Chapter Thirteen: Not Over Yet?

Tim and Curly were sitting on their beat-up old sofa, listening to their sister Angela arguing with some girl named Suze.

They both thought Angela had lost her mind. But, as she put it, once Ponyboy broke up with Suze for good he was open game, which was bound to be soon.

They now listened quietly to the shouting coming from Angela's room.

"No freaking way!"

"Suze, just shut up and let me put some makeup on."

There was a thump and a crash. Curly leapt up, but Tim held him back. "Let them settle this," he said coolly, blowing a ring of cigarette smoke.

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"Suze, you promised you'd go along with this," Angela reminded her threateningly.

"Why are you doing this again?" Suze asked wearily.

"Out of the goodness of my heart," Angela said. Suze cocked an eyebrow and set her face in a "yeah-right" expression. Angela just gazed back, wide-eyed and innocent.

"Here, let me put this on your teeth," she said. Suze let her, but recoiled almost immediately.

"Ugh! What the hell is that? It's disgusting!"

"It's perfectly harmless. You just put it on your teeth and it reminds you to smile," Angela explained, reaching forward with the paste again.

Suze caught her arm in her own and grimaced. "I'm smiling," she said through gritted teeth.

Angela gave up and handed Suze some clothes. "Here," she said. "You can borrow these. Come out when you're ready. And don't mess up your hair. It took me an hour to get it right."

"I know," Suze grumbled. For an hour, Angela had pulled, pinned, and prepared Suze's hair until it was in a perfect perm. Even so, it was already falling out of its springy curls.

When Angela had left the room, Suze pulled on the clothing Angela had given her. She took one look in the mirror and said to herself, "Oh no. Not gonna happen."

Somebody banged on the door. "You ready yet?" Angela barked.

"That depends," Suze said. "Your brothers still out there?"

"Yeah," Angela said, surprised.

"Then I'm not coming out!"

"Suze!"

"No way!"

"Fine," she said haughtily. There was momentary silence, then there was much louder banging and Tim said harshly, "You'd better open this door before I break it down and by God I will!"

Suze opened the door a fraction of an inch. "I look like a slut," she growled. "I think these are too small."

"Nonsense," Angela said briskly. "They're mine. We're about the same size."

Suze groaned inwardly. That was exactly what she had been afraid of. "Come on," Tim coaxed. "It ain't nothing we haven't seen before."

"Then go over where you've seen it and look at it there," Suze snapped, making to shut the door again. Angela hurriedly stuck her foot in the door.

Angela gasped audibly. Tim let out a low whistle. "No. Freaking. Way. No way in hell," he murmured, looking over Suze. Curly ambled over and would have said something if Suze hadn't been giving him a death glare.

Suze blushed crimson. "I'll just change back…" she said, highly embarrassed. It was a new sensation to her. She didn't get embarrassed easily.

Tim shook his head. "You have really outdone yourself, Angel."

"I know."

"But why?"

"All part of the plan. They'll break up," Angela said confidently.

"How do you know all this?" Tim demanded.

"It's a given. Bound to happen sooner or later."

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Angela was pushing a resisting Suze into the cafeteria. "What do you have to be nervous about?" she demanded. "You said yourself it went over well in your morning classes."

"Pony's in there," Suze whispered, not sure why she was doing so. "Why did I talk you into doing this?"

"Because I'm a good person," Angela said. Suze raised her eyes to the heavens to see if a lightning bolt would really come down for the sheer falsity of the statement. But as hard as she had tried to get an answer out of Angela, she wouldn't tell Suze.

"Go," Angela ordered, pushing Suze firmly into the cafeteria.

Suze took a deep breath and stepped forward…

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"Is Miss Thing over herself yet?" Dally groused. Johnny shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't seen her."

"Neither have I," Dally growled. "I'll kill her. The sooner we get outta here the better, and she ain't making it any easier."

"She always sits with Ponyboy," Johnny insisted. "Well, she hasn't been for the past couple of days," Dally pointed out.

"Hey, Suze!" someone shouted. "Lookin' good!"

"Hey, Suze's around here somewhere!" Johnny said excitedly. "Where?" Dally demanded, dropping a pudding cup on some Soc's head and whirling around.

Johnny's jaw dropped. "Is that…?" he trailed off, staring. Dally looked where Johnny was looking and he had a similar reaction.

"Whoa," he said in a low voice. "What happened to her?" Johnny groaned.

"I dunno," Dally said appreciatively. "But I hope she keeps it up."

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"Talked to your girlfriend?" Ponyboy's friend Mark questioned. Ponyboy shook his head. "No. Haven't seen her."

"She'll come around," Two-Bit reassured him. "Chicks always do."

Ponyboy opened his mouth to say something, but never got the chance. Mark was staring at something, and said out of the corner of his mouth, "Hey, Pony. Ain't that her?"

Ponyboy looked around, and his eyes grew wide. "No way," he said in a hushed voice. "It is," Two-Bit uttered. Then he yelled, "Hey Suze! Lookin' good!"

People—well, mainly boys—were having similar reactions all around the cafeteria as Suze walked past, while others—mainly girlfriends of said boys—glared and panicked at the same time.

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Suze was well aware of the looks she was getting. One boy was drinking milk, and as she walked by, spat it out all over his twin on the other side of the table. Suze laughed to herself. If nothing else, it was a good laugh.

She walked right past Ponyboy and didn't even look at him.

"Hey, doll," Dally said lazily, appearing as she sat down alone. "What happened to you?" Johnny asked as he appeared seconds later.

Suze was about to answer them when a boy approached her. "Back off," she snapped before he could even open his mouth. He slunk off, looking hurt.

"You didn't have to be so rough on him," Johnny scolded. "Whatever," Suze said breezily. "Can we go outside so people don't think I'm talking to myself?" she added put of the corner of her mouth.

She got up and began walking, Dally and Johnny trailing after her.

"So?" Johnny demanded once they were out of earshot of anyone else. "What about my dad?"

Suze hesitated, and then began. "You're not going to like this," she warned. Johnny practically shouted, "I don't care! Just TELL ME!"

"All right, all right," Suze said, offended. "See, your dad—"

"Suze!" someone shouted. Dally cracked his knuckles threateningly. "Don't, Dally, it's just Ponyboy," Johnny said.

"Ponyboy?" Suze said, dazed. "Suze! Listen, I—"

"Kinda busy here," Suze whispered urgently, jerking her head sideways at Dally and Johnny.

Ponyboy said hurriedly, "Hi Johnny. Hi Dally. Listen Suze, I have to tell you this."

"Can't it wait?"

"NO!"

Suze took a step back, alarmed. "Okay, okay," she said, trying to pacify him. Ponyboy calmed down and said, "Look, sorry to interrupt and all, but you didn't have to do this for me. I love you just the way you are."

Suze's voice rose she said, "How can you be so sure I did this for you?"

"Um…" Ponyboy was at a loss for words. "Now that it matters," Suze added. "Cause I did."

They stared at each other for a second, then broke out laughing. "Okay, okay," Dally said menacingly. "You've had your moment. Now TELL US!" he roared.

"Okay," Suze said. Ponyboy hung around, curious. "Johnny, your dad isn't really your dad. Your—this is the twisted part—real father is actually my dad's brother, Karl. But he's dead, too. Your dad murdered him. The authorities could never prove it and it went down as a suicide."

"Why did my…my not-father murder my real dad?" Johnny asked, wide-eyed.

"Because," Suze sighed. "Your mom was pregnant with my uncle's kid and they were going to get married. But Richard Cade was your mom's ex-boyfriend, and he killed Uncle Karl out of jealousy. So she married him. He wanted to get rid of you, but she refused, and he swore to make both of your lives hell."

Johnny, Dally, and Ponyboy all listened to this with horror. There was shocked silence when Suze had finished.

"Well, now they know, and Johnny's mystery's been solved," Ponyboy said sadly. "So he should be gone now, right?"

Suze shook her head. "They're not going anywhere," she said in a hushed voice. "You know what that means, right?"

Ponyboy nodded his head slowly. "Their mystery ain't fulfilled yet."