Chapter Text
Dot regretted calling her mother to come pick her up. Once the opportunity arrived to share some interesting story with the other girls, she had almost entirely convinced herself that she could have stayed for the whole movie. The girls were laughing and she was laughing with them. It was how it was supposed to be. Sure, she felt bad that it was at Jane’s expense, she didn’t have anything against Jane, but so long as the cheerleaders were focused on spreading the rumor Dot had created, their eyes were off of her. It felt like they were all actually friends again. This thought lasted all of five minutes.
She had been walking back to the phone to call her mom again when she overheard Susan talking to one of the football players. “Of course, I wouldn’t have seen them at all if I hadn’t gone looking for Dot. Poor thing was sobbing, calling her mom to pick her up. Can’t handle a joke, you know?”
Dot didn’t mind that Susan was taking credit for a rumor that she had started. But she prided herself on never crying in public, let alone sobbing.
She was now though, but this wasn’t really public. Sitting on the curb outside the drive-in, she hoped that the sound of the movie behind her would drown out any of her sobs that slipped past the muffle of her hand. She needed to get her tears out quickly before her mom arrived. She couldn’t let her classmates see her like this, but she most definitely couldn’t let her mother. Dot would never hear the end of it.
“What’s a pretty thing like you doing out here all alone?”
She knew whose voice it was, she couldn’t not. It echoed through the halls of Rydell High and was almost always accompanied with a laugh at someone’s expense – usually his own. Pulling her hands away, she turned and offered him a soft smile that she hoped wasn’t too pathetic.
Potato was leaning back against the fence behind him, and returned her smile. He’d been on his way to find Olivia when he saw Dot rushing for the exit. They weren’t friends, despite having known one another since elementary school, and he doubted she would have chosen him to comfort her, but a glance towards the cheerleaders told him nobody else was going to. He thought now that she didn’t look too upset at seeing him. And it was true, of all the people to catch her, she was glad it was him.
He pushed himself off of the fence and took a seat beside her on the curb before removing his jacket and draping it over her shoulders. Dot instinctively pulled it tighter around her and didn’t protest when Potato’s arm wrapped around her waist, leaving as little distance between them as he felt he could get away with.
“Are you okay?” he whispered, so softly she almost didn’t hear him. She nodded but as fresh tears returned to her eyes he pulled her closer until her head rested against his chest. He slowed his breathing purposefully and smiled brightly as she unintentionally began to match it.
Dot momentarily forgot about the rumor, or Susan’s harsh words, or even that her mother was on her way to get her. All that mattered to her in that moment was that she was being held. Even if the person holding her was somebody she barely knew, somebody who she would be ridiculed for being so close to, she couldn’t bring herself to care. They sat in silence, Dot breathing in Potato’s scent from his jacket which she was sure that she looked like she was drowning in.
Then the lights of her mother’s car came around the corner and Potato pulled away first, offering her a hand to stand but quickly taking several steps back from her. He knew how the socs’ parents were, he didn’t need a lecture that night about staying away from somebody’s daughter. Dot understood, but understanding his reason didn’t ease the stab of pain she felt, nor the sudden cold that came with removing his jacket.
“Thank you,” she said softly, holding his jacket out to him. Their fingers brushed together as he took it from her. She didn’t wait for him to respond, just turned and waited until her mom pulled up in front of them before joining her in the front seat. She offered him a real smile through the window as her mom began hounding her with questions, but all Dot could focus on was the way he waved shyly before returning to the T Birds.