Prettier in Purple // A Duckie Dale Story

2) .A New Chance.

(Edited)

.A New Chance.

~Queenie~

I grabbed a couple things from my locker and closed it again. The halls were rather empty.

Thankfully, I had a free period at the beginning of the day, so when I got to school, the halls were quiet and I was well rested. I was especially grateful for the extra sleep when Duckie decided to burst in on me in the middle of the night.

I laughed quietly to myself and walked down the hall, away from my locker and towards the bathroom. I opened the door and stepped inside. There was a bunch of voices that I didn't recognize. Men's voices. And this was the woman's backroom. I put my books and bag down by the door and put my best glare on. I stomped around the corner, my hands on my hips. I saw them before they saw me. They were huddled around a stall, stuffing someone's head inside the toilet and flushing it over and over again, trying to drown the poor kid.

"Oi!" I shouted. 

The boys looked up and when they saw me, they backed away from the stall.

"Leave him!" I ordered.

"Who are you to stand all high and mighty?" One of the guys asked, crossing his arms over his chest. 

I mirrored his position. "A nice person. Now leave before I sock you in the nose." 

The guy rolled his eyes. "Nice indeed. You just leave," he said, "and we'll pretend this never happened." 

I snorted and took a step forward. 

They each took a step back. 

Good, I thought. They're afraid.

"I'll give you three seconds to scidattle or I kick your arses," I warned. "You're choice." 

They all ran from the room, one of them tripping over my books. But he was up and out before you could say wurrly. Immediately, I rushed over to the guy in the toilet and I recognized him as Duckie. I wasn't surprised. He was all bark and no bite. I unstuck his head from the toilet and led him to the trashcan where he threw up. "

Are you okay?" I asked him.

He shook his head getting toilet water all over me and I took a step back.

"Thanks for saving me, love," he replied. "I owe you one." If he owed me one every time I saved him, he would owe me fifty plus. 

"You're welcome Duck," I said instead. "What did you do this time?" I brought him over to the sink, grabbed a wad of paper towels and wet it so I could clean off his hair. He bent down to allow me access.

"I said something to one of them, they took offence and shoved me in."

 I nodded in understanding. "So the usual?" 

He didn't answer, but looked down with a sigh. 

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "I should have been here earlier."

"It's not your fault, love," he promised. "I should watch my mouth next time." 

I laughed, scrubbing the paper towel through his damp hair that was already starting to dry. "You way that every time, and yet you never do." 

Duckie smiled and grabbed my hand, pulling it away from his hair. "I could just run away right now and never let you clean my hair if you keep having an attitude like that." 

I eyed him. "And who's problem would that be?" I asked, trying to give him a hint. 

Realization dawned on him and he let go of my hand. "You're right." 

I shook my head in dismay and continued rubbing his hair between my fingers that held the paper towel. Once I was done, I walked over to my bag and grabbed my hairdryer and went back to it and held it out. He looked at it in confusion.

I rolled my eyes. "Plug it in, press the button," I explained. "When you're done, press the button, unplug it and bring it to me in third." He nodded and took it from me, doing as instructed. "And please, Duck, please don't go around scaring girls and don't take a long time." 

He nodded again. "Thanks, love." He pulled me into a hug and let go, pressing the button on my device and jumped when the roaring from it echoed in the bathroom. With one last laugh, I left my friend to his own devices. Man, Duckie really didn't know one thing about how the world worked.

*~~~~~*~~~~~*

There was a light tap on my shoulder and I looked up from my work, turning towards whoever was there. I groaned when I saw the blonde jerk from the bathroom standing there, a small smirk on his face. I turned back away from him and tried to focus back on my work. That didn't get rid of the kid so easily and he leaned over on the desk to my left so he was in my view. I sighed and turned to him, rubbing my temples in annoyance.

"What do you want?" I asked harshly. 

The guy grinned wider. "I want you to go out with me." 

I raised an eyebrow. Was he kidding me right now? I usually saw the best in people, but when they stuff my best friend and crush in the toilet, they no longer have a reputation in my book. I scoffed at him.

"Me, go out with you?" I asked. "Why would I ever? You stuffed my best friend in the toilet and proceeded to threaten me." 

The guy rolled his eyes. "Yes, and I'm sorry, but I like you." 

"That was a terribly sincere apology," I told him sarcastically. "I'll totally go out with you now."

The guy frowned. "Look, I know I don't have much to bring to the table, but I like you. I'm a good guy. Let me prove it to you." 

I looked back at him, my eyes wide. "You already proved it to me when you stuffed my friend's head in the girl's toilet." 

The guy held his hands up in defense. "Fine, don't go out with me. I just thought you were pretty cool and we could make it work. I like your style. But if you don't want to go out with me, that's fine. I just thought I'd ask." He got up and walked away. 

I thought about what he was saying. I saw his technique immediately. He was trying to guilt trip me. I certainly felt guilty. I'd never had someone remotely interested in my before. Or maybe I did and I was too interested in Duckie to pay attention. Perhaps this was the perfect opportunity to get over this terrible crush, or maybe find someone better, though I doubted this guy was any better, if not worse.This was a terrible idea. 

I turned and called after the guy making him stop. "This Friday, seven o'clock sharp. Pick me up at Trax. I won't wait." 

The guy shot me another grin that seemed to say, 'Told you so' and turned away again. I focused back on my work, though I wasn't truly focused. I was an idiot. This was going to end up terrible. Now I was going out with a richie and I didn't even know his name. What was Duckie going to say? I shook my head. What did he care? He didn't love me like he loved Andie. I had nothing to lose.

~~~

Word Count : 1,227