* BROKEN / CROWN!

carrie:

      An upraised palm was curled around the steering wheel; fingers rhythmically tapped as Steve staved off a surge of reluctance to stick around. He looked around the darkness of the quietly empty street. Halos of light were being cast from the bungalow’s front porch, along with flickering lamps. It was late but the night had only begun really. Steve shifted in his seat, contemplating the choices that lead up to him spending his Friday parked outside the curb not too far from the White’s house, waiting to pick up Carrie herself. His thought process always looped back to the same conclusion --- he had no way of backing out. Not if he wanted Tommy to not rub it in his face when he went back to school on Monday.

      A few minutes passed. His eyes trailed along the house’s walls as Steve kept a lingering look out; that was when he FINALLY managed to catch a glimpse of the outline of a figure moving in the darkness. Steve craned his neck more, and sure enough, watched as the same mousy girl he drove all the way out here for dropped down onto the lawn below. From this far, Steve could see the outfit the teenaged girl was wearing, but he couldn’t make out any details. The shadows muted hues, but he still squinted. To his SURPRISE, she didn’t look to be wearing her usual frumpy, unflattering clothes.

       That got him wondering: what the hell did a girl like Carrie White wear out on an actual date? The only get-ups he had ever seen her in seemed more suitable to be worn by somebody’s ancient, overindulgent grandma. She did NOT dress for her age.

          Oh, man, he just really couldn’t believe this was happening. If Steve wasn’t actually disappointed, he would probably have found her climbing down the drainpipe to be kind of impressive on her part. But all he could think about was how he would much he rather be doing absolutely anything else than spending his free time like this.

       Rather than call out her name, Steve straightened his posture and whistled. The quick noise released into the nighttime air should be ignored by anyone else, except the one it was intended for. Hey, Steve was a pro at sneaking around. Totally experienced in the art of staying hidden under the radar of disapproving parents; that way he could have some fun with their daughters. Steve waited a few seconds. Assuming she likely had heard him and was figuring out what it meant, he MOTIONED her over to his car with a wave of hand. He started rolling the window on the driver’s side all the way back up. Let’s get this over with. The low music playing throughout the enclosed interior of the sedan rose in volume as he began to crank it up again. Choral notes recognizable as Meat Loaf’s could be heard more clearly filtering through the speaker system: By the light of the moon you know there's not another moment, not another moment, not another moment to waste ---

carrie:

      He gets closer and Carrie’s eye grow wider. She’s frozen in abject terror, clutching her bag up to her chest and her feet are getting ready to carry her out of the doors of the school as fast as she is able. He didn’t understand. Momma WOULD be hurt. Momma WOULD be angry. And Carrie would be in the most infinitesimal amounts of trouble if Margaret were to find out that her daughter was out. That’s not even factoring in WHO she’d be out with. Every cell in her body is telling her this is a BAD idea. But it’s his next statement that he makes that catches her off guard and stops her from making her desirable exit.

                       YOU DON’T THINK WE’D HAVE FUN TOGETHER?

          ❛   You … ❜   Carrietta’s brow steeples, tenting in doubt. Still, she’s intrigued. Why was he trying so hard? Was it entirely possible that … Steve was being genuine? Steadily, the fear and skepticism she feels so deeply inside begins to ebb. Not entirely. But … a little. He’s breaking her down. Slowly, sure. But it’s working. Her eyes still hold a sense of fear but there’s something else there, glimmering just under the surface. Hope. A small sliver of an inkling of it. Her posture slackens, tenseness falling from her shoulders and she hazards a peek up at Steve with her wide doe eyes.

          ❛   You really think you’d– …. WE’D … have fun? ❜  

          To say she trusts him would be an assumptive and silly idea. But … to say that she WANTS to believe and trust him? Well, that’s all too accurate. This is the dream, isn’t it? This is what NORMAL girls her age do, right? Dates. Sneaking out with cute boys. They’re all aspects of something that she has desperately wanted for so very long. And, for once, it is all within arms reach. It’s all RIGHT THERE in front of her!

           A thick swallow follows and she peers down at her feet. If one looks close enough, you can see the edgings of a small smile curling at her thin lips. She’s made a decision.  ❛   Okay, ❜   the White girl murmurs with an insistent nod. One hand frees itself to push some messy blonde hair behind an ear. Pink dusts her cheeks in a flush. She can’t believe she’s agreeing to this!

               ❛   Do … Do you need my address or… or anything? ❜  

       She was moving, locker door falling shut, concealing the personalized interior from his view. He wouldn’t have been surprised to see her inching further away or even hightailing it toward the exit --- but she DIDN’T. Carrie surprised Steve by staying put, and for all his hard work he even earned a quick, upward glance cast from those big blue eyes of hers. His immediate response was to smoothly reassure, " Yeah. ” Steve's sole salvation was the subtle blush tinting her cheeks, her mannerisms shy but any EARLIER trace of hesitancy dissolved. Steve decided to say something else that would make even more of an impact, managing in a suave voice, “ Why else do you think I’m asking you out? ”

      He didn’t give her a chance to answer that; any shield she had up before was lowered, and he swooped in to take advantage, regaining momentum and cool, “ Well, then, it’s settled. ” Steve’s expression lightened, and since the popular playboy exterior allowed it, her acquiescence was registered. Hey, he was pleased! For a second there he thought she actually might not want anything to do with him. But then he decided not to ponder that tidbit further, and Steve casually told Carrie, “ No, I know it... ” Such knowledge was easy enough to grasp when a house like hers was practically INFAMOUS; still, in the midst of their conversation, he was slowly withdrawing. Steve was attractive, he knew, and had tons of charm to pull from his arsenal; but he stepped away, drawing their interaction out with enviable ease. “ Just be READY when I get there. I’ll be around, say, 8:00? ”

       Carrie had taken him up on his offer, and when he left her there to mull over their exchange, he turned around the corner and proceeded down the hallway, only to be confronted by the likes of Tommy himself shortly thereafter: “Oh, shit. You actually did it! ” was the exclamation to be blurted out amidst hysterical hyena-like chortles. Steve felt an almost UNUSUAL flash of irritation sweep over him at the other teenager’s amusement at his expense, but endured it for the time being. He was already in the process of mentally preparing himself for the night ahead of him. Steve was determined to see this through, if nothing else, so he could get Tommy off his back and to shut the hell up.

       Hours later, his car pulled up near but not quite the front of her house. The windows were rolled up, music that had been put on blast before lowered in volume. There was no sound, no motion, as the driver behind the wheel idled. Once parked, the street appeared mostly deserted, and he took a moment in the vehicle to reset his resolve.

             Steve NEVER thought he would be attempting to pull off something like this. Why the hell he allowed himself to be swindled into taking Carrie White out on a date on a perfectly good Friday night was beyond Steve --- but now it was too LATE to back out.