Disclaimer: TC Williams High School and its environs belong to the city of Alexandria, VA. The original Titans and Ronnie's date, Alison, belong to themselves ;) while the fictitious characters from the film Remember the Titans belong to Disney. This chapter is named after the 1973 song sung by Tony Orlando and Dawn. "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" belongs to Iron Butterfly and the quotations later in this chapter were taken from the Elton John song "Tiny Dancer." I only own Tamsin and Michael, their parents, Midnight Train and assorted TC Williams High students.
Author's Notes: Sorry about the delay, I've been really busy at work _ The next chapter is about halfway through, though! Thanks to the members of the Sugar Quill Writer's Workshop 2 for their invaluable input, and to Eponine42 and all the repeat reviewers for their fabulous feedback!
Chapter Eighteen — Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose
The TC Williams High School Class of 1973 held its Senior Banquet on the night of May 5th. It was held again in the school gym, which was decorated in red, black and gold. TC Williams pennants, cardboard cutouts of graduation caps and blown-up photographs of significant school events over the past year decorated the walls. A large banner that read "CONGRATULATIONS, SENIORS!" hung over the stage, which was empty save for a couple of microphone stands, some amplifiers and a drum kit with the words "Midnight Train" stenciled onto the bass drum in dark blue letters.
"That's kind of premature, isn't it?" Alison asked, nodding toward the banner. She and Ronnie had just entered the gym after exchanging greetings with their favorite teachers and getting their copies of the Pantheon, the TC Williams yearbook.
Ronnie grinned. "On the other hand, that might just force the teachers to let us all pass."
The Titans who had arrived ahead of them had taken a table near the stage. "Over here!" Blue hollered, standing up and waving.
"Hi, everyone," Ronnie said as he escorted his date over. After a round of Hey, Sunshine's from his friends, he turned to the girl at his side. "Alison, you already know Blue and Gerry from English class, right?"
"I sure do," she replied. "Hi, guys."
"And over there's Julius and Petey."
Alison smiled. "Oh, I know them, too, from my other classes."
"Hi, Alison," Petey said to her. "I'll give you back your Physics notes on Monday, all right?"
"Well, I see that Petey knows you pretty well," Ronnie chuckled. He thought the black boy looked a little put out. Maybe it was because of the cheesy light blue tuxedo that he was wearing that evening. "And then we've got Emma, Sharon, Annie and…?" He looked questioningly at the petite, slender girl seated beside Petey, the only stranger at the table.
"Bess," she supplied.
"Hi, Bess, pleased to meet you," Ronnie told her, noting with amusement that she was wearing light blue, too. It seemed that she had somehow been able to wrestle Petey into a matching tux. "Everyone, this is Alison."
"Hi, Alison," Emma said with a friendly smile. "You look very nice. That shade of yellow suits you."
The brown-haired girl smiled back. "Thank you," she replied, self-consciously smoothing her soft yellow skirt as Ronnie held her chair out for her.
"It's the color of…"
"It's the color of sunshine!" Blue cracked, making everyone laugh.
Just then, Alan, Rev and their dates arrived, yearbooks in hand. Everyone spent the first moments at the dance signing each other's yearbooks and talking about the upcoming final exams (Sharon thought the Senior Banquet should have been held after finals) and their plans for the summer. Some people also stopped by to say hi and ask the Titans to sign their yearbooks.
Tamsin arrived just after Gerry and Emma returned from having their picture taken. Petey, of course, was the first to notice. "Hey, she's lookin' good."
"Who?" Ronnie asked, but all he got was a table napkin flung in his face. "Oh, jeez, Blue!"
He sputtered, dropped the linen square in his lap, and looked up just in time to see that Tamsin had arrived. She was wearing a dark pink dress and high-heeled gold sandals. Her long hair hung loose to her waist.
Petey whistled loudly and appreciatively, giving Tamsin a thumbs-up when she turned to investigate the sound. She smiled back and waved with her left hand, towing Michael along with her right. "I can't believe they let him in," Lisa said when the pair walked over to a table on the other side of the dance floor. "He isn't even wearing a tie!"
The dark-haired boy was wearing a black tuxedo jacket and matching pants, but instead of a proper shirt and bow tie, he had a bohemian-looking shirt with billowing ruffles on the front and cuffs. "It's called a poet's shirt," Cat explained.
Ronnie chuckled. "Boone would never have allowed him on the bus."
"He wouldn't have let you on either," Gerry told him. "Not the way you dressed when you first came to Alexandria. Do y'all remember?"
"Yeah, and we also remember what happened to you when you called Sunshine on it, Bertier!" Blue laughed.
Gerry flushed, but came right back with a do-you-remember of his own. "Oh, and do you remember the first time you taught us the warm-up dance?" he asked, miming Blue crashing into something in the middle of his dance.
"Well, y'all learned it, didn't you?" the big black boy retorted over Petey's boisterous laughter.
The exchange gave rise to a round of do-you-remembers, after which the Titans and their dates hit the buffet table for some food. It was kind of hard pushing Gerry's wheelchair along while balancing a plate and cup of punch at the same time, but they managed not to spill anything.
"Do you suppose someone spiked the punch?" Petey asked when everyone had finished eating.
A wide-eyed Rev put down his now-empty cup. "Petey, you didn't."
"Oh, I didn't spike the punch, Rev," the other boy replied. "I was just wonderin' if someone had."
"Well, couldn't you have wondered whether the punch was spiked before we had all drunk it?"
"Where's the fun in that?"
Presently, Emma got to her feet. "Excuse me, y'all, but I'm goin' to say hi to Tamsin."
"All right, sugar," Gerry told her. "I'll see you in a bit."
"Wait up, Emma," Sharon said. "I'm goin' with you." Both she and Cat stood up.
"Hey, hold on, are you goin' with them, too?" Petey asked Alison, who had also risen from her chair.
"Sure," the brown-haired girl replied with a smile and a shrug. "Why not?"
"Yeah, why not?" Ronnie chimed in. "Tamsin and I are still friends, so there's nothing wrong if Alison—"
"Why don't you go say hi to Tamsin, then?" Blue challenged.
The blond boy felt his face start to flush, but he managed to put on a hurt expression. "What, you don't want me to hang around here and talk to you?"
"Well, this discussion don't look like it's gonna end anytime soon," Cat observed wryly to the other girls. "Let's go, y'all."
Tamsin saw the girls coming toward her and got up to greet them. "Hi!"
"Hi, Tamsin!" Emma replied. "Hi, Michael," she added.
Tamsin beamed as Michael acknowledged the greeting with a polite wave. "You all look great!" she told her friends.
But instead of looking pleased, Cat gave her a reproachful look. "Girl, you've been in Virginia for almost a whole year and you still can't say 'y'all' properly?"
"OK, y'all look great," Tamsin repeated dutifully.
"That's better," the black girl said.
That was when Tamsin became aware of Alison standing uncertainly off to one side. She turned to the brown-haired girl with a smile. "Hi, Alison. It's nice to see you."
"Same here," Alison replied.
"She's here with Sunshine," Sharon said, drawing repressive looks from Emma and Cat. "What? It's the truth, ain't it?"
Tamsin chuckled. "Oh, I know she's here with Ronnie — Petey told me. I'm sure you'll have a good time, Alison," she said to Ronnie's date. "Ronnie's a very nice guy."
"Yeah, he is," the other girl agreed, relief obvious in her voice.
"Anyone want to go to the bathroom?" Cat asked brightly.
* * *
The bathroom was empty when they entered and the girls took full advantage of the unlimited access to the mirrors. "Good thing all the other girls seem to be eatin' slowly," Sharon observed as she inspected her reflection. "We've got this place to ourselves until people start comin' in to fix their makeup and stuff."
"Good," Cat said. She made sure the tiled sink was clean and dry before leaning her hip against it. "At least we've got some time to hang out with each other before everyone else starts getting' in the way."
Emma finished retouching her lipstick and turned from the mirror to give Tamsin an appreciative smile. "Ooh, Tamsin, I didn't get a good look at your dress earlier! I love it!"
"Thanks." The dark-haired girl smiled in modest acknowledgement of the compliment and looked down at her dress. It had a rather low scoop neck, skinny straps and an asymmetrical hem that ended at her knee on one side but brushed her ankle on the other. "My mom sent it to me for Christmas."
"It's very unique," Alison told her. "Your mother has great taste."
"How is she, by the way?" Emma asked. Her golden hair caught the light as she tilted her head.
Tamsin's mouth stretched into what she hoped was a blithe smile. "Fine, just fine," she replied, hoping her friends would leave it at that. She knew she could tell them everything (and that it would probably help if she got her feelings out in the open), but this was neither the place nor the time to tell people about her mother.
To her great relief, not only did her friends not press her for more information, but they also changed the subject. "Do any of y'all have plans for after the dance?" Cat asked.
Sharon shrugged. "No, Julius will probably just take me home. I'll probably be too tired to go out again after this is over."
Tamsin chuckled. "Julius is right, Sharon, you don't have much stamina for a sister," she said, dodging the not-so-gentle nudge the tall black girl aimed toward her.
There was a short silence and Emma looked around her, a sure sign that she had some juicy gossip to share. "Well, I heard Anthony Holden got a motel room for tonight," she told them in a hushed whisper. "He probably thinks he'll get lucky."
Cat snorted. "He's here with Melissa Bateman — who needs luck?" she scoffed, then instantly looked heavenwards with a contrite expression. "I'm sorry, that wasn't a very nice thing to say."
The other girls exchanged amused glances (Rev's influence was showing) and Alison patted Cat's arm comfortingly. "It's the truth, anyway," she said with a smile.
"A motel room!" Tamsin shuddered. "It sounds so…seedy."
Sharon shrugged. "Better than the back seat of your boyfriend's car."
"What do you know about the back seat of a car?" Emma wanted to know.
"Nothing!" the other girl replied, sounding a bit flustered. "Well, I haven't done it in the back seat of a car, if that's what you're askin'," she added. "I just heard some couples do it there and I think it's just the most unromantic place in the world. I mean, who wants to get it on with all his junk around you?"
"Maybe the guy cleans his car in preparation for the occasion."
"Well, still!" Sharon insisted, then it was her turn to peer at Emma. "And what do you know about what a guy does 'in preparation for the occasion,' Emma?"
Tamsin laughed, missing the blonde girl's reply. Unlike Miranda's boring lunchtime gossip sessions and Jeannie's idiotic lecture at Homecoming, she was actually enjoying the time she was spending in the girls' bathroom tonight. It kind of reminded her of the whispered confidences she used to hear back at her convent school in New York. How sheltered and oblivious she had been to everything back then, Tamsin thought. She had come a long way during her stay in Alexandria.
"Well, Rev and I definitely don't have plans like that," Cat was saying, "and I'm proud to say so. Maybe some people like to brag that they've had sex with their boyfriends, but I'd rather brag about how my boyfriend sees me as a person instead of a—well, you know."
Alison and Tamsin exchanged smiles. "Sweet apples," they said in unison.
Sharon chuckled. "I know what y'all mean. I'm in Graham's other class."
"So, I take it y'all don't have plans like that, either?" Emma asked coyly.
"Of course not," Tamsin said, sneaking a glance at Alison. She noted (with some relief, it must be admitted) that the brown-haired girl was shaking her head, too.
* * *
Ronnie saw them come out of the bathroom. Tamsin was smiling, so apparently nothing bad had gone down between her and Alison.
This was his chance.
He waited until she had separated from the other girls before charging up to her. "Hey, Tamsin."
She looked up and smiled at him. "Hi, Ronnie," she replied. There was a warmth in her voice that hadn't been there in ages.
"Having a good time? Good," Ronnie said when she nodded. He smiled when he spied something familiar glittering around her wrist, half-hidden by a white carnation corsage. "That's a very nice bracelet."
Tamsin laughed (another sound he had not heard in a long time) and twisted the charm bracelet he had given her around her wrist. "It matched my shoes," she explained.
"Seriously, though," he told her, "you look great." She was thinner than he remembered and he thought she looked tired, but a smile and a sparkle in her eye worked wonders.
The pink that bloomed in her cheeks matched her dress. "Thank you."
When she made to move on, Ronnie held his yearbook out to her. "Oh, before you go, will you sign my yearbook?"
"Only if you sign mine," she replied. "Come on, I left it at my table."
He followed her to a table situated near the right side of the stage. A couple of people he didn't know very well were there, but there was no sign whatsoever of Tamsin's date. "Hey, where's Michael?" he asked as they sat down.
Tamsin gave him her copy of the Pantheon and opened her little gold bag to look for a pen. "Probably sneaked outside for a smoke."
Ronnie grimaced. "He smokes?"
She chuckled, making a small grimace of her own. "It's not so bad if you sit upwind from him," she said as she opened the yearbook to the page with her picture on it. She looked thoughtfully at the blank space underneath her name for a moment, then began to write.
He watched her write. Tamsin wore the same frown of concentration as she did when she was doing some pretty serious writing. He hoped it was a good sign, that she was putting down something meaningful (and friendly) instead of something generic like Have a good summer.
Tamsin had just finished writing and was sliding both yearbook and pen over to him when Michael returned. "Hi there," the dark-haired boy said in his soft voice, sliding into the chair on Tamsin's other side.
She smiled at him. "Hi, Michael."
Ronnie nodded cordially. "Michael."
"Sunshine," Michael replied with a nod of his own.
Just then, the dance committee walked onstage. The gym fell silent as Jenny Morello selected a microphone and spoke into it. "Hi, everyone! Are y'all havin' a good time?" She beamed when she got an enthusiastic yes in reply. "Glad to hear it! Well, could y'all return to your seats for a minute so we can hand out the Senior Awards?"
Ronnie gave Tamsin an apologetic glance at the announcement. He had to go and he hadn't signed her yearbook yet. "Do you mind if I take your yearbook home with me?"
She smiled. "Not at all."
He smiled back. "I promise I'll give it back to you on Monday."
"Sure."
"Cool. See you Monday, then."
He bid her goodbye and returned to his table. "Did she sign your yearbook?" Alison asked.
"Yeah, she did," Ronnie replied as he sat down next to he. Fortunately, Blue was too busy talking to Annie to put him through the third degree.
He leaned back in his chair and opened his yearbook, eager to read what Tamsin had written.
Dear Ronnie, her message read, This has definitely been a year to remember, and you had a very big part in that. Thanks to you, I lived, laughed and learned a lot…and, yes, I loved a lot, too.
Something lit up inside him when he read those words. They had gone through a lot during their short time together, and he was glad that she was acknowledging that.
I wish you all the success in the coming years. Don't forget to look me up if you're ever in New York — preferably when you're a star quarterback in the NFL, so you can take me out to dinner at Le Cirque. Ha-ha, I'm just kidding…about the Le Cirque part, anyway. Seriously, if you're ever in New York, let us know!
Your friend, Tamsin.
* * *
The first Senior Awards to be handed out were those that recognized the students' achievements in different fields, sort of like a students' version of the Achievement Awards that were going to be handed out at graduation.
There were two winners in each category, one guy and one girl. Jenny, who seemed to be acting as emcee that night, called teachers onstage to hand out the prizes.
The first winner from the Titans' table was Big Julius, who was voted Most Athletic along with the goalie of the girls' field hockey team.
Gerry led the applause as Coaches Boone and Yoast presented the winners with trophies. "It's plastic," Big Julius reported as he returned to his seat and passed his prize around.
"It's also only about as big as my fist," Petey chuckled. "Some prize."
Next, Sharon won the Most Intellectual award together with Danny Fenster. Everyone cheered appreciatively as Big Julius let out a piercing whistle while his girlfriend was receiving her award.
Tamsin applauded hard for her friend, smiling as she watched Big Julius pick Sharon right up and give his girlfriend a big kiss the minute she returned to the Titans' table. For a while she wished she was sitting with Emma and the others, cheering on the Titans and their friends, but then figured she could always just congratulate Sharon later or on Monday.
There was a standing ovation when it was announced that Gerry had been voted one of those Most Likely to Succeed. The winners were presented with plastic bows and arrows. "Why'd Gerry get this if he won Most Likely to Succeed?" Blue wondered, shooting an arrow and narrowly missing a passing teacher.
"So he can aim for the stars?" Alan suggested.
Everyone at the table looked at him, not quite sure whether to laugh or agree. "You know," Cat finally said, "that is so corny it's probably the right answer."
The dance committee handed out toy globes for TC Williams High's three exchange students, and then the awards got funnier and more offbeat. They gave out the Most Shy awards first, "so the winners will get it over and done with," Jenny explained. The winners were presented with joke glasses, each with a big nose and mustache attached, and then there were big red clown noses for the students voted Most Humorous.
Everyone laughed as Petey, who was one of the winners, put his on and talked his co-winner and the Most Shy winners into donning their prizes and posing for pictures. "Wow, Petey!" Big Julius exclaimed as the other boy returned to their table still wearing his prize. "That is a big improvement over how you used to look!"
Petey gave his friend a narrow glance over his big red nose and Sharon stepped in to defend her boyfriend. "Aw, come on, Petey; you made fun of Ju's prize, didn't you? He's just evenin' up the score!"
It was no surprise that Tamsin was one of those voted Most Individualistic, and that Petey went up onstage a second time to receive his Class Wolf award. (Jeannie won as Class Flirt.)
However, it did come as a surprise to Tamsin when she found that she had also been voted Best Dressed. "Why wouldn't you win?" Michael asked, holding up her medal (a large gold-foil price tag with "$1.00" written on its face) to get a better look at it. "You've got more style in your little finger than all the girls in this room put together."
She giggled self-consciously. "Thanks."
He leaned over to kiss her cheek. "Just calling it as I see it."
Just then, Tamsin glanced at her father. He saw her looking and gave her a small smile. She jerked her gaze away quickly and looked down. They had not really spoken since the night he told her the truth about him and her mother.
The next thing she knew, Ronnie and Miranda were onstage, receiving their awards for Mr. and Ms. TC Williams. She managed to join in the laughter and applause as each of them was crowned, draped with a sash, and presented with a bouquet of paper roses.
Midnight Train came onstage after the awarding was over and Ronnie and Miranda opened the dancing. "This is embarrassing," Ronnie mumbled as they swayed in the middle of the dance floor to Carole King's "Some Kind of Wonderful."
"It's not so bad," she replied with a small smile. "At least I finally got to dance with you."
"We never did go dancing when we were going out, did we?"
"No. This isn't quite the way I had imagined dancing with you would be like, though."
"Because everyone's watching?"
Miranda shrugged, transferring her flowers to her other hand. Ronnie was still holding his, too, so dancing was awkward. "Yeah, that's one thing."
He returned to Alison when the song was over. "Want to dance?" he asked as he gave her his flowers.
"Maybe later," she replied, indicating for him to sit down in the empty chair next to her. He sank into it gratefully as the band began to play a faster number. "How was the dance?"
"OK. I didn't, you know…it wasn't anything special—"
"Well, that's not a very nice thing to say," Alison murmured, her cheeks pink.
"No, I mean…it was OK. Miranda and I — you know we used to date, right? We talked. And it was…" Ronnie shrugged. "It was all right. Like talking to an old friend."
"Oh. Now, that's nice."
He nodded, smiling. "Yeah."
There were already quite a few couples on the dance floor when they got up to dance. "Hey, hey!" Gerry called out as Ronnie and Alison joined the other Titans and their dates on the dance floor. "Look who's here!"
"Goodness gracious, Sunshine got up to dance twice in one year!" Alan joked. "Someone had better take a picture this time!"
The Titans laughed and Ronnie made a face at the wiry blond boy. "Very funny. Just shut up and dance, will you?"
They danced in a big group to a number of fast songs before a slow song came on and everyone began to pair off. "The band's pretty good," Alison remarked as she stepped into Ronnie's arms.
"They're a welcome change from Brian Richter & the Tremors," he agreed. Midnight Train didn't play as much Motown stuff as the other band did, but his friends didn't seem to mind. He and Alison chuckled as Petey dragged Bess by in a comical tango.
Tamsin laughed, too, when she saw Petey and Bess. She waved as the black boy tangoed past, then leaned her head back on Michael's shoulder, humming happily when his arms tightened around her.
Ballerina, you must have seen her
Dancing in the sand
And now she's in me, always with me
Tiny dancer in my hand…
"You're so beautiful," Michael murmured.
"So are you," she replied, reaching up to trace the curve of his ear.
Hold me close now, tiny dancer
Count the headlights along the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today…
They swayed lazily as the band played on. Toward the end of the song, Michael leaned his cheek against Tamsin's, his breath fanning warmly over her hair as he whispered in her ear. "Let's get out of here."
"Look," Ronnie stammered to Alison when the song ended, "since this seems to be a night for tying up loose ends, would you mind if I ask Tamsin to dance?"
"Not at all," she replied, smiling her understanding. The smile then widened into a grin. "So long as you let me ask my ex-boyfriend!"
He grinned back. "It's a deal."
Ronnie escorted Alison off the floor and looked around for Tamsin, but all he saw of the dark-haired girl was her back as she and Michael left the gym.
* * *
"Welcome to our humble abode," Michael announced as he unlocked and opened the door to the Cardinals' apartment. "It's not much, but it's home."
He switched on a light and Tamsin stepped inside. "Won't Annette worry when she goes to pick us up and doesn't find us there?" she asked.
"No, she's cool," Michael assured her as he helped her with her coat. "She'll figure out that we got ourselves home. Have a seat."
She nodded and walked over to the rusty brown couch, picking her way gingerly through the discarded newspapers, clothing and miscellaneous items strewn in small heaps all over the floor. "Sorry about the mess," Michael apologized, closing the door.
"It's not so bad," Tamsin replied, resisting the urge to brush off the couch before sitting down upon it. She had never visited the Cardinals' before and was privately rather taken aback at the clutter, but she figured that they just weren't big on housekeeping. Her mother wasn't, either.
"Want something to drink? We've got some green tea."
She smiled. "No, thanks. I'm set."
Michael sat on the couch with her and turned on the television. He switched it off again when they couldn't find anything worth watching. "Let's just listen to some records."
"All right."
Tamsin watched him flip through a stack of LPs and suddenly remembered the first time she had gone to the Hill with Ronnie. He had put on some soft music, apparently in the hopes of getting her "in the mood." But when Michael turned back from the turntable, she found that he had decided to put on some Iron Butterfly. "Great song," she remarked as "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" began to growl out of the speakers.
He nodded and sat back down. "Yeah. You sure you don't want a drink?"
"Yes, I'm sure." She looked at her hands, suddenly uneasy. "Thanks for going to the Senior Banquet with me," she said. "It was a pretty good dance, wasn't it?"
Michael gave her a small smile. "Yeah, it was. Thank you for inviting me." He leaned over to tuck a lock of her hair behind her ear, his arm coming to rest around her shoulders. "You don't mind if I don't return the favor and ask you to the Junior Prom, do you? I mean, I wasn't really planning on going. There's too much schoolwork to do."
Tamsin smiled back. "That's OK."
"However, I have time to change my mind, and I just might." With his other hand, he stroked a finger down her arm, then reached up to cup her cheek. "Because you're so beautiful."
And Michael kissed her, his lips soft and sure against hers. Tamsin thrilled when his arms went around her, leaning into the warmth and intimacy of the embrace. It seemed like ages since anyone had hugged her.
She stiffened when his hand went to her breast, but relaxed again when it slid down to her waist, drawing her closer against him.
Then she felt his hand on her bare leg, just slightly above the knee on the side where her dress was shorter.
Tamsin's eyes popped open. "Michael, I think—" You think? You're not sure? "Michael, stop."
But Michael didn't listen. "You're so beautiful," he mumbled against her throat, his hand traveling further up her thigh and under her skirt.
"I know, but—" She was no stranger to fooling around, but she had never let Ronnie go there.
"I love you so much," he said then, but instead of sounding like something special and meaningful, it sounded like a flimsy plea for her to let him get into her pants.
"Well, if you loved me, you'd stop." Tamsin squirmed against him, trying to dislodge his hand, but it was creeping steadily up her leg and toward a very dangerous place.
We don't have to do anything if it makes you uncomfortable.
"Stop it, Michael!" She was flat on her back on the couch now and Michael's hand was cupping her rear, groping for the waistband of her panties. "NO! MICHAEL, I SAID NO!"