I am Peggy (a platonic Peggy x Maria High School AU Fanfiction) *STOPPED*

Chapter 5

Peggy POV
"C'mon Maria! We're going to be late!"
"One sec, this face won't paint its self!"
"Why is all that makeup necessary? You aren't on your first date."
"But you are! Come in here!" I sighed and grudgingly walked into the bathroom.
"Do you give me permission to do anything I see fit to your face?"
"Um, I guess. Don't hurt me."
"Don't be silly, it's just makeup! It's safe." I wasn't so sure. The first thing she pulled out was a pointy black apparatus. I began dreading what she would do. She suddenly brought the thing up to my eyes.
"What are you doing with that thing?!" I yelled alarmedly.
"Jeezus Peg, it's literally eyeliner. Calm down!"
"That cannot be safe." After Maria wrestled me through eyeliner, lipstick, and something called man Sarah, she turned me around to face the mirror. I looked at myself in awe. Who was that looking at me? I looked edgy, cool even. With my yellow crop top, black skirt, and make up, I looked grown up. I pulled my eyes from the mirror. Vanity would get me no where.
"Are you ready?"
"What? Oh, yeah." I walked to the kitchen.
"Bye Daddy!" He smiled back at me and we walked out. I scanned the street, which was bathed in a fading light from the sunset.
"Where are they?"
"Relax Maria, give them a minute." Just then, I had a vivid memory.

My sisters and I, on the front lawn, waiting for our parents to come home from work. They were late.
"Where are they??" I asked in a young voice, desperately.
"Relax Peggy, they'll be here in a minute," she had paused, thinking. "How about this. Let's go and be pirates. You will go on the lookout for them. Tell us when they are here. C'mon, meet me up in the tree."

So, in a moment of spontaneity, I grabbed Maria's hand.
"I used to do this when I was younger. Follow me." I started climbing the tree, muscle memory leading me along the bark and branches. I settle on a large branch, smoothing my skirt. Maria was looking at me with surprise.
"C'mon!" I beckoned her. She exited her slight trance and followed me up the tree, more easily than I thought she would. She sat on a branch next to mine, and we talked about school work while waiting for the boys.
"Oh, I see them," Maria commented after a few minutes. She began climbing down, but I held up a hand.
"Wait for it. Jump when I tell you too."
"Jump?" I shushed her. The boys pulled into the driveway. The windows of the car were cracked open, so we could hear the boys' conversation.
"Should we honk?"
"God James. Be a gentleman. We have to go knock."
"Fine, fine. Jeezus." They got out of the car. I put a countdown on my fingers as they walked to the door.
"Three, two, one." Thank god we were wearing converse. If we had heels, they would have snapped. We landed with a clap on the pavement, and the boys jumped around.
"For big, strong men, you sure scream like little girls," Maria said snarkily. Here looked amused, but James seemed a bit embarrassed, but mostly annoyed.
"Why the heck were you up in that tree Maria?"
"It was Peggy's idea, don't blame me." Herc looked at me with vague admiration. I'll admit, it was a bit out of character of me.
"Whatever, let's go."
We hopped in James's Subaru. It was nice, but you could tell it was used. I couldn't talk though, I didn't have a car. We were going to dinner, at a place where you cook your own food. I had never been to a place like that before, so it was excited.
"James, turn on some music. How about some classic rock?" He turned on the music, and I put in my ear buds.
"What are you listening to Peg? This is good music right here!"
"Oh, I'm just more into show tunes." I turned up the volume, relaxing to the comforting sounds of the song "Black Death". Ahh, the tranquility of showtunes.
***
We arrived at the restaurant at 6:55pm. Our reservation was at 7pm. We were on time, but for some reason we had a 20 minute wait. When we finally got to our table, I noticed that it was a mini booth. It was like a very small "u" shape, the lights were dimmed, and there was a curtain. It was clear that this was a couple's table. I shot a look at Herc, which he returned. Maria and James got in the booth first, cuddling up close to each other. They looked at us expectantly. We got in, sitting a couple of inches away from each other. Maria pulled closed the curtain, and started kissing James. A lot. I cringed away a bit, and Herc looked anywhere but them.
"Oh, c'mon Peggy, why are you being like that? You two are dating, you can kiss." Herc and I shared a glance, and shifted uncomfortably.
"I'm just not comfortable with PDA." Maria gestured towards the curtain, almost annoyed, and went back to kissing each other. Herc awkwardly leaned over and kissed my cheek. It was uncomfortable.
"I'm just going to open the curtain so the waitress knows to come," I said, to break the silence only accented by kissing noises. I wasn't hungry, but I hoped they would stop. They didn't. They only broke apart when the waitress shuffled over, uncomfortable with the situation. The food was great, and it was nice to be out with them, except when the chemistry between Herc and I was mentioned. At the end of the night, I was stuffed. Maria was sleeping over at my house for the night, so the boys dropped us off. James gave Maria another kiss, and Herc just waved.
"You didn't seem so enthusiastic with Herc tonight," Maria prompted.
"It was only our first date," I stalled.
"Whatever. The chemistry between James and I is obvious, isn't it," she smirked. "I'm going to his house tomorrow." Maria and I were polar opposites, that was for sure.

A/N~
Hey guys! It's been forever since I've updated, I know, so here's an 1000 word chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! Some Maria/James drama is coming, get excited!