User blog:Zakryah/Fireworks

Her uniform was swapped with a light sundress and a pair of sandals. The air was thick and suffocating during the day, but the darkness of the night brought in a cool breeze and a comfortableness. It was prime weather to be sitting outside in the nearby park.

Pinky had convinced her to go. Said it was going to be a big thing and everyone was going to attend. She didn’t normally attend these things, but she was feeling a little lonely, so at sundown she met up with Pinky, dressed in bright pinks, too bright for the darkness, who was latched onto Derby’s arm, Bif a few steps back, in a polo and slacks. He had smiled at her, nodded, took her hand. Derby had probably brought him along to be her date, but Bif knew she wasn’t interested, but still wanted to treat her to a fun night. As friends, he had said under the glow of the streetlights, Pinky and Derby a little ways away, smiling loose smiles that proved they weren’t exactly sober. She had smiled and nodded, fighting the urge to retreat back to her house, up into her room, and he smiled back, leading her along.

The park was full, yet still split into different groups based on their cliques. Most students went home for the summer, and that’s why Luis Luna was spending his time with the Greasers, who looked much different in bluejeans and shorts with t-shirts, no jackets or school vests in sight. A cheerleader sat on his knee, long brown hair tied up in a ponytail, laughing along to a joke Hal had said. Getting along. Joking.

It looked nice.

Gord caught her attention first, jumping up and waving at them, smile wide and loose. They walked over, Derby saying something to him that made him sit back down at the picnic table, face a little flushed. Terrance laughed at him, and he was shoved, and Derby again chided them.

A quick glance up at the Greasers and Dez Russo was singing, a silly little tune she couldn’t make the words out of, but Nicky Reese and Ricky Pucino had their arms wrapped around each other, swaying and laughing in some sort of dance, with the other Greasers laughing and applauding them.

Nicky took a bow and a small, stocky greaser said something, and Lola flicked her ear. They all laughed again.

Her heart stung.

The preps had two picnic tables to themselves, away from the ruckus of the rowdy Greasers. She saw a little ways away the dreaded Townies, lounging on the grass, limbs sprawled across each other. She saw Marnie Jones sitting next to another girl who wore sunglasses. Marnie had a smile on her face, her shoulders relaxed.

They all looked so normal.

It was jarring, to say the least, to see all those people she avoided, who her friends whispered about, looking so relaxed and carefree, looking like they were having a great time. Just like everyone else.

“Hey.” Bif’s voice was soft and it knocked her out of her trance, green eyes turning back to face him. The others chatted away, oblivious. “Are you okay?” It wasn’t accusing.

She nodded in response, flashing him a small smile, but he didn’t return it, eyeing her for a moment longer. “If you want to go, let me know.”

She nodded again, her shoulders relaxing, smiling at him genuinely. “Thank you, Bif.”

That got him to grin and he turned his attention back to the other Preps. Chad was telling a tale about something, something about ghost. Terrance sneered, calling bullshit, and Gord’s voice cracked when he yelled at Terrance for ‘improper language’.

They were all at the lower part of the park, crowded out into different groups. The adults were at the upper portion, where earlier that year Jimmy Hopkins had done the legendary prank and threw Mr. Burton over the cliff in a port-o-potty to the street below.

The younger students sat nearby on the grass, huddled together excitedly. Some of the others she didn’t know by name were nearby, Judy Rosenberg being the only name she could congour up. Between the rambunctious group of Greasers and the untamed curls of Judy’s head were a couple Nerds, glancing between the groups nervously, but Beatrice was chatting excitedly about something, and the normally nervous Bucky was listening to every word she was saying.

They were seated side by side. Bucky leaning a little too close, but Beatrice didn’t seem to mind, turning to him and saying something, and he nodded enthusiastically and said something back.

She turned away, staring at the wooden table before her.

Her heart was hammering in her chest and she regretted being talked into this. She wanted to leave.

She wanted to leave.

Her fingernails glided over Bif’s strong arms and he looked at her, and she looked at him, and he nodded, scooting over to give her room to get up. She smiled at him, squeezing his arm in thanks, and quickly stood, smoothing her dress out.

“Leaving already?” Parker looked concerned.

Words escaped her, the twisting in her stomach making her queasy.

“Her stomach’s hurting her.” Bif offered easily.

“You should take her home.” Justin’s voice was accusing. “Letting her walk alone at night? Bif, come now.”

“It’s alright.” Despite how her heart pounded, her voice was steady. “I wouldn’t want him to miss the show. I can make it myself. It’s not like it’s far.”

Derby nodded, the deciding factor. “Be safe. Avoid the rif-raf.”

She gave a small laugh, touching the back of his shoulder. “Of course.” She leaned in and pecked his cheek.

“Do be safe, sweetie!” Pinky exclaimed next to Derby, reaching out and taking her hand. “I’ll call you tomorrow!”

She nodded again, and finally she was free, attention taken away from her as she stepped back, more enthused with stories of how that old church really is haunted.

The greasers were still laughing. She saw Mr Galloway walking to the upper portion of the park, holding a box, with Ms Phillips at his side, holding another, smaller box. He leaned over and kissed her cheek, and then was speed running ahead, laughing and she was laughing too, trying to catch up.

She rounded the side of the bricks and pressed her back against them, taking a deep breath through her nose. Night had fallen, the streets lacking the orange glow of the setting sun from earlier. It was peaceful, the sounds easily ignored now that she was away from the majority of it. It was only a ten minute walk home.

A peaceful walk with her thoughts.

“Connie!”

She was only a couple steps away when she stopped, turning around, expecting to see Pinky, or Derby, who was hell bent on pairing her with Bif, or even Parker, who always was a little too kind and eager to talk to her.

Josie Fratelli stood there, leaning against the brick, with jeans showing off her ankles and her t-shirt sleeves rolled up, cradling a pack of cigarettes, her hair slicked back but with a few strands falling over into her face, trying to look cool, with her eyes squinted and hands in her pockets.

Connie stared at her.

“Where you goin’?” Josie asked after a moment, fidgeting, but still trying to hold her composure. “The show like… it starts soon, y’know…”

There was another beat of silence and Connie realized she was meant to reply, so she gave a hasty nod. “I-I know…” She swallowed. “I just....”

“Too much?” Josie offered, giving her a lopsided smile.

Connie sighed, shoulders slumping, nodding. “Yeah…”

“I get that.” She bit her lip, looking behind her at her group of friends. “Fireworks are kinda cheesy anyway. Want like…” She paused, thinking, her face scrunched up in thought. It was cute. “An escot?”

“Oh.” Connie blinked, genuinely surprised, and she blushed, looking away. Not like she needed to, she thought. It was dark. Josie couldn’t see her too well. She didn’t turn around. “Um… what about your friends?”

“Those dorks?” Josie scoffed. “They’ll be fine without me there. Rather make sure you like… get home not-dead, ya dig?”

A small laughed escaped before Connie could bite down on her lip, but she couldn’t stop the wide smile that formed. “I suppose you’re right…” A burst of courage jolted through her, like electricity, and she partially turned. “My homes this way.” She jerked her head a little to the left.

Joy spread across Josie’s face, but she quickly masked it into a cool expression, but Connie still saw it, and her stomach was so full of butterflies she wanted to vomit. That was unladylike, so she was just going to have to get over it. “Then let’s go!” She trotted over to her, flashing Connie a quick grin, and Connie offered a smile in return.

It was peaceful.

She still felt sick. She felt like her hands were shaking, her arms felt like she just did a thousand push ups, so she crossed them, but her knees felt like they were about to collapse and she didn’t know how to hide that.

“I was surprised you even showed up. I never really, like, see you at these things.”

“They’re not… they’re not really my thing.”

“Fireworks? Or like, the people?”

Connie gave paused, her eyebrows creasing as she thought. “The people. I’ve… I’ve never actually seen fireworks.”

“What?!”

The tone startled her to turn to face Josie, who stood there, gaping at her, eyes wide and mouth open. “What do you mean you’ve never seen fireworks?!”

Connie gave a shrug, then remembered that was unladylike, and took a deep breath. “My family never brought me around them. I never took the opportunity to see them.”

Josie continued to stare. Connie shifted on her feet, beginning to feel the shame climb up her spine, embarrassment plain on her cheeks. After another uncomfortable moment Josie cleared her throat and cooled her expression. “S’just real surprising, s’all.” She tried to sound nonchalant. Connie appreciated that. “You should really try ‘n see them t’night if you can.”

“I…” She sighed, suddenly feeling exhausted, “I suppose…”

“You don’t gotta!” Josie suddenly looked panicked. “It’s like, not that big ‘a deal. Sides, I’m sure your big ol’ house don’t got mosquitos everywhere.”

Connie laughed, actually laughed, and she felt so stupid for laughing because it wasn’t even funny, but Josie smiled a shy smile that looked really cute on her and she didn’t mind so much because she liked making Josie smile. “You’re right.” Another deep breath. “No mosquitos. But…” She bit her lip. “I think you’re right.”

“Ya jus’ said that.” Josie joked.

“No, I mean…” She laughed again. “About the fireworks. I… I should see them.”

Josie’s eye lit up. “Yeah? W-want me t’like, take you back t’your friends?” She suddenly looked embarrassed. “Well, you pro’ally don’t wanna be seen with me.”

“Can we just... stand on the sidelines?”

Josie’s eyebrows shot up. “You wanna watch ‘em with me?”

“If… if that’s alright.”

Josie visibly swallowed, and her ears turned red, and she looked everywhere but Connie. The confidence retreated, Connie kicked herself, stupid, stupid, why would she--

“Yea, that sounds neat-o.”

Neat-o. Watching fireworks with her was neat-o. Connie liked that.

They were near the other side of the wall, closer to the Greasers than they were the Preps. Lia Suarez had joined the band of Greasers, seated next to Dez Russo, who was engaged in a conversation with the blond jock, Casey she thinks. Lucky sat behind Dez, their backs pressed together, and he was playing cards with Peanut Romano and Chelsy Gun.

She won, based on the cool smirk that crossed her features and the groans of the boys.

Josie was next to her, describing the game but Connie, if she was being honest, wasn’t listening. She just liked the sound of Josie’s voice. How knowledgeable she was about what was going on. How Chelsy won against the two Greasers.

The first one startled her, making her head jerk and Josie cut her sentence off mid-sentence. The Greasers and Jocks lifted their heads. There was a moment of silence as it whistled, and then it exploded, and everyone cheered. The cards were forgotten.

Her heart was hammering in her chest and she guessed she still looked startled because Josie laughed, patting her shoulder. “That was the warning shot. Shows about to begin.”

Everyone was seated on the grass, on picnic tables, arms around their dates, parents with smaller children pointing at the sky.

The next one shot off and Connie flinched again, but she wasn’t as startled, and she knew now to keep her eyes on the sky. It exploded into a barrage of red.

“Oh… oh wow…”

Josie smiled over at her. “Cool, right? It only gets better.”

The sky exploded into colors, the sounds of whistling mixing with greens, yellows, reds, and purples and Connie couldn’t believe she had been missing this all these years. It was…

She glanced over at Josie, the other girl’s pale face flashing with the blues from above them. “It’s beautiful.”

“I told you!” Josie shouted over another firework, bumping shoulders with her. “See what happens when you get outta the house?”

Connie stared at her, and Josie’s eyes moved back to the fireworks. Connie nodded. “I do.”

She leaned against Josie’s shoulder, and Josie froze, but Connie was looking up at the sky. “Thank you, Josie.”

Another pause, and then Josie’s fingers ghosted over the back of her hand, cautious, and with another surge of confidence Connie took it, clasping their hands together.

“You’re welcome, Connie.”