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When the doorbell rang for what Marcia thought would be the last time, she was relieved.
“Cherry’s here,” she said to Beverly, unable to keep her smile contained. Bev nodded, and Marcia quickly left her bedroom. Once she got downstairs, she saw her mom had beat her to the door, in conversation with the lately elusive redheaded girl.
“Mom,” she interrupted politely.
“Oh!” Her mother turned around, and gave her an almost ‘good luck’ smile. “Well, you girls have fun.”
Once her mom left the room, Marcia gestured for Cherry to come in. “Hi!”
“Hey,” Cherry said in her usual calm demeanor. Marcia tried to take her time in talking with Cherry while walking upstairs. It’s not that she didn’t enjoy Bev’s company, it’s just that Beverly liked to talk a lot about other people behind their backs. Marcia silently prayed that she would never become on the wrong end of those conversations.
“Glad you could make it,” Marcia beamed, “Y’know, with the new schedules this year, it’s like I never see you anymore! And this is senior year too!”
Cherry laughed softly. “Yeah, it’s a shame.”
“So I’d thought we should spend some time with Bev, just us girls spendin’ some quality time.”
Cherry’s face fell. “About that…”
Marcia’s smile flattened. “What d’you mean?”
“I invited someone else,” the other girl answered, avoiding Marcia’s eyes.
Marcia thought of all of the girls that they were even remotely acquainted with. Of course, their group was typically her, Cherry, and Bev. That didn’t mean that there weren’t other soc girls they knew.
“Kathy?”
Cherry shook her head.
“Anne?”
She sheepishly shook her head again.
Marcia was running out of options. “Michelle? Heidi?”
“No,” Cherry did her best to smile earnestly.
Marcia sighed, rolling her eyes, defeated. “You’re not telling me you invited Chet.”
“No, Marcia, I didn’t invite Chet,” Cherry giggled. That was a relief to Marcia, and made her feel slightly better. But it still was tugging at her brain who Cherry could’ve possibly asked to come to their hangout.
“Well who did you-”
They were about halfway up the stairs already, but Bev had met them there.
“You guys are taking forever!” Bev waved them upstairs, showing off her blue chiffon pajama set. Marcia twirled in her own green one.
“I’ll change later on,” Cherry assured.
So they rushed back to Marcia’s room and things went back to normal, or how they were planned anyway. It was how they usually acted. Cherry was painting Marcia’s nails, and they all laughed at each other’s jokes. Bev pulled out her pack of cigarettes, and Marcia opened the window for her.
Marcia didn’t smoke, so if the smell stuck in her room, her parents would beat the living daylights out of her. Cherry finally decided to change into her pale pink set, took her bag behind Marcia’s dressing screen, and winked at her.
Marcia and Bev excitedly waited for the big reveal, but Cherry sure liked to take her time. Marcia boredly brushed her hair in the mirror when she heard the doorbell ring. Her eyes widened, as she’d completely forgotten. Cherry’s guest was here.
“I’ll get it!” she called, loud enough for both Cherry and her mother to hear.
“Marcia, wait! I’m done!” she heard Cherry yell from behind her. But for once in her life, Marcia didn’t listen to her. She ran down the steps, almost tripping a few times, and down the hall. Cherry was right at her heels. She finally reached the door and opened it.
The boy standing there had rust-colored hair, and looked around three years younger than her. In one of his hands, he held a notebook. And to top it all off, Marcia realized she knew him already.
“Ponyboy Curtis,” she said, remembering the remark she made when they first met a year ago. He waved awkwardly.
***
Ponyboy was surprised when Cherry initially invited him to her hangout. He contemplated whether or not to even go for at least a day. The way she described it made it sound like it would be a relaxed thing, just the two of them. He imagined they’d discuss books mostly.
When he finally reached the address she gave him, he prayed it was hers. But by the looks of the girl who answered the door, it was not Cherry’s house. It was Cherry’s friend, Marcia, the one he met at the drive-in that fateful night. It bugged him to think about that night, so he tried to push it out of his mind.
Marcia looked just as surprised to see him as he was to see her.
“Ponyboy Curtis,” she heard him say. That was indeed his name.
The most he could do was wave. Cherry was right behind Marcia. Marcia turned to her. “You invited Ponyboy Curtis to our hangout?”
Pony couldn’t tell if she was annoyed, bothered, or somewhere in between. He hoped she wasn’t. He debated leaving.
“I can go,” he said, beginning to turn on his heels.
“No, it’s alright,” said Marcia, which surprised him. When he faced the girls again, they were making some insane eye contact. Marcia’s attention was brought back to Ponyboy. “Come on in.”
He trailed behind them like a lost kid, which is honestly how he felt.
“What’ll Bev think?” Marcia whispered to Cherry, and he assumed she thought he couldn’t hear them. Cherry shook her head dismissively. He wasn’t exactly sure who Bev was, but he had a feeling she wouldn’t be too keen on him joining them.
The closer they got to Marcia’s room, the more his heart began to beat out of his chest. Not because he liked Cherry or Marcia. Well, he liked them, just not like that. When Marcia opened the door, he saw a girl with a blonde bob who could only be Bev. And that’s when it hit him.
Cherry had invited him to a girl-only hangout. Suddenly, he felt a whole lot more awkward.
“We have a guest,” Cherry said in the most positive way she could. Bev’s face twisted in shock and maybe a hint of disgust. They all sat down on the carpet. Ponyboy didn’t even try to relax. His posture was rigid.
“Cherry invited him,” Marcia stated impartially.
“A greaser kid?” asked Bev, even though she already knew the answer. She squinted. “Wait a damn minute! You were Johnny Cade’s friend.”
Pony dug his nails into his palms. He wasn’t expecting to hear Johnny’s name that night.
“Beverly Jitney-Bush!” Cherry interjected. “Have a little courtesy! Greaser, soc, it doesn’t matter anymore. It hasn’t mattered for a while.” Her voice got quieter for the last part. Ponyboy was grateful Cherry didn’t address what Bev said about Johnny. Glory, he wished he could just stop thinking about Johnny…
Bev sighed dramatically. “Fine. Well, what are we supposed to talk about?” She raised an eyebrow at him. “What do you like… what’s your name?”
“Ponyboy Curtis.”
“That’s right!” Bev snapped, as if suddenly remembering. “What do you like, Ponyboy? And is that your real name?”
He nodded. He’d gone over this same topic with everyone he’d ever met. “Says so on my birth certificate. I like to read. And draw.”
“An artist, I see,” Marcia pointed out.
“He considers himself an artistic person.” Cherry smiled, most likely remembering exactly what Ponyboy had told her when they met. They both chuckled at the same time, with Bev staring and Marcia looking lost in thought.
“You know, Bev,” started Marcia. “Your first thought was that Ponyboy here was a greaser kid. But you hang out with greasers.”
“No I don’t!” The blonde countered immediately.
“Well, you talked to one of them.”
Ponyboy was immediately curious. He went through the people he knew around their neighborhood, thinking of who would want to talk to Bev.
“It was a girl.”
“Shut it, Marcia!” Bev was starting to become red in the face.
“The one who hangs out with Ponyboy’s brother.”
Ponyboy knew one and only girl greaser that hung around his gang. The answer surprised him as soon as he came to the conclusion. “Ace? You like Ace?”
“Where’d you come to the conclusion that I like her?” Bev looked away.
“It’s fine,” Ponyboy shrugged.
“Really?” Beverly looked back at the group.
“Like I said, being a greaser or soc, it doesn’t mean anything,” Cherry smiled at her.
“Yeah, yeah, alright.” Bev quickly tried to change the subject afterward. She began ranting about her boyfriend, Brill.
Ponyboy didn’t have much to say on the subject but he thought it was entertaining whenever her friends interrupted to say something witty. Even when Marcia and Bev delved into so-called “girl talk”, Cherry was there to talk to him, just to make sure that he didn’t feel alone.
After the little interaction between him and Bev, she began to feel a little more welcome towards him. Marcia was there too to make little quips about whatever he was reading, because she seemed to be somewhat of a fan herself.
As it went later into the night, he realized the girls intended to sleep over at Marcia’s, but Darry still had a curfew for him, even if he changed it slightly. He didn’t want to leave Darry and Soda worried anyway.
***
Once Beverly had finished putting her plastic curlers into her hair, she lay down in her blanket, ready to go to sleep. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cherry and Marcia whispering still. They were awfully close to each other, and Bev was simply trying to get some shut-eye.
“Can you guys be quieter?" she hissed. The whispering stopped. For one moment, she glanced at them again and saw Cherry tuck a strand of hair behind Marcia’s ear. It was dark, but somehow she caught the moment. She didn’t say anything, but wondered maybe, just maybe…
Suddenly she didn’t feel so bad about talking to Ace more and more often.
***
Cherry quickly tucked a strand of Marcia’s dark hair behind her ear. They lay across from each other, silent thanks to Bev. Maybe they didn’t need to say anything more.
I’m sorry, Cherry mouthed in the dim light coming from the hallway. Marcia grinned.
For what? Marcia gestured back. At least her friends had a good time. Cherry blew a quick air-kiss to Marcia.
Night.
Night.