Arnold asks, "You wanta come for a ride?" (Oates 697) Instead of saying no and closing the door Connie shows Arnold he has her attention: "Connie smirked and let her hair fall loose over on shoulder" (Oates 697). Connie seems to be trying to figure out how to take Arnold: "She couldn't decide if she liked him or if he was just a jerk, and so she dawdles in the doorway and wouldn't come down or go back inside" (Oates 697). She connects with Arnold with a common interest, when they are talking about music that Ellie is playing on his radio: ""Bobby King?" she said. "I listen to him all the time. I think he's great," Connie said reluctantly. Connie blushed a little" (Oates 697) and another time she connects with him is when she sees how he is dressed: "Connie liked the way he was dressed, which was the way all of them dressed" (Oates 698). .
Connie becomes terrified of Arnold: "She [Connie] said suddenly" "Hey, how old are you?"" By Arnold's reaction, Connie realizes that he is much older than she is and she begins to experience fear: "His smile faded. She could see then that he wasn't a kid, he was much older-thirty, maybe more. At this knowledge her heart began to pound faster" (Oates 700). Connie feels Arnold is much too old for her and she tells him to leave: Connie says, "You two better leave" (Oates 700). Arnold become more demanding and aggressive: ""Connie, don't fool around with me. I mean, I mean, don't fool around," he said, shaking his head" (Oates 700). Now Connie is even more scared: "Connie stared at him, another wave of dizziness and fear rising in her so that for a moment he wasn't even in focus but was just a blur" (Oates 701). Connie continues to try to get him to leave. She tells Arnold that her father may come and see him there. His responds to her comment and shows he is not going any where without her: "He ain't coming. He's at the barbecue" (Oates 701).
