My Knight in Shining Armor

Chapter XVIII

The six of us sat in a corner booth at the Dingo, trying to decide what to order. I squinted at the wrinkled menu. "I guess I'll just have a cheeseburger and fries, like usual. And a Coke."

"Same," the other girls said in unison.

The boys stood up with mock confidence. "We shall report your orders and return with the food."

The girls and I laughed as the boys walked away. Steve was feeling more comfortable, and Soda was doing just fine with his new lady—he was always good with girls. Wanda, Wendy, and I were getting along real well.

"You two wanna have a girl's night? You can sleep over at my house."

The girls looked at each other. "We'd love to!"

"Then we can go to the mall for some breakfast and shopping in the morning! Anyway, you gals havin' a good time?" I was really hinting at how they felt about the boys, and they took the hint.

Wendy spoke first. "Steve's one of the best guys I've ever met! I never would've guessed from how incredibly awkward he was at the DX. I hope we start going steady."

Wanda nodded. "I want Soda to ask me to be his girl. He's so sweet, and so incredibly hot."

Both girls had a starstruck sort of look to them. I wondered if I still had that look to me. I mean, I felt it, deep down inside, I just didn't know if it was still written on my face.

The boys came back with the food, and we ate. It took a while, though, because we couldn't stop chatting and laughing and whatnot.

Afterwards, the boys drove us to Wendy and Wanda's house, so they could grab a few things. We eventually made it back to my house, and the boys walked us to the door.

Dallas kissed me gently. "I'll be seeing the birthday girl tomorrow at three," he said, winking at me.

The other girls playfully glared at me but went back to saying goodbye to Sodapop and Steve. When we went inside, we set up two extra cots in my room.

Wanda had her hands on her hips. "You didn't tell us tomorrow was your birthday."

I shrugged. "It's not important."

"Yes, it is important."

"Seventeen or eighteen?" Wanda asked.

I smiled. "Eighteen."

Wanda and Wendy threw pillows at me. "No way! You're gonna be able to like, vote, and—" Wendy stopped abruptly, her voice changing to a whisper. "You won't need parental consent to marry Dallas!"

"Wendy!"

Wanda laughed. "She's right, though."

We settled into our beds and turned off the lights after midnight, but we didn't actually fall asleep until after one in the morning. When we woke up, we ate delicious waffles that my parents had prepared for my birthday breakfast.

Wendy and Wanda insisted that they buy me an outfit for my birthday date, so when we went to the mall, they had me try on virtually everything from dresses to jackets.

"I've got a good feeling about today," Wanda said, winking, as she curled my hair.

Wendy filed down one of my nails. "There have been rumors going around—good ones."

"Alright, alright," I laughed. "What's going on?"

Wanda cocked an eyebrow—she was already spending too much time with me. "We can't tell you."

Finally, my makeup was done and my hair was curled, and I was sporting a soft yellow dress with a similar colored bow in my hair.

Three o'clock rolled around, and the girls waited, both of them more anxious than I was. Then it was three-fifteen, then it was three-thirty, and before I knew it, it was four-seventeen.

I hung my head, trying desperately not to cry--I didn't want my makeup to run down my face. Dallas didn't come. My knight in shining armor wasn't there.

Wendy and Wanda looked concerned. "This isn't right," Wanda whispered.

Wanda put a hand on her forehead. "This wasn't how it was planned. Something's gone wrong."

Wendy gave me a tight hug. "Don't worry about finding out what's going on. We'll cover that. Wanda and I will be back at noon tomorrow with news."

I nodded, a tear slipping down my face. "Alright," I whispered.

I retired to my bed early, grabbing chocolates from my parents' secret stash before I went. In the morning, I moped around, alone at home. I thought about going to the Curtis house, but I didn't look presentable enough for even my parents to see me.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. I answered it to find Wendy clutching a packet of paper, and Wanda had a paper grocery sack in her hand. Both looked a little pale.

Cold adrenaline rushed over me, but I let them inside. Wanda started taking things out of the back and handing them to me. "Here is some ice cream—it should go in the freezer—and some chocolate, these cookies, and a teddy bear."

"What's going on? Did you find anything out?"

"We are deliberately going to change the subject," Wendy said with forced enthusiasm. "What would you say to a day on the town?"

I sighed. "I'm not feeling it."

Wanda put the ice cream in the freezer, and came back. "We could always watch a movie here if you'd like. They usually have an Elvis Presley movie playing at this time of day."

I sighed again. "Maybe."

Wanda playfully hit my shoulder, and sat down beside me. "C'mon. You gotta wanna do something, right?"

I didn't respond, and there was a long silence. Suddenly, Wendy sighed wearily, and Wanda started to cry. "What's going on?" I asked again.

Wendy started to hand me the papers she held. "This is gonna be a little hard to hear. Listen... no one's seen the boys—any of the seven—since we did a couple days ago. A few people have brought it up to them, but we filed a missing report. They said... they said they'd call if the boys were found."

My head suddenly felt like I'd been hit by a freight train, and my world started to spin. "No...no..." I muttered, swaying from my feet where I stood.

"Oh, boy! She's going down," I heard someone panic, and everything went black.

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Author's note
The next chapter will most likely be emotional, and will tear your heart to pieces. What can I say? I'm just an evil author. Buckle up and enjoy!

Your friendly neighborhood greaser, signing off...
Stay gold y'all ⭐️