Fold (Dallypop)

Chapter Three: Odd

(Ponyboy's POV)

I waved goodbye to Soda as Darry drove him and Steve to work.

"Bye Soda!!!" I yelled, while waving.

Soda didn't say anything back. (Rude.) I sighed and walked back inside. Dallas was now sitting on the couch watching the Mickey Mouse cartoon that Two-bit put on TV. I smiled slightly.

"Hey, Pone. Wanna go see a movie later?" Johnny asked quietly.

"Uh- yeah, sure. What movie?"

"Don't know, whatever's playing when we get there." He shrugged.

"Oh..."

I wasn't busy today so I figured taking time to watch a movie wouldn't kill me.

"Hey Dally, wanna go with us?" Johnny asked Dallas this time.

"Wha? Huh... What're ya talkin' about?"

Dallas was looking out the window and he whipped his head around. Was he watching Darry, Steve, and Soda leave? And why so promptly?

"Movie. Watching. Drive-in." I summed up.

"Yeah, cool. Sure, man."

We had to occupy ourselves for the next few hours. Two-bit stared at the television the entire time, Johnny, Dallas, and I played poker.

To make this short Johnny and I ended up owing Dally a hundred bucks after a couple rounds of poker. But it made the day move quicker.

Johnny, Dally and I left Two-bit at the house by himself since he passed out cold on the couch. (The alcohol got to him, finally.) But before we went to the drive-in we stopped at the Dingo. Our waitress was really nice, her name was Libby.

"This way to your table boys." She said softly.

Libby looked pretty young. She was probably somewhere around Dallas' age, maybe older. I had to credit her acting though, Libby seemed to not care we were greasers. Or maybe she really didn't.

She sat us down at a booth in the middle of the diner. I sat across from Dally and Johnny, Johnny was on the outside and Dallas took the inside.

Libby threw down a couple menus and pulled out a notepad and pen.

"Can I get you three started with something to drink?" She asked calmly.

Dallas smirked slightly. I could see him take glances at Libby, if Darry was here he'd get beat.

"How 'bout a lil' glass of you, honey." Dallas grinned.

He put his elbows on the table and leaned on his hands. I swear he winked too. I could see Johnny go stiff, Libby stepped back a bit, and even I froze. We all had a baffled look on our faces, except Dally, he acted like he didn't make anything weird.

"A coke." Johnny whispered.

"Yeah, coke." I added.

Libby walked off and Dally scoffed. Johnny and I looked at each other for a second.

"What was that, man?" Johnny asked.

Dally ignored Johnny for the first time in eternity. And Johnny slumped down into the booth, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jean jacket. I noticed Dallas had his eyes closed as his head leaned against the wall.

He was acting weird, but I didn't dare say anything. I knew better than to piss him off, Johnny did too. In fact, most that knew him didn't want to piss Dallas off, he could be scary when he's mad.

Libby came back with our drinks, only mine a Johnny's since Dallas didn't order. (Or she really didn't like Dally, I couldn't blame her.) She threw a lot of straws on the table, way more than we needed but she walked off before we could tell her.

Johnny got creative and blew a straw wrapper at me. I smiled weakly, and I did the same back. Dally, (whenever he decided to live again,) blew one at me and threw the straw with it. The straw hit just below my eye and I blinked a few times. What was his problem?

"Dally, what's the issue? You're actin' like a jerk." I blurted out without really thinking.

Dallas stood up and leaned across the table. He was pretty close to my face but I kept my ground not wanting to embarrass myself in front of the people in the Dingo.

"My problem? My problem, Ponyboy!? I don't have a problem so can it, you little shit!"

The Dingo went silent and people were staring at us. I wanted to hide under the table and never get up again. Johnny looked down immediately and started fidgeting with his sleeves.

"You boys need to leave, ya hear?" An older man, prolly someone important, stated.

Johnny and I couldn't wait to get out of there. We scurried to the door but we heard a big crash from behind us. I turned around slowly as Johnny flinched.

Dallas had thrown everything off the table. Our cola's, the spice shakers, the menus, the silverware. Now the floor was a sticky and dangerous mess with glass shards and cola everywhere.

"Alright tough guy, I won't hesitate to call the cops." The same older guy from before threatened.

Seriously!? This was the day he chose to act out. The older guy, who I'm pretty sure was the guy in charge, get right up close to Dally. Apparently, he wasn't intimidated by teenage criminals.

"I'll say this one last time, boy. You need to leave."

"Dally, c'mon man... let's jus' go." Johnny said quietly.

Dallas glared at the old guy until we were out of the Dingo entirely. We started walking to who knows where, hopefully the Nightly Double. It was getting dark and the sun was setting.

The walk to the drive-in was quiet. There was an awkward silence that made the air feel thick. Johnny tried to start a conversation (Surprisingly,) but it was no use. The silence grew loud, too loud.

We kept along our path until Dally decided he wasn't going to the Double anymore. He turned around and started going the other direction, leaving Johnny and I in the middle of nowhere at night. Neither of us had any idea of where he was going, we just hoped he'd keep himself out of trouble. (Yeah, right.)

Johnny and I eventually made it to the drive-in, we went through the secret entrance that all the greasers used. It was only a hole in the fence that was around the Double, but it meant we didn't have to pay to see a film.

We hopped over the bar separating the seating from the parking area. Johnny spotted some pretty decent seats, they were close to the front but not too close. We sat down, there were some girls in front of us.

I recognized the red-headed girl. Cherry Valance, she was a cheerleader at my school, and a Soc. The other girl I didn't know, I didn't waste much time trying to figure it out anyway. I was here to see a movie with my buddy.

But then I remembered Dally. Wherever he was, the worst that could happen to him was getting thrown in the cooler... again.