AUTHOR'S NOTE: ============= Thanks to everybody who's been mailing me about my story. You're all pretty cool in my book. :)
The Out-Crowd!
--Servo Blue
DISCLAIMER: ==========
Mine. Read.
The Out-Crowd ===========
Part 9: A Night of Surprises
I followed Shelby out of the junk yard, and he followed Micheal. We were paired off rather even this time; Micheal and Kate, Shelby and Wally, and Casey and Jeremy. Oh, how those Ys bother me. I'm gonna have to rename them all. But anyway, I pulled out of the junk yard, following my friends. Now, I thought at first that they would lead the way home. Psh. Right. Instead, they lead me into unknown territory, down roads I hadn't yet been, and it was getting dark, as the sun had just disappeared beyond the horizon. I asked Jeremy several times where we were going, once I'd noticed we weren't going home, but he just smiled and said "You'll see."
After a good twenty minutes, I followed the two cars into a driveway made half of dirt and half of loose gravel. The land was slightly rolly, but it was just grass for quite a way in both directions from the drive. This was kind of cool, because the roads we'd been on were shrouded by trees.
I saw the two cars pull to the side and park, so I did the same. We all got out and met by Shelby's trunk.
"So, what is this?" I asked. "Where are we?"
"This is the Battleground. Come here," said Wally. He put his hands in his pockets and lead me further down the drive, just a few yards. Here, the ground slanted upwards; not too much, but it wasn't until we reached the four footed hilltop that I laid eyes on my eutopia. Flat land, about a quarter mile in diameter, all dirt, and no blemishing rocks or trees. Not until the border, anyway--that was nothing but woods.
"This here," said Wally, pointing to a car to our right that I had magically missed, "Is my car for the fair this year. I call it Roadstorm."
It was all ready to go. Glass was all out, no chrome or plastic parts, gas tank taken off and a boat tank fastened in where the late back seat used to reside. It was black and purple, with a beige splatter here and there. The color scheme was great. The number on the front doors was B-52.
"This is awesome, Wally," I said. "And you guys bought me a car of my own?"
"Absolutely," he said. "Shelby says he's got one, too. I told him that we'd have to bring it down here to finish up the work on it. Then we heard about Frank having another junker for sale, and we all pitched in. Thought it'd be fun," he finished.
"Wally," I started, but had nothing to say. "I...I don't deserve--" but he cut me off.
"Yes, you do," he said, pointing at me. "You saved Jer from another major ass-kickin', you helped bring Shelby back to us, not to mention the rest of the world, and tried--though futile it was--to talk to Fedora, and you must have known the odds of him opening up were nonexistant. But you tried. That's the first thing that I picked up on about you, Casey. No matter what, you always try. And what you and your parents are doing for Shelby right now is nothing short of amazing. I commend you, man. And I'm proud to be your friend."
Wow. How do you respond to something like that? Jeez. No one had ever, EVER said somehting that powerful to me before. It gave me this weird feeling, like I was proud to be who and what I am, but proud because of him, my friends, not just because I'm me. I don't really know how to describe it. But it felt...good.
"Yup, Micheal, sure are a lot of stars out tonight, huh?!" Jeremy's voice echoed across the property.
"Ra-ther!" said Micheal, just as loud. "But I say, if we stick around much longer, the sun should be back, and the stars will have gone away,"
Wally sighed, and we turned to walk back to our people.
"Back so soon, boss?" asked Shelby, grinning at us. He still had his sun glasses on. How could he see like that?
"Yes, we're back," said Wally. "Didn't keep you waiting too long, I hope?"
"Oh, no," said Micheal, walking to his driver door. "Whatever gave you that idear?"
"Just get in the car and follow us," said Wally, smiling.
Jeremy and I got in with Micheal and Kate, and left the Etzel to be prepared for death.
"Where to now?" I asked, but no one said anything. "Am I going to be told anything ahead of time tonight?" I asked.
"Nope," giggled Jeremy, "It's all a big surprise for you tonight, baby!" then laughed his head off. Micheal looked at Kate and raised his eyebrows.
"'Baby'?" he asked her.
"I don't know," she answered. "Maybe," Unfortunately, though I knew they were conversing, I couldn't hear them. They were speaking so quiet, that Jeremy's laughter overpowered them. It's not like I suspected them of any devious gossip, but I was curious as to their topic. I slugged Jeremy in the arm, and with an 'Ow', he calmed down and rubbed his arm, still smiling broadly.
"What did miss? Idiot Boy was laughing too loud for me to hear," I said.
Micheal adjusted the rearveiw mirror so that he could see us in the back seat.
"We were just talking about you and Jeremy," he said.
"Hey, look at that!" shouted Jeremy, pointing out the window at my side. I turned to look, but as I did, he grabbed the collar of my shirt and pulled the front up over my head, and held the front and back of my collar together behind my neck. I flailed my arms terribly, but to no avail. While I was searching for a target, Jeremy shot a panic-stricken face at Micheal and then to Kate, shaking his head violently to indicate a change of subject. He released me, and I fixed my shirt and slugged him in the chest. The fool wasn't even looking.
After another few minutes, we were back in town. I recognized the street, but not enough to determine the name. Then, we pulled to a stop. As I got out, then had to help Jeremy out, as he was still catching the wind that I'd accidentally knocked out of him, I looked up and saw the sign: Full Deck Lanes. The bowling alley!
We walked in, and Steiny was busily giving out shoes and scores sheets and taking money, along with another old man, who was taller, and less Jewish.
I turned around, and saw everyone gone except for Micheal.
"Where'd they all go?!" I asked, a bit shocked.
"What? Oh! Right, they went to get their balls." he said.
"What did you say?" I asked, less than amused. "That was terrible, Micheal."
"What are you ta--Oh! No, you stupid git, don't be a wanker! I didn't mean that, you bloody smeghead. They're all in the high school league here, and they each have a bowling BALL," he emphasized 'ball' to keep it nonperverted, "and they've got their own shoes. They just went to get them."
"I see." I said. I was a big fan of bowling, myself. I loved it. It was my baseball. My American Passtime.
"What about you?" I asked.
"The closest I've ever come to bowling, was croquet," he said, in an irritated tone. "I just keep score."
"Aha." I said.
"Let's roll!" said Shelby, coming up behind us, with his ball in hand. It was a sparkly blue, with purple swirls. Pretty kickass, I'd say. Wally, Jeremy and Kate were right behind him. Kate's ball was a solid hunter orange. It almost hurt to look at. Jeremy's was white with these soft silver sparkles here and there. Wally's, however, was the coolest by far. His ball was yellow, but there was a three-square wide band of checkers that ran around it, and another that came around perpendicular to the first. It was awesome. And just above the finger holes read the name 'Taximus'. Man, did he ever have a knack for names!
"You playin', boss? What's the deal?" asked Shelby.
"I have neither shoes, nor a ball," I explained.
"I know that," he said. "Didn't you talk to Steiny?"
"He's busy," I said.
"Hmm," he said, thinking hard behind his sunglasses. "Just come with me," he said, leading me into another back room. This place was full of back rooms. This particular backroom must have been the storage room. One wall was covered with cubby holes, and each hole had a shoebox in it.
"How big are ya, boss?" he asked, looking at the wall.
"Pardon?" I asked. He turned at the waist and looked at me over his shades.
"Your feet," he said, in a 'heard-that-one' tone.
"Oh. Nines," I said.
"Color?"
"Please."
"For that, you get gray and burnt sienna," he said, holding a box out for me to take.
"You ARE kidding, right?" I asked.
"Hey, those were the old regulation colors, boss, and you had to be a smart ass." he said with a devious grin, then changed the subject. "Now, you need a ball. Let me see your arm." He crossed the room and took hold of my bicep.
"Ahem...why?" I asked.
"Oh, 'cause you're such a hottie and I can't keep my hands off of ya. I'm guessing on how heavy of a ball to get for ya," he said. Then he crossed back, and picked up a dull blue ball, handing it to me. "How's that feel?"
"Mmm...kinda heavy," I said.
"That's a seventeen," he said.
"Gimme a fifteen, whatever ya got," I said, ancy to go play.
"I'll find a cool one," he said, looking through all the racks and stray balls that had fallen to or just been left on the floor. "Here we go!" he exclaimed.
He handed me a giant 8 Ball.
"Kickass!" I said, taking the ball from him. The fingering wasn't perfect, but it was pretty darn close. "This is awesome, Shelby!"
"Hey, no prob, Bob," he said. "Just don't expect too much at Christmas, huh?"
With that, he smiled, patted me on the shoulder and headed for the door. He stopped and looked at me over his shoulder.
"Hey, you comin', boss?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said. I followed him back out and we met up with our people.
"God, it's about time!" said Jeremy, jumping up from his seat. "Let's go, I just wanna win and get outta here!"
"Oh, gettin' cocky, eh?" I asked in mock concern. "Well, I think I could whip your little ass at this habitual passtime of mine, Jer. What say we put a little wager down?"
"Loser buys the winner's meal at Armeni's," he said, staring me dead in the eyes.
"Deal," I said, and stiffly stuck out my hand. He took it, and we shook on it, both of us smiling. I don't know what it was about Jeremy, but since the minute I met him, he's always been able to make me smile. There was a chorus of "oooOOOOoooohh"s when we shook on our bet, but we settled them down.
"Who said anything about Armeni's?" asked Wally, picking up his taxi ball. "Why would either of you deserve food?"
"I say let them eat each other and see which one makes it out alive," said Micheal, taking his place behind the little table to keep score. Kate elbowed him in the shoulder, and they smiled at each other, trying to hide it.
POW!!! Clink, clink, clink.
"Yes!"
Wally sat down, starting the game with a strike. He had a big smile on his face, and leaned over to Jeremy.
"Can I enter the bet?" he asked.
"Sorry, no late entries," said Jeremy in a flat voice.
"Your turn, O Dark One," said Micheal.
"That's me!" said Shelby, happy to have his turn. He picked up his sparkly ball, stepped forward, swung, released, and seconds later POW!!! Clink, clinkity, clink. "Ha ha!" he laughed, and on his way back he and Wally high-fived.
"Keep with it, chaps, it's less work for me this way," said Micheal. "Your turn, Kath--...Kate," he said. He tries to remember to call her Kate, but he had a friend in Bolton named Kathryn, and he slips up sometimes.
Kate picked up her retina-burning orange ball. Swing, pow, seven.
"Bloody hell," mumbled Micheal. Nobody else probably heard him, but I was sititng beside him behind the table thingy, so I heard him well enough. He honestly didn't want to do any math. She threw again nad got the spare.
"Casey," he said, while marking in her spare. I got up, picked up my ball, and threw it without really aiming. POW!!! Clink, clink, clink.
"Good shot," said Wally, fairly impressed.
"Yeah," I said, backing away from the lane and scratching my head. "I really oughtta figure out how to aim, or whatever,"
Wally looked at me in surprise.
"Oh, you did not," said Jeremy, denying my claim of natural talent. He got up and threw his ball. Six. Ha!
"How much money you got on ya, Jer?" I asked.
"Oh, shut it, Polka Man. I'm still in the game," he said.
I was surprised when he called me that, and a bit weirded out.
"'Polka Man'?" asked Kate. I just laughed.
Jeremy picked up his terrible spare, and while walking back to his seat, he stuck his tongue out at me with some stupid face around it. It was hard not to laugh at him.
The game pressed on, and after a good three hours, and two extra games, it was declared that I beat Jeremy three out of three, and he conceded to a draw.
"Alright, I'm spent," said Micheal, after tallying up the final scores of game three. "What say we jaunt over to Armeni's for a few?"
"Who said anything about Armeni's?" asked Wally again.
Everyone nagged at him, and he finally admitted to maybe hearing something about it somewhere, but he couldn't be sure.
We went to Armeni's, and sure enough, Jeremy bought me my meal. We'd been shown to a table, as a booth just wouldn't fit us all. There we were: Me, Kate, Micheal, Wally, Jeremy and Shelby, all sitting at a rectangular table near the center of the dining area in Armeni's. We ordered two large pizzas with pepperoni and bacon, and were yukking it up, telling jokes and old stories about the stupid things we'd done as kids--little kids. It was like we were old friends, every one of us. And they were; not with me, and they all knew Shelby since first grade, but he was never really a friend, just another face at school. But now he and I were their friends, after so little as a week. At least, I felt that way.
"A-hem!" said Wally, clearing his throat to get everyone's attention.
"Silence in the hall," called Jeremy, "His Royal Majestrate has the floor!"
"Shelby," said Wally, looking directly at him, then switching his intent gaze to my eyes. "Casey.... You two may not know this, but before you came along, Micheal, Jeremy, Kate and myself were part of a select group of comrades--"
"An elite fighting force!" chimed in Jeremy, waving a spoon in the air, but Kate smacked him lightly to hush him up, and he did so, smiling.
"A group united through division; it was the common bond of abandonment that made us all wish we had someone to cling to. When the four of us found each other, we gave ourselves a name, a joke at first, but then it became a very real and defining title. We called our little group...the Out-Crowd."
Shelby and I looked at each other, smiling, not quite sure what to make of this. We looked back at Wally, as he continued.
"However, it has come to my attention that the Out-Crowd can no longer function as-is. It simply would not work. In fact, I see the Out-Crowd as we know it to be dead."
He said these words with a solemn, unnatural tone of dread that would have won him an Oscar. He stood up.
"But a new Out-Crowd is born...with six."
For a moment, Shelby and I looked around at Wally and the three eye-level faces, all of which were smiling the brightest smiles I'd ever seen.
"You...you mean you fellas...WANT to be my buds?" asked Shelby, in a real state of awe. It was the kind of feeling that made you think he'd never had anybody say they wanted to be his friend. Ever.
"Absolutely, you little buggar!" exclaimed Micheal, raising his glass of rootbeer. "And here's to you, mate, and Casey as well!" And with that, Micheal took a swig of his soda.
"Hey, that's a good idea," said Wally, picking up his glass of pop, and holding out in front of him. Everyone took the hint, including Shelby and me, and we all rose to our feet, our glasses in hand. "Here's to Casey and Shelby: the newest recruits of the Out-Crowd!" We all toasted to our newly defined freindship, and cheered for the future that we held.
We had a great time, but at midnight the owner came out and said they were going to close. We paid for our food and left. We stopped at my place, and we all got out. My dad was still up, because he doesn't work on weekends, but mom's only day off is Sunday, so she'd gone to bed already. He'd been wrestling with Wallop on the floor when we came in, and had a fire going in the fireplace. He clicked back into automatic sanity mode when he saw us come in, and asked us how our night had been. Wallop wagged his tail at all of us, but after seeing that the focus of attention was on people and not him, he walked into the kitchen and laid down in his little dog bed thing. We all talked in the living room for the longest time--my dad included. He could be cool at times.
After about an hour, I noticed that Jeremy had fallen asleep at the end of the couch. Micheal was about to wake him and take him home, but my dad said to let him sleep, and he could spend the night here. Dad got his number so that he could call Jer's parents in the morning. Kate said that she, too, was feeling a bit tired, and she, Micheal and Wally all said goodnight. I thanked them for a great night, and they left. Dad said goodnight after they left, and he went down the hall to join my mother in bed.
"I'm gonna head to bed myself, boss," said Shelby.
"O.K.," I said, looking at Jeremy. Shelby put his hand on the rail, and got one foot on the first step. "Hey," he said, looking back to me.
"Yeah?" I asked, kinda groggy. Tiredness was setting in.
"It was fun, tonight," he said. "Thanks," And with that, he shuffled up the stairs.
I looked back at Jeremy, and he was smiling. 'Must be a happy dream', I thought. Then he giggled. 'A very happy dream', but I was a bit suspicious. I got up from my chair and walked the short pace to the couch, then jabbed his ribs with my fingers. Oh, my, the yelp he gave out was enough to shatter the windows!
"I knew it!" I said, yelling just above a whisper. "I knew you were awake!"
"Of course I was," he said, still giggling. "Who could sleep through the mindless yammerings of you and your creepy friends?"
Then he got really serious.
"Hey," he said. "Sit down here, beside me," he said, patting the couch. I did as instructed. "Casey, I know we've only known each other for a week, but I have to know something."
"O.K.," I said, allowing him to continue.
"I think you and I are already great friends," he started.
"Absolutely!" I slid in.
"Good," he said, "but there's something bugging me. Now, this doesn't mean that I don't trust you, or anything like that, because I do. But...is there anything I could ever do to make you hate me?"
"You could shoot my mother," I said.
"Dude, I'm serious," he said.
"I'm sorry. No, man. I could never hate you. I like you too much to hate you, over anything." I said.
"Great! That's great, Casey. 'Cause there's somethin' I gotta tell you, and I had to make sure you wouldn't kick my ass or something." His eyes got all misty, like it was tearing him apart.
"Jeez, man, what, did you stomp on a puppy or something?"
He giggled a little, but went serious again. All the lights were out, save for the fireplace. The flames reflected and danced in his eyes, which seemed to tremble a little on their own.
"Casey..." he started. "Casey, I..."
"What is it?"
"I...Oh, fuck it."
And with that, he leaned in...and kissed me.
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....To Be Continued....
HA HA HA!!! I love cliffhangers! >:) Hey, my longest chapter yet! Any Comments or Criticism go to me at Inverse@mindless.com