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Part XII: 1988- End of Innocence
"Well, in case you haven't noticed, this town is built right next to a lake, so we're all lake kids."
Leo got to his feet, "Come on. It'll be fun. We don't even have to buy anything. I just want to...go somewhere."
-Leo
"Ugh. Fine, I guess you're lucky I don't hate you."
She shoved him before walking out of her room.
"You can check for Jimmy if you want."
"What, he never came home?" he looked around the landing, figuring the Fosters were at work. Or, at least, Mr. Foster was. Mrs. Foster was, presumably, out enjoying whatever niceties her husband's IBM post could afford.
"Naturally, you aren't worried," he started down the stairs, "That would be lame."
-Leo
"Okay, so on a scale from totally grody to super squirt, what do we think of this one?" Paula held up a bright purple miniskirt, "Pam."
"Huh?" Pamela looked away from the front window of the Gap, "Oh, yeah, it's really hot."
"Look, I get you're used to looking like a total dish in everything, but we aren't all so lucky," Paula sighed, "This isn't about that thing from last night, is it?"
Pamela repressed the memory of Sam holding her beneath him as she sobbed into his chest, "...what thing from last night?"
"You know...Janey."
"Who the hell is Janey?"
"First of all: language. If Jace were here, he'd totally keel over."
"Nobody told you to go out with a priest, Paula. But who's Janey?"
"The girl..." Paula immediately seemed to realize she'd made a mistake, "Wait, you don't know? Oh crap. Oh fuck. Oh Jesus."
"Now who's killing Jason?"
"Shut up! I am distressed. You can cuss when you're distressed."
"She's the girl that came to the pool house last night," Pamela realized, "The one who had beef with my brother."
"Girl..." Paula bit her lip, "Nope. Not saying anything."
"Too late."
"Can't we just buy some ra-ras and go to Dairy Queen? Why does everything have to be a thing?"
"Listen, if my brother's in trouble..."
"Oh, he will be..."
"Paula!" she grabbed the other girl's arm, twirling her around right in the middle of the Intimates section, "Dish. Now. Immediately."
Paula looked off into the distance, "I'm sorry, Pam. I made a promise."
"To who? The girl?"
"She seems very nice. I felt bad."
"Bad..." she trailed off, "Paula, are you saying Kirk did something to her?"
She thought of Sam dangling her off the balcony railing, the weightlessness, the terror that Sam's whims were the only thing keeping her from falling to her death. Sam was dangerous, he was sexy...sometimes he was even fun.
He was her brother's best friend. But her brother wasn't like Sam.
Wasn't he?
"Look, I'm sure you're gonna find out sooner than later," said Paula, "Until then, I'm not talking."
"That's a change," said Pamela automatically, though her mind had already left her friend behind.
***
"Friday the 13th, Part VII," Fitz read the sign above the Zenith Theater's entrance painstakingly, as if to go too fast would confuse the others, "Do you think I'll understand it if you haven't seen the first six?"
The ticket taker snorted obnoxiously from the window. Fitz lowered his head meekly, turning to Quinn and Jason, "Well, it's a fair question, you know!"
-Paula, Pamela, and Fitz
"All those movies are the same," Quinn dismissed the question. "Guy puts on a mask, catches some losers railing each other, and stabs 'em. Bim, bam, boom, nothing to it." Crossing his arms, he turned to their quiet friend, "How 'bout it, Jace?"
"Huh?" Jason looked up sharply, "Oh, sure, yeah...whatever you guys want to do."
"O-ho," Fitz rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, "Someone's woolgathering to the max."
"No!" Jason insisted, "I don't even know what that means. But I wasn't," but, apparently unable to keep his thoughts to himself, he added, "Do you guys remember that girl that showed up last night? Brown hair, kinda tall..."
"Hm?" Fitz paused as if panicking, "Oh. Yes. Of course. She was...smoking."
***
Jimmy slowed his bike down a little way down from the St. Mary's campus, spotting a familiar figure standing listlessly outside the orphanage.
"I'm sure there's a real compelling backstory to this," he came to a full stop across from Audrey, or whoever she really was, "Care to share?" he lowered his aviators down the bridge of his nose.
-Jason, Fitz, and Jimmy
"Oh, you mean that 7? Pfft." Quinn dismissed the mere mention of the chick. "What about her? Don't tell me you've got a hard-on for her, eh, Jacey-boy?"
"No!" Jason blurted, "No. I wasn't even thinking...she's not even that hot. I meant..." he moistened his lips, "You guys don't know her, do you?"
"Are we supposed to?"
"It's just...Paula has this idea that she and Kirk have some...you know..." he moved his hands around in some convoluted gesture that could mean anything and nothing, "History."
-Jason and Fitz
"What, like an ex?" Quinn leaned forward, curious. "You don't think he's...cheating, do you? Because he's been trottin' Vicki around like she's the one. Hard to believe Kirk would go sleeping around."
"Well, that's what Paula thinks! And whatever that girl told her, it must've been convincing."
"Oh, I doubt it," said Fitz, "Girls are always lying," as if he were an immense authority on the subject, "That's why one's never been elected President!" he held up a hand to Quinn for a high-five.
-Jason and Fitz
Quinn reciprocated the high five without even having to look. "Fitz gets it. Women be shopping."
"Well..." Jason conceded, "That is what Paula's doing now. But, I mean...aren't we also shopping? For movies?"
Fitz looked as though he'd just been told he had months to live, "I never thought of that before."
-Jason and Fitz
"Cause it ain't worth thinking about!" Quinn snapped defensively. "What kinda sissy shit are you trying to pull? Is this soft guy act to get a girl? Maybe Paula?" He leaned in accusingly.
"Fine! I'm sorry I said anything!" Jason rolled his eyes, "But I just thought...you know, just in case there is some girl and Kirk is cheating..." he folded his arms, "Well, it would be pretty crap of him, wouldn't it?"
"Well, at least he had the manners to wait until Vicki was out of town," said Fitz, "It would've been ruder to do it if she were around."
-Jason and Fitz
Jamie held up the positive test, and said, "He wanted proof. He's got it."
"Well, holy shit," Jimmy blinked, "Well, now I feel shitty for offering you that smoke last night."
He looked around the road awkwardly, "Er...congratulations."
-Jimmy
"It's fine," Jamie said, "You going to offer a girl a ride?"
"That was my next step," Jimmy smirked, "But I'm not sure what the Surgeon General would say."
-Jimmy
"Well, he ain't here right now," Jamie tilted her head, "It's that or walking."
"Come on, then," he patted the spot behind him, "Any destination in mind, or are you cool tagging along?"
-Jimmy
"Tagging along sounds like fun," She smiled, "Still got your extra helmet?"
"Kirk ain't cheating," Quinn reiterated. "The lamest thing about him is he doesn't fool around with anybody. So get the thought outta your head, OK?"
"Always," he fetched it from under the seat, palming it over to her, "Never know when I'll find a damsel in distress at the side of the road, you know?"
***
"Okay, fine, whatever," Jason grumbled, "I'll drop it."
Fitz, who hated conflict, shifted from foot to foot, "Well, whatever it is, it probably isn't any of our business."
"Are you guys gonna buy tickets or not?" asked the clerk in a voice of raw despair.
-Jimmy, Jason, and Fitz
Jamie put it on, and climbed on behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist.
"Where to, Jimmy?"
"Would you laugh if I said 'the mall'?" he gunned the engine, starting them along, "There's a record place I hit up every once in a while. If we're lucky, we might just catch my sister."
-Jimmy
"Sounds like a plan."
It did feel nice, being on the back of a motorcycle like this.
"So, now that you've got your proof," Jimmy said as they went, "What're you gonna do about it? Go right up to Devlin and stuff the pee stick in his face?"
-Jimmy
"Probably," Jamie replied, "But I have to do it smart."
"Smart, yeah. Smart's always good," he turned off the country road. Spare woods began to give way to houses and small businesses.
"So, uh...if you don't mind me asking...what's 'smart', here?"
-Jimmy
Jamie shook her head, "I have no idea."