris Duncan." She said, shaking my hand. I smiled at her. Maybe she would become my friend.
"Martina Merrill, but you can call me Marti." She looked around.
"Is it true you're Ace Merrill's cousin and that you go steady with Eyeball Chambers?" Ok what kinda questions were these?
"Yeah, both are true, is either a problem for you?" She looked kind of surprised.
"No not at all. I was just wondering. Um, Marti, do you want to be friends?"
"Well, I would like that, but what would your friends think?" I asked her.
"I don't have any friends. I'm a 'geek' in everyone else's opinion. The only friend I ever had moved away this summer."
I have to admit I felt sorry for Paris.
"Sure Paris, I'd love to be your friend. You can hang out with my friends. As long as you don't mind hanging with the Cobras." She just smiled and said,
"That would be totally boss!! They won't mind me will they?"
"No of course not," I reassured her." You might even you a boyfriend." She giggled.
"I always did think Billy Tessio was cute." I started to giggle too.
"I know he is." We stopped outside a classroom door.
"Here we are. Homeroom; we have Ms. Harvey. We have her again 6th hour for Math." We walked in to the classroom and found seats just as the bell rang.
"Now class, seeing as this is homeroom, you'll only be in here for 15 minutes." Ms. Harvey said. She was young looking, with honey brown hair and bright blue eyes.
"I'm going to call role. When your name is called say 'here'.
"Lucas Abernathy"
"Here"
"Caitlin Adams"
"Here"
"Thomas Ash"
"Here" And on down the line she went, until, finally,
"Martina Merrill" I looked up, kids were actually turning around in their seats to look at me. One girl even whispered
"She even looks like Ace." But I held onto my pride. If they didn't want to like me for who I was, then hunky dory for them.
"Here" We mostly just sat there and talked. The class, if you can even call it that, was just a royal waste of time in my opinion.
Next me and Paris had History with Mr. Bourbon, an older man with thinning hair. Much to my surprise, Billy and Charlie were in this class. I introduced them to Paris and the four of us quickly found seats together. Was it just my imagination or was Billy looking at Paris more then need be? After History, we had girls PE with Mrs. Stevens, a young energetic looking woman. Then we had Literature, my favorite class, with Mrs. Lear, and finally lunch. Paris and I went through the lunch line and began scanning the room for the Cobras. Finally Paris spotted them at a table by the far wall.
"There they are!" We made our way over to them and sat down. Fuzzy and Vince were the only ones there so far.
"Who's she?" Fuzzy asked looking at Paris.
"This is Paris Duncan. She's gonna start hanging out with us, ok?" They both nodded and said hi.
"Paris, this is Fuzzy Moore and Vince Deaton." I told her, pointing to each of them.
"Hi" was all she said. By then Billy and Charlie had sat down. I looked around.
"Paris, you know Billy and Charlie. Now where's Ace?"
"Right here." He said coming up from behind me. I just about jumped out of my seat.
"Ace!!! You scared me to death!!!" He smiled and sat down on the other side of Paris.
"Sorry. Now who's this?" Paris smiled at him.
"I'm Paris Duncan. I take it your Marti's cousin Ace?" he laughed.
"Yeah that'd be me. Nice to know you Paris." We talked our way through lunch. It was over to soon if you ask me. After lunch was Math; Ms. Harvey was the teacher. We also had this class with Fuzzy and Vince. The only thing I learned was Fuzzy's real name is Curtis. After Math was Health; with Mr. Pierce. Then Study Hall; with Mr. Whitlock. Ace was in Study hall with Paris and me. I passed Paris a note asking her what she was doing after school today.
"I have a ballet class." She whispered. I was astounded. What if? Nah, it couldn't be. Or could it?
"I take ballet at Madam Clair's Ballet Dancers Academy." She continued. It was!!! I couldn't believe it!
"NO WAY!!!" I whispered loudly. More loudly than I meant to, people turned around in their seats and looked at me. Paris giggled.
"No way what?" she asked.
"I have a ballet class this afternoon too!!!" I told her. She grinned
"Boss!!!" She said.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 7~
The next month and a half went by quickly. Halloween was now nearing. On the Friday night before Halloween, I was getting ready for Paris to come over to spend the night. We had become best friends and besides Rich and Ace, she was my favorite person to be around. I was the only one home when she arrived. After I took her stuff up to my room, she looked around.
"Where is everybody?" I laughed.
"Aunt Polly has to work late and Ace is taking Shannon out." Shannon was this girl who lived over in Mutton that Ace had started going with. She was a pretty girl, with short, dark hair and big brown eyes. She was nice enough, I guess. I had only talked to her a few times.
"So we have the whole house to ourselves?" Paris was asking me. I laughed again.
"Yeah I guess we do."
"Chalk on the sidewalk, writin on the wall"
"Everybody knows it, I love Paul."
"Tall Paul, Tall, Paul, Tall Paul. He's my all"
"He's my mountain, he's my tree"
"We go steady, Paul and me"
"Tall Paul, Tall Paul, Tall Paul. He's my all"
Me and Paris danced and danced to Annette Funicello's song. When the record would end we would just start it again. It was the fun kind of dancing, just hopping around and stuff. When we were tired of dancing, we sat down on the couch.
"Did you watch 'Leave It To Beaver' last night?" Paris asked.
"Yeah, you know I watch it every week." I told her.
"Well, on a scale of one to ten what would you rate Wally?" I had to think about this. In my day, rating Wally Cleaver was a serious matter.
"One to ten? Probably an eleven!" We laughed. He was worth a twelve!
"Yeah, me too." She said.
"I don't know I might rate him a fourteen!" said a voice from behind us, causing me and Paris both to jump. We turned around and there was Billy and Rich standing in the doorway, Billy smiling at his own dumb joke.
I dunno, Billy, I'd prolly give him a 20!" The two boys laughed like they thought it was the funniest thing ever said.
"Shut up you two or you guys can have June!" Paris told them. She had a sassy mouth, in those days that was something a lot of girls didn't have, especially when they were talking to boys.
"Uh, the mom! Your gonna pay for that one Duncan!" Billy grabbed Paris and started tickling her. She shrieked and told him to get off, but I could tell she was really enjoying it. Rich grabbed my waist and pulled me closer to him. As we kissed, I noticed that Billy and Paris were to. 'This is good, maybe they'll start going steady!' I thought.