Sass

Chapter 7

My eyes grew heavier by the minute, and I had to slap myself in order to keep myself awake. Ponyboy might come home soon, I thought. He had to.

            I somehow managed to convince Darry to go to sleep, even though I knew he would be wide awake laying in his bed. I had volunteered to stay up in hopes that Pony would come home in a couple of hours, but this foreboding feeling of anxiety and terror hung over me. Soon enough, I concluded that I'd have to go looking for him.

            In order to keep staying conscious, I brewed myself a cup of coffee and chugged it, hoping the effects of the caffeine would kick in quickly.

            Before I knew it, the sun began to rise, and I decided it would be best to let the rest of the gang know about our situation and hopefully be able to find some answers.

            I was feeling reluctant to visit Steve Randle, as I never got along with him as well as I did with the rest of the gang, so I chose to go to his house first to get our meeting over with.

            With my stomach cramping from dehydration, I hobbled down the block and eventually made it to Steve's, banging on his door loudly without a care.

            I heard a man's voice yell, and was then greeted by a scowling Steve. "Sass, what the hell are you doing here so early?"

            "Pony's gone," I blurted out immediately.

            A confused look gleamed under his bleary eyes. "What do you mean he's gone?"

            "I mean he's gone, idiot!" I replied, exacerbated. "He ran away."

            "Well, what am I supposed to do about it?" This made me absolutely lose it.

            "He's your best friend's little brother- you should at least care, for Christ's sake!" I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and yanked him out the door, taking him by surprise. "If you don't get your fucking act together, I swear-"

            "Fine, fine!" he interrupted, straightening his shirt. "When was the last time you saw him?"

            "I was with him, Johnny, and Dal at the Nightly Double. I left them and when I got back, Darry said he hit him and he ran away..."

            "Well, he's probably with Johnny," Steve began. "And Johnny usually goes to the Lot when he needs some air... or, he might go wherever Dallas is."

            I attempted to put all of this information together at once. "So, I should-"

            "I'd say go to the Lot, and if they're not there, find Dally."

            Without thinking, I ran up to Steve and pulled him into an awkward hug, my excitement getting the best of me.

            "Thank you, Steve!" I exclaimed. I sounded so hopeful I barely recognized my own voice. "You're the best!"

            Leaving Steve with a quizzical look on his face, I darted away, headed for the Lot. It was entirely possible that Pony fell asleep there with Johnny, and I truly hoped they would be there and we could go home without having to see Dallas. If I thought that having him tease me all of those previous times was nightmarish, I was dead wrong. What happened at Buck's last night blew all of those incidents out of the water.

            As I approached the Lot, disappointment sunk in fast. It was completely desolate. Where are you, Ponyboy?

            I drew in a deep breath, and willed myself to go to Buck's. Although I didn't want to confront Dallas whatsoever, I truly hoped he had answers. Ponyboy's safety was far more important than my trivial, petty issues.

            With my brain running a mile a minute, I headed over to Buck's and eventually found myself at the door. Knocking a little less intensely than at Steve's, I was soon greeted by Buck.

            "Hey Sass, what can I do ya for?"

            "I need to talk," I swallowed. "To Dallas."

            Buck looked as if he was in deep thought, and then solemnly nodded; this made me extremely anxious.

            He led me inside, and I immediately spotted Dallas on the same couch from last night, taking a smoke. For some reason, he looked extremely sleep deprived.

            "Dal, can we talk?" I asked hesitantly. "Alone?"

            He sighed, getting up from his original spot. "If this is about last night-"

            "No," I swiftly interrupted. "It's about Ponyboy."

            A look of concern crossed his face. "What about Ponyboy?"

            "Can we take this upstairs?" I almost begged. "Please?"

            He sighed once more, and gestured for me to follow him. I trailed behind him as we went up the stairs, and eventually his room.

            As I shut the door, he said in a flirtatious tone, "You know, Sass, if you wanted me in bed so badly all you have to do is say so."

            "I'm being serious, Dal!" I fumed, my patience growing thin. "Ponyboy ran away last night and I figured he was with Johnny, so maybe you would know where he is."

             Dallas looked to the ground, looking as if he was attempting to tune me out.

             Realization hit me like a truck. "You know. You know where they are." I quickly moved in closer to him and firmly placed both hands on his shoulders. "Dal, you have to tell me."

            I expected him to make some kind of suggestive or sarcastic comment, but he remained silent.

            Knowing he wasn't going to budge, I asked, "Can you at least tell me that they're safe?"

            "Yeah," he said quietly. "They're safe."

            I had never seen Dallas like this before- it scared me.

            "One day," I began hesitantly, as I didn't want him to go silent on me again. "Could you take me to see them?"

            He seemed to think about it for a while, and then finally muttered, "I'll think about it."

            I couldn't stop the large smile from growing across my face, and I gave his arms a thankful squeeze. "Thank you, Dallas. I'll stop by tomorrow so we can talk about when you're going to take me!"

            "Wait, I never said-" Before he could finish his sentence, I ran out of his room and jogged down the stairs, more elated than I had ever been before. Perhaps it was the delirium, but in that moment, I felt unstoppable.

            I decided to stop by Jo's place to let her know all of the craziness that had just ensued. Her parents weren't home and of course, she forgot to lock the door.

            When I entered her house, I shouted for her a couple of times and received no response; I figured she had to have been in her room.

            Without warning, I barged into her bedroom and caught her making out with someone. This wasn't the first time I've walked in on her with a guy, but this time, she wasn't with a guy...

            Jo was kissing a girl.

hello, my lovely readers! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I just wanted to address and explain my take on this last event. I am a huge LGBTQ+ community ally, and I firmly believe in representation. unfortunately, LGBTQ+ community members were frowned upon and kept their sexuality a secret during this time period, but that does not mean they did not exist! please keep all of this in mind in the next chapters to come. thanks again!