Stars

chapter two

June 16th, 1964, 1:32 pm.

"I hate him!" Daisy screamed. "I hate him more than... than-" she struggled to find the words she wanted to use. She couldn't explain the feeling she felt. A bitter mixture of rage, betrayal and sadness.
"Hey," Cherry rested a hand on Daisy's shoulder, "it's okay, you didn't need him anyways."
"I hate greasers." Daisy sniffled. Her eyes were narrowed like daggers, her lips drawn in a snarl. "They're nothing but no good hoodlums!"
Cherry said nothing, staring at her friend with sympathetic eyes. Daisy stared at her feet, guilt creeping into her heart with long icy fingers.
How could he? She thought bitterly. How could he cheat on me?
The sun beat down on the road with a buzz. Cherry and Daisy stood in silence, staring at the bar across the street. Tears welled in Daisy's pale blue eyes, she brushed them away impatiently.
"Let's go find Marcia and Randy." Cherry eventually suggested. "They'll be looking for us."
Daisy sighed and followed the red-haired girl down the road. The hot sun blistering the concrete, not a cloud in the sky. It was such a lovely day and such a shame it had gone to waste.
Daisy was supposed to have been on a date with her, now ex boyfriend, Peter, but she had found him with another broad this morning. She had given the greaser a chance - an awful decision. She should've known that Greasers were danger, all her friends had warned her that he was trouble.
She clutched her purse furiously. Greasers can't be trusted with anything! She thought, stomping her feet. All they'll do is go behind my back.
Randy, Marcia and Bob were waiting out by the diner when Cherry and her arrived. Bob hopped in the front seat, waving Cherry in next to him. Marcia and Randy squeezed into the back, with Daisy sitting uncomfortably to the side. She needed to find a Socs boyfriend, a good trustworthy one. One that wouldn't go behind her back. Somebody who wasn't a greaser.
"What happened?" Randy asked as the car started up, his voice could just barely be heard over the engine.
"That filthy Greaser was two-timing me!" Daisy spat. Crossing her arms over her chest, Daisy's lips curled into a snarl.
"I warned you." he said. "Greasers can't be trusted."
"Well I know that now, Randy." She rolled her eyes. "Thanks for the advice!"
"Where to?" Bob butted in, looking at the three in the rear view mirror. "Want to head down to the park and get some ice-cream? We could go to The Nightly Double later too."
"Sounds good!" Marcia chirped, then waited for the agreement of the others, which came shortly after.
"I like that idea, then we can kill time." Cherry pointed out, "and you won't have to worry about anything Daisy."
"Yeah," Daisy breathed, her voice was slightly quavering.
The wind tussled her hair as they sped down the road. It was a warm day and tons of people were out and enjoying the heat. As they rounded the corner, they were met with the huge lineup to the shop. It should've been expected, it was the first hot day of the year.
"Gee," Cherry breathed. "Should we just head straight to the park?"
Randy and Marcia exchanged a look then nodded, and Bob continued down the street.
"I heard that Darlene got her licence suspended," Marcia began sweetly. "Charged with speeding and drunk driving."
"Darlene?" Randy echoed. "huh, I never woulda thought."
"Really?" Daisy said. "Her parents are real strict about stuff like that, they don't want their girl getting into trouble."
Marcia shrugged, grasping her purse in her lap tightly. Randy wrapped his arm around her, a smile creeping up on his face.
They soon pulled up to the park, people mingled together; splashing around in the fountain, feeding the birds, taking a walk. Everything people do in the spring. Daisy hopped out of the car, feeling the hot tar burn into the bottom of her shoes.
"Where to?" Bob asked, shoving his hands in his pockets and appearing beside Daisy. "I'm not really looking forward to sitting out in the sun. I'm baked!"
Daisy chuckled, observing the park. Most seating areas were open and in the sun, families took up most of those spaces anyways. There wasn't any sign of a vacant bench, so she assumed they'd have to either sit in the car or on the ground.
"Hey look," Cherry gestured abroad. "Over there's a free bench."
An elderly couple were just leaving as they arrived. Sliding onto the bench and squeezing on together. Daisy was thankful for the shade, she hadn't realized that she was beginning to burn.
"Cherry, could I come over for dinner after the movie tonight?" Daisy asked. "My parents are out for the night."
Cherry smiled, "of course you can! My parents adore you Daisy!" She rubbed Daisy's shoulder affectionately. They smiled at each other.
The birds chattered in the trees, and kids could be heard playing at the nearby playground. Somewhere in the distance, a dog barked once, then twice.
Patted down her jacket to sit on, Cherry pressed close to her, sharing the jacket.
"My sister got her first boyfriend," Randy started. "I dunno how to feel about him yet, he seems a little... off."
"what's his name?" Cherry looked up at him. She had soft, green eyes and heavily put on mascara.
"Tom." Randy shrugged. "I've never seen him around before, wonder if he just moved here."
Cherry shrugged and exchanged a look with Daisy, then Marcia.
"Hey!" Bob exclaimed, staring at his watch. "The movies'll start soon! We better hurry!"
Daisy was surprised how quickly the time had passed, as they all raced to the car, she caught a glimpse of the sunset and smiled.
The sun had just set when they arrived, the sky now a blanket of little white dots. The drive in wasn't all that expensive, a dollar for them all.
It lit up most of the area with its fluorescent lights and you could probably hear it for just as far. It was almost like an amusement park.
Daisy settled into her seat as they pulled into one of the parking spots. Per usual, her and Cherry would get popcorn and drinks while the others set up a blanket and took out the things from the trunk.
Daisy and Cherry hurried through the gravel lot. The air had a nighttime chill to it and Daisy shivered.
"Who would've expected it'd be this cold?" She breathed. "It's the middle of June!"
"It's not that cold Daisy!" Cherry laughed, elbowing Daisy jokingly.
Daisy grunted, a smirk finding its way onto her face. She rolled her eyes as the two got in line.
"I'm looking forward to summer break," Daisy said. "We're going to Europe this year!"
"Really? That's amazing." Cherry smiled. "I don't think we're going anywhere this year, but maybe to see my grandparents for a bit."
The two girls went on to chat about their plans for the break. The line was long, and gave them plenty of time to chat about whatever they could think of.
"Marcia's looking for us." Cherry snickered, pointing to the dark haired girl. She was weaving through the crowds, stand on her tiptoes to see over peoples' heads.
"Over here!" Daisy called, waving her arms. Now spotted, Marcia made her way over.
"Randy and Bob wanted to know what was taking so long, it's been ten minutes." She explained. "I'll tell them that the line is pretty long."
"Yeah, we're almost there, so don't worry too much." Cherry waved her away. Daisy stared after the girl as she walked back to the black vehicle. She observed the sea of people who crowded around, their chatter loud in Daisy's mind. It was a fairly equal mingling of Greasers and Socs, a place where they seemed to generally get along pretty well. Most people speculated it was because of the security, Daisy didn't know how somebody would think that - there wasn't a security guard in sight. Others thought it was because of the movie, it meant that they could be distracted by it without hurting one another.
"C'mon Daisy," Cherry dragged Daisy to the counter, they ordered two large popcorns and five drinks; the usual. each Friday was their 'movie night', all five of them would gather and go to the nightly double. It was fun, Daisy wished their tradition would never end.
As they stepped out from the counter, and began to make their way back to the car, Daisy bumped into a little greaser boy. He was barely her height, with shaggy brown hair and big blue eyes.
"Sorry!" he squeaked, and Daisy grunted.
"You better be, greaser!" She snapped, shouldering him out of the way. He just stared after her, he looked nearly in awe. Daisy grinned smugly.
"Hey!" she was grabbed by the shoulder, and she nearly dropped one of five cups of coke. "Watch your tongue, soc."
She whirled around on her heels, fuming.
"Who taught you to talk to a girl like that!" She screeched, "surely not your mother!"
"I don't," the boy warned in a low voice, "but you're messing with my buddy."
"He bumped into me!" She spat bitterly. "All I did was told him to watch out!"
The greaser was tall, with slicked back, dirty blond hair in the typical grease sense. He had dark brown eyes that burned fiercely, like a lion defending it's cub.
"Hey," Cherry said slowly. "you're... Sodapop Curtis?"
He turned to Cherry, his fiery eyes softened a little. He looked a little embarrassed to have been recognized like this. "Uh, yeah... that's me."
"He works down at the DX." Cherry told Daisy, but Daisy just rolled her eyes.
"You're quite rude for all the talk you get." She sneered and waved Cherry after her as she stormed away. Daisy could feel Sodapop's eyes burning into her back, and dared a glance back over over shoulder. The small kid stood at Sodapop's hip, his eyes were big, and his face was all cut up. Greasers we're rough, and she assumed that the kid had gotten into one of their rumbles recently.
Daisy grimaced, starring daggers at the two as she walked off. Cherry barely noticed, but once they reached the car she turned to her.
"What was that all about?" Cherry asked, her green eyes wide. "You're usually so sweet."
"Yeah, well, they're greasers." She spat. "What are you so pressed about?"
Cherry shook her head. "I don't know... you're just, usually nicer than this."
Daisy shrugged and began handing out the drinks. Randy and Bob appeared blissfully unaware of their conversation, but Marcia was eyeing them suspiciously. Once they had settled, Marcia scooted over to them slowly.
"What happened?" she urged, her eyes bulging. "I saw you yelling at those greasers."
"One ran into me, that's all." Daisy rolled her eyes. "not much, Cherry just wants me to be nicer." She glared at the red-haired girl next to her.
Marcia hummed, turning back to the movie. "Maybe you should be nice." She said. "I mean, Greasers are tough - and pretty scary."
Daisy rolled her eyes. "You've gotta be kidding me. They think they're tough and scary, don't let it get to your head Marcia."
But the brown-haired girl just shrugged and tossed a piece of popcorn in her mouth. Then she leaned up against her boyfriend's arm, ignoring Daisy's stare.
She didn't know why they all wanted her to be nicer to greasers. Sure, she might have overreacted, but didn't they know what had happened? How her now ex-boyfriend was a greaser, how that filthy scum had cheated on her with some other greasy broad. Dirt. That's what greasers were to Daisy.
The movie was slow and boring, not much happened. She couldn't exactly tell what was going on anyways, and about half-way through she got up to go to the bathroom.
As Daisy made her way through the slight crowd of people, she spotted the greasers from earlier. They stood with a couple other people, arms all crossed across their chests and talking quietly to each other. She tried to ignore them as the rushed to the restroom, but she heard somebody holler after her as she turned the corner.