Where The Boys Are

14.7K 355 233
                                    

The shortest distance between two people is a story.-Patti Digh

Dallas and I argued for ages after that, though I knew neither of us were really angry anymore. We were just arguing for the hell of it. Two-Bit was laughing the whole time, not believing that Dally was actually putting up with me. It wasn't until the sun had gone down that Darry finally interrupted us.

"Ya'll need to cool off." Darry pushed us apart, "Go see a movie or something.

Well, I wasn't really dying to see a movie at that point but Sodapop agreed so fast I didn't have any chance to say no. Plus, I think Darry was sick of us. 

"I think I'll skip this one." Dallas let the venom seep into his voice.

Still, when I looked over at him he had a playfulness in his eyes and I knew he was trying not to smile.

However, when Johnny spoke up I knew he was going to go along, "Aw Dal, come on. It ain't no fun without you."

The thing about Johnny is that nobody really ever could say no to him. He had such a bad home life that nobody could stand being mean to him. Most of the gang didn't have a great home life, but they didn't have it bad either. Johnny was the only one who had it bad. Both of his parents were drunks that were either beating the living hell out of each other or beating the living hell out of Johnny. 

"Well fine, kid. But I ain't gonna like it."

We snuck into the drive in theatre by shoving under a fence that had come loose. We were lucky that it was almost empty or I reckon we would have gotten caught since Two-Bit didn't have enough sense to shut his trap and sneak in quietly. At one point his jacket got caught and he started screaming his head off for us to not leave him behind. The movie hadn't started when we first got there so we were talking an awful lot before.

"so, why did you come to Tulsa? It ain't like there's anything to do here." Sodapop handed me a coke he had snatched from the concessions while Two-Bit was distracting the worker.

I shrugged, "Needed a change in scenery, I suppose." I didn't feel like explaining my whole life story to them that night.

I swear I saw Dallas smile that night when I said that.

"So you just got up and left? Just like that? How'd you know you were going to find Mark?" Ponyboy lit a cigarette, despite Sodapop telling him to put it out.

"I didn't." I hated to admit that I hadn't had a plan, "I just figured I would find him."

Sodapop laughed, "You're so much like him I can hardly stand it."

"Dally here lived in New York before he came here. I guess you and him are pretty similar too." Johnny giggled. 

"Shut up, kid." Dallas growled at Johnny.

His teeth peeked out from behind his lips and betrayed his poker face of being angry. I hadn't been able to place Dallas's accent up until that point.

"Incoming at 12 o'clock." Ponyboy muttered under his breath looking ahead of him.

A group of guys started walking towards us, dressed in madras. The one boy with light curly hair was holding a flask in his left hand and by the way he was walking, he had taken a couple drinks out of it. I noticed the way the gang moved as they started approaching us. Johnny started shaking like a leaf, even though he was trying to hide it and Sodapop took a step in front of Ponyboy. I figured then that I was going to step in.

"I got this one." I whispered under my breath as I passed Dallas.

Sodapop started to reach out for my arm and stop me but Dallas yanked him back. I had dealt with a lot of things in life and a couple of rich kids didn't scare me.

"Hey, princess." The curly hair boy slurred at me when I walked up to him.

I gave him a fake smile, "Hi. What's your name?"

Him and his buddies titled their heads at me, "Well, I'm Bob. Over there is Randy and the others Mike. Who might you be?"

"Nobody important." I whispered, cloyingly sweet. "You want to buy me a coke?"

Bob gave me what seemed like a genuine smile, "Well, I'd be a fool not to."

He wrapped his arm around my waist and waited in line with me. I felt like throwing his arm off, but I could handle it if it meant I was saving the gang from trouble. It wasn't until a fiery red head came stomping over that I started questioning what I was doing.

"So Bob, is this how it's going to be now? You get drunk and run off with other girls?" She had hair so red I wondered if she dyed it.

"Aw baby, that's not what's happening." His eyes pleaded with me silently, "Go on, tell her."

I pulled out the first lie I could think of, "I'm new in town and I was just asking how to get to the DX. I ain't mean to be a bother."

I knew she didn't believe me the second the words came out of my mouth so I figured that was a good time for me to duck out. Plus, Two-Bit was waving for me to come back. I had only meant to distract Bob long enough to keep any trouble from brewing and I had done that.

"I'll just be on my way." I gave Bob a kiss on the cheek, "Thank you for all the help."

I walked quickly behind the concession stand and made my way back to the gang who looked mighty impressed with me.

"You just played that boy like a fiddle." Two-Bit laughed, slapping me on the shoulder. 

I didn't know what it meant but I liked it.

Dallas was the one who was eyeing me up, curiously. I couldn't tell you how I knew it but his opinion of me had changed since he first met me. I didn't know if it was for better or for worse, but it happened either way.

***

Authors Note

I find it very important to not dehumanize the soc's which is what I see a lot of stories doing. So, I'm going to try to not just make them seem like evil monsters. They are people afterall.

Lose Your Mind-A Dallas Winston FanfictionWhere stories live. Discover now