The ring feels heavier, hanging around my neck whenever my brother is around. I can see his eyes, focused on the dented silver, following its swing each time it moves with me. Our mother made it clear that Two-Bit was to leave me alone regarding my newest piece of jewelry, but that didn't stop him from sending me a dirty look over the dinner table, whenever my mother and aunt weren't looking.
"How was your trip?" I ask my mother, trying to ignore my brother's burning uncomfortable gaze.
My mother smiles, but for a moment there's a hint of sadness in her eyes. It takes only a second for her to find her words and just as quickly as the sadness appears, it disappears with her sweet, bell-like laugh. "Oh, you know your Uncle Butch," my mother says, "he's got more money, land, and children than he knows what to do with."
"He wants you to go up for a visit," Aunt Lou chimes in, looking at Two-Bit. "He thinks you'll fit in well as a salesman on his car lot."
"Aw Aunt Lou," my brother drawls, finally taking his eyes off me. "I can't leave here. You'll just miss me too much." He laughs with me and my mother, but my Aunt Lou rolls her eyes, shaking her head in small disappointment.
"You can't depend on living off your mama forever, Two- Bit." My aunt continues, ignoring the sharp look my mother shoots across the table, "It's time to start thinking about your future."
"Aw shoot, Aunt Lou." Two-Bit says with a wave of his hand, "I think about my future all the time, like tonight I'm thinking I'm going to take Donna over to ol'Buck's to dance, drink, and play cards." He laughs again, ignoring the fine set lines on my aunt's face, but she isn't staring at my brother. Instead, her eyes are focused on my mother, and I feel myself beginning to shrink into my chair, ready to excuse myself from the table when the fireworks start.
When my aunt opens her mouth to say something, my mother cuts her off. "That's enough Louise," my mother's voice is sharp and to the point. They glower at each other in silence, and I catch my brother's eyes, finding the same look of confusion twisting on his face. We were used to them fighting – we expected it, but this was something else. At this point they would have been yelling and our Aunt Louise would have stormed out, but this time, they seemed to be reading each other's minds. Not wanting us to know whatever their real fight was about.
After a few moments of silence, my mother finally asks, "You have any plans tonight, Nellie?"
"I'm going to the drive-ins." I say, returning her small knowing smile. "I'll be home by midnight."
"Midnight!" Two-Bit exclaims and my mother swats at him. "We don't even know who this guy is!"
"You don't," my aunt says with a laugh, standing up from the table and grabbing her plate. "I think he's a real polite young man."
"Young man!" Two-Bit exclaims again and this causes the three of us to break into laughter once more. My brother throws his hands up in the air in upset and then shakes his head. "I don't know when ya'll started keeping secrets from me, but I don't like it."
"We're always keeping secrets from you," I say, standing with my own plate to follow my aunt into the kitchen, "you were just too dumb to realize it."
Despite my brother's best efforts to catch me, it was relatively easy to hide Ponyboy from him and as July slowly shifted into the beginning of August, I began to feel the overwhelming feeling of school beginning to creep onto us again.
"Did I tell you my mama called the guidance counselor?" Lucy asks, as she files through the order forms left over from the day before. For a Tuesday afternoon, the bookstore is exceptionally quiet. Even Harv, who has beginning to spend more time here during the day, decided to sneak away early, complaining about needing to update our fruit basket.
"Is the school even open?" I ask, mindlessly using the feather duster to wipe down the counters and shelves near our help desk.
"No!" Lucy squeals, "she called him at his house, Nellie. Asking him all these questions about Ole Miss. It was humiliating."
I laugh, picturing poor Mr. Harrelson on the phone with Lucy's mama for hours. Suddenly, I am thankful that my mama doesn't know enough about college admissions to care about calling the guidance counselor. I glance at Lucy and shake my head with her, "Well at least she's excited."
"I don't even want to go to Ole Miss," Lucy hisses as the bell above the door chimes, letting us know that we have a customer. I return to my place behind the counter and Lucy carefully shuffles her papers into a neat stack. "My mother and father went there – who am I kidding, they act like they still do!"
"What's wrong with Ole Miss?" Ponyboy asks, Mark following him close behind.
"It's in Mississippi," Lucy says and Ponyboy smiles, leaning across the counter to give me a quick peck on the cheek.
"Well, when you put it that way." He says with a laugh. He ambles away from the counter, to look at a few of the books on the Just Written shelves for the new releases.
I follow him over, nudging him with my shoulder. He looks down at me with a small smile and says, "Darry wants you to come over for dinner soon."
"I'd love too," I say, "just gotta wait for the next poker night at Buck's. I think it's in a few weeks."
Ponyboy looks at me, his smile faltering somewhat at he turns away. Grabbing one of the books off the shelf with a little too much force. I watch as he scans the cover before placing it back and looking at me again. "You gotta just tell him eventually, Nellie."
I sigh, knowing that this has been somewhat of a touchy subject between us. It was easy for him and his brothers, but I knew mine wouldn't take the news as well. "I just hate to see you sporting a black eye because of me," I say with a smile, hoping that he will let it go entirely. When Ponyboy doesn't return the gesture I sigh again, folding my arms over my chest.
"I know you like to think that you know Two-Bit better than me," Ponyboy says, his own arms now folded over his chest. "But I'd like to think my friend isn't going to beat the tar out of me for dating his sister."
We stare at each other, before I finally throw my arms up in the air. "Fine! I'll tell him," I say, "but it's your funeral Ponyboy Curtis."
Ponyboy rolls his eyes and pulls at my hair playfully, "I gotta get to track practice. I'll call you tonight?"
"I'll be around," I say before standing on my toes to press a kiss to his cheek. "I'll make sure to call the funeral home first though."
"Anybody ever tell you how dramatic you are?" He asks and I roll my eyes, walking him and Mark to the door.
"Once or twice," I say and he grins, winking at me before walking back out the door.
The rest of our shift drags on, but Lucy and I use the time to discuss all the potential ways Two-Bit could react to finding out I am dating one of his friends. We decide that there are two possible options:
1. Two-Bit will think it's funny and leave it alone because he'll be so relieved it isn't Mark Jennings.
Or
2. Two-Bit will not think it's funny and will hunt Ponyboy down.
I am positive the latter of the two will become my reality and suddenly feel so anxious about seeing my brother I feel like I might vomit. "You have to tell him," Lucy says as we lock up the front door of the bookstore. "I saw the face Ponyboy made when he found out you hadn't said anything yet."
"I know, I know," I say with an annoyed sigh. Ponyboy was mad at me, even if he wouldn't tell me, but I didn't blame him. I would hate to be a secret too.
Lucy and I walk down the street to Jay's Diner, its neon light illuminating the evening sky. We had promised to meet Annette here after work, but I was relieved, knowing I could use this as an excuse to put off seeing my brother. Lucy, somehow always knowing how to read my mind, looks over at me with a lifted eyebrow, "Ignoring the problem doesn't solve it."
"Thank you, doctor," I say with an annoyed grumble, following her into the diner with a roll of my eyes.
Jay's is unsurprisingly packed with our classmates, and we push through the crowd for the corner booth that Annette has already claimed. In front of her is a large basket of fries, but she isn't eating. Her eyes are focused on the booth a few over and once we are closer, I catch what she is so intently staring at.
Angela Shepard is sitting with a small group of her friends. She is laughing with them, sipping on a milkshake. Angela doesn't seem to notice me, and I slip into the booth, making sure to keep her in front of me, rather than have her behind my back. Lucy sits across from me but turns briefly to also shoot a quick glare in Angela's direction.
"Maybe she won't notice us," Lucy says as she turns around. "Or maybe she won't cause a scene with all these people around."
"Oh, she'll cause a scene," Annette says. "The bigger audience, the more she enjoys it."
When Angela doesn't notice us after a few minutes, we begin to relax. Focusing once again on my problem with Two-Bit and Ponyboy, rather than worry about Angela Shepard's threats. I had bigger problems than Angela Shepard harsh words and I knew she wouldn't do anything unless there was someone else to do her dirty work for her. I picture Mark, bloody on the ground, and frown lifting my eyes momentarily to shoot her another glare.
"You know," Annette says as she dips a fry into her chocolate shake, "if your brother does decide to beat up Ponyboy he'll probably go easy on him."
"Why do you think that?" I ask, picking at my own burger. Completely tired of this conversation and dreading the one I must have with Two-Bit later.
"Because they've been friends for so long." Anette says, "they're practically brothers themselves. It'll just be like when you and Two-Bit fight."
"Two-Bit broke her finger, play fighting with her when we were eight," Lucy says with a shake of her head. "It was an accident, but I hate to say it. I think this is just one of those things that just needs to happen."
Lucy was right as she always tends to be and I sigh, tossing a fry at her with a shake of my head. She smiles knowingly and tosses one right back.
The diner is beginning to thin out, our peers finding better ways to spend their last few weeks of summer somewhere else. We are about to leave ourselves when an overwhelming presence of cheap perfume suddenly surrounds us. I look up, wondering how I did not notice, Angela Shepard approaching our table. She has a thin smile on her face and is standing just perfectly to block me from getting out of the booth if needed.
"Angel," I say, swallowing any fear in my voice, but before I can even think of asking her what she wants. She picks up my milkshake and dumps it over my head. I gasp in surprise, hearing Annette and Lucy immediately starting to argue with Angela's friends.
Once the ice cream has emptied the glass, I wipe my eyes with frustration. Feeling the hot tears beginning to fill my eyes as the rest of the diner's patrons begin to laugh as Angela and her friend's walkout without so much of a glance backwards in my direction. I can hear Annette and Lucy talking to me, but I cannot make out what their saying. Instead, I stand, hurriedly shaking the ice cream off my hands as I rush out the door after Angela.
"What the hell is your problem?" I yell, once I am in the parking lot. She turns, and I can see the slight surprise on her face. She had not expected me to follow her out.
"You are," Angela says walking the distance between us so that we are once again face to face. "Miss Perfect Penelope has everyone here fooled. You're a backstabbing bitch and it's about time everyone realizes it."
"Is this still about Ponyboy?" I ask, shaking from the cold ice cream dripping down my back and the sudden anger boiling inside me. "Guess what Angel – you've been flaunting yourself around him for months and he still doesn't want you."
Angela takes a small step back, surprised before resetting herself with a venomous glare in my direction. I am so angry with her, with my brother that I can't keep the words from continuously spilling out, "You can get whoever you want to attack him, make up any stupid stories to try and embarrass me, but even if he was done with me tomorrow, he still wouldn't want trash like you. He told me himself."
I should have been ready – should have known that with brothers like Curly and Tim – Angela wouldn't be afraid of throwing a hit, but when she winds her hand back and slaps me across the face I still stagger back in surprise. A chorus of shocked voices sound in the parking lot and I feel my face grow hot with embarrassment. Angela continues towards me, and I hurriedly step backwards, trying to regain the courage I had only moments before.
"What's the problem Nellie?" Angela taunts, getting ready to strike me again. "You're all talk no bite. He'll get bored of you soon, especially once he realizes you can't even stand up to your brother for him."
I suck in a quick breath and when Angela pulls her hand back, I move quickly, remembering the one rule of fighting my aunt has always drilled into the back of my mind. You don't need to know how to throw a punch if you can hold them by their hair. I grab onto Angela's thick black curls, pulling as hard as I can to pull her to the ground. We roll around on the pavement of the parking lot, struggling to pin the other. Angela exerts most of her energy through clawing, making contact with my face only twice, but I hang onto her hair, kicking wildly at the rest of her with all of the strength I can muster.
When I am finally able to pin her, I release her hair to strike her across the face. My slap echoing into the parking lot as she spits all the venomous names she can think of, trying to throw me off. She gets her arms free and reaches up, clawing at me again wildly. We go back and forth again, struggling to pin each other again. This time though, I do not have the grip on her hair, allowing her full movement. Angela is finally able to get on top of me and instead of sticking me with an open palm, she pulls her fist back and hits me once square in the eye. When she pulls her fist back again, suddenly, she is yanked off me, thrown into the crowd as someone quickly picks me up.
I struggle against the person holding me, no longer caring. "Let me go!"
"No way," they laugh, and I spin to find Mark Jennings holding me by my arm, dragging me off to side of the parking lot where my friends wait. Angela is being contained by a Shepard boy, clearly annoyed that he is now dealing with her.
"You're my hero," Annette says as Mark and I approach.
"And you're so insanely stupid," Lucy adds on as she pulls a handkerchief out of her purse to hand to me. "Your face is bleeding," she adds with a shake of her head, but I can't help but notice the small smile that is forming on her lips.
"We better get you out of here," Mark says with a large smile as he looks over my face, "that might be a cool scar kid."
I know that I cannot go home with my cheek bleeding and my eye swelling like a large purple balloon. My mother would absolutely loose her mind if she knew I was fighting in parking lots. She would ask when I started acting like my brother. Instead, I convince Mark to drop me off at the Curtis house, relief flooding over me when I find that Two-Bit's car is nowhere in sight.
I stomp up the steps of the porch, Mark following close behind. I hesitate at the door, remembering that Two-Bit once told me that the Curtis' always kept their front door unlocked for anyone who needed help, and I sigh wondering if I should just walk in or not. Mark laughs at my hesitation and steps past me, pushing the door open with a call, "Hey Curtis, gotta surprise for you."
"Mark!" I hiss as he shoves me in through the front door. I jump when I see Sodapop sitting on the coach and smile weakly at him when he tries to stand up quickly, shocked by my arrival and appearance. "Hi Sodapop," I say with a weak laugh, "you'll never guess what happened."
"And where the hell were you?" Ponyboy spits towards Mark as we recount the story for the Curtis brothers.
Mark throws his hands up in innocence, "Hey man I was just getting there when Angela slapped her."
I flinch and glance up at Ponyboy, a steady frown forming on his face. "Well Nellie," Sodapop says once the silence in the rooms becomes almost unbearable, "you better ask ol'Two-Bit to teach you how to throw a punch. I doubt Angela Shepard's going to let this go."
"Leave it alone Soda," Darry says from the doorway of the kitchen, "Ponyboy, why don't you help Nellie get cleaned up in the bathroom. Who knows where Angela's nails have been?"
I smile at Darry, relieved to be free of the audience as now my face is beginning to hurt more than I can bear. Ponyboy helps me onto the counter before digging in the cabinets for their first aid kit. He is silent, even as he carefully pats at the scratches on my face with a clean washcloth covered in alcohol. It stings, but I don't dare move knowing from the way Ponyboy's eyebrows are deeply furrowed in concentration that he is angry and annoyed. Once he is satisfied with how clean the scratches on my face are, he carefully holds my chin in his hand and examines the my forming black eye.
"Those are going to be a tough scar," Mark says with a low whistle, appearing in the doorway. "What does Angela sharpen those claws with?" Ponyboy looks at Mark and then closes the bathroom door on his face, leaving us alone and in silence.
After a few moments I ask, "Are you mad at me?"
Ponyboy takes a moment before saying, "No, I ain't mad at you. I'm just annoyed. Angela Shepard's out of control."
"I shouldn't have chased her out," I say with a sheepish smile.
"No," he chuckles. "You ain't lookin' too bad though," he teases, "must'a given Angela a run for her money."
"She almost knocked me out," I say with a shake of my head. "I saw stars for sure."
"Really?" He asks, "Whenever someone hits me, I always see birds."
I laugh, flinching slightly at the tenderness of my eye, "Will you just take me home?"
"You sure?" He asks, "I don't mind if you slay one dragon at a time."
"He's gonna ask what happened anyways." I say with a sigh, "Might as well tell him together."
"Shoot kid," Ponyboy says with a small smile, "maybe he'll give me a black eye too. We can match."
A/N: Once again, thank you for the support! Reviews are always appreciated.
