VANILLA, BABY • KENICKIE

SEVEN

CHAPTER SEVEN - the aftermath of it all

After her father picked her up and took her back home, she finally cracked. The events of tonight had put her into despair.

On the way upstairs, holding onto the bannister, she turned around to her father and looked at him once and sighed, knowing she was going to turn his world upside down, knowing he was never going to look at his daughter the same again and that scared her more than anything.

"Daddy, I'm in trouble." She cried out and waited for his response.

Her father didn't yell, didn't cry but she could see the way his grip on the bannister grew tighter, she could see the way his knuckles grew whiter, not angry at her - never angry at Ducky.

"I'm pregnant, daddy and I don't know what to do." She announced in a hushed voice, not wanting to wake her sister or mother up.

She felt like her world was fucked. The late period. The test. The way Kenickie had looked at her like she was a problem he didn't want to solve and that was when he didn't even know the truth. She was just a problem that went on for far too long.

"We'll fix it," he said. "I've got money. You'll go stay with your mother's sister for the summer. Nobody outside this family has to know."

And that was that. No arguments, no tears. Just a deal struck in the silence of the night.

She nodded and waited for anything else, "go to bed, my child."

She hadn't waited around after that, she had quickly went up the stairs and into her room. She could hear her heart pounding against her chest, what the fuck had just happened?

Tears fell but she had to stop herself from crying further, she quickly undressed and slipped into bed - sleep did not find her well that night.

So she spent her summer two towns over, in a house large enough that she could get lost in if she really tried. Locked up in a room with floral wallpaper for three days straight, her mother watching her like a hawk, her aunt cooking pasta like that would heal her soul. And then one morning, she woke up empty. It was done. She was "fixed."

She spent the rest of the summer, at the country club, her aunt was a member in, learning dance routines, playing golf with her aunt and her mother, she healed physically but she would never heal mentally. It was too much to carry but she learned to accept it. She learned that this was the only way to stay the same Ducky she had always been; she came from old money, she had a loving family, her mother still looked at her with love

Nothing about her felt fixed. She came back to Rydell in September like a ghost in her own skin. Her family didn't bring it up, not once. Not her mother, not her father, not even Frenchy but they all knew. Her father had drilled into her that this school term, she would do well at school. They acted like it had never happened, and sometimes Ducky wondered if it really had.

Except she knew it had. Every time she saw Kenickie leaning against his car with Rizzo's lipstick on his neck, she knew.

That first weekend back at school, after the sleepover and the diner, Ducky kept to herself. She went on long walks, chain-smoking, thinking too much. By Sunday she ended up on the bleachers with Sandy and Frenchy, watching Sandy practice her cheerleading routine.

"You look ridiculous," Ducky muttered through a cloud of smoke, smirking.

"Oh, stop," Sandy laughed nervously, smoothing down her skirt. "It's tradition. Cheerleading is... it's wholesome."

"Wholesome my ass," Ducky shot back.

"When's your date with jock boy?"

"Boys are useless. Only good for one thing."

Frenchy choked on her Coke, giggling. Sandy gasped, wide-eyed, clutching her pom-poms like a shield. "Dulcibella! What do you mean by that?"

Ducky smirked, leaning back, the cigarette dangling between her fingers. "Sex, Sandy. And trust me, Kenickie was a god at it."

Sandy's face went pink, her mouth opening and closing like she'd just swallowed soap. "You... you're not a virgin?" she stammered.

Ducky laughed. "Lost that a long time ago, Kenickie was my first - I can't say that I regret it."

Frenchy nudged her, frowning, but Ducky just grinned wider, flicking ash onto the bleachers.

There was a silence before Ducky added, casually, "Actually, I've decided I'm ready to start dating again. Might as well, considering I've gotta watch Rizzo and Kenickie tongue-fuck against his car every damn day."

Her voice dripped with venom, but her smirk didn't falter.

Frenchy frowned. "Ducks, is that really wise? You know dad's being stricter with you this year." She said it gently, hinting but not revealing the real reason why.

"I'll be fine," Ducky snapped back, flicking ash into the grass. "I've learned from my mistake. I'm not gonna get caught out twice."

Sandy twisted a curl around her finger nervously. "Well, there are plenty of nice boys, you know. Jocks. Some of Tom's friends. If you want, I could maybe set you up? We could even do a double date with me and Tom."

Ducky let the cigarette dangle from her lips as a slow, dangerous grin spread across her face. "Jocks, huh? They've got more stamina. Might actually be able to keep up with me."

Sandy nearly dropped her pom-poms in horror while Frenchy burst out laughing, shaking her head.

Ducky just smirked wider, blowing smoke rings into the blue September sky. She didn't need Kenickie. She didn't need anyone.

But if she was gonna drown, she'd do it her way, with fire on her tongue and a boy on her arm.