Grease Lightning | K.M

I'm sorry, Kenickie

I finished dressing back into the ugly mechanic outfit and walked outside to start working on Grease Lighting. I had missed the last couple of times that the group was working because I had been listening to Sandy drown on about Danny. When I walked into the work space I was surprised to see how far along it'd come.

There weren't anymore dents and a new leather interior had been added. The outside still looked about the same, but I knew I wouldn't be able to tell either way. I was still clueless with most things involving a motor.

I walked over to check it out but Kenickie caught my attention instead. He was adding hubcaps to the wheels and I briefly wondered how a broke high school student was able to afford all this. 

"Hey", I said walking up to him.

He ignored me and chose to pick up a rusted tool instead. There was no way he hadn't heard me because I was standing less than a foot from him. I angrily waved my hand in front of his face after waiting for him to answer me.

He just swatted my hand away and put his back to me. Giving up, I walked away feeling defeated. I spotted Danny and took a seat next to him on some discarded milk crates. "Brutal", Danny snorted staring at Kenickie.

I crossed my arms, "I think I hate him."

Danny bumped me with his shoulder, "just go say sorry", he suggested. I already knew that that wasn't going to happen. Sure, I didn't want him to ignore me, but I wouldn't make a fool of myself when I hadn't done anything wrong.

When Leo had taken me home yesterday we actually bonded. He was a perfect gentleman and even let me pick the radio station. I consider him a friend, and I don't care if Kenickie doesn't like it. I know what being pushed around feels like.

"As if", I scoff at Danny. "Can you honestly look at me and tell me that I've done anything wrong?". I didn't wait for an answer as I pushed myself off the milk crater and headed to the bathroom. I was in serious need of some cold water to the face. I'm sure my cheeks were inflamed by now.

I burst through the doors and quickly turned the sink on. I avoided looking at my reflection and chose to dunk my head under the sink quickly.

After the heat from my face was gone, I turned off the water and leaned against the wall to take a breath. I sunk down to the floor slowly and put my hands on my face. Suddenly, the door opened and heels clinked against the tile.

I prepared myself to give an explanation to a stranger as to why I was sitting alone in the bathroom.When I looked up I was confused, "Rizzo?".

"I didn't see you there. Are you hiding in here because you ran off with Crater Face last night"? she said in the most condescending voice possible. They way she casually blurted that had made me flinch.

I looked up at her, "did Danny tell you he drove me home?". It wasn't exactly a secret, but it also wasn't something Kenickie needed to know about. And I didn't have any idea how the other guys would feel either.

Rizzo stopped smiling, "he drove you home? I was talking about the pep rally", she said.

I blinked, "Oh, well-"

"Wait until Kenickie hears", she smirked. Rizzo shuffled out, not even bothering to use the bathroom like she'd probably needed. I jumped up, hot on her tail. For a moment I thought I had got her, but she slammed the door behind her. It slowed me down long enough for her to get halfway down the hall.

By the time I caught up to her, she had gotten to Kenickie. I watched her helplessly as she told him. His face grew red and angry. His fists balled up and he punched the wall. The rest of the guys and I jumped in surprise. I saw how all of them all stopped working and stared in confusion.

After Rizzo was done ruining my friendship, he just walked past me, bumping into my shoulder on the way out. He didn't look at me, didn't yell, didn't hit anything else; he simply just left.

I didn't waste a second before running out to him. "Just wait", I yell at him. He started walking faster, making it around the building. "She's trying to make you hate me. She doesn't even know what really happened", I shouted.

Once we were outside he slowed down and spun around to face me. "So she lied then? You didn't hang out with him yesterday?", he growled. I haven't ever seen him this upset. I'd witnessed his countless fights with other students and even then he was somewhat stoic.

I took a big breath to prepare myself. "You were out with Rizzo last night and stranded everyone so Danny and I spent some time talking and we ended up going to the Frosty Palace. Don't get it twisted, I wasn't planning on meeting Leo. I just saw his car and went out to yell at him because Danny had told me why you hate him. But it was getting late and I know my mom was worried. He had a car and I needed a ride. I know you're mad, but he's not a horrible guy and he apologized. Please just forgive me", I begged him.

I wrapped my hands around his arm, scared he was going to leave me. He finally spoke. "I don't want you around the T-Birds anymore". He stood up tall, motioning me out of the way.

I did a double take. "What? No please don't shut me out. I'll do better", I whimpered while pulling him back to me.

"I've made up my mind", he said firmly.

I hated being the girl who always cried but I still felt small, hot tears coming down my face at a steady pace.

"God Kenickie, why do you hate me so much? Tell me why", I screamed at him.

By now, we'd started a screaming match. I knew everyone could hear us, but it didn't matter. I didn't even care that Rizzo was probably laughing right now. All I was focused on was the man in front of me.

He spun around, "dumb question. You know why".

"No, I don't", I retort, "you hated me before I even met Leo and I want to know why". One hand was flinging around dangerously, while the other was wiping away tears.

He just rolls his eyes at me, "grow up kid".

What hurt the most was how uninterested he sounded. Like I wasn't even worth looking at. Like I was gum on his shoe. "No you grow up. I wonder what happened that caused you to be so damned cold to everyone around you", I shouted back.

I turned sharply around without gauging his reaction. I walked back into the building through the back, changed into my regular clothes, and felt.