Quiet As A Mouse (Outsiders Fanfic)

Chapter 26- Minnie Mouse

I left the theater around midnight, right as the end credits of the last movie were rolling, because if I waited until everyone else was leaving, too, I'd have to be within close proximity to complete strangers, something I definitely wasn't comfortable with.

I was going to walk home, but then I decided I would head to Buck's, just for something to do.  It was midnight and I wasn't even tired, surprisingly.

On my way, I ran into Pony and Johnny.  I'm not sure where they were coming from, but Pony asked me where I was going.

I shrugged and replied, "I was going to head home, but I was thinking of stopping by Buck's.  Dally said Two-Bit was there," I answered honestly.

"It's probably not a good idea to go over there," Pony said skeptically, giving me an are-you-crazy look.

"Why not?" I asked curiously.

Pony and Johnny exchanged a look, and then Pony said, "Buck Merril isn't what I would call a decent guy.  He's worse than Dally, and Darry and Soda don't want me anywhere near his place," he said.

"Darry and Soda aren't my brothers," I pointed out, but now I was even more nervous about going over there.  My original plan had been to just go there and find Two-Bit, which I was anxious enough about because of the whole strangers thing, and drunk ones at that.  But now I wasn't so sure it would even pay to go over there...

"Still.  I'm sure Two-Bit wouldn't want you around there," Pony tried to convince me to change my mind.

I shrugged noncommittally and said, "If anything it'll only be for a little while. I'm sure I could take care of myself, I've still got Two-Bit's blade," just to reassure them before continuing on my way.  It was more to convince them than myself, because I doubt I could ever pull a blade on someone, and when I got scared, everything just shut down and I couldn't defend myself anyways.  But would someone jump me in the middle of a party?

As I neared Buck's house, on the edge of town, I could hear the music and noise from two blocks away, and within one block you could hear the distinct murmur of voices and the wild yells of drunken hordes.  I could see the lights spilling into the night like a small lamp in a dark room, giving me a view of the packed house and a couple greasers spilling out onto the lawn, guys and girls alike, and every single one of them with an alcoholic beverage of some kind or another clutched in their hands.

I took a deep breath and walked up to the house, and thankfully most of them were too drunk to notice me, or if they did they didn't care.  I pushed my way through the crowd on the porch and went inside, and the minute the screen door banged shut behind me, I was enveloped in a hot, sweaty, gyrating mass of bodies, packed nearly shoulder to shoulder throughout the whole house. It was loud, and there were people yelling and singing along to some lame country song that I had never heard before but definitely didn't like. They were whooping like cowboys and the men were shouting even though they were just talking.

I hunched my shoulders and kept my head down as I pushed my way through the rooms of people, looking for Two-Bit.  I was actually glad I was kind of short, because it made it a lot easier to navigate crowds.  Someone spilled beer on me on accident, and people kept stepping on my toes and elbowing me in the head while they were dancing, and I was about to give up on finding Two-Bit and just leave when I bumped into someone.  It was a ditzy blond girl who had definitely had too much to drink, because she was holding herself upright on my cousin.  Who was also drunk. Oh boy.

"Heyyy, Mickey!  What are you doin' here?" Two-Bit asked, practically screaming in my face as he waved one of his two beer cans around.  Both were nearly empty.

I smiled in spite of myself and shook my head, because he was so drunk it was almost funny.

"Dally told me you'd be here, so I figured I'd come just for something to do," I answered, now considering sticking around just for entertainment.

"Oh, so you're Minnie Mouse?" the blond girl squealed at me.

"I'm who?" I asked.

"Minnie Mouse!  Cause you're tiny, and your name is Mickey, but you're a girl," Two-Bit explained before adding in a conspiratorial whisper, "That's gonna be your new nickname, okay?"

"O-kay," I agreed skeptically, but what I was thinking was, Why am I talking to these crazy drunk people?

"You know, you're so pretty ," the blond girl gushed at me as she stared directly into my eyes like she was trying to hypnotize me.

"Um--" was as far as I got before she cut me off with a high-pitched squeal and then shouted jubilantly,

"You have to try this stuff," and shoved a plastic cup full of some form of alcohol at me, and I opened my mouth to protest at the same time as someone bumped into her.

The sickly-sweet fruity-smelling amber liquid spilled all over the front of my shirt, but some splashed in my mouth and on my face.  It burned as it ran down my throat, but it tasted sweet and alcoholic and bitter all at the same time.  Kind of gross, but almost good.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, trying to brush off the alcohol that had already soaked into my T-shirt.

"It's okay," I said in a tone that obviously meant it wasn't before asking, "Where's the bathroom?"

"It's down the hall.  It was an accident," she called after me, but I was already forcing my way through the crowd and down the hall, trying to find the bathroom and hoping one of the numerous couples groping each that lined the hallway hadn't occupied it.

Thankfully no one had, and after a bit of scrubbing with one of the hand towels and water, I gave up in trying to get the sickly-sweet smelling liquid off my shirt.  It was mostly soaked in already anyways, and I was just going to go home.

I was on my way back down the hall when all the sudden I ran into someone, seeing as how I wasn't looking where I was going, and I ended up bumping into one of the couples in a passionate embrace, but they didn't even notice.

"Well look who decided to show up," a familiar voice mused sarcastically at me, "You know, I never pegged you for a party girl, Mick," he remarked, and I looked up to see a smirk on Dally's face.

I glared at him and wondered why he always showed up at the most inconvenient times but instead shot back, "You're the one that pretty much told me to come here anyways.  Now I see it was just so you could annoy the hell out of me, right?" I asked snarkily.

"It looks like you've been drinking, too," he commented, and I'm pretty sure I could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"No, I haven't.  Two-Bit's dumb girlfriend spilled her drink on me.  Now if you'll excuse me," I said in the most impolite tone I could muster, "I have to go," I snapped and shoved past him on my way out the door.

I couldn't find my cousin or the blond in the packed living room, so I just left and started walking home, despite the fact that it was dark out and almost one in the morning.