Dalia's POV
I quickly turned around to face the person who said something to me. I was nervous to say anything since they sounded like they were born and raised in the country and I was born and raised in the city. I felt so out of place.
"Hello? What are you doing?" The guy asked.
He had honey blonde hair and he was next to someone who was a lot taller and looked a lot stronger than me. He was real intimidating.
"Uhh..." I mumbled.
"Are you dumb? Answer the question?" The honey blonde one said, getting up in my face. He looked skinnier. If he takes one step closer, he's gonna end up with a black eye.
I watched his feet and refused to make eye contact with any of them. He hesitantly took one more step and I snapped. I grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. I pushed him to the ground and rolled over.
"What's your deal?" I asked, trying to twist his arm back to the point of it almost breaking.
"Ok, ok, ok. I'm sorry. Please don't push any farther!" He yelled.
I let go and the other guy came and helped him up. He seemed shocked that I would dare touch him.
I rolled my eyes and brushed the dirt off of me. "You new to town?" The one with the muscles asked.
"Was it obvious?" I asked, sounding vulnerable.
"The way you fight and your voice gave it away." The honey blonde one said.
I sighed. "Do y'all know Dallas Winston?" I asked, bluntly.
"Who the hell are you?!" The honey blonde asked. He seemed angry, but I got a vibe that he wasn't the type to be an angry person. If anything, I'd think the one with muscles is the type to beat someone up over anything under the rainbow.
"You step one inch closer to me and you won't have an eye by the end of the night." I said walking up to him and shoving him back.
"Soda, knock it off." The older one said.
I rolled my eyes. "So you do know Dallas Winston?" I asked again.
They both sighed. "Let me do the talking." The older one said to the honey blonde. "Yes, we do. The name's Darrel Curtis. This is my brother, Sodapop Curtis. Dally's a good friend of ours. He just got out of the cooler a couple days ago."
The cooler? But Dally was in New York a few days ago...
"Our little brother and I got in a fight and he ran off. He met with our friend Johnny and they killed a Soc."
"A Soc? Is that some animal?"
I saw the honey blonde, or Sodapop, crack a small grin.
"Where are you from? Jersey? New York? Somewhere north." Sodapop asked.
"I'm assuming New York, since ya know Dal."
I nodded. "Yeah..." I muttered.
Darry continued with his story. "A Soc is a high class person down here. Someone with a lot of money. We're considered greasers cause we don't got much."
They killed a person! What does that have to do with Dally?
"But our brother, Ponyboy, and Johnny ran off. And we're pretty sure they ran for Dally for help since he's got the most experience with fights 'n stuff. Probably never murdered a guy, but out of all our friends, he'd be the one who would know how to get away with it. So we've been on edge with him since he's been denying that they went to him. But Ponyboy's 14. Johnny's a lost little puppy. They wouldn't have run off and found a place to stay on their own."
So everyone in this towns got some weird ass name?
"Ok. Let me clarify, you two are siblings and have a brother named Ponyboy who got mad at you for some reason and ran off with his buddy Johnny. They randomly killed some rich kid and ran to Dallas for help and now they're gone." I said trying to make sense of it all.
"Sorta. The Soc, Bob, started a fight with the two so it was self defense. His buddy Randy told us what happened. But Johnny got beat up a few months back. He's carried a blade on him ever since. So that's how he killed the kid. They were drowning Ponyboy. And the fountain behind you is where Johnny stabbed Bob."
I flinched knowing it really was blood. And from a murder of all things... I sighed trying to take it all in. "Alright. Where does Dallas stay?" I asked.
"Why do you care to find Dally so bad?" Sodapop asked.
"Just answer the question." I mumbled, crossing my arms.
"He stays at Bucks place most the time. They're rodeo partners. He stays in a room up there. But if you plan on going over there, I wouldn't. It's a nightclub and bar area that's pretty tough to get into. And it's dangerous. Especially at this time of night."
"Well if you ever wanna see your brother again, I gotta go over there."
"How do you think you're gonna get them to come home."
I sighed. I didn't want them knowing how I knew Dallas. "Just trust me." I said, trying to stick with the basics and not going on a whole monologue about Dallas and Dalton.
They looked at each other. "It's gonna be south from here." The older one said pointing. "You take Sutton down and you'll get there. Should be a 30 minute walk or so."
I sighed. "Alright. Thanks."
I started to walk off. "Wait! What's your name?" Sodapop called out.
"That's for me to know, and for you to find out." I said with a playful wink.
Once I was out of sight, I started running. I wanted to get there as quick as possible.
But this is it.
I might really be finding Dallas!
This is where he is!
This is how I can get him to come home so I don't have to live in that shitty hell hole by myself anymore!