Pink is my new favorite color|| Cynthia Zdunowski

11

CW: SA

I was sitting at my vanity almost done getting ready for Dot's party when I heard a voice, "Going somewhere?" I froze. Mom. I had managed to avoid my parents all day until right before I was supposed to leave to meet the girls. I didn't have time to think up an elaborate and believable lie so I decided just to tell her the truth. "Dot's having a party tonight. I've never missed one of her parties and I feel horrible. I should never have let myself get sucked in with those other girls. I think I just missed Cynthia but, I now know what I did was wrong and I just want to make it up to my friends." Ok, maybe not the whole truth. I don't know what happened, the lie just sort of came out of me. She just stared at me and for a second I thought she could see right through my lie. "Well, I really shouldn't let you go, but you seem to have thought about what you did, so, you can go. Just don't tell your father." I nodded, mumbled a "thank you" and headed out the door and right next door to Dot's.

I waited for a few minutes before seeing the t-bird car pull up and we all went into the house together. We walked in and were immediately met with gasps and stares. We all were just staring at each other from opposite sides of the room until Cynthia spoke up, "What? Am I overdressed?" She joked. I let out a sharp laugh earning a smile from Cynthia and a glare from Susan. "What are they doing here? Dot, did you invite them?" Susan asked "We weren't invited. We're crashing." "Dot doesn't want a bunch of gang members messing up her house." "Hey, we're housebroken." Potato said, sending a smirk to Dot. "They can stay." She quickly said. She likes him. Cute. Maybe she'll leave the socs too and we can still be best friends.

She then went over her house rules and pulled me away from everyone, saying how happy she was that I was there. I've really missed Dot and wish so deeply that we could just go back to how we used to be without me actually going back there. After talking to Dot for a while she has to go check on something and I was all alone. I looked around the room for Jane, Olivia, Nancy, Cynthia, or even one of the t-birds, but found none of them.

"Hey." I turned around to see Neil, "I haven't seen you since that night at the drive in, really I haven't seen you since Dot's party on the first day of summer. Is everything ok." I'm sorry, is everything ok?

Dot's House

May 28, 1954

It was the first night of summer vacation, Dot was having a party to celebrate. It was wonderful, we played games, listened to music, just sat and talked. Every once In a while Neil and I would make eye contact from across the room. We had been friends since 8th grade but in the past couple of weeks something started to change, but neither of us did anything about it. Every once in a while he would try and talk to me but I would always get pulled away; first by Susan, then by Peg, then Pearl, then Rosemary. I was sitting on the couch talking to Dot when she heard a door slam and went to go yell at someone for it.

"Hey" I looked up and sure enough, there was Neil. "Hi" I smiled at him. "I finally got you alone" "probably not for long, with our luck" we were quiet for a moment until he said, "Hey, why don't we get out of here, we can go to the frosty palace or something?" "I would really like that actually." I replied and I got up to go say bye to Dot.

"Dot, I'm gonna head out I just wanted to say bye." As I said it I looked behind me and made eye contact with Neil as he was walking out the door. "Ella!" Dot looked at my with a knowing look. "We're not gonna do anything... that bad" and with that I rushed out the door and into Neil's car.

Now, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to do anything with him. In fact, all I could think about that night is how I wanted him to kiss me. But that's all I wanted. To have him take me home and kiss me before I walked into my house. I think I really liked him.