Grease

Chapter 24

It's Friday night and we're hanging out in the Ice Palace. We were supposed to be going bowling but Steph still hasn't made up with Johnny so she refused to go, which meant the rest of us girls couldn't go either.

"So does this mean that until they get back together we can't hang out with the guys?" I whisper to Rhonda whilst Stephanie's being distracted by Paulette.

Rhonda shrugs. "I dunno. They've never fallen out for this long before, it's all so awkward."

I can see it is for her since Goose is probably the nearest thing Johnny has to a best friend so she's caught in the middle. "So how's it going to work if you guys are all T bird chicks?" I ask tongue in cheek, and Steph looks up.

"What was that?" she demands and I can feel myself starting to blush.

"Oh I was just wondering about the pink lady code," I tell her thinking rapidly. "If you guys aren't talking to the T birds, that's all." I drift off as she gives me a hard look; just when I thought I was getting somewhere with her I go and put my foot in my mouth.

"Who cares about the code anyway," she says waving her hand to include the other girls.

Sharon clears her throat. "We can't really pick and chose Steph, rules are rules."

Steph scoffs but Paulette jumps to Sharon's defence. "She's right. Things might be difficult with you and Johnny but the T birds and the pink ladies go together. We're like one big gang."

Steph glowers at her. "Right so I should just take his dumb ass back?"

"No, I didn't mean that," Paulette says her voice rising. "But there's no reason why you can't be friends although maybe you shouldn't be our leader."

Steph gawps at her. "Are you kidding me?"

Paulette bites her lip. "I'm just saying that normally the leader of the pink ladies is the T birds' leader's girlfriend."

"That's not strictly true," Sharon says waving her cigarette holder in the air. "Danny Zuko dumped Rizzo remember? And she stayed pink lady leader."

"But they were dating to start with," Paulette says, and she starts to argue the point with Sharon.

Steph cuts her eyes at the pair of them. "They were boyfriend-girlfriend," she says slowly but before she can finish Johnny comes strutting through the door, the rest of the T birds following him. Rhonda excitedly waves to Goose and Sharon starts to smile causing Steph to glare at them both.

Johnny struts over to our table and he stops directly in front of Steph giving her a challenging stare.

"Something you want?" she asks tilting her head up.

Johnny swallows and then adjusts the collar on his jacket. "Ain't there something you wanna say to me?" he asks insolently.

"I don't think so," Steph replies shrugging her shoulders. "Girls, do any of you have something to say to Johnny?"

Rhonda looks at Sharon and they start to giggle while Paulette simpers as she tries to catch Johnny's eye. He pauses for a moment and I can tell he's been wrongfooted. I want to say something to break the tension but my mind has gone blank.

"I'll see you later," he finally says to Steph with as much swagger as he can muster. "Come on guys, let's sit over there, the company sucks around here." 

They walk off, Goose playfully elbowing Rhonda as he goes past, and she slaps him in return. "Steph you've gotta sort this out," she grumbles. "You're ruining my relationship."

"Rhonda's right," Sharon adds looking over at Louis. "You're making life difficult for everybody."

"So go join them," Steph snaps. Sharon rolls her eyes, and Rhonda looks at Steph with her bottom lip pushed out.