Chapter 15 - Jailbird

                                    

                                          


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Rosalie POV (Sal)
19th of October 1956.
Whereas before, I never would bother with reading tabloids—being in the newspaper business and wondering about Elvis, I ended up reading them these days. 
Sitting with the girls laughing at something they heard happened at our shared late school, my mind was elsewhere. All of today's newspapers and slandering tabloids blasted the headline of Elvis getting arrested. He had been in a fight at a gas station yesterday. He had already been to court today, and I found myself distraught from everything else but worrying about Elvis. 
My parents were out of town for the weekend—today being the day they left. Regina, Rachel, and Patty laid on the floor of my living room, with a bottle spinning in the center of them. Their elbows rested on one pillow each, all embroidered with pretty flowers by either my mom or grandmother. 
Empty cups of hot drinks to keep us warm were scattered around the room from several rounds of needed heat throughout the late evening. Needless to say, the blankets were many, and coziness cherished.
I had retrieved to the end of the burgundy-colored coach, toying distractingly with a few strands of my soft curls. A tiny pink decorative pillow took up my lap with my arms resting and budging the soft material. In the window behind me, street lights cast yellow light in the streets of Madison—turned on at five in the afternoon since mid-September. That I'd run around in my bathing suit just under two months ago seemed unlikely as the cold wind of October and red leaves turned the world into a warm golden treasure.
«I swear, guys, Benny wanted to do it in my car,» Regina said proudly, watching the sweet and doelike Rachel spin the bottle.
«Truth,» Regina boldly stated as it landed on herself. 
«Did you do it?» Rachel asked as quick as lightning, stupefied. «Tell me you didn't do it.» Her eyes widened in desperation as doing the deed out of wedlock was far from common. In other words, it was frowned upon. You heard of rumors, but they mostly were guys bragging with high voices that proudly fronted the three hairs that assembled their chin. 
«Ah, Rachel, not everyone is such a prude like you.» Regina said, rolling her eyes as she turned away to reach for a gumball in the sheer blue bowl next to her. 
Accompanying Rachel in her ogling of Regina, we all waited in anticipation for her confession or denial—capturing even distant me. In an agonizingly slow manner, she chewed her gum with the scent of nauseating sweetness, making up for any possible bad breath in a mile's distance. Grinning with those pretty green eyes of hers, matching her fierce red hair—she highly enjoyed the attention she was getting from the three pairs of eyes surrounding her.
As she blew a decent-sized bubble—it popped. 
«I sure as hell did!» She shouted, posing sensually for us and blowing a kiss to the flabbergasted Rachel—squeals coming from the rest of us.
«You are wild, Regina,» Patty exclaimed with a dramatic pause between each word as Regina laughed with pure confidence—as she did in everything she did. 
«Wh... What if you get pregnant?» Rachel stuttered.
«Relax, fun sponge,» Regina said, rolling her eyes, visibly tired of Rachel's constant nagging. 

◌ ◌ ◌
Hours later, their battering faded out of my consciousness, and another sound took over my mind—a repeating ringing sound, recognizable as only one thing—a phone call.