Sorry this is taking so long. I should be ashamed of myself.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this. I wish I did.

Chapter 8

The cold wind roared and whimpered, shaking the three green figures outside the tenements like three blades of grass in the breeze.
"You two didn't have to come, you know," a girl's voice mumbled. Hearing this, the two boys leaned the rusty, rickety old bikes lovingly against the wall.
"You didn't honestly think we'd let the maiden go alone on our quest?" Melvin asked, grinning. "You might run into trouble." At this, the girl plucked a seemingly innocent candy-spray container from her pocket. Holding it up between her finger and thumb, a sneaky smirk slipped onto her face. On a jock, that expression wouldn't have left a dry pair of trousers in the area. On a fellow nerd, it was contagious, a promise of great things to come.
"That's why Thad gave us these," she reminded them, braces glinting as she examined Thad's deceptive handiwork. Reaching into his pocket for his own vial, Earnest wasn't sure whether to be pleased or corcerned that Thad had concocted the idea of dissolving itching powder in chilli juice for them. Shoving the "candy spray" back into her coat pocket, the nerd girl took a deep breath.
"Ready?"
"As we'll ever be" the larger boy answered, stepping up to the door and rapping his knuckles against it.

The floorboards moaned like a wounded boy under Peanut's weight, dusty footprints trailing behind him as he wandered to the door. Who could that be? Johnny was in the back moping over Lola(again), Vance was in the bathroom obsessing over his coif, Norton was trying yet again to comfort Johnny and any moron could guess where Lola was- out in the streets with her tongue down some rich kid's throat. Everything about the building sung with age; wind whistled through the cracked windows, chairs creaked as people sat in them and the front door moaned as the greaser lieutenant opened it.

Whoever the boy had expected, it certainly wasn't expecting three Nerds. This wasn't their patch, and it wouldn't be a social call. So why their broad was with them? Girls were usually kept out of clique business (except Lola, in which case she probably caused it). Oddly, she was the first to speak.
"Hi. Umm... this may seem a bit odd, um, but is Johnny Vincent there?" she asked, her head down and her hands twisting together like the vines of an old tree trunk. Curious, the greaser raised an eyebrow.
"Who's asking?" he replied, eyeing the two other nerds, one he recognised as the leader. Why the hell was she asking for Johnny when he was there? Even nerds weren't that pathetic that they needed some girly to speak for them.
"Beatrice. This is Earnest, " she explained, gesturing nervously towards the scrawny, shorter boy. "And this is Melvin." she continued, pointing at the other boy, who threw him a jumpy smile. Peanut mumbled "Hi" to the two boys before turning his attention back to the girl.
"Sorry lady, but Johnny's kind of..." He searched for the right words. "...busy at the moment."
"Oh. Could you please tell him that we need to speak to him?"

Suddenly, Johnny called.
"Peanut? Who's there? Is it Lola? Lola, are you there?"
"It's not her, Johnny. It's Earnest... an' his broad!" The second the word "broad" escaped the greaser's mouth, Beatrice's eyebrows shot up as though he'd offered her a cup of chicken blood while Earnest stepped slightly away from her and the fat kid burst out laughing, stopping only when Earnest shot him an "If you don't stop laughing now I'll cut your balls off with a wooden spoon and put it on the internet" look. Johnny sounded like he wanted to laugh too when he shouted back.
"Earnest has a broad? When the hell did that happen!"
"I am not his broad!" the girl shouted past me, redder than the bright, neon candy spray the fat boy had poking out of his pocket.
"Why are they here?" the greaser king shouted back.
"They want to speak to you"
"Why?"
"Ask them yourself!" Peanut yelled, throat starting to get sore from shouting. About two seconds later, Johnny appeared by the door, his hair a mess from running his hands through it.
"Well then. What do you want?" The broad took a step forward, taking a deep breath as she dared to look up.
"We um... we wanted your help." she stated. "We wanted to know if you'd help us get back at some preps?" Johnny looked thoughtful for a second, staring at the skinny girl addressing him.
"What's in it for us?" he asked, not breaking eye contact with the girl. Stupified, Peanut stared at his friend. What the hell did he mean, "what's in it for us"? She was dangling an opportunity to beat rich scum in their faces. Without consequence. Regardless, the broad whispered something to her friends before turning back to Johnny.
"I'll do your homework for a week."
"Don't do it anyway." he answered, not skipping a beat. Knowing she'd have to do better than that, the girl stared at the floor.
"Fine. I'll clean the tenements." Shit! Peanut thought. They must have done something if she was willing to clear this mess! Johnny considered this for a minute, before responding "Thanks, but no thanks". This went on for a while, with her offering to buy new parts for the bikes, getting him Derby's locker combination and even offering him one of their spare rocket launchers, leaving Peanut wondering how the hell she got hold of those things. Eventually, she gave up before simply looking him dead in the eye and asking "Well, what do you want?"

Within a second, Johnny's face clouded over, and Peanut knew what he was about to ask for.
"Lola" He whispered it revently, more like it was some amazing, ethereal being than his girl's name. Rolling his eyes, Peanut nearly strangled his friend. A rocket launcher. Johnny turned down a rocket launcher for that!
"What about her?" Beatrice asked quietly. Johnny's expression darkened as he answered.
"That slut's cheating on me- I know she is! I can't believe this- I'm dying over that slut! That slut I love so much..." Oh, for fuck's sake, Peanut wanted to say. Not this again.
"So ... you want me to find out if she's cheating on you?" Beatrice clarified, a note of sympathy in her voice. Jimmy had been with Lola once or twice- her and any other girl in a mile's radius.
"Yes. I need proof, one way or another. I'm going crazy here!" Johnny continued, not noticing the tiny bit of pity in Beatrice's tone or his friend's exasperation.

Beatrice looked uncertainly at Melvin, who nodded , she put her hand out. Almost immediately, Johnny grabbed it, shaking it quickly.
"Fine." the broad promised. "I'll do it ."