Chapter Eleven: Questions

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That night, we drove until the sun came up. The drive was mostly silent, with a little conversation here and there. But when you grow up with someone, then practically spend all day everyday with them— what's there to talk about? The weather? It was fine, though, because our silence isn't awkward. It's peaceful. We spend so much of our time around the gang, and they're so rambunctious, it's like a breath of fresh air when we can just sit in silence together.

Right as the sun was starting to rise, we pulled up to the base of a mountain with a little church ontop and Dally stopped the car. 

He looked at me and smirked, "This is it, Jay Mountain. You excited to see em?" 

I gave him an excited nod, which only made his smile grow larger.

"Watcha waiting for? Let's go!" he said, already scrambling out of the car and slamming the door behind him. I quickly unbuckled and opened the door— to see Dally already racing up the mountain. 

"Hey, wait for me!" I yelled at him, but that only made him run faster. I sprinted after him, laughing.

When I finally reached the top, gasping for breath, Dally was leaning against the church casually.

"What took you so long, Doll?" He asked smugly. I playfully punched him in the shoulder, then made my way to the only window of the church that wasn't boarded up. I looked inside, where Ponyboy and Johnny were sleeping safe and sound. I let out a sigh of relief— they were okay. 

Dallas, who was hovering over my shoulder, whispered, "Look at his hair, man" and let out a chuckle. 

"It's not that bad," I said defensively— but Dally had already found an entrance and was walking into the decrepit building. I followed, just a few steps behind him. 

"Hey blondie, wake up!" Dally said in his thick New York accent. He was leaning over Pony, who was sleeping on a pew, ruffling his hair.

"Hey Dal! Hey Lexie! How y'all been?" Ponyboy asked excitedly.

"Well— everyone's been missing you two. But other than that, okay," I answered, drawing in the dirt with the toe of my shoe. 

You could see the excitement drain from Pony's face, he was probably thinking about how guilty Darry must feel. How lonely Soda must be. How worried I must've been.

Dally had already moved on to harassing Johnny, though, who was still asleep. 

"Hey Johnny! Wake up, man!" Dally said, kicking the base of the bench he was sleeping on. Johnny immediately jumped up. Wether that was out of fear or excitement— I don't know. 

"Hey Dallas! Hey Lex! How are y'all?" he greeted, a slight smile growing on his face.

"We're fine," I answered with a shrug.

Then, Pony and Johnny started to flood us with questions— now that their "hellos" were out of the way.

"How's Soda doin?

"Are the fuzz after us?"

"Is he upset?"

"Wait. One thing at a time," Dally said with a sigh, "Are you guys hungry? I'm starving, man."

"Me too, we were driving all night!" I added.

"You're starving? Try baloney for four days!" Johnny said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

Dally and I both laughed, as Pony nodded his head eagerly in agreement. He still won't eat baloney to this day. 

After asking Johnny for a cancer stick, Dally took out a folded piece of paper from the pocket of his jean jacket. "To Ponyboy" was written on the front, and I immediately recognized the handwriting as Soda's. 

"I got a special delivery for a... Ponyboy Curtis," he announced. Pony looked up in surprise, as Dally handed him the letter.

"Who's this from?" He asked, shocked.

"The president of the United States of America," Dallas replied sarcastically. I shook my head in disapproval and rolled my eyes. Pony did the same. 

"I'm serious, man!" Dally defended, then decided to drop it. "It's from your brother, Sodapop."

"How'd he know I was here?" He asked, eyeing me suspiciously. I would've been offended— but I can't blame him. Before this whole mess, I couldn't lie to save my life.

"It wasn't her, man. I told him I didn't know where you were, but he didn't believe me," Dally explained, "He really wanted me to give that to you, man."

Pony's eyes ran over the paper, as I wondered what Soda could've written that was so important. Whatever it was, it left Ponyboy with a smile on his face. 

"Hey Dal, what's going on with the cops, man? You hear anything?" Johnny asked worriedly.

"Yeah, how come you got hauled in?" Pony asked.

I laughed, "Y'all sound just like me a few days ago."

And Dally went on to explain the same thing he did to me a few days earlier, of course including the part about—

"Texas, man!"

"Look at this guy with his hair, man. Blondie, man," Dallas said, shaking his head in disbelief. He was having way too much fun bullying Pony about it. He smiled, then clicked his tongue. God, he was hot.

"How on Earth am I dating him?" I wondered to myself.

"I know I look lousy, but don't rub it in" Ponyboy said bitterly.

"Actually, I don't think it looks half bad," I said, giving him a reassuring smile. His eyes lit up and he smiled sheepishly.

"You guys wanna get something to eat?" Dally asked, interrupting our sibling-bonding moment.

"Hey, you better believe it! Let's get out of here," Johnny said, relieved to be back on the topic of food. Poor Johnny must've been starving. 

And we all walked out of the church— but little did we know—

It would all go up in flames.

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Author's Note: I know this wasn't the "super exciting" chapter I promised, but I feel like I had to include it because it clears up a lot of stuff. Don't worry, though, the next chapter won't be NEARLY as drawn out— so I can go ahead and get to the good stuff 😏 

Wether ✨the climax✨ will happen in chapter twelve or chapter thirteen... I still haven't decided. Either way, it'll definitely be up in the next week or so!

Hope you enjoy and stay gold 🌅

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