"She knew things that nobody had ever told her. For instance, the words of the trees and the wind. She often spoke to falling seeds and said, 'Ah hope you fall on soft ground,' because she had heard seeds saying that to each other as they passed." – Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God

Angela stood in front of the mirror, admiring herself. She'd left the powder room door open, so Bridget could watch from her awkward angle to make sure admiring herself was all she was doing, not snooping around. At one point, she tried to lean forward a bit, but Evie yanked her back.

"Don't move," she grumbled. "Want to screw me up?"

"No," Bridget said meekly. "Sorry."

Evie shook her head, but Bridget couldn't see her, so it didn't matter. Meanwhile, Ella and Cathy, completely done-up, were waiting their turn to get a look at Evie's handiwork, but Angela seemed completely engrossed in herself. Ella couldn't understand how someone could stand to look at themselves for that long – Ella only did so if she was picking herself apart.

"You guys can go upstairs," Bridget called. "To my room. You, too, Joan," Bridget added, cringing a bit at letting a near-stranger upstairs, but ignoring it.

The three others rushed upstairs, bumping into each other and crowding around Bridget's vanity, trying to get a good look at themselves. To say what they saw was a shock would be an understatement. Joan looked happy with her up-do, but Cathy and Ella retreated to Bridget's en suite and stared more at each other's hair than their own.

"She, uh…"

"Lookit you…"

Cathy put a hand to her head and looked in the mirror. Her hair had never been anything but stick-straight, but now fell in soft waves that framed her face perfectly. And Ella? Well, Ella's hair had been painstakingly done in perfect ringlets.

"Oh my god," Ella breathed.

"She is good," Cathy finished for her.

Downstairs, Evie was finishing up her most challenging customer. Bridget's hair had to first be straightened, which was so long it reached her ass, and then instead of ringlets, which she usually had anyways, Evie was essentially sculpting the girl's hair – pinning and curling and spraying – until the ends had been curled up so short she looked like Mary Tyler Moore. Smooth and shiny.

"You can look now," Evie murmured, feeling a bit exhausted. But at least they'd all paid.

Bridget picked up the little mirror Evie had brought (since Angela was still staring at herself) and almost cried. So her hair was tamable. "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph," she whispered, and Evie chuckled.

"Good, huh?"

"Amazing." She looked up at Evie. "Thank you."

"No problem."

"Really, Evie. It was really nice of you to do all of this for us."

"Seriously, it was no problem," Evie insisted.

(Even though it kinda was.)

After Angela and Joan had paid and been ushered out, Ella and Cathy came back downstairs, still looking a bit shell-shocked. Evie smiled at them. "Like?"

"Love," Cathy spoke for both of them, and Ella nodded.

"Good," Evie said. "Cathy, I'll see you tonight at the Curtis's?" Cathy nodded. "'Kay. Good."

There was a long beat of silence. The four girls traded looks, small sighs, knowing glances. Tonight was the night. Tonight was the night. Now that it was here, it felt so surreal, like it wasn't ever going to come.

"I guess I'll…see all of you tonight," Evie continued. The rest of them nodded.

Bridget waved to them from the porch.

XXXXX

Vickie was feelin' good. Everything was going according to plan. If Friday night at the game hadn't been humiliating enough for Evie, then tonight would certainly take the cake. A morning spent in the dark room with a girl named Donna had really paid off; pictures from not only last night's homecoming game, but throughout the year, had been developed and ready for the yearbook. But there was one that Vickie had gotten a glimpse of, and she held it up in the red light.

"What's this from?" She'd asked Donna. Donna peered over her shoulder.

"Oh. It's just a candid."

Just a candid? It was much more than that. Vickie shoved the picture back at the awkward girl, gesturing to the subject matter she was most interested in. "Blow this up so that we can see the two of them."

So Donna blew up the picture so that Steve Randle and Evie Martin sneaking into the janitor's closet with Randle's hand already crawling up her leg to her ass could be clearly seen. Vickie smirked; she grabbed a permanent marker and wrote a message on it, just below the couple so that both the picture and the message could be easily seen. "Now – make copies."

Donna had made copies. She had made plenty of copies – enough for the whole school to see. And where would most of the school be tonight? That's right – at the homecoming dance.

"I don't see what's so special about this one…I thought you just wanted to go over the ones from last night?"

Vickie didn't care to explain. So maybe Evie had been able to withstand last night, with the convertible ride and the pictures with a group of people she most certainly did not belong with, but she'd like to see the look on her face when these pictures with this message made its way through the crowds tonight because right underneath Steve Randle's claw, she'd written, simply:

"WHORE."

In bright red.

XXXXX

"Oh, Bridget, I do like that color on you!"

Bridget favored Cherry with a genuine smile. When she had told Jerry that she'd gone with a pink dress, he'd looked a bit skeptical, but he'd played along and went and bought a coral tie. Jerry really was a good sport, and Bridget knew she had the best of the bunch, she really did. Well, of one particular bunch, she did. There was a part of her, she had to acknowledge, that wanted to be with someone else. And not just a different boy, either, great as Jerry was. No, she was wishing Cathy and Evie could be here, too. Maybe she could say hello at the dance – if it didn't end up being a total disaster, that is.

"And it was real nice of your dad to let us meet here to take pictures," Missy said as she admired Marcia's dress.

"Well, seems I've been playing hostess plenty these days anyway…" Bridget trailed off, not wanting to get into it. "Besides, Vickie said her parents were out of town."

Marcia looked at her friend quizzically. "They are? But I just saw Mrs. Harper this morning."

Bridget dropped her hands to her sides. "Really?" she squeaked. Marcia nodded, and then Vickie came out of Bridget's bathroom. She'd claimed she was too shy to undress in front of the rest of them, which her friends had all shared an eye-roll over. They all suspected that Vickie had just wanted to make an entrance.

And make an entrance she did. Bridget should have guessed that Vickie wouldn't let anyone one-up her. She was like a blonde Audrey Hepburn from Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Bridget was like Charmain Carr singing "Sixteen Going on Seventeen." One of them looked like a woman, and one of them looked like a little girl. Bridget bit back a snide remark about Vickie's dress maybe not being appropriate for a school dance; much too adult, really. But she didn't want to make this night any harder than she would suspect it would be.

"That dress is to die for!" Missy gasped dramatically, and she and Marcia eagerly rushed over to examine.

Vickie glanced over at Bridget with a smirk on her face, and Bridget's heart sank. She was certainly feeling self-conscious now. What did Jerry see in her? As the couples gathered downstairs to wait on the last of their party – Craig and Ella – and the boys went off to talk about football and congratulate each other on the big win last night, the girls congregated.

"Are y'all nervous?" Marcia asked, referring to the three present nominees for homecoming queen.

"No," Cherry and Vickie said, at the same time Bridget said, "A little," all simultaneously. Marcia and Missy giggled.

"It's not even a big deal," Cherry shrugged. "It really doesn't matter who wins."

"So you wouldn't care if Evie Martin won?" Vickie asked the redhead, an eyebrow raised. Bridget felt her chest tighten.

"No," Cherry shook her head, but she didn't sound very convincing.

Bridget took a deep breath – time to be brave. "Cherry's right – I really don't think it matters. And who knows? Maybe Evie came by it honest."

Vickie narrowed her eyes, but Bridget stood her ground. "Maybe you've been hanging around her too much. She's got you on her side."

"I'm not on anyone's side," Bridget said coolly, shrugging.

"Speaking of…Evie sure did wonders for that mane of yours," Vickie said, playing nice, but not really. Bridget put her hand self-consciously to her hair and tried to smile.

"Thank you," she muttered. "She's really very good. You should see Ella's."

Just then, Ella and Craig pulled up in front of the Stevens' household, and Vickie's eyes went wide. "I think I'm about to!"

Craig helped Ella out of his car, and as soon as the other girls saw Craig's date, Vickie was no longer the center of attention. As the couple made their way up the Stevens' front walk, all eyes were on Ella Mitchell and her little black dress. Bridget felt a bit smug; good to see that Vickie's plan wasn't going to executed as perfectly as she wanted it to (even if it did, in the end, still get executed).

"…hemmed it myself," Bridget overheard Ella say once she'd come back down to Earth.

"Well, it's beautiful," Bridget interjected, smiling at her friend. She knew that a few well-placed and well-worded remarks would get right under Vickie's skin. Bridget was sure that Ella getting even this much attention was enough to start to get frustrated. "And your hair! Seriously, Ella, you look amazing."

She couldn't see her at the moment, but Vickie was standing behind all of them with her arms crossed, glaring dangerously at who she thought were her friends.

Across town, the Curtis household was a hub of activity. Those with dates were waiting on those without, namely Dallas Winston, who was trying to get out of wearing a tie. ("Blend, man, we gotta blend!" Two-Bit had told him.) Cathy was glad they were all going as a group, even if Dallas was a part of it. She could focus on talking to Ponyboy, or with Evie. Well, if Steve would let go of her, that is. Seems they'd made up after their fight the other day.

"Steve just…goes off sometimes," Evie had explained to Cathy as she'd done her hair earlier that day. Cathy wondered if this was what it was like to have a hairdresser you could gab with. Actually, just having a friend she could gab with.

"Hey, y'all! Miss me?"

Cathy was beginning to learn that Two-Bit Mathews never missed an opportunity to make an entrance, and tonight was no exception. He waltzed into the Curtis household in a suit, complete with cowboy boots and hat. Cathy was also learning that Two-Bit Mathews never missed an opportunity to make a joke, even of himself, and his friends payed him in laughter. Soda whistled sharply.

"How-dy. Come to sweep me off my feet, cowboy?"

Two-Bit snorted with laughter. "Ain't my type."

"Church duds?" Steve guessed. Two-Bit snapped and pointed at him – bingo.

"Ya think my mother was gonna let me out the door in anything else?"

"Dunno, that woman lets you get away with murder," Steve mumbled, and everyone close enough to hear his comment laughed, even Cathy, who didn't really get the jab. She looked over at Pony, who was looking just about done with everybody, and smiled.

"You have interesting friends," she said quietly.

"That's one word for 'em," he grumbled.

"I like them."

As much as they annoyed him, Ponyboy perked up a bit when his date said that. Because yeah, Darry and Sodapop had to leave him behind a lot to go to work, and Dallas was a bona fide JD, and Two-Bit couldn't shut up to save his life, and Steve was snarky and almost always pissed off, but they were his family. They were all he had. (But he was hoping now that he had Cathy, too.) "You do?" He asked, feeling a bit silly. Cathy laughed.

"Yes. I do! Well, for the most part," she added. It was a well-timed addition, too, because that was when Dallas appeared in a, yes, a tie.

"Let's get the fuck outta here," he grumbled, and that seemed to be everybody's cue to fall out.

Steve refused to drive anybody else, so Cathy and Pony got stuck with Dallas and Two-Bit, which struck Evie as both funny and a bit disappointing – she'd wanted to talk with Cathy on the way over, but Steve didn't seem too keen on chauffeuring a couple teenyboppers over to the school. So Steve drove, one hand on the wheel and the other on her thigh. Evie wondered how her sister's night was going with her friends. None of them had dates or potential humiliation to worry about. Not tonight.

"Evie."

When she heard Steve's voice, Evie held back a moment from getting out once they'd gotten to the school. Steve looked very serious, and very, very concerned. "Steve?"

Steve took a deep breath. "Just…whatever happens tonight, I need you to know it ain't your fault. And that I love you."

Evie stared at her boyfriend. She had no clue what he was talking about, not really, but – "I love you, too, Stevie."

XXXXX

"You ready, man?"

Dallas nodded at his buddy without looking him in the eye. "Ready."

They set to work. Counting ain't a large task, but keeping from being caught can be. Every time Vickie, Evie, or George's name pops up, they're pulled from the pile and shuffled to the side. Other than that, the whole process is very honest, and doesn't take long – though, it seems the entire student population made sure to vote. That, or someone was stuffing. When all is said and done, Dallas having finished tallying votes for king and Two-Bit having finished tallying votes for queen, it comes out just about how they expected: Randy is king, and Cherry is queen.

"Fuckin' perfect," Dallas mutters, shaking his head. Two-Bit sighs. For some reason, this doesn't feel as good as he thought it would, and not because of the cheating and the lying and the influencing.

"Yeah," Two-Bit sighed again. "Well. That's that."

"Guess so."

The back room they're in is lit only by one flickering fluorescent light. They could both hear the commotion in the varsity gym; it's loud as hell. The committee had really played up the whole "Midnight in Paris" theme, and swinging dance music and plenty of overplayed hits could be heard.

"It's sorta honest, at least," Two-Bit continued.

"I don't care about that part," Dallas shrugged. "Just care that Harper and Clayton don't win, and that Randle's girl don't get humiliated. Couldn't give less of a shit what happens after that."

Two-Bit wouldn't say anything, but he cared a little. Cherry Valance wasn't exactly who he was pulling for – but it wasn't like he really cared about this sort of stuff anyway. Right?

…Right?

Dallas wrote down Cherry and Randy's names on a slip of paper and held it out to Two-Bit. "Take this to Mrs. G."

Two-Bit snatched up the piece of paper, sneered at it, then folded it up. "Gotcha."

But Two-Bit just kinda…sat there. Dallas glared at his friend. "How 'bout now?" He snapped. Two-Bit snapped and pointed at him, and beat it out of there. And Dallas deflated.

XXXXX

Bridget held onto Jerry's arm as they made their way through the gym, people stopping them every now and then (more than that, really) to congratulate him on last night's win. What a pass, buddy! Sure know how to toss that pigskin. Had us bitin' our nails with some'a those plays! Bridget really had no idea what any of it meant, but she remembered being there, on the sidelines, cheering. And she remembered halftime, sitting next to Jerry for the convertible ride, smiling and waving and holding onto him like she was now, even though he was sweaty and tired.

She also remembered the rest of it. With Vickie's plotting and Evie's discomfort.

It had been an eventful twenty-four hours.

"You okay? You look like you're a million miles away right now," Jerry laughed. Bridget smiled up at him and nodded.

"I'm okay," she whispered. Then, louder and perkier, "Let's dance!"

While Bridget and Jerry were tearing up the dance floor and drawing a crowd, Ella and Craig were off more by themselves, slow dancing to pretty much every song that came on, even if it was a fast one. Neither of them seemed to want to do anything else, though, and Ella smiled up dreamily at her date, who himself looked pretty pleased.

"You nervous?" Ella asked.

"About what?"

"About whether or not you'll win."

Craig laughed. "Not really. It's not that big a deal."

"It is to Vickie Harper and George Clayton," Ella muttered. Craig shrugged.

"Yeah, well, that's their deal. If they want it so bad, I figure they can have it."

And Vickie was trying her damnedest to get it because at that moment, she'd detached herself from her date and was busy sticking up copies of her flyers around the gym and placing them in spots where people would conveniently be: right by the punch bowl was prime real estate. So while everyone danced around her, enjoying themselves, Vickie was putting Plan B into place. Hell, it might even become part of Plan A, if everything went accordingly.

"You look worried," Pony said to Cathy. "You okay?"

Pony wasn't a great dancer, but he could sorta shuffle back and forth, which Cathy seemed happy with. (Though, the girl had gotten a glimpse at Bridget and Jerry Thompson and the fun they were having in the center of the dance floor, a crowd around them, and wished Pony would let her dance lessons be put to good use.) "I'm fine," she lied. "Really. You look very handsome tonight."

Pony perked up. "I do?" Cathy smiled and nodded.

"Definitely."

"At this time, we're going to ask that all nominees for king and queen please come up on stage."

Showtime.

For some reason, this announcement generated a great deal of applause as the ten nominees climbed up on stage and stood behind Principal Vernon. Vickie stared smugly ahead, while Bridget exchanged worried glances with Cherry and Evie (Lucy was a non-issue), who was clearly struggling to keep her composure – at least, to the trained eye. From his spot on the gym floor, Steve watched on and…well, he guessed he prayed that this wouldn't end horribly. Two-Bit and Dallas were feeling the same way, too, only they knew what the outcome was going to be. Well, the immediate outcome, that is. No one had any idea what the long-term damage was going to be.

At the same time

"Principal Vernon," Vickie whispered, "may I have a moment with the microphone?" The man nodded, himself not quite able to break from the young girl's influence, and let her step in front of the microphone. "Good evening, Ropers!" she grinned, and suddenly, everyone's attention was back on her and the stage. "Let's give a to this year's homecoming committee for putting this all together!" Her audience readily complied, and Vickie favored all of them with a winning smile. Bridget could feel her heart crawling up into her throat, and she felt like she was going to throw up. Again.

"You okay?" Jerry asked her when she started gripping his arm so tight her nails were digging in.

"Fine," she said shakily. "Just…shh!" She said, flapping a hand towards Vickie as she wrapped up saying a long list of names.

"…oh, and of course, we can't forget the duo in charge of tabulating tonight's results, Two-Bit Mathews and Dallas Winston!" She sang. Again, there was applause, and Two-Bit and Dallas had retreated from their hideout and were now glaring up at Vickie. "Speaking of – without further ado, Principal Vernon is going to announce those results right now."

Everyone clapped – Vickie exaggeratingly so – as Principal Vernon stood back in front of the mic with the envelope that Mrs. Girdle had delivered to him in hand. A hush fell over the gym as the nominees stood back on stage and Vernon tore open the envelope. Steve could barely stand to watch, knowing that if Evie won, everyone would play it off like a huge joke and make fun of her until the cows came home.

"This year's homecoming king…" George and Vickie exchanged a look, and George winked as Vickie slowly grinned. "…is Randy Adderson."

There was raucous applause, and George's face fell. That wasn't supposed to happen. Dallas and Two-Bit breathed out sighs of relief – that had gone according to plan, at least. Randy seemed appreciative as he was crowned, but didn't seem to care all that much.

"And this year's queen…"

This was the moment everyone was waiting for. Nobody cared about the king, not really. Ella, Ponyboy, and Cathy stood on the floor, and if Pony had known this moment would have caused his date so much anxiety, he would've suggested they just go get ice cream or something. But now, Cathy was clutching his hand hard, and Ella was left to stand to her other side, waiting to see what was going to happen.

It was if the universe had been holding its breath as Vernon read, "…is Sherri Valance."

More applause and cheering. Cherry smiled, graciously accepting her crown and getting her picture taken with Randy. Ella, Cathy, and Bridget let out relieved sighs – but perhaps they should have waited because as Cherry and Randy went down to the dance floor to share the traditional dance, Vickie – a fuming, scorned Vickie Harper, stomped up to Principal Vernon and demanded, "Check that again."

Vernon looked confused and looked back down at the slip of paper as Dallas and Two-Bit shared a smile at the back of the gym. "It says Randy Adderson and Sherri Valance," he repeated. "See for yourself."

Vickie snatched the piece of paper from him, not caring if she was making a spectacle of herself. But there it was, there were their names, not hers and George's. And oh, she was pissed. She saw Winston and Mathews smirking at her from the back of the auditorium, and that's all the proof she needed. "Those two rigged it," she accused, pointing at the two hoods. Vernon's eyes followed her red-colored claw. "They must have!"

"Miss Harper," Principal Vernon sighed, "you have no proof of that."

"Look at them! Don't they look guilty?"

All Vernon could say was that they looked glad she hadn't won, something he might have agreed with if her losing hadn't been clearly worse. "Miss Harper, there's nothing to do now. I'm sorry."

So Vickie, fuming, waltzed right back up to the microphone and plastered a smile on her face, whipping around before she spoke and snarling at Bridget through grit teeth, "Watch this." And Bridget gagged.

"Here comes the contingency plan," Two-Bit muttered to Dallas, and Dallas just rolled his eyes.

"Ropers! Don't forget – there's little party favors sitting by each of the punch bowls for all of you tonight. A little somethin' to keep the spirit of homecoming going for a long time, all thanks to my fellow nominee, Miss Evelyn Martin!"

Vickie waved her arm towards Evie, and the room buzzed as their peers beelined for the punch bowls to get a look. The lights went down suddenly on the stage, and Bridget pounced on Vickie. "What did you do?" She asked, feeling befuddled.

"Bridget…" Jerry started, trying to keep any more trouble, but Bridget waved him off. Vickie smirked.

"What had to be done – I let the entire student body know that your little friend is nothing more than a whore."

"You can't do that!"

Vickie whipped around. Cathy and Ella were standing on the stage steps. Perfect! Little Miss Ditz and Flower Power to the rescue, though there wasn't much they could now for poor Evelyn. The damage was already done, and that was where Vickie's victory lay. That Catherine Carlson had some nerve, thinking she could sit with them at lunch and then date the boy who murdered Bob Sheldon. And Ella, who was she to be dating Craig Bryant? What was happening to the world?

"Oh really?" Vickie stepped forward. "Well, as it just so happens, I already did."

And she really did. Evie had wandered off the stage, trying to find Steve, trying to figure out what exactly Vickie had done, and as she wandered, saw people giggling and gasping at several copies of the same photo. She found one on the floor and picked it up, and discovered they were all copies of the same photo of her; not just of her, either, but of her and Steve, with the word "WHORE" written on it in scarlet red. For the first time in this whole ordeal, she felt her eyes start to sting, and she ran for the bathroom.

Bridget, meanwhile, was simultaneously quietly fuming and swallowing back bile. Her friend (was she her friend? And if she was, how could she be friends with someone who would do something like this?) was standing there looking both pleased and stunned. There was no turning back now, was there? Oh, why hadn't Bridget stopped this from the start? God, she definitely prayed this time, if you've got your ears on, I could really use some divine intervention. A small miracle. Or maybe just a little guidance? Maybe? For once?

"Vickie, you can't do this!" Bridget hissed after she'd shown them what she'd done. "It's…it's…it's deplorable!"

"You know what's really deplorable?" Vickie seethed. "You, leaving your friends – who have your wellbeing in mind, ya know – behind! And then ditching them for what? A whore and two airheads? Not really moving up in the world, are you?"

"I didn't ditch you!" Bridget cried, very close to tears. "Any of you! I was just trying to be nice!"

Cathy didn't quite know how to feel about that, whether or not she should take it as some sort of dismissal, but she didn't really have time to dwell on that right now. "You can't do this, Harper," she spat. Vickie turned on her.

"It's already done," she said, and even repeated it. "It's already done. If I had to lose, so did she."

Vickie stomped off, and Bridget, Cathy, and Ella shared defeated looks. "We should go find Evie," Ella said quietly, and the other girls nodded, turning on their heels to go look for Evie. They didn't have to look too hard because they found her in the girl's bathroom smoking a cigarette; not crying, but looking pretty dejected. The four of them had lucked out – it was just them in there, and they each hoped that it would stay that way.

"Hi, Evie," Cathy breathed, and Evie gave them a little wave and smirk.

"Hey," she said back. "Come to watch me lick my wounds?"

Bridget sighed. "Evie, I'm so sorry about tonight. I…I didn't know she was going to do that."

"I know," Evie sighed, blowing smoke. "Classy of her, wasn't it? Doubt anyone'll ever pin it to her, though. We have no proof, and it ain't worth the effort. 'Sides – if she hasn't turned on you yet, Stevens, she sure will if you get her sent down to Vernon's office."

"I don't care," Bridget said, but she knew she sorta did. "Oh, god, what do we do now?"

Silence. Oh, god, was this really it? "Look – it's better than if I had actually won, okay? Trust me, this isn't the first time I've been called a whore."

"But you're just going to let her get away with this stunt?" Ella spoke up. "Evie, she's been so cruel to you!"

"I know!" Evie spat. "I know. But I'm used to this, okay? I'm used to it. Vickie will get what's comin' to her, just you wait and see."

"What's that s'posed to mean?" Cathy asked, and Evie sighed.

"I don't know. But hopefully, karma will kick 'er in the teeth." She glanced at Bridget, who was looking paler than usual. "You okay there, Stevens?"

Bridget shook her head. It took her a minute to get the nerve to speak again because she was worried if she did…well. Yeah. "This is all my fault." It felt good to finally say that to Evie. "If I'd never made fun of you, this never would have happened." Wait – nevermind. It was gonna happen. But before it did: "I'm sorry, Evie. I'm really, really sorry," she sobbed out, then ran into a stall and got sick.

Evie looked at Ella and Cathy, who were glued to the floor. She smiled at them, trying to alleviate the awkwardness. "You're both pretty brave, ya know," she said. "Really."

"We are?" Cathy asked, and Evie nodded, walking over to them and snubbing out her cigarette.

"You are," she nodded. "And…and Stevens is, too. You tried to stand up to Vickie Harper, and lived to tell the tale. Pretty tuff. Trust me, ladies – one'a these days, she'll get hers."

Bridget came out of the stall. Her new friends stared at her. All she did was go over to the sink and said, "Yes. Yes – someday, something is going to jump up and bite her in the ass, and she won't be seeing it coming."

"Damn straight," Evie muttered.

"As long as you let us help," Cathy added, Ella nodding along.

Outside, in the gym, sitting on the stage steps, Vickie Harper sat, wondering what the hell sort of demon was possessing her.

XXXXX

When all was said and done, Dallas and Two-Bit stood outside the gym doors, passing Dallas's last cigarette back and forth and doggedly trying to avoid talking about what had just happened. Neither of them was exactly sure how this sort of offense would be punished, but then again, there was no solid proof that either of them had done anything except deliver the results. And after what had happened last month, Two-Bit figured that Cherry and Randy were better winners than Vickie and George. In fact, he was one-hundred percent sure of that.

"Two-Bit?"

Bridget, decked out in baby pink and tulle, was making her way towards the duo. Dallas shot his buddy a look; Two-Bit could only shrug. Dallas could only hope that this girl, this buzzing Bee, wasn't about to get them in more hot water; he couldn't afford it. He really fuckin' couldn't. Two-Bit sighed and passed the cigarette back to Dallas, silently telling him it was his, and met the girl halfway.

"What's up, kid?"

"Um." Bridget bit her lip, and Two-Bit figured out pretty quickly that he was gonna have to be the one to keep this conversation rolling.

"Where's yer boyfriend?" He asked. Bridget looked over her shoulder.

"Oh. Uh – damage control," she laughed shakily. She wiped something from the corner of her both, something that had dried there, and Two-Bit – who had plenty of experience with hangovers – had a sneaking suspicion of what that something was. "I'm gonna meet him at his car here in a few minutes."

"Well, what're you doin' here?"

She swallowed roughly. "Oh…oh, well, I just…I wanted to thank you." Bridget had said the last bit all rushed, and Two-Bit raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah? What for?"

Bridget's eyes bore into his and she whispered, "You know what for."

XXXXX

Evie woke up with a bad taste in her mouth, like she was hungover or something, but she wasn't. Well, not from drinking, anyways. No, as she rolled over onto her back and felt the autumn sunlight streaming through her windows, she remembered last night. She remembered every bit of last night. She remembered that yes, it was a shitshow, but also kinda…spectacular?

Nobody really won, and nobody really lost.

Well – yes, Cherry and Randy had won homecoming queen and king, but…semantics.

Semantics.

"That sure was a mess, wasn't it?" Beth asked her at the breakfast table. "Cherry seems nice, though."

Evie thought about how Steve had told her that last month when the boys were missing and Johnny Cade had died, Cherry had done some spying and gotten some intel for them about that big rumble they'd had. Maybe Cherry wasn't so bad, Evie really couldn't say for sure, but better her than Vickie (or herself).

"Yeah," Evie shrugged. "You doin' anything for Halloween tonight?"

Beth's eyes lit up and she nodded with excitement. "I got invited to a party!"

"A Halloween party?"

Beth nodded in the affirmative. "Yep. It's not…well, it's not boy-girl, but Cindy has a lot of nice friends, and I guess I'm one of them because we're going to dress up and hang out." Her sister shrugged happily. "Doesn't that sound fun?"

Evie thought back to what she was doing on Halloween night her freshman year, and internally cringed; it wasn't anything good, that was for sure, and it was definitely a boy-girl party. Evie wasn't exactly a bad girl, but Evie at fourteen was way different than Beth at fourteen. "Sounds great."

"Do you have any plans?"

Evie froze up a bit. "Um. No, I…well, I just don't really feel like goin' out."

Beth understood. She understood completely. If what had happened to Evie last night had happened to her, she wouldn't want to be seen by anybody for a while, either. "That's cool. I bet there are some horror flicks on TV tonight."

Well, didn't that sound dandy.

Beth and their mother went out to put some things together last-minute for Beth's costume, and Evie sat around watching soaps on the television for a while, trying not to think about last night but failing spectacularly. It really had been a mess, and the more she thought about it, the more she dreaded having to go back to school tomorrow, because there was for sure going to be some sort of fallout. Maybe she could fake sick. Or dead.

"Got plans tonight?"

Evie looked over and saw her father. "No," she said simply.

"Really?"

"Really."

Which suddenly struck her as being lame as hell. What was she going to do – pass out candy? That was always a boring job. What followed was a string of fast-paced thoughts that somehow led her to think about her job at the hospital – there were always a rash of incidents on Halloween night. She wasn't working tonight or anything, but she looked at the clock and realized there was plenty of time left in visitation hours.

Now, Evie wasn't the smartest person at Will Rogers High School, but she sure wasn't the dumbest, so arranging for all of her new friends to meet at Tulsa General at one on Halloween wasn't really a struggle for her. "Because I was thinkin', ya know, and there are people out there who have it a lot worse than we do," she'd said over the phone to each of them.

"Guess so," Ella had said, sounding confused.

"Well, you're not wrong," Cathy had sighed.

"What're you getting at?" Bridget had asked.

"I just think we should do somethin' nice, ya know?"

The question all of them had asked was, "What're you thinking of?" None of them asked why, but Evie would have been able to tell them. Because there were more important things than homecoming and hair and makeup and who was friends with who. Far more important things, and people who would give anything to feel just a bit normal.

Evie hated learning lessons sometimes, she really sorta did, but this one didn't feel so bad.

So she told Cathy to bring some flowers, told them to wash themselves from the gunk of last night, and meet her at one in the lobby of the maternity ward. That had solicited several questions, but once Evie had explained, all four of them were quick to accept. Not one of them was late, and Evie was greeted with the sight of three young women who just last night had fought for her tooth and nail, and they'd all only known each other a few weeks.

"Follow me," Evie said in lieu of greeting, and they did, eventually stopping in front of a closed white door.

Evie looked back at the three girls behind her, took just a moment to soak all this in. Cathy was carrying the bouquet of roses, grey eyes bright as she bit back a smile. Ella studied the door with an intense focus, Evie noting that the ringlets she'd done for her for the dance were now nicely pulled back off her face. And Bridget, dressed to the nines (for a hospital visit, at least – because who was she, Jackie Kennedy?), winked at her cohort with a small grin. Evie gave her a broader smile in return.

"Ready?"

"Ready," Ella said, no hesitation, and the two other girls nodded. Evie gave them the thumbs-up and pushed open the door.

"Lynette? Ya have some visitors…"

XXXXX

AN: Apologies for being a bit late on this! But thank you all for your patience and for sticking with us and this story – it means the world to all of us. :)