Whaddya know? The evening actually ended up being fun! Except for the occasional snap coming from either Davy or Anne, no one had a real fight (okay, so there were a few little arguments here and there. That’s pretty good, considering). Peter and June ended up going out after the gig too, while Micky took Anne back to the pad to play Spit for a little while.
Mike and Gwen’s date went well. He took her out to The Pink Fish, a seafood restaurant a block away from the Club Cassandra, and then they just hung out for bit downtown.
“I think I’m in love.” Gwen sighed after Mike dropped her off at the apartment.
“After one date?” June said skeptically.
“It’s possible, right Anne?”
“I think so.”
“Whatever you say.” June shrugged, but she felt pretty floaty from her own date with Peter.
“Guys, I think I’m in love.”
“Oh Peter.” Micky rolled his eyes. “We were expecting better of you-and now you’re going off and acting like Davy. Tsk-tsk.”
“Shut up, Mick.” Davy snapped, turning on the TV.
“What is your problem, Dave?” Mike asked as he came into the pad.
“Hey Mike! So how was your date?” Micky asked, putting the finishing touches on his house of cards.
“It was fantastic! More than fantastic! Groovy!” He gushed in an English accent, mocking Davy.
“That’s only ‘cuz she rid-“
“I’m not gonna let you ruin my good mood. I’m not, not, not, not, not…” He kept saying until he was all the way in his room.
Mike called Gwen up a few days later.
“Hey, you wanna do something?” He asked nervously.
“Well, there’s a Sidney Poitier movie on tonight, and-“
“Oh yeah. So you want to watch it. We can hang out some other time.” He sounded disappointed.
“What I was going to say is, would you like to come over and watch it with me?”
“Say no! Say no!” Anne shouted into the receiver as she walked by.
“Why?” Mike asked, confused.
“If you think hearing about how hot ‘Sidney’ is every five seconds sounds like a good time, be my guest. I, myself, am going to take sanctuary in the comforts of my own bedroom. Away from the TV.”
“Aw be quiet.” Gwen stuck her tongue out at Anne.
“Well, I’ll risk it. What time is it on?”
“Eight.”
“I’ll be over then.”
“’Kay. Bye.” She hung up. “Mike, Sidney. Mike, Sidney. Which one is cuter?”
“Mike.” Anne answered her friend at the same time June said “Sidney.”
“Ah well.”
Mike came over at eight o’clock sharp-with chocolate ice cream. They settled down on our floor to watch the movie-“A Patch of Blue,” it was called.
Gwen sighed when it was over. “That was great.” She looked over at her date, who was sniffling a bit. “You’re crying!” she pointed at him, completely astonished.
“I am not!” He pretended to be laughing. “What a corny ending! Sheesh.” She folded her arms and looked at him in a you-ain’t-fooling-me expression. “Who am I kidding?” He gave up and wiped his runny nose on his handkerchief. “I just felt-so-so bad for Selina. I’m glad she got away, ya know.”
“You cried at the movie! You cried at the movie!” She taunted, laughing.
“Oh go to hell.”
“Hee hee! I can’t wait to tell-“ But before she finished, Mike drew her into a tight embrace, and they kissed.
“I’m bored.” Anne sighed and slammed her book shut. She headed downstairs and walked into a scene she had not particularly wanted to see, but she managed to slip out without disturbing them. She knew June was at the pad, so she decided to head over and see if the guys knew of any good bookstores around, or music stores. She wanted the new Beatles record badly.
“Hey all!” She sang.
“Anne! Hi!” June waved her to the table, where she and Peter were drawing sketches of each other.
“You didn’t knock!” Peter said cheerfully, showing her his portrait of June.
“Er, that’s very…nice, Peter.” She said unconvincingly. “June” looked like one big smiley face with a blob of brown hair on the side. She peeked at June’s picture, and hers wasn’t much better. “Maybe you ought to stick to drawing trees.”
“Hey Anne.” Micky just came into the room.
“Hey. Do you know of any good bookstores or record shops around here?” She asked, taking a coke out of the fridge.
“You didn’t ask for that!” Peter said, once again cheerfully.
“Yeah! There’s Shelley’s Books and Groovy Music.” Micky answered, taking a sip of Anne’s coke when she wasn’t looking.
“Groovy Music? Club Cassandra? The Pink Fish? This town sure has lousy names for stores and stuff.”
“It’s the best the author can think of!” Peter called out, still as cheerful as ever.
“Huh?” June looked up.
“Never mind.”
“Anyway, could you tell me where these pathetic-attempts-for-names stores are?” Anne asked Micky again.
“I can do better. I’ll take you there. Mike wants Janis Joplin’s record, and I owe him after I broke his Bob Dylan one.”
“Alright. See you, June. Peter.”
“Bye!”
“Theodore?” Anne was shocked to see her ex-boyfriend by the Beatles section of the music store.
“I don’t go by Theodore anymore. It’s just Theo now.” He sniffed, without looking up.
“Okay, Theo, it’s me, Anne!”
“Anne?” He finally looked up and grimaced. “It is you. What are you doing here?”
“That’s just what I was gonna ask you.” Her initial shock wore off, and the old anger and resentment rushed back to her. What right does he have to be here, in my new town?
“I’m taking classes at Higgins University. You?”
“I moved here to get away from losers like you.”
“Ah! I’m flattered.”
“You would be. It doesn’t take much to flatter an egotistical maniac.”
“So now I’m an egotistical maniac? Last I heard I was a wash-out has-been loser doomed to failure.”
“Um, this is very pleasant and all, and I hate to interrupt, but Anne, who is this guy?” Micky broke in, confused.
“Who am I? Who are you, curly-top?” Theo snapped.
“I wouldn’t talk, Shirley Temple.”
“Wait a minute, man-don’t I know you from somewhere?” Theo asked Micky.
“Ey, Micky, what’s up, mate?” Davy appeared next to Theo. He looked at the angry looks on everybody’s faces. “What’s goin’ on?”
“I thought I knew you from somewhere. I’ve been over your place once, with Davy.” He ran his hand through his dark curls.
“Oh yeah, now I remember. Theo, right? Davy’s friend.”
“Ug. You would be pals with Davy.” Anne muttered, and then glanced at the person in question, who was still looking very much confused. “Theo’s my ex-boyfriend.” She explained reluctantly. His eyes widened as he looked from Theo to Anne to back to Theo.
“Aw man.” He moaned, shaking his head. “It’s just my luck.”
“Hey Gwen? Does this mean we’re ‘going out?’”
“Uh, no. It just means we’re having a purely sexual relationship.”
“Really?” Mike sounded disappointed.
“No! You’re sooo gullible!” Gwen laughed.
“Look! I see a flying saucer out the window!”
“Really?! Lemme see! Lemme see!”
“And you say I’m gullible.”
“Aw damn.”
Anne and Micky stormed out of Groovy Music without buying anything. Davy and Theo just weren’t in the mood anymore to go club hopping, so they got in Theo’s car and drove back to Davy’s place.
“So…how long’ve you known Anne?” Theo asked, avoiding his friend’s eyes.
“About a week now.” Davy shifted in his seat, not bothering to mention that he knew her a lot more than he let on.
“How did you guys meet?”
“Um, they live next door to the beach house.”
“They?”
“You know-Anne, Gwen and a, June.”
“Oh. Gwen.” His grouchy expression got even grouchier and he suddenly decided he needed a cigarette.
“What about Gwen?”
He remained silent, brooding.
“So you know all three? Jesus.”
“Yeah. We all went to high school together. Ah, those happy memories.” He said sarcastically as he pulled into the nearest convenience store with the screech of his tires.
“So tell me-is he always like that?” Micky joked, pulling into Anne’s driveway.
“Pretty much, yeah. Thanks for the ride.” She got out and slammed the door shut. “Gwen!” She yelled as she entered the apartment. She heard scurrying around upstairs and after a few minutes her friend appeared at the top of the stairway.
“Wh-at?” She whined, making an impatient gesture to her room.
“Tell Mike to leave! I gotta tell you what happened while I was out with Micky.”
“Okay, fine. Hold on a minute.” She headed back in her room, and Mike left a few minutes later.
“Hi Anne.” He greeted, blushing furiously. “Bye Anne.” He left as fast as he could.
“Okay, what happened, tell me tell me tell me!” Gwen bounded down the stairs.
“Guess who I ran into at the music store?”
“Um, I give up. Who?”
“Theodore.”
“No way!” Her eyes widened.
“Except he goes by Theo now-“
“Thank god. Theodore is a terrible name, though Theo isn’t much better-“
“-And he’s apparently friends with Davy.”
“Davy? You mean next door Davy?”
“How many Davys do we know, Gwen?”
“Good point.” She sat silent for a moment. “I hate Theodore, though! Why, why, whyyyyy?” She whined.
“How do you think I feel? I dated the guy.”
“Once again, why, why, whyyy?”
“He was hot, what can I say? Still is, in fact.” She shrugged.
“So does that mean he spends a lot of time at the guys’ house?”
“Well, Micky didn’t recognize him at first, so I’m assuming he doesn’t.”
“Good.”
“Just out of curiosity-why do you hate him so much?”
“He’s an asshole.” “Yeah, but so was Dmitri and Carl, and you didn’t hate them nearly as much.”
“Theodore was-is-a lot worse then them, though.”
“I guess.” She looked at Gwen strangely, and headed into the kitchen to get herself a what she thought was a well-deserved coke.