Cool Rider (Grease 2)

Chapter 20

Sharon looked over at the guys as they huddled together over the bowling balls. Oh, she knew exactly what they were saying. Well maybe not exactly but they were talking about her, why else were they playing boys against girls again?

"I'm sick of this," she hissed at Steph who frowned in response. "They're talking about me!"

"They're probably talking about me," Steph said scowling in their direction. "I'm the difficult girlfriend, any guy would be happy with you." Sharon pouted, she knew Steph's words were meant to be reassuring but the guys would be happy with her....why? She frowned at Louis wondering what crap he'd been telling everyone.

"I haven't done anything wrong," she said to Steph. As far as she was concerned she'd gone away with Louis, that was all. She'd repeated the lie to her mother so often she thought it sounded convincing, even if her mom wasn't buying it.

"I don't care," Steph said. "It's between you and Louis, no one else." Sharon nodded.

"So you don't want to know all the details?" she asked, everyone else was prying. Steph shook her head.

"I think I can live without them. Do you want to know all the details about me and Mike?" Sharon paused for a moment.

"Yeah maybe," she said tongue in cheek.

"Well there's nothing to know. There are no big plans for any weddings or babies."

"Babies?" Sharon interrupted. "I think you're getting ahead of yourself."

"Am I?" Steph asked, her eyebrow raised. Sharon shuffled, twisting her fingers together.

"Yeah you are, I'm not dumb," she said looking away. "But just say, hypothetically, well Louis wants-"

"What about what you want?" Steph interrupted. "Do you ever think about that? Do you honestly want to spend the rest of your life with him?" Sharon scowled, resenting Steph's tone.

"Yes actually I do, that's all I want." She turned her attention back to the bowling lanes pretending she didn't see Stephanie roll her eyes.

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Stephanie didn't know what it was down to but there was definitely a degree of tension in the air. She knew she'd pissed off Sharon but that was easily done, Paulette and Rhonda still kept their distance from each other, and Michael...well she didn't know what to do about Michael. Just when they seemed to be getting on track they hit a bump in the road. She'd breathed a sigh of relief about not having to get the fiance visa, especially since it was such a temporary respite, but she sensed he wasn't too happy about college.

"I think he's gonna wind up resenting me," she confessed to Rhonda as they sat by themselves at one of the tables. Michael had wandered off to the pinball machines with Goose, and the others were still bowling.

"I don't see why," Rhonda said taking a sip of her coke. "It was his decision to stay, what were you supposed to do?" Stephanie shrugged her shoulders.

"I honestly don't know but I feel like he's done all the running." Rhonda raised an eyebrow. "Ok I know he has and that's why I'm worried. He's done everything for me and what have I given him?" There was a definite imbalance in their relationship.

"But Steph, he wanted you. And now he's got you." Rhonda gave her an impatient look. "Can't you just be happy? If he's gonna resent you for anything, it'll be for being miserable when he's done all this for you." Steph sighed, when Rhonda put it like that it made sense she supposed.

"I just wish that he'd wanted to go to college in Rydell, that I wasn't the reason he made that decision."

"But you should be happy he has. Do you think Goose would do something like that for me?" Stephanie frowned looking over at Goose. He was jumping about excitedly, more like a big kid than the adult he was. She laughed ruefully.

"I'm kinda surprised he ties his own shoelaces," she said, and Rhonda nodded.

"Exactly, and he probably only managed that cos Johnny taught him how to. You could have it worse, at least Michael's serious about you."

"And Goose isn't?" Steph asked glad to move on from her relationship woes. Rhonda shook her head.

"We're together cos it's convenient. Or it was in high school with the whole pink lady code." The whole code thing had been absurd, Steph thought, although she'd helped devise it back when her and Johnny were an item. What a mistake that was.

"Well you don't have to stay together Rhonda," Steph said carefully. "If you're not happy."

"I'm not unhappy," Rhonda said quickly. "But I don't see us going anywhere."

"That was kinda like me and Johnny. Only I saw where we were going, and I didn't like it." She looked over at Sharon, she was almost disappointed that she was simply lining herself up to be Louis's wife. What sort of ambition was that? 

"It's not that easy though," Rhonda said taking a sip of her drink. "We get along, I don't have any complaints, not really."

"It's ok to want something more," Steph said. "I did."

"I don't wanna do anything hasty. Say I dumped Goose and then six months from now he got his act together."

"He might," Steph said uncertainly. "Johnny's managed it. I never thought he'd settle down with Paulette but he has." Rhonda bit her lip.

"Yeah but look at what she's gone through to get there? And that's another thing, it really pisses me off how Goose is at Johnny's beck and call. Why should I come second to Johnny Nogerelli!" Steph started to laugh and tried to turn it into a cough as Rhonda glared at her.

"I'm sure you're not second Rhon, not really."

"Yeah so why did Goose go out with Johnny, when Johnny was looking for other girls? That's so disrespectful." Steph bit her lip, she'd heard those rumours in senior year but she'd been so done with Johnny she hadn't paid attention.

"But Goose wasn't cheating," she said although she wasn't sure that made it much better. "Look you know what Johnny's like, he probably twisted Goose's arm."

"He could have taken Davey with him, at least he was single." Steph caught her eye and she laughed. "Ok not Davey, but why not Louis sometimes? Why my boyfriend?" Steph looked over at Johnny and Louis who had their heads together while Paulette bowled.

"He probably did take Louis sometimes, or they all went together. That wouldn't surprise me." It seemed more likely to her that Johnny would go out with a larger group, that would make it easier for him to approach multiple girls. Rhonda shook her head.

"No he never took Louis, Sharon would have said." Steph smiled.

"You think Louis would tell Sharon something like that? She'd overreact." And now she thought more about it, that's what Rhonda was doing. A group of guys going out was no big deal, it was trying to pick up other girls that was the problem. "Look unless Goose went on double dates with Johnny I'd forget it. The only person who should really be upset is Paulette." Rhonda nodded.

"I guess, but it still feels like Goose puts Johnny first."

"You should have told him at the time, it's no use holding a grudge now." Steph looked over at Paulette. She'd just bowled and was walking back to Johnny with a big smile on her face. She looked so happy when Johnny put his arm around her that Steph felt a pang. "We really ought to tell Paulette about this. Before she gets in too deep with Johnny, she should know the truth."

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