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“Hey Peedee?” Steven wheedled from across the counter. “Why are you wearing a scrunchie on your wrist?”
“What, this old thing?” Peedee lifted his arm to display the hair tie in question. “My hair’s getting pretty long, so I have to pull it back while I work. And scrunchies hurt less than the elastic bands. Why do you ask?”
“Well… I’ve seen a lot of guys walking around town with those, but not all of them have long hair.” Steven frowned. “I thought you would know, since you were wearing one, but I guess not…”
Peedee frowned for a moment, then his face brightened with realization. “Oooh! I know what you’re talking about!”
“You do?!” Steven pushed himself onto his hands, nearly falling over the counter into Peedee’s truck.
“Yeah, it’s a new fad at school.” Peedee gave a one-shoulder shrug. “Kind of like the whole letterman jacket thing? Where a guy gives his girl a letterman jacket to show they’re dating? But this is for the girls. They give their boyfriends a scrunchie to wear on their wrists instead of a jacket. The way I’ve heard it, the pinker it is, the better.”
“Wow…” Steven’s eyes grew wide at the idea. “And everyone just… knows about this?”
“I mean, kind of.” Peedee raised an eyebrow. “Even if they don’t, they ask around, just like you did.”
“That’s so cool!” Steven grinned brightly, then paused. “Wait, couldn’t someone just buy a scrunchie and wear it? And claim they have a girlfriend?”
“Well, yeah, there’s always that possibility.” Peedee rolled his eyes. “But it’s got the same feel as ‘my girlfriend goes to another school.’ Everyone just knows, you know? It’s easy to pick out the liars.”
“Huh… do they have, like… built-in lie detectors or something?” Steven’s brow wrinkled in confusion.
“More like BS detectors, but yeah.” Peedee gave Steven a once-over. “I think you might have been born without one though.”
“Aw, really?” Steven looked disproportionately sad. “How do you know?”
Peedee thought back to all the times he’d seen Steven listening to Ronaldo with rapt attention and couldn’t help a sly grin. “Just a feeling.”
“Man, and it sounds so cool…” Steven dropped his chin onto his arms.
“Hey, were you going to order something, or…?”
“The bits!” Steven yelled, then straightened. “Wait, no!”
No? ‘No’ to the Bits? Steven was actually going to order something for once?
“I just remembered! I was supposed to go pick up Connie so we could go to the movies!” Steven pushed off of the counter and took off down the beach. “Thanks for the help, Peedee!”
Aaaand Peedee got his hopes up way too high. Oh well, there was always next time.
At least Steven hadn’t asked why Peedee was wearing the scrunchie instead of using it liked he’d claimed it was for. If he had, Peedee might have had to explain his feelings for a certain other male student at the high school he and Connie went to. And Steven, being Steven, would come up with some convoluted to help him out and embarrass Peedee further.
Then again, Steven being Steven was the reason he hadn’t asked in the first place.
* * * * *
A knock on the door brought Dr. Maheswaran from the kitchen. Looking at the time, she knew exactly who it was before she ever opened the door.
“Connie!” she called up the stairs. “Steven is here!”
“Tell him I’ll be down in a minute!”
Dr. Maheswaran opened the door with a laugh and greeted the smiling boy on her front step. “Connie is just finishing up. She’ll be down in a few.”
“No worries, Dr. Maheswaran.” Steven waved to her from the porch. “I can wait.”
“I’m sure you can.” Dr. Maheswaran leaned against the door and crossed her arms. “Now, where was it you were taking her again?”
“To the movies!” Steven beamed. “Dogcopter 5 came out last weekend, so we’re going to go watch it. Don’t worry, I brought pre-approved snacks!”
Dr. Maheswaran gave his messenger bag a glance before meeting his eyes again. “That’s not what I’m worried about.”
His smile fell into confusion. “Huh?”
“Steven, you’re a good boy. I trust you to keep Connie safe,” Dr. Maheswaran said as she leaned in. “But I just want to let you know, a mother finds out everything about her daughter’s dates. So be on your best behavior.”
His eyes widened and his face paled. She had no idea what thoughts were running through his head, but Priyanka was sure it was much worse than she could ever come up with. Steven nodded hastily.
Just then, Priyanka heard the thundering of her daughter running down the old staircase. Before Connie could reach the bottom step, Priyanka had straightened and patted Steven on the shoulder with a smile.
“Okay, I’m ready to go!” Connie called out. Priyanka gave her daughter a once-over, just to make sure her wardrobe was appropriate.
She had on a nice blouse and simple knee-length dress, feminine looking enough. Her hair was getting a little long, so she had pulled it back in a rose colored scrunchie. It didn’t quite match the color of her outfit, but it had been a while since they had gone shopping for hair ties. Then again, Connie would likely get another hair cut soon and the need would be moot.
Connie looked between her mother and Steven, eyes growing suspicious when Steven didn’t immediately greet her. “Is… everything okay?”
“Most definitely.” Priyanka smiled at her daughter’s date. “Steven and I were just making small talk before you guys left.”
The look Connie shot her told Priyanka she didn’t believe a word she’d just said. As per usual, Connie decided to keep her thoughts to herself, at least until Steven had gone home for the day. Priyanka could work with that.
“Well, Steven and I are heading out,” Connie said as she pushed past her mom to grab Steven’s arm. “We’ll be back before nine!”
“Eight!” Priyanka called after them.
“Eight-thirty!” Connie called back as she dragged Steven after her towards where a giant pink lion was lounging on their tiny patch of a front yard.
From where she kept watch, Priyanka could hear Connie trying to interrogate Steven on what exactly Priyanka had said to him, but all she heard was some nonsense about “-your mother be a psychic? Or Garnet gave her future vision or something? Because she completely freaked me out!”
Ah yes, Steven was perfect for her daughter. Mainly because, despite being a super-powered prince from an alien world of conquerors, he had an unreasonable fear of Priyanka. And she could work with that.
* * * * *
“I think we made it in time for the previews!” Steven said happily as they climbed down from Lion’s back.
“Ugh, finally!” Connie threw her leg over Lion’s back to sit side-saddle. She looked down to see Steven offering his hand with a bow. She couldn’t help a laugh as she accepted his hand and let him help her down. “I was beginning to think we’d never be able to go to the movies without some Gem or artifact getting in the way.”
“Oh, uh, yeah…” Steven looked to his shoes, face falling at the mention. “I’m… I’m sorry about that.”
“Oh, come on!” Connie elbowed his ribs good-naturedly. “I’m just kidding! After all, we always get to see the movie we come for! It’s just the previews that we miss. It’s not that bad!”
“But then how will we know what comes out next?!” Steven grabbed the door with one hand and threw the other up into the air.
“Trailers do show on TV, Steven.” Connie laughed as she stepped through the door and into line for tickets.
“Only after, like, weeks and weeks of waiting.” Steven sighed as he stepped up behind her, hands in his pockets. “And by then, everyone already knows everything about it!”
“You watch way too many conspiracy videos.” Connie snickered and reached up to fix her hair.
Steven’s witty retort died on his lips at the sight of the pink scrunchie and the reminder of what Peedee had explained to him. Normally, he would notice it, appreciate the color, and then go on with his life. Now…
Now it was all he could think about.
“Two tickets to Dogcopter 5, please!” Connie smiled at the ticket seller. “And we have a discount card.”
“That’ll be twelve dollars,” the girl at the ticket counter said as she printed out the tickets. Connie got out the cash since Steven was sneaking in the snacks. “Theater 4, down the way.”
“Thanks!” Connie called as she grabbed Steven’s hand and towed him down the way. “So, where do you want to sit?”
“Uh…” Steven blinked and looked around, mind scrambling to keep up with the change of scenery. “Front and center!”
“Every time.” Connie laughed and led the way to the front row of seats. “I’m glad we didn’t come opening weekend. I’m sure we wouldn’t have been able to find seats together in the front otherwise!”
“No doubt!” Steven agreed. “Dogcopter is super popular! I’m sure the theaters were all sold out!”
“Yeah, definitely!” Connie laughed and dropped into their chosen seats. “You got those snacks on you?”
“Right here!” Steven pulled his bag onto his lap as he took a seat. As he dug a hand in, movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention.
Connie had reached up again, tugging at her scrunchie with a frustrated look on her face. She tugged at a few locks where they were held tight, then tugged at the loose ends to resituate the tie. “So, what do you have?”
“O-Oh!” Steven cleared his throat and pulled out their smuggled snacks. “I’ve got Chaaaps and juice cans and some non-dairy ice cream bars… although I think we should eat those first. They’re starting to melt…”
“Then pass me one of those!” Connie beamed. “Wouldn’t want them to go to waste!”
“You got it!” Steven smiled brightly and reached for the two ice cream sandwiches that had shifted to the bottom of his bag. “Here you go!”
He had just pulled them out when he saw Connie tugging her scrunchie of out her hair with a frustrated huff. His eyes bounced between the pink bunch of fabric and her mildly annoyed face. “Uh… something wrong?”
“No, just…” Connie let out a disappointed sigh. “It’s been a while since I’ve worn these. I’ve forgotten how worn out they are.”
“Worn out?” Steven blinked at her.
“Yeah.” Connie gave the scrunchie and experimental stretch. “The tension of being twisted causes the elastic to give out after a while. When that happens, I used to just give it another loop, but it always makes it really tight. Now, since I cut my hair and the weight of it doesn’t keep it from curling, strands keep getting caught and pulling.”
“Sounds painful,” Steven said, eyes still bounding between her face and the scrunchie.
“It is.” Connie gave a shrug and held her hand out for one of the ice-cream bars. “Think I’ll just leave it out for now. It’s really hard to get it back in without a brush.”
“I can hold onto it for you.” Steven found his mouth saying without permission. His face heated at his words, but he refused to take them back —even when Connie’s dark skin took on a reddish hue of its own.
Did she know what it meant? Did she know he knew what it meant?
“Hmm…” Connie looked between her ice cream bar and her scrunchie, then gave an involuntary shiver when the AC turned on. “Sure, but only if I can wear your jacket.”
His jacket, the jacket that Garnet had gotten him. The one that Connie had once commented looked a lot like the letterman jackets from school. The one that Steven had maybe fantasized about Connie wearing, once he had learned what letterman jackets were used for at high schools.
“Deal,” Steven said, trying very hard not to think about what exactly he was handing over or getting in return. “I was getting a little hot anyway.”
“Ha! Sure you were!” Connie giggled and held out a hand.
It took some shuffling around, but Connie ended up with his jacket and he ended up with her scrunchie on his wrist and they each had an ice cream bar. They shared grins and ripped open the packaging just as the lights lowered for the preview trailers.
Steven tried to pay attention as Connie ‘ooh’-ed and ‘aah’-ed over a trailer for the first movie of the Unfamiliar Familiar series, but he couldn’t help being distracted by the thin, squishy band of fabric and elastic around his wrist. He knew they weren’t actually dating, not yet, but it was a reminder of what he wanted, if he had the courage to speak up and ask.
And if Connie enjoyed wearing his jacket a little more than she was supposed to, well.
He would figure that out eventually.