Paulette stood behind Johnny as he went to take his shot in the bowling alley. He inclined his head towards her and winked before throwing the ball. Her heart melted, she was definitely winning him over.
'Way to go,' she yelled reaching out to give him a congratulatory hug, even though he had only knocked down two pins. He stiffened taking a step back from her, and she reminded herself that she needed to play it cool and let him make the advances.
'Mark that a strike,' Johnny called to Sharon who was keeping score.
'What!' Stephanie snapped, rounding on him. 'You hit two lousy pins.'
'That is a technical strike due to the fact that you chicks were late.' Stephanie and Sharon pulled faces at Paulette, and she shrugged apologetically. She had held them up trying to find the perfect outfit to impress Johnny, and her tight gold pants were doing the trick nicely. It was worth losing the points since Johnny could not keep his eyes off her.
It was her turn next and she walked slowly to the lane, giving her hips an extra wiggle. It was working, everyone was watching her. She glanced at Johnny and she swore he was almost salivating. She ignored the more murderous looks the girls were giving her, pretending to concentrate on her shot. When she couldn't sway her hips anymore without bordering on the ridiculous, she rolled the ball and knocked down all the pins. She turned around gleefully, and Johnny wrapped his arm around her waist.
'Hey, Paulette whose side are you on?' Sharon asked irritably.
'Our side!'
'Then don't fraternise with the enemy,' Rhonda said grabbing her arm and pulling her away from Johnny.
Paulette rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath. Sharon was sat beside Louis, Rhonda was with Goose, what was the big deal if she spent a bit of time with Johnny? Then she caught Stephanie's eye and felt a little ashamed. She guessed they were being a bit insensitive flirting in front of her, even if Steph had decided to finish with him.
~~~
By the time the game had finished Paulette was almost certain she had Johnny captivated. Every time she'd taken a shot he'd been watching, occasionally coming over and putting his arms around her, pretending to offer her tips. Despite her best intentions, she'd forgotten all about Stephanie as she lapped up his attention.
'That was another well-deserved victory,' Davey said as they were handing their bowling shoes in.
Johnny nodded, looking smug. 'So where's the trophy?' He caught Paulette's eye, the challenge clear.
'Right here, Johnny,' she said in her best breathy Marilyn voice. In an instant she was in his arms, her mouth meeting his as she gave him the kiss of her life. She heard Rhonda gasp behind her, and she closed her eyes, not wanting to think of the audience watching them. She'd imagined their first kiss would be more of a private affair.
'That was for best average,' Johnny said as they broke apart, and she smiled. 'Now what about a kiss for best score?' His hand reached out for Stephanie, who snatched her arm away angrily.
Paulette was rooted to the spot between the pair of them, too stunned to move. He just kissed me! She could feel her face heating up as she fought back tears, her humiliation plain to see.
Sharon and Rhonda looked from her to Johnny, to Steph, their faces appalled.
'What about a trophy for best score Steph?' Goose jeered as if the whole thing were a joke and Paulette was not stood trembling.
'I ain't no one's trophy,' Stephanie snapped.
'She ain't no one's trophy,' Johnny said to his fellow T birds. 'So that's the way it's gonna be now Miss Independent?'
Steph glared at him. 'Yeah independent, I'll kiss who I want when I want. I'll kiss the next guy who walks through the door if I want.'
Johnny turned to the T birds and laughed. 'Be my guest!'
Stephanie strode forward and quickly intercepted the English exchange student who was walking through the door. Paulette watched Johnny's face fall as Steph kissed a startled Michael, and Rhonda began giggling. Good, it serves Johnny right. She caught his eye and he looked away, without so much as a hint of apology. Wow, doesn't he realise what he's just done to me?
~~~~
'God, I just knew it would end in tears,' Sharon said to Rhonda as they grabbed a table in the burger bar. Paulette had scooted off to the bathroom to fix her makeup, Stephanie trailing her.
'Johnny is such a pig!' Rhonda exclaimed. 'You heard him. He invited Paulette, and he's been flirting with her all night, and then he goes and makes a play for Stephanie.'
'He can't stand that Steph dumped...' Sharon broke off as the T birds walked through the door and headed towards them as if nothing was amiss. They pulled up chairs, Johnny loudly demanding service. Sharon rolled her eyes at Rhonda, and Louis shot her a warning look.
'They're busy Johnny,' Goose pointed out. 'It might be quicker to wait in the queue.' Johnny looked ready to snap but he stormed off instead.
'Someone's not happy,' Sharon remarked. 'Personally, I think-'
'Stay out of it,' Louis said interrupting and she glared at him.
'So you're all peed off on Johnny's behalf then?' Rhonda asked under her breath.
'Steph was outta line,' Goose snarled. 'She made a fool out of him in front of everyone.'
'She's not his girlfriend and she's definitely not yours so you should lighten up.' They stared at each other stony-faced.
'Well this is fun,' Louis said sidling over to Sharon. She pulled a face but he shuffled closer to her anyway.
'Come on, we're not gonna fall out over Johnny and Steph are we?'
'No, but don't tell me what to do,' she hissed, keeping her voice down. 'And don't shout me down.'
'Sorry,' he said leaning so close she could feel his breath on the back of her neck. 'How about I give you a ride home? We've barely seen each other all week.'
'I guess you could,' she said, ignoring the way he then smirked at her. 'But only because I don't want to hang out here much longer.'
~~~
Paulette gently wiped away her smudged mascara, before she applied a fresh coat. She then patted her face with powder and began to apply more blusher.
'Careful, you don't want to look like a tailor's dummy,' Steph said and she smiled back weakly.
'I guess you think I got what I deserved?'
'How so?'
'Well, Johnny kissed me, and in front of everyone, he rated me as average,' she said flushing with fury. 'He then asked you to compete for a higher score!'
'Johnny is a vile, sexist pig,' Steph said hotly. 'You shouldn't pander to his ego. He only asked me to kiss him cos he loves the idea of two girls fighting over him. It was just a stupid game.'
Paulette shook her head. 'There was a bit more to it than that and you know it. He wants you back.'
'No, he just can't stand that I dumped him,' Steph said unconvincingly. 'But whatever is going on with Johnny, you shouldn't get this upset over him.'
'That's easy for you to say,' Paulette said taking a deep breath. 'You don't like him whereas I love...I have feelings for him. Strong feelings. And I think he'd like me if you weren't around.'
'That's not my fault. I can't control Johnny and I never could,' Stephanie said sharply. 'And just cos we're not together now doesn't mean that I didn't use to care about him.'
'I know, and I know it must be weird for you seeing him with me.'
'I guess it is,' Steph admitted.
Paulette's heart sank when she didn't get the reassure she wanted. Of course, Steph was pissed that she was pursuing her ex-boyfriend, it was naive to think otherwise. 'We'd better join the others,' she said trying to smile. 'They'll think we've got lost.'
~~~
Sharon let Louis into her house, and directed him to the living room, closing the door behind them.
'We'll have to be quiet cos my mom's sleeping, although with the tablets she takes an earthquake probably couldn't wake her.' She laughed but it wasn't funny, her mom worked all hours and yet still took medication to help her sleep.
'Wasn't tonight embarrassing,' Louis said as they sat down.
'Totally! Johnny really should apologise to Paulette.' However, she imagined there'd be snow on the hills of hell before that happened.
'Paulette knows what he's like,' Louis said putting his arm around her as the credits began to roll on the TV. She rested her head against him as she tried to get comfortable, and Louis took the opportunity to kiss her.
'Louis,' she protested turning her head away.
'What,' he said, kissing her again. She momentarily kissed him back, telling herself to relax. However, when she felt his hand on the waistband of her jeans she pushed him away.
'Louis, I'm trying to watch the movie,' she said feeling flustered and sitting up straighter.
He raised his eyebrows. 'Are you sure?'
'Yes, and if you think I'm...' She broke off thinking surely he didn't think she'd do that, and with her mom sleeping upstairs?
'I'm not thinking anything,' he said shaking his head.
'Good because if you are, well, I won't.'
'Ok, but I wasn't thinking that,' he said, his arm still around her.
She sighed staring at the TV screen but no longer paying attention to the movie. She was almost certain he was lying and for once in her life, she was unsure what to do.
~~~
Thank you for reading, please consider voting. The prequel for this story 'Girl Code' is on my profile page.