Stay By Me

Chapter 3

It was very late by the time she haphazardly pulled into a gas station. The people working were probably around ready to close, but at that moment she had no care for herself or the people around her. It was a dangerous mindset to have, and she knew it, but she ignored it.

She ignored how crookedly she'd parked and staggered her way inside. There were two boys talking at the counter, and another browsing the isles, probably stealing something. They all looked to be roughly her age, in their late teens. She figured they were all probably friends, or the two at the register would care a lot more about the other boy casually slipping items into his denim jacket.

She didn't want to interact with them right then, so she avoided meeting the boy at the register's eyes as he smiled and greeted her.

She slowly walked through the isles, picking up any item that sparked any interest of hers. She knew that with her dad's wallet and the spare cash that she had more money than some families made in a month, so she didn't let anything stop her from getting what she wanted.

She dumped all of the packages of trashy food and sodas onto the counter, still avoiding eye contact with they boys talking there. But when the boy asked her a question, she figured she could at least act like a decent person, they hadn't wronged her.

"What was that again?" She slurred. "I'm sorry, I didn't really hear that the first time."

"Oh, that's okay! I was just asking bout' that car of yours."

"It's not really my car," she admitted.

"It's your daddy's isn't it?" The other boy at the counter asked. He didn't look as friendly, he had a scowl on his face that looked like it was there frequently.

"Yes, well no, not anymore," she snickered.

The other boy in the store strolled up to the counter, slipping a pack of cigarettes into his jacket.

"Let me pay for those," she said.

He turned to face her angrily. "Who the fuck do you think you are, with daddy's car and daddy's money? Listen here, sweetheart," he snarled. "I don't need your damn help, so get your fucking beak out of my business."

He was obviously expecting her to shrink back as he leaned forwards, but she was much too used to being yelled at.

Diana laughed. "Who the fuck do I think I am? Diana. Diana Drewitt, what about you?"

The boy smirked. "Dallas Winston."

She furrowed her brow, lost in thought for a moment, before her eyes lit up with recognition.

"Oh, I've heard of you! You, Sylvia, she's your girl? Or ex-girl? Or are you back together again? Anyways, we used to have an English class together, not that she was there most of the time, but she'd talk about you a lot, mostly in a "don't mess with me, I'm dating Dallas Winston," kind of way. Well, I use the term "dating" quite loosely, we all know she meant banging," she prattled on.

She heard the scowling boy at the counter snicker, and Dallas himself was back to scowling.

"Look here, missy, it would be good for you to get your fucking beak out of business that's not yours," he hissed.

"You've mentioned that twice," she said frowning. "I think my nose is a very reasonable size, it's not much of a beak. And I was the one who mentioned Sylvia, not my fault it hit a nerve. So that makes it my business."

He just scoffed and rolled his eyes in response.

"Oh, right!" She said, unable to keep her mouth shut now that she was on a roll. "The cigarettes! Just let me pay for them, it saves your friends here any trouble as to why so much shit went missing while they were on shift, and it's damn ironic if daddy's hard earned money ends up paying for a greaser's weeds!" She snickered, throwing a $20 onto the counter.

"I don't need your damn charity!" He growled again.

"Calm down, Winston, it ain't fucking charity, not unless you make it charity. No, it's damn comedy, that's what!"

She finally faced the boys at the counter and read their name tags while they narrowed their eyes, looking closer at her face.

"Steve and Sodapop, eh?" She said. "Who am I kidding, of course I've heard of y'all, but it's nice to put a face to a name."

"Hey, not to be rude or anything, but is your face okay?" Sodapop asked awkwardly.

She pretended to be offended and pressed a hand to her chest. "Now what kind of question is that, to ask a lady? The answer is no, it's not, but it's going to have to be," she said, with a wry grin.

"Do you mind me asking what happened?"

"Not at all! See, my dad, he's a fucking prick, he got mad I got kicked out of my gymnastics training, because I was "making bad choices," or something. So he fucking backhanded me, twice, so that's why I'm here, at whatever time it is. If I'm there tomorrow, it'll be worse," she said, in an off-puttingly enthusiastic voice.

She chuckled seeing all three of their uncomfortable faces. She gathered all of her items from Sodapop and headed towards the door.

"Don't waste time worrying about me," she said. "It'll all turn out for me."

All three greasers watched her leave, with some variation of curiosity to concern on their faces.

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