Pretend 2 (johnnyboy, stevepop, and curtis sister x cherry)

Chapter 18: Cherry's Birthday

~time skip to March 8th~I'm getting ready to go to Cherry's birthday party. It's gonna be fancy and I have to wear a dress. This is the first time I'll be meeting her extended family. Her brother, Roger, will also be there. I'm nervous to meet him.

A/n- I know that I've mentioned the brother before but I don't remember if I gave him a name or not. So we're going with Roger.

Soda drops me and Ponyboy off at her house, and we make our way to the door. Ponyboy is here to be Cherry's fake boyfriend. By the number of cars outside, I can tell there are a lot of people here. I hate places where there are lots of people. At least I've got Ponyboy here with me.

We enter the house and make our way to her backyard. There's a big tent that's got balloons and streamers inside. There are lots and lots of people and I start cracking my knuckles because that's what I do when I'm anxious.

Pony and I enter the tent and find Twobit and Marcia sitting at a table in the corner. We go join them.

After about thirty minutes, I feel someone touch my shoulder. I turn around and it's Cherry. I jump out of my chair and give her a hug.

"Happy birthday!!" I say to Cherry. She's wearing a somewhat short, light blue dress, and she looks beautiful.

Cherry talks with Ponyboy, Twobit, Marcia, and me for a bit. Then she leaves to go talk with more guests.

About an hour later, Cherry's mother approaches our table with a smile. Her mother is much more accepting than her father. She doesn't care that we're greasers, but it seems to bother him. Cherry's mother's name is Molly. She's very Irish and has red hair just like Cherry. She talks to us for quite a while about the usual things and then leaves to go finish setting up dinner.

Dinner was catered by a local restaurant. Once it's done being set up, everyone forms a line and makes their plates.

Cherry sits with us while we eat, and her brother follows. He's taller than I expected him to be. He looks more like his father than his mother, with dark brown hair and blue eyes. But he and Cherry have very similar smiles.

"Hello, I'm Roger." He says, shaking Ponyboy's hand.

"Ponyboy Curtis," says my brother.

"The boyfriend!!" Exclaims Roger. "I've heard so much about you. It's very nice to finally meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too. Your sister's a real catch." Ponyboy says while trying not to laugh.

Roger turns to me, "And you must be Lavender."

"Yes," I say. "It's amazing to finally meet you."

"You as well. But, I must ask, are Ponyboy and Lavender your real names?" Roger asks.

"Yeah," I answer. "Our dad didn't want us to have the same names as anyone else."

"Well, I think he succeeded." Roger jokes.

"You should meet their brother, Sodapop," Twobit says. And for the first time in this conversation, he and Roger lock eyes.

"Well, I didn't expect to see you here, Keith." Mumbles Roger while avoiding eye contact.

"It's nice to see you again, Roger," Twobit says with a fake grin.

"Diddo," Roger says sarcastically.

"What's up with you guys?" Asks Marcia.

"We went to school together. Used to be in the same class." Says Two.

"We got in a fight once and got suspended. But why don't we just put all that behind us, okay? We're both adults now. Even though I see you're still wearing those Mickey Mouse shirts." Says Roger, passive aggresively.

Twobit gives him a hard stare and says nothing.

After that, the conversation turned awkward, and Roger got up and left. Cherry appologized for his behavior. 

"He's just not as easy going as my mother and I am. It's probably because my dad was so rough on him growing up.