The Greasers came awake groggily that Sunday morning, a bit after 9AM. They were mostly scattered around in chairs and stools, or bunked down on the floor, like always, with the exception of Peanut and Binky, who had the little private room in back. The next project, not yet anywhere near completion, was to finish fixing up the upstairs rooms of the Blue Balls Bar for themselves. They had already gotten one room ready, for the return of Johnny and Lola from the Clinic, and that had spurred the idea of finishing off the rest. Some of the Greaser boys actually had homes in the New Coventry area, when one Parent or another could keep hold of a ratty apartment for a few months, but it was getting to the point that they were going to have to strike out for themselves as they became older, and that realization was sinking in a lot faster these days.
After about an hour of getting themselves together, they set off in a group to make the trek to the Vale, generally hostile territory for them. But being as it was Sunday morning, very few Townspeople would be out and about, and they were more likely to encounter the Tourists who had flooded into the Vale Valley this summer for the first time in decades, due to all the publicity and the Valley being opened up to the outside World. Still, it was safety in numbers as far as they had learned, even though their sworn nemesis, the Preps, were in total disarray these days.
As they were just passing under the Railroad Overpass into Bullworth Town, up ahead they saw Tony Calderone, with Karen walking by his side, and Ray Hughes trailing behind, munching on a bag of chips. Hailing Tony, Peanut went ahead to talk with him while Binky trailed behind.
“Hey Ton-o, what’cha know ?”, Peanut greeted him.
“Oh...Hey, Peanut”, Tony responded, “We’re just on our way to pick up Nick from the Clinic.”
“No lie ?”, Peanut said, “We’re on the way to get Johnny. Maybee we’s can go’s together, if’n you donts mind ?”
“Yeah, that’ll be fine”, Tony replied, “Cause on the way back, you all can pick up your Weapons with us from the Dragon’s Wing, it’ll save me a trip.”
Peanut agreed that would be a really good idea, as he was wanting to ask Tony just when they were getting them anyway. As they waited for the rest of the Greasers to catch up, Karen took a real good look at Binky. She was standing quietly, looking at Peanut interacting with Tony, with a quirky half-smile on her face. Karen could see they were about the same height, although Binky was wearing some high-heeled boots while Karen just had on her flat loafers, which meant Binky was definitely shorter than her. That pleased her somehow, for before the summer, she and Melody and Gloria had been the shortest girls on Campus.
But Binky was a mystery to Karen, who hadn’t really had time to socialize with any of the new girls before the Kidnapping. Since her return, Karen had spent little time in the Girl’s Dorm, other than to sleep and shower, being with Tony as much as she could. In the few encounters she had with Binky, it was always in the company of others, and Binky stayed mostly silent. But Karen didn’t think it had anything to do with shyness on Binky’s part, rather that she seemed to exude an aura of confidence and self-assurance.
Karen realized just then that she could do with a bit more confidence herself. She was still badly shaken by her degrading mistreatment at the hands (and other parts) of the Townies. But Melody had fared far worse, mentally, and Karen had taken it on herself to keep strong for the both of them. In doing so, she had denied her own mental needs for healing. She would have to come to terms with what had happened to her in a more real sort of way to fully heal. Here she was, walking about on a cracked heel, which still hurt, but more than that, there was a crack in her mind that needed mending. Sure, Tony could help, would help, greatly in that process. But more than that, Karen realized, she needed friends, Girl Friends. True, there was Mandy, whom she could talk to, and did, but she would be leaving Bullworth in a few months, her and Ted going off to the sunset of College. Her only other real friend was Melody, who had fared much worse from their ordeal, and had to bear the added burden of Nick being shot during her rescue. To help Melody heal, she would have to help herself heal first.
And then there was Tony. If his grand plan succeed and were to bring peace to the School, she would be the girl of possibly the most powerful boy on campus that Bullworth had ever seen. Much of that power depended on the support of others that Tony was now forging. She could aid him in that by developing a network of friends herself, which would benefit them both as they navigated the next couple of years. The older girls would move on soon, it was the new ones who would be the influences of tomorrow, just as Binky was doing now, working her silent magic on Peanut.
Right then, Karen resolved to get to know the new girls better.....Nina, Hannah, Jessica, Jimette, Paige, Amber, Joan, Claire, Misty....Maybe even the Reform School girls of Whitney, Carla, and Hayley too, if possible, but probably not Vanessa....She couldn’t ever see herself being friends with a Prep girl, not after Pinky.
But first, there was Binky, and right here was the perfect opportunity to start. As the group moved on, towards their way to the Vale Clinic, Karen fell in step with Binky and began to make conversation.
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