Those Townie kids were nothing but poor, thieving heaps of trash. This entire situation was completely unacceptable; how dare they try to get away with such an act! They must have been mentally damaged to believe that we wouldn't retaliate, because I was more than prepared to do so.

Though I knew I had nothing to do with it, I somehow I felt the robbery of Chad's bike was my own fault. Perhaps if I had never gotten involved with those Townies they would have left it alone. Maybe because of my docility and reluctance to put them in their place, they thought it was perfectly okay to take from us Preps. I should have known better than to treat them kindly. I should have known better than to associate with poor kids, period. I felt so stupid.

I shook those thoughts from my head. Preposterous, Gord! This was in no way your fault! I never told them to take it, nor did I ever give them hints as to where they could steal anyone's bike. This was their doing, no one else's, and I was determined to make sure they paid for their insolence.

Determined as I was, I pleaded I would only encounter Duncan, or perhaps that other smaller one would be fine, too...

Pinky and I waited for them near the carnival gate later that night. It was around eleven when we arrived, just after curfew. The two of us snuck out together through the parking lot, Pinky riding her teal Aquaberry bike and me tagging along on the handlebars.

I figured it wouldn't matter when we left since I assumed they'd already be there anyways. They always were, weren't they? But no, we were forced to wait. Honestly, for a while I feared they wouldn't show. How tedious. The one time I actually wanted to see them, they were nowhere to be found.

We stood there for a long, anxiety-ridden hour before Pinky started complaining that she was getting cold and tired. I ignored her and the chilly late-summer night air, far too focused on what I was planning on saying to those Townie bastards. First, I'd ask them to return the bike to me. If they were to refuse, I would be stern. I'd give them a warning. Should they ignore my warning, I would...

Erm...

Pinky elbowed me. "Gord, they're here!" She pointed to the three Townies emerging from the tunnel, heading in our direction. It was Henry, that Gurney (to Pinky's satisfaction), and yes, Duncan.

I panicked. Okay, uh, be stern, yes. Look them in the eyes and make your demands. They should at least appreciate your earnestness. Perhaps that would be worth something. Hold a steady voice, don't show fear, keep your head up...

"Hey, Rich Boy!" Duncan greeted me from afar. I jumped at the sound of his voice. He seemed somewhat happy to see me, a stupid grin spread across his face and a pleasant chirp lining his tone. It may have been sarcastic, I wasn't exactly sure. But regardless of why he sounded the way he did, whether he was pleased to see me or not, I knew what had to be done.

This was it. Time to give him a piece of my mind. I cleared my throat. "Duncan," I began. My voice quavered slightly, but I wanted to think no one noticed. I held my feet firmly on the ground and crossed my arms over my chest, mostly to hide the tremor that ran up my spine. "Come here."

The other two Townies stopped, looking to Duncan in amusement. An 'uh-oh, you're in trouble!' sounded from their crowd, obviously mocking, but I didn't let it upset me. They didn't scare me; I would take on all of them if I had to.

I just... really hoped I wouldn't have to.

Duncan laughed lightly before walking up to me, keeping a brisk pace as though I weren't a high priority. "'sup?" he said behind a burning cigarette dangling from his lips.

The black eye I had given him was beginning to fade, only a tint of blackish-purple remaining under his lower lashline. It wasn't puffy or infected or difficult to look at, but knowing that I had given it to him in the first place made me feel awful.

What was I doing again? Oh, that's right. "Um..."

He stared at me.

"Uh, y-you have something I need."

He furrowed his brows, bringing his fingers up to his mouth to clasp the cigarette and bring it down to his side. "I do?"

"Yes. A bike."

"A bike?" Duncan appeared confused. "Didn't we just fix your bike for you?"

I sighed. How was I supposed to put this?

"It's our friend's bike," Pinky broke in. "And, as much as I'd hate to accuse you, Gord thinks you stole it."

"What? No!" Damn. "I-I mean... it's just that..." I thought. Pinky wasn't being much help right then. "...no one else could have taken it, you know?"

He sniffed, likely a bit indignant, bringing his cigarette back to his lips. "Right."

I hugged my torso, nervous. "So... you wouldn't have happened to have seen it, have you? It looks just like mine. It's dark blue and silver and very expensive."

Duncan pursed his lips, feigning thoughtfulness. "I might've. I see a lot of bikes, you know." Trash Heap knew just which bike I was referring to, I could tell by the way he spoke. He was so cocky. I could have winced; he was reminding me of Justin.

This was going nowhere. "Oh, come on Duncan! We're..." What were we, exactly? "...we're friends, aren't we?" I grinned. Of course Duncan and I weren't friends, but perhaps if I tricked him into believing we were, he'd be more willing to assist me. He was stupid enough to believe such a thing.

He stared on, expression unchanged, cigarette still burning in the corner of his lips. I guess he didn't buy it.

I chuckled, desperate. "Of course we are! That's why you should help me."

Duncan snorted. "You only talk to me when you want something. Besides," A grin spread across his face. I didn't like that particular grin. "That bike is mine now."

My eyes widened at that. I must have misheard him. "Excuse me?"

"Well, I mean you ran off with my other bike! I told Henry it was stolen so he went out and got me a new one." He sounded so casual, like this was something anyone would have been used to.

Goodness, this was ridiculous! "You can't just steal peoples' bikes because you can't afford one, Trash Heap! It isn't right!" Though, surely I wouldn't care for the ethicality of this situation should they have stolen from some other clique.

He brought his hands to his chest, defensive. "Hey, I didn't take it, Rich Boy! Henry did! He considers all the bikes he takes his, he just lets us use them. So if you want it back..." He stepped to the side, allowing a path towards his Townie friends in their usual loiter spot. "...you're gonna have to go talk to him."

Henry? I swallowed dryly.

"Uh, I would, but..." I hesitated. "...H-How about you talk to him for me instead?"

Duncan snorted, making his way back to his group.

There was no way on Earth the scrawny Gord Vendome could possibly convince someone as large and intimidating as that Henry to return stolen property. He would murder me! I sighed. It was time for a new plan. "Well, Pinky, I guess we have to..." I looked to my side, where I expected Pinky to be, only to find her absent.

"Pinky?"

Where could she have run off to?

I looked up. To my horror, she was over with those Townies, flirting around with that disgusting excuse for a human being, Gurney. "Pinky!"

The other Townies looked over to me, so I knew Pinky had to have heard me. But she ignored my call, continuing to twirl her hair and sway from side to side like some lovesick schoolgirl.

No, no way. This was unacceptable. She told me, directly to my face, that she would stay away from him. I expressed to her my concerns and she just completely disregarded them, as though I didn't even matter. If she didn't care about my feelings, I'd hope that at least she would care for her own safety. But this seemed to have proven otherwise.

Not if I could do anything about it. I would not stand by and allow this to take place.

This did nothing but add to my already seething amount of stress. My hands clenched at my sides before I marched up to her to grab her by the forearm, shocking both her and that Gurney in the process.

"Pinky, we need to go," I demanded as I tugged her arm in the opposite direction.

That Gurney bastard grabbed her other arm, shocking me. "What's the hurry?" He looked furious. "I didn't hear the lady say she wants to go, Rich Boy."

This was where I drew the line. How dare he put his hands on such a respectable young lady. He had some nerve. I looked him dead in the eyes. "Who do you think you are?" I spat.

He looked back, matching my anger. "Let the lady go."

Poor Pinky, caught in the middle of this like some object.

"Gord, I don't want to leave yet!" she squealed, attempting to shake off my grip. Her expression read genuine disappointment, perhaps even a bit of frustration.

I was close to furious at this point. Of course she had no clue what she was doing or saying. Damned poor people and their manipulative ways. "I don't care. We need to leave, Pinky," I said, giving her arm another pull.

"Just let his girlfriend go, dude," Duncan said from the side with a laugh.

I released Pinky at the sound of his voice. "Sh-She is not my girlfriend!" My voice cracked, defensive. "We're just friends!"

Duncan scoffed. "Then who cares if she hangs out with us? We're nice guys." He chuckled, taking a drag from his cigarette.

I growled to myself. I turned to my friend, now released from that Gurney's grip, and jabbed a finger into her chest. "This is absurd, Pinky. I should have never brought you with me."

She crossed her arms, scowling. "You wouldn't even be in this situation in the first place if you weren't too stupid to keep from hitting walls on your bike!"

Henry and Duncan laughed from the side.

I could no longer take this. It was time to do what I came here for. I took a deep breath before walking up to that Henry. At that moment, I wasn't concerned with what would happen to me. I didn't care if he should threaten violence, I didn't care if he were to actually become violent. All I cared about was never having to do anything like this ever again.

He raised his eyebrows, a smirk on his bulky face, laughing on the inside. He must have found this very amusing. Prat.

Okay, here it goes. "Henry," I began, my voice surprisingly firm. "You have something that I need back."

The man was huge, perhaps even bigger than Bif. "Is that right?"

I nodded, keeping eye contact and holding my head high, despite my nervousness. "You took a friend of mine's bike and it is urgent that I return it to him."

"That really sweet one you took for me," Duncan added.

"That bike, huh?" Henry laughed. "That's a nice bike, Rich Boy."

I was near desperate. "I need it back! Please, I'm begging you!" There was little preventing me from dropping to my knees and pleading to him right there in front of everyone.

He narrowed his eyes. "I fixed your bike for ya, didn't I? I did ya a favor, Rich Boy, and I did it for free." He smiled, dark and cunning. "Consider this your payment."

A favor? "You did me a favor?" I was furious at this point. He had absolutely no right to steal Prep property and use it against me. Henry began to walk away from me, over to where Gurney was, before I grabbed him by the arm. "You did not do me a-" I was prepared to give him a piece of my mind, but my final word caught.

The man loomed over me, looking me dead in the eyes with nothing less than pure anger. I had never felt so tiny, so inferior.

My hand released his arm and curled into my chest. "-favor," I finished, my voice small.

He stepped closer to me, forcing me backwards, our eyes never breaking contact. He kept moving towards me until I was against the carnival wall, rendering me completely vulnerable. I gulped.

Henry continued to stare into me for what felt like hours before he finally said, "Alright, Rich Boy, tell ya what. You got something I want back, too." He grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, bringing my face to his. I prayed he wouldn't ruin it; it was an expensive shirt. His breath was hot against my skin and reeked of cigarettes and hard liquor. "You give me the bike you ran off with back, and I'll give you the bike you want back."

I shuddered in his grip. "That... sounds fair."

He grinned, letting me back down. "Good." I immediately inspected my shirt collar. It was wrinkled, but I was sure it'd be fine. "You meet me by the bridge outside Blue Skies tomorrow night. I don't wanna see you again until then, so get outta here. Both a' you."

Pinky didn't object that time.

We should have headed back to Harrington House, but I collapsed to the curb outside of the tunnel. I had gotten rid of that bike days ago, leaving it outside of Greaser territory. I couldn't just walk into the auto shop and ask them for it back. They'd kill me.

I was close to tears. "This is hopeless, Pinky."

She rolled her eyes. "You're such a drama queen. Just give them the bike back!"

"That's the problem! I don't have it anymore!"

"Well then what the hell did you do with it?" came a voice from behind us.

Pinky and I turned in unison. It was Duncan, arms folded over his chest. He must have followed after us.

I snarled. "None of your business, Trash Heap."

He chuckled. "Of course it's my business! Henry stole that bike for me. If I don't get it back, and we don't keep the other one, I'm out a bike."

I groaned. "Duncan, just... get out of here. I can't deal with the likes of you right now."

He did just the opposite, taking a seat with me on the curb.

"Can't you just take someone else's bike?" Pinky suggested. "The Greasers must have more than enough."

Duncan shook his head. "I wouldn't have a problem with that. But Henry hates the Greaseballs. He doesn't think their bikes are good enough or something stupid like that." He laughed.

I whined. "I don't know what to do, Trash Heap. I left that bike in front of the auto shop for those Greasers to deal with."

He shrugged. "Then take it back."

I supposed that I shouldn't have expected the boy who dragged me through New Coventry to understand my dilemma. I slammed my fists against the pavement. "You are no help, you know that, Trash Heap? My daddy says that people like you are useless."

Duncan raised his eyebrows, smiling. "Really? What a coincidence! My daddy tells me the same thing!"

Indubitably.

Pinky made a thoughtful noise. "Hey, I have an idea! How about you help us get it back from them, Duncan!"

I snapped my attention to her. "What? That is the worst possible idea you could have possibly-"

"Sounds like a plan!" Duncan interrupted me. He pushed himself to his feet. "You two should meet me by the school gates tomorrow around eleven. I know exactly how this needs to get done."

Pinky clapped her hands together. "This is going to be so much fun!"

I rolled my eyes, burying my face into my palms.