A Grease Story

by Lori Escalante

Rydell High 1983

The school bell rings, and the classroom doors close one by one in a staggering formation, leaving the underpopulated halls of Rydell high empty. Click, clack, click, clack. The principal's fully polished brown shoes echo throughout the hallway. Click, clack, click, clack.

Meanwhile, Betty Rizzo, a.k.a. Ms. Riz, stands in front of her unfilled classroom with a whopping four students ready to get the semester over! Two students nap, spending their time wisely; another applies a thick layer of mascara to her lashes while smacking her gum, and the final student, sitting in the back row, is carving his initials into the desk. Ms. Riz sighs in disappointment before reaching for her clipboard to begin roll call. Knock, knock. She looks over at the door and meets eyes with Mr. Middleton, the school principal, who signals her to come out into the hall. He may not be the happiest guy on campus, but his upside-down smile certainly makes him appear grumpier than he really is; truth be told, Mr. Middleton wouldn't harm a fly. He stands in the hallway, patiently waiting as a pesky little fly swoops in and out around him. As he shoos the fly off by waving his hands, I can't help but notice how well his dark gray suit goes with his salt and pepper hair. Suddenly, he loses control and begins stomping and waving the nagging fly away like a maniac. I never said he was the smartest guy on campus, so don't let his title fool you. "Um, please continue doing whatever it is you're doing. I'll be right back." Ms. Riz excuses herself before walking over to meet Mr. Middleton. "Good morning, sir. Are you alright?" She greets him with concern as she softly closes the classroom door behind her.

Let's cut to the black Chuck Taylor's rushing down the hall just around the corner; these belong to Nick, a Tbird, no doubt, late on the first day of school; what are the odds? Though it's a new year and a new set of Tbirds, the wardrobe hasn't changed a bit: white crew neck, denim jeans, and a Tbird wouldn't be a Tbird without his legendary jacket! His shoes sqeak on the tile floor as he comes to a halt at the end of the hall. "Have you taken roll call yet?" "I was just about to." "Don't bother, I can count these adolescents on my fingers. There must be fifteen of them total." Are you saying you have fifteen fingers, Sir?" "Fifteen fingers?! No, focus Rizzo!" Ms. Riz giggles as she enjoys getting Mr. Middleton stirred up. "I'm saying the school is going to shut down." He shoos the fly away. "Oh, surely you've miscounted. There must be more than fifteen students here today," said Ms.Riz. "I wouldn't bet on it. Only nine are in Mrs. Dawson's class, and five are Tbirds! Needless to say, there won't be any learning going on in there." Nick uses his jacket to cover his face as he tiptoes past principal Middleton; lucky for him, Ms. Riz has always been a fan of the Tbirds; she distracts Mr. Middleton so that Nick can get by unseen. "Mr. Middleton, don't you think you're being a little dramatic? I mean, it's only the first day of school." "Me dramatic? Never." He shoos the fly off again. "There are two days a year these kids show up for, and that's the first day and the last; if we don't fill these classrooms before the end of the semester the school board has assured me, we will be shut down!" Clap! This is the moment I'd like to retract my fly statement. He looks down at the palms of his hands and smiles. "Got you sucker." Ms. Riz can't help but look away and gag.

Nick slips into his classroom and is sarcastically greeted by his teacher, Mrs. Dawson. "Well, look who decided to join us. Hope you have a good reason for being late." "Yes ma'am, I couldn't find my Tbird jacket." Confused by his response, she squints her eyes and tilts her head slightly. "It's bad luck to leave the house without it." He explains. "It's also bad luck to show up late to U.S history. So, let's try to make it on time, yes?" "Yes ma'am." Right behind him, a second Tbird walks in late to class. "Sorry, I'm late. I couldn't find my Tbird jacket." He rushes over to sit with the other Tbirds, and they begin to whisper to one another. "I overheard the principal say the school board might shut us down." "That's great news." "It's not great; we'll have to go to the same campus as the scorpions." "Oh, right, that's not great." "Well, what are we gonna do about it?" "Ahem," the teacher purposely interrupts them. Jared quickly rises, "May I be excused to go to the restroom?" Mrs. Dawson allows it, but we all know a Tbird can't travel alone. "William needs to go too," he continued. Mrs. Dawson nods her head as William also rises. "Nick and Lyon need to go, too," Will said. Nick rises, "Yeah, and Charlie needs to poop." Charlie stands quickly. "It's true. I've got a condition," he explains while backing away slowly towards the door. "My mother's gonna call you so y'all can discuss my bowels." "That isn't necessary," Mrs. Dawson replies. "She really doesn't mind at all." "I'd rather her not." Mrs. Dawson insisted while watching the Tbirds excuse themselves out of her classroom.

In the hallway, they run into Tina, a member of the pink ladies dressed in her tennis uniform. She grabs her tennis racket from the locker, places it between her legs, and uses a hair tie to pull back her thick, wavy, brown hair. Charlie whistles at her as she shuts her locker and walks away. "Hey, Hey, Tina! Where are you rushing off to?" "I've got tennis. The coach will cut me if I take any longer. Where are you guys going? A bird convention?" "T-birds! T-birds convention!" Jared corrects her. "William got a new ride. Wanna check it out?" Charlie asked. "Maybe later," she replies as they walk separate ways. Just when Charlie thought their conversation was over, Tina turns back and yells while walking backward. "Hey Charlie!" Charlie, the only Tbird to turn around, witnesses Tina quickly raise her shirt, flashing her undergarment at him. She laughs as he melts into the lockers, "I think I'm in love." "Come on, lover boy," Lyon said as he grabbed Charlie, and they all continued to walk towards the exit.

Tina practices her backhand on the tennis court while the other pink ladies walk along the chain link fence, cheering her on. "Attagirl!" "Show them balls who's boss!" All three walk over to the bleachers to sit and watch Tina practice. "Rydell High's looking pretty sad this year, huh Brooke?" "I hadn't notice." Brooke replies while lighting her cigarette. "Well, English is a bust. The only hotty in that class is in the novel we're reading." Rachel said. "You can read?" Brooke sarcastically asked. "When there's adult content, I can." Brooke laughs at Rachels response, but her laughter is cut short when she recognizes the scorpions vehicle driving by. "What's this about?" Jackie asked. They observe closely as the scorpions drive towards the front parking lot. "Hey!" Brooke yells to Tina. "Lets go." Tina grabs her bag of tennis balls and racket; they all walk together to check out the scene. Ms. Riz, who was watering her plants at the classroom window, also caught sight of the scorpions, so she, too, began to make her way outside.

The Tbirds make it over to the parked cars in the parking lot. "There she is." "Where?" "Right there, next to the tree," William said as they walked over to get a closer look. The Tbirds are impressed by the cherry red 1977 Puma GTS convertible. "Hey, this is nice!" "William, my man!" "The chics are gonna go wild." "Hey, maybe Lyon will finally lose his virginity." Jared said. "I'm not a virgin." "Making out with your cousin doesn't count." "It was my dad's stepbrothers niece. No relation at all." "Does your mother know?" "Of course not!" "Cause she's your cousin." "Hey, motorheads, wrong car." The Tbirds turn around to witness the ugliest rust bucket in the lot. "Hey, Lyon." "Yeah?" "Go back to doing your cousin." Jared joked. "I dont know about this," Charlie said. "My mother hasn't taken me to get my tetanus shot." "Get in the car wimps."

Charlie, Lyon, and Jared hop into the back of the 1970 baby blue convertible oldsmobile cutlass containing paint chips, rust stains, and dents throughout the body. The passenger door handle comes off when Nick tries to open it. He shows it to Charlie who laughs at William. "Hey Will, not even your door handle wants anything to do with this car." "Gimmie that!" William said. "I'll get your mother to fix it when I pick her up later." Nick hops in the vehicle, and William puts the car in reverse, but the scorpions drive up behind them causing William to slam on the brakes. As the scorpions rag on their car, the pink ladies walk up, ready to defend the Tbirds. "Hey! Watch where you're steering that junk!" Leo Balmudo Jr. shouts out. "Yo, this junk was here first!" Lyon yells back as he and the other Tbirds stand in the back seat. "It's not junk!" William quickly corrects Lyon. The scorpions laugh at their slight stupidity. "The only junk I see here is you!" Tina yells while grabbing a tennis ball from her sack. Using her racket, she hits it with great force but little aim. The ball hits Charlie in the head, causing him to fall out of the car. The scorpions laugh again as Tina runs over to help Charlie. "I'm so sorry," she said while lifting him back to his feet. "Hey!" The scorpions yell. "Here's a little something to remember us by!" One of the passengers tosses a brown box at the back of the Tbirds car. It tumbles into the back seat, releasing dozens of scorpions. "Scorpions!" "Ahh!" Jared begins stomping on them, while Lyon doesn't hesitate to scream like a girl. The scorpions speed away, laughing at their evil prank, and William quickly begins chasing them. All the pink ladies, including Charlie, throw tennis balls at the scorpions' vehicle. Ms. Riz comes out with more balls, which she snagged from the gym, and begins arming the pink ladies as her way to help defeat their mutual archnemesis. "Dont let me catch you, LJ!" William yells. Suddenly, they are in the middle of a musical car-chasing duet.

Scorpions- So, you wanna catch a scorpion, well I'd like to see you try, with those sparks coming out your engine like it was 4th of July,y,y,y.

Nick- We just lost the tailpipe and now the right hubcap.

Scorpions- You're gonna lose your whole car if you make another lap.Vroom, vroom, Tbirds, bet you wish that you could fly. Vroom, vroom, Tbirds, I think your car's about to die. You've gotta get a better one; if you wanna catch a scorpion, you should take yours to the local dump.

William -I'm gonna ring your neck you punk!

Vroom, vroom, Tbirds, bet you wish that you could fly.

William- You're asking for a beat down when I get ahold of you.

Pink ladies- Yeah, coming out to our turf was a foolish thing to do.

Scorpions- First, you've gotta catch us, but your car just ain't no good.

Nick- Get down! I'm ashamed to say this, but we just lost our hood!

Vroom, vroom, Tbirds, bet you wish that you could fly. Vroom, vroom, Tbirds, I think your car's about to die. You've gotta get a better one; if you wanna catch a scorpion, you should take yours to the local dump.

William -I'm gonna ring your neck you chump!

Vroom, vroom, Tbirds, bet you wish that you could fly.

The music slows down, and William stalls his car... "Where'd they go?" LJ sneaks up from behind, "Heyyyy Tbirds, look in your rear view." LJ rear-ends the Tbird vehicle, and the bumper falls off; quickly, they back up and drive away, laughing as the music picks back up.

Nick- Now we've lost the bumper. It's lying on the ground.

William- I'm not playing games no more, I'm gonna kill this clown!

Vroom, vroom, Tbirds, bet you wish that you could fly. Vroom, vroom Tbirds, I think your cars about to die.You've gotta get a better one; if you wanna catch a scorpion, you should take yours to the local dump.

William- I'm gonna ring your neck you punk!

Vroom, vroom, Tbirds bet you wish that you could fly. Vroom, vroom, Tbirds, I think you car's about to die. You've gotta get a better one; if you wanna catch a scorpion cause your car is junk, and thats a fact.

Jared- Ouch! I think a scorpion just bit my back! _

Suddenly, the music stops, and a 1973 black Ferrari GT4 Berlinetta Boxer with dark tint cuts into the parking lot and meets the scorpions head-on. The unexpected visitor causes all vehicles to stop dead in their tracks. "Who the hell is this?" LJ asked. "Who's that?" Nick asked. The Ferrari revs up its engine. "Oh, you think you want some of this!" LJ revs up his engine in return. Mikey, the youngest "wannabe" scorpion in the back seat, convinces LJ to drive away. "Nah, let's go. We've done enough here, right guys?" "Yeah, forget these losers. Let's get outta here." The others agree. The Ferrari steps on the gas and drives straight towards LJ. He puts his foot on the pedal and quickly turns the steering wheel to exit the parking lot while his passenger yells out, "Later losers!" The Ferrari steers into a skid before stopping. Everyone continues to stare in dismay as the Ferrari slowly drives past them. Who could this mysterious person be? They knew every driver from here to the outskirts of town, or so they thought.

After the Ferrari leaves the parking lot, the pink ladies run over to the Tbirds. "Who was that?" Asked Jackie. "I don't know, but you can bet we're gonna find out." Nick said as he stared at the vehicle until it was no longer in sight. Mr. Middleton startled Ms. Riz as he yelled. "What in the heck is going on here, Ms. Rizzo?!" "Nothing." She grabs his arm and leads him back inside. "Lets get to class kids." "Look at my car!" William exclaimed. "Dont sweat it, I know a guy." Ms. Riz said as everyone followed her back inside.