AUTHOR'S NOTE: Wow, finally updated, kept saying to myself I'd get this
chapter done. Thanks for the updates, that was the most I've ever gotten
for a chapter. Other then that, I have NO idea what to write after this.
If anyone has even the slightest plot ideas, please e-mail them to me, I
will probably use them because I have no idea what to write next. Ugh,
trying to be as good as S.E. Hinton and Jeff Eugenides. Oh well. Here's
chapter two for those still reading it.
CHAPTER TWO
Truth be told, the Lisbon girls weren't all "crazy" like Dallas' first impression of Cecilia was. They were majestic creatures, ones we felt unworthy of seeing their mere visages, let alone living just across the street from them. Whenever one of them would leave the confinement of the house, whether it was Mary, 16, to collect the mail and flirt her crumpled lemon peel hair or Bonnie, 15, to test out her new bright pink roller- skates (she finally talked her mother into letting her own a pair; Mrs. Lisbon was convinced they were only going to hurt her), we would stop whatever we were doing to merely gaze at them. We came to know all of them through our occasional glimpses; they were always there, around the corner of our eyes, but only for brief moments. This only increased their enigmatic presence and appeal. One by one, we all came to fall in love with the Lisbon girls, and we had hardly ever spoken to them.
The good news was, they all went to high school (except Cecilia, but they were always so clustered together you rarely knew that she went to middle school while the rest went to high school). Two-Bit's locker was right next to Mary, and many times he'd see her just gazing into her locker mirror. She wore a mask of make-up, covering her true thoughts beneath pale lipstick and a dash of eyeliner that she'd smuggle into schools (her mother forbid the girls wearing make-up or anything the didn't belie their femininity).
"It's been the only time in my life I've ever been at a loss for words," Two-Bit muttered, describing the Lisbon girls in general and Mary specifically. He'd describe her face in remarkable detail, describing her darker blonde hair the color of dying dandelions, her mysterious eyes that never met anyone's. This was strange behavior for Two-Bit, because he couldn't remember what he'd have for lunch, let alone perfectly describe a face. You'd think he'd be talking about the Mona Lisa when he spoke, "I dunno, there's just something about them."
Even strict Darry fell under their spell. After going to the drug store to pick up some cough syrup for a sick Soda, he ran into Therese, 17 and thereby the eldest Lisbon sister, and Mary. You'd rarely see one of the Lisbon girls without seeing at least another accompanying them, and this was the first time Darry met the new neighbors. Therese and Mary were walking off when something fell out of Therese's purse. Darry bent over to pick it up. It was a bottle of sleeping pills.
"Miss, you forgot these." Therese and Mary turned around, and Therese smiled as she brushed her hair out of her face.
"Thank you," she said, and took the capsules from Darry's hands and gingerly slipped them into her purse. Mary was tugging on Therese's arm, but Therese ignored her. Pink tinted her chubby cheeks, and she continued to run her hand through her fingers.
"Do you two need a ride home?" Darry offered. Therese giggled a bit, coughed and said, "Sure."
"I'm Darrel Curtis, everyone calls me Darry, I live right across from you," explained Darry as he walked Therese and Mary out to our truck. Therese sat in between Darry and Mary, who contented herself with staring mysteriously out the window, watching as everyday life went on around her. Darry recalled Mary seeming bored, the American dream wearing quickly on her.
Therese spent her time in Darry's car silent as well, though she occupied the ride home by staring at the stars. When Darry dropped them off at their house, Therese said, "Look, see that star constellation over there?" Darry looked up into the night sky to see what Therese was pointing out.
"Yeah," Darry said. "It's Andromeda."
Therese's head snapped to see him, a bit shocked and apprehensive, "Yeah. It's my favorite."
"There's Orion," Darry continued, pointing off. He turned around and pointed to another constellation, "And there's the Gemini twins."
"Yeah," Therese said, her pale rose lips carved into a smile, "you an astrologist?"
"Nope, just a guy who works too much," Darry said. "Goodnight. He reportedly stepped back into the truck and drove across the street, and Mary had to drag Therese in. Two weeks later, Amanda Hill claimed to have heard Therese talking to the science teacher about her sea horses. According to Amanda, she listed one of their names as "Darrel". We have yet to confirm this.
Unfortunately, we weren't the only ones who discovered the Lisbon girls. Many times Lux, only 14, would be seen receiving rides home from Socy boys, boys who wore sweaters and had their hair all cut like Beatle wannabes. They'd always drop her off a block away from their house, and she'd walk the rest of the way, which was pretty risky behavior even for Lux.
Lux was something else. While all the Lisbon girls were oddly captivating, she was the unofficial leader, the one everyone would stare at to watch as she performed a task as meticulous as collecting the milk. She wore peek-a- boo clothing, T-shirts with the sleeves shorn and black skirts that stopped a little above the knee. But she always had an aura of sexuality around her, one that drew many a curious boy to wonder about kissing her luscious lips, their hands pressed against the small of her back, their eyesight blinded by the radiance of her sunny hair.
Which when Dallas Winston saw Lux Lisbon, it made perfect sense for him to want her. It was an oddly warm day in March. We would've never noticed it if we hadn't gone outside for a smoke. We were just about to head off to the movies, but then we gazed across the lawn at the Lisbon house. Cecilia was in her usual position of lying on the grass; Therese was lounging across the sidewalk, staring intently at a colony of ants. Mary was pushing Bonnie on the tire swing, whispering comments we would've died to hear.
When we saw Lux stride across the lawn, our gazes followed her swinging posterior to the green hose wrapped up in the drive. She was wearing a white tank-top matched with low slung jeans with embroider roses climbing up her shin. Unwrapping the hose, she gingerly turned the handle to a medium level and began to cool off under the refreshing spittle from the hose. Her hair was doused in water in moments, slithering down to her arms and neck. The other girls didn't seem to pay her too much attention, except Mary, who glanced in Lux's direction, then ours and then demanded Bonnie to push her on the tire swing.
"Johnny, where the hell are my cigarettes?!" called Dally, stumbling drunkenly out onto the porch, uttering every swear word under the sun as he tripped over Steve Randle's feet. His intoxicated eyes fixed upon Lux's curvaceous body, undulating under the cool of the water. Mouth jutting uncontrollably, Dally whimpering like a dying fish. We'd never seen him like that, at an actually loss of words. Usually he was smarting off to cops, disapproving ministers, even little old ladies trying to crush the street to stare at the for-sale televisions to watch their favorite soap operas. But when Lux Lisbon stood outside, tossing her silky mane, bathing herself under the refreshing cascades of crystalline water, Dallas Winston was lost, and now pursuing a girl unlike any other greaser girl we'd ever met. That March day started the legacy that would entwine us eternally with the Lisbon girls.
CHAPTER TWO
Truth be told, the Lisbon girls weren't all "crazy" like Dallas' first impression of Cecilia was. They were majestic creatures, ones we felt unworthy of seeing their mere visages, let alone living just across the street from them. Whenever one of them would leave the confinement of the house, whether it was Mary, 16, to collect the mail and flirt her crumpled lemon peel hair or Bonnie, 15, to test out her new bright pink roller- skates (she finally talked her mother into letting her own a pair; Mrs. Lisbon was convinced they were only going to hurt her), we would stop whatever we were doing to merely gaze at them. We came to know all of them through our occasional glimpses; they were always there, around the corner of our eyes, but only for brief moments. This only increased their enigmatic presence and appeal. One by one, we all came to fall in love with the Lisbon girls, and we had hardly ever spoken to them.
The good news was, they all went to high school (except Cecilia, but they were always so clustered together you rarely knew that she went to middle school while the rest went to high school). Two-Bit's locker was right next to Mary, and many times he'd see her just gazing into her locker mirror. She wore a mask of make-up, covering her true thoughts beneath pale lipstick and a dash of eyeliner that she'd smuggle into schools (her mother forbid the girls wearing make-up or anything the didn't belie their femininity).
"It's been the only time in my life I've ever been at a loss for words," Two-Bit muttered, describing the Lisbon girls in general and Mary specifically. He'd describe her face in remarkable detail, describing her darker blonde hair the color of dying dandelions, her mysterious eyes that never met anyone's. This was strange behavior for Two-Bit, because he couldn't remember what he'd have for lunch, let alone perfectly describe a face. You'd think he'd be talking about the Mona Lisa when he spoke, "I dunno, there's just something about them."
Even strict Darry fell under their spell. After going to the drug store to pick up some cough syrup for a sick Soda, he ran into Therese, 17 and thereby the eldest Lisbon sister, and Mary. You'd rarely see one of the Lisbon girls without seeing at least another accompanying them, and this was the first time Darry met the new neighbors. Therese and Mary were walking off when something fell out of Therese's purse. Darry bent over to pick it up. It was a bottle of sleeping pills.
"Miss, you forgot these." Therese and Mary turned around, and Therese smiled as she brushed her hair out of her face.
"Thank you," she said, and took the capsules from Darry's hands and gingerly slipped them into her purse. Mary was tugging on Therese's arm, but Therese ignored her. Pink tinted her chubby cheeks, and she continued to run her hand through her fingers.
"Do you two need a ride home?" Darry offered. Therese giggled a bit, coughed and said, "Sure."
"I'm Darrel Curtis, everyone calls me Darry, I live right across from you," explained Darry as he walked Therese and Mary out to our truck. Therese sat in between Darry and Mary, who contented herself with staring mysteriously out the window, watching as everyday life went on around her. Darry recalled Mary seeming bored, the American dream wearing quickly on her.
Therese spent her time in Darry's car silent as well, though she occupied the ride home by staring at the stars. When Darry dropped them off at their house, Therese said, "Look, see that star constellation over there?" Darry looked up into the night sky to see what Therese was pointing out.
"Yeah," Darry said. "It's Andromeda."
Therese's head snapped to see him, a bit shocked and apprehensive, "Yeah. It's my favorite."
"There's Orion," Darry continued, pointing off. He turned around and pointed to another constellation, "And there's the Gemini twins."
"Yeah," Therese said, her pale rose lips carved into a smile, "you an astrologist?"
"Nope, just a guy who works too much," Darry said. "Goodnight. He reportedly stepped back into the truck and drove across the street, and Mary had to drag Therese in. Two weeks later, Amanda Hill claimed to have heard Therese talking to the science teacher about her sea horses. According to Amanda, she listed one of their names as "Darrel". We have yet to confirm this.
Unfortunately, we weren't the only ones who discovered the Lisbon girls. Many times Lux, only 14, would be seen receiving rides home from Socy boys, boys who wore sweaters and had their hair all cut like Beatle wannabes. They'd always drop her off a block away from their house, and she'd walk the rest of the way, which was pretty risky behavior even for Lux.
Lux was something else. While all the Lisbon girls were oddly captivating, she was the unofficial leader, the one everyone would stare at to watch as she performed a task as meticulous as collecting the milk. She wore peek-a- boo clothing, T-shirts with the sleeves shorn and black skirts that stopped a little above the knee. But she always had an aura of sexuality around her, one that drew many a curious boy to wonder about kissing her luscious lips, their hands pressed against the small of her back, their eyesight blinded by the radiance of her sunny hair.
Which when Dallas Winston saw Lux Lisbon, it made perfect sense for him to want her. It was an oddly warm day in March. We would've never noticed it if we hadn't gone outside for a smoke. We were just about to head off to the movies, but then we gazed across the lawn at the Lisbon house. Cecilia was in her usual position of lying on the grass; Therese was lounging across the sidewalk, staring intently at a colony of ants. Mary was pushing Bonnie on the tire swing, whispering comments we would've died to hear.
When we saw Lux stride across the lawn, our gazes followed her swinging posterior to the green hose wrapped up in the drive. She was wearing a white tank-top matched with low slung jeans with embroider roses climbing up her shin. Unwrapping the hose, she gingerly turned the handle to a medium level and began to cool off under the refreshing spittle from the hose. Her hair was doused in water in moments, slithering down to her arms and neck. The other girls didn't seem to pay her too much attention, except Mary, who glanced in Lux's direction, then ours and then demanded Bonnie to push her on the tire swing.
"Johnny, where the hell are my cigarettes?!" called Dally, stumbling drunkenly out onto the porch, uttering every swear word under the sun as he tripped over Steve Randle's feet. His intoxicated eyes fixed upon Lux's curvaceous body, undulating under the cool of the water. Mouth jutting uncontrollably, Dally whimpering like a dying fish. We'd never seen him like that, at an actually loss of words. Usually he was smarting off to cops, disapproving ministers, even little old ladies trying to crush the street to stare at the for-sale televisions to watch their favorite soap operas. But when Lux Lisbon stood outside, tossing her silky mane, bathing herself under the refreshing cascades of crystalline water, Dallas Winston was lost, and now pursuing a girl unlike any other greaser girl we'd ever met. That March day started the legacy that would entwine us eternally with the Lisbon girls.