Cool Rider (Grease 2)

Chapter 11

'Paulette's turned into a monster,' Rhonda grumbled to Stephanie on the phone. 'I agreed to meet up with her the other night, and she was unbearable.'

'Johnny's rubbing off on her,' Steph said with a laugh. 'Look I'm gonna have to go now, Mike will be here in a minute.' There was a pause on the line as Rhonda realised she was being dismissed.

'Ok Steph, I guess we'll talk later.' Steph held in a sigh, the girls couldn't keep relying on her to prop them up all the time, she had her own problems.  

'Stephanie,' her mom called. 'Will Michael be staying for dinner?'

'Yeah,' she shouted back, she hoped he would be anyway, they'd barely got to spend any time together with the amount of hours she was working. She looked at the clock and frowned, Michael was ten minutes late. Oh she knew she couldn't complain, she was habitually late but it wasn't like him.

It made her feel uneasy, like maybe he was ever so subtly withdrawing from her. She picked up a magazine to distract herself but it didn't work, she couldn't get interested in celebrity gossip in the same way Paulette could. Finally there was a knock at the door and she heard her mom letting Michael in. She resisted the urge to run downstairs reminding herself that he'd kept her waiting.

'Stephanie get down here,' her mom yelled. 'Your young man is waiting.' She grimaced at the expression, and quickly ran a brush through her hair before joining them.

'Hey, what's up?' she said. Her mom shuck her head and went back to the kitchen. Stephanie ushered Michael into the living room, and closed the door so her mom wouldn't over hear them.

'How've you been?' she added realising Michael hadn't answered her question.

'Bored, I spend most of my time waiting for you to finish work.' Stephanie frowned, she couldn't work out if that was supposed to be a compliment or if he sounded resentful.

'Well you could get a job,' she suggested. 'But if you're going to college well that'll come around before you know it.' Michael scoffed.

'I'm really not sure I want to go to college.'

'But you're smart! You have to go to college? Even Paulette...' Well Paulette was doing some dumb course, no doubt biding her time before she was married and sprogged up.

'Steph if I was going to go to college I'd probably be better off going to an English university. I've been accepted into the local college but I'd still have to sort out my immigration status.' He said no more and he didn't need to, she knew what that meant.

'So what would you have to do to be able to stay?' she asked biting the bullet. They had to discuss it sometime.

'There's different visa's and different requirements. I was here as an exchange student, I suppose if I go to college I could reapply. And then there's work permits but I don't have a job, and the fiance visa....'

'What's the fiance visa?' 

'It allows you to stay if you're engaged to an American citizen, maybe it's to stop people jumping head first into marriage.' He shrugged. 'I didn't look into it but I'd guess it would be time limited or people would be engaged in-perpetuity.' She frowned trying to make sense of his words.

'Are you saying we should get engaged?' she asked tentatively.

'No of course not, I wouldn't put you in that position. If I decide to stay I'll try to get a job and go about things properly. I wouldn't have you lying for me.'

'Oh.' Stephanie felt deflated, he was pretty much admitting he wasn't even sure he wanted to stay.

'Michael, I would be prepared to say we were engaged, just to give you breathing space. It's not like committing to getting married.' He looked at her, his mouth dropping open.

'You'd really do that? Stephanie Zinone, Miss Independent?' He laughed and she bristled.

'Yeah I would, if the alternative was throwing our relationship away before giving it a chance.' She could feel herself getting angry. 'I wouldn't marry you, I'm no Paulette but I'd do what I could to give us some options. It doesn't sound like you want those options though. I think your mind's made up. You want to go back to England and you're trying to let me down gently!' Her final words came out more angrily than she'd intended, and she could see he was defensive.

'Stephanie I do want to go back to England someday, it's my home and I miss my friends and family but if I left now I'd miss you too. I don't want to hurt you but if I can find a way to stay, well I guess I want to know we have a pretty good chance of making it.' She felt her heart sink, she wanted to give him that reassurance but she didn't think she honestly could. Two years ago she'd assumed she'd marry Johnny as soon as they'd graduated, and they'd run her dad's service station together. By the time she was a senior that thought had horrified her. What if she had similar thoughts about Michael a year from now?

'Mike I've just suggested getting a fiance visa, and I'll play my part in that,' she said slowly as she tried to formulate her words. 'I can commit to you that I'll give our relationship my best shot. But if you're wanting me to promise that we'll be marching down the aisle one day, well I'm sorry, I can't.'

'Does the idea scare you that much or is it me?' he asked taking hold of her hand and forcing her to look at  him.

'A bit of both, I don't know.' She glanced at the fireplace where her parents wedding picture was centre stage. 'I've never been one of those girls who dreamed of her wedding day. When we were kids and played dressy up I'd always be the bridesmaid, I've never fantasised about being a bride. You talk to Paulette, she's probably got her wedding all planned out-'

'I don't care about Paulette,' Michael said interrupting. 'That's not what I want. A fairy tale wedding and a nightmare marriage, I'll give that a pass thanks.' She felt some of the tension leave her.

'You're sure about that? Cos from where I'm sitting, I seem to be the one out of step. The other girls will be waltzing down the aisle the minute they get a proposal.' Michael laughed.

'Yeah and doesn't Johnny know it. Seriously though, if I agree to try to stay in America, and I can only try, I want to know it's what you want. If you're having doubts now I want you to tell me.' Stephanie bit her lip, he was making it so easy for her either way. He was giving her a get out, and also asking for the bare minimum of commitment. She had to decide which way to jump.

'I want you to stay,' she said and his face broke into a smile. 'Of course I want you to stay but I can't make you any promises....'

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