Jacqueline
I smiled at myself in my mirror as I spun around. It was a skimpy dress, which might caution my mother into making me throwing on a jacket or change entirely, but it was worth a shot. It was dark red and ended at my mid thighs. The straps were spaghetti styled, meaning it was a good idea to skip the dance. 'Cause I wouldn't have made it past the parking lot without a dress code. I heard the doorbell ring and I smiled wide racing down the steps to get to Dustin, my ticket and purse in hand. For once I made it to the door before any of my family members and opened up the door excitedly.
"Wow you look like a slut." Dustin teased and I giggled hitting him upside the head.
"Love you mom! I'm goin' with Dustin!" I called up the stairs,
"Love you too!" my mom called back and soon Dustin and I were on the road in his pick up truck to Texas.
"You excited?" Dustin asked me as he drove. I nodded smiling, humming the tune to 'You Made Me Love You' and he chuckled,
"I need to make a pit stop real quick alright?" Dustin asked with a smirk. He soon settled his hand on my upper thigh and I furrowed my eyebrows, but nodded nonetheless. Whatever he was probably just messin' with me. He turned to an empty parking lot and stopped the car. He unbuckled his seat belt and turned down the radio, I got an uneasy feeling in my stomach as he rubbed his hand up and down my thigh.
"We've known each other for a while now, right?" he asked and I nodded. I put my hand on his as a sign for him to stop. He just smirked, but did stop.
"And well I like you Jacqueline, that much is pretty obvious." my eyes nearly shot out of my head, and the pieces started to come together.
"This was your plan all along wasn't it?" I asked looking up at him. He furrowed his eyebrows, not knowing what I was talking about or playing dumb.
"Promise me an amazing fun night and then if I say no then you'll just leave me here right?" I questioned him. He sucked his teeth,
"Jacqueline you know me, is it such a crime to have a crush on you?" he asked and when I didn't say anything he took his chance. He leaned in to kiss me and I sighed grabbing my purse, putting a hand in front of my face.
"I-I'm sorry Dustin. I don't reciprocate these feelings for you and I can't spend the night with you knowing that...I'm sorry." I said, mumbling the last part and leaving his car. I felt bad, really bad. But I don't have to subject myself to loving him if I don't want to right? I walked down the sidewalk, the heels of my shoes being the only sound. I'm not sure if that was comforting or not, but I continued. Honestly I had no idea where I was going which scared me a bit, but I would be fine. I walked for a while, contemplating taking off my heels and walking barefoot when I saw a light coming from behind me, I turned and saw a group of teenagers sitting in a sleek black Cadillac blaring The Beatles.
"Just my luck." I muttered as they slowed down to go beside me.
"Where you goin' nigra?" one of the passengers asked with a mocking tone hinted in his voice.
"Nowhere." I mumbled, not even looking in their direction, the boy chuckled.
"You gotta be goin' somewhere, why don't we give ya a ride. You from Tulsa?" he questioned and I shook my head.
"California, here for a visit to my family." I lied.
"Just leave her alone Marcus, let's go." a girl whined. When I took a closer look it was no other than Diana Britt. I wondered why she didn't call me out on my fib, we had 3 classes together. Or maybe she'd just never noticed me.
"You sound pretty Southern to be from California don't ya think?" I sighed turning towards the 2 boys and 1 girl sitting in the expensive car.
"You should listen to your girl I don't want no trouble, just tryin' to get home." I said cautiously, scared of the reaction. 'Marcus' turned to his friends and back to me, they didn't seem too interested in jumping me.
"Fine." he spat and his friend drove away. I felt a boulder being lifted off of my shoulders as I continued walking towards home.
***
I still was completely and utterly lost, but knew one thing. I was on the white side of town. Which I wasn't exactly familiar with. I stumbled upon what looked like a mixture of a field meets junk yard meets abandoned park if that makes any sense. I sat down on a rickety bench and I couldn't help myself. Stray tears came down my face even if I willed them to leave. I felt like a total pussy, but I couldn't control them. I was in the white part of town and even if it was homecoming night it was near 3 in the morning, kids were probably drunk from parties and looking for trouble. Meaning I'd probably be bruised black and blue by the time I get home. Another reason why I was showing so much emotion in a public place was Dustin. I felt terrible, I should've saw the signs and hints, but I didn't like an idiot. Now I probably didn't have a single friend in Tulsa besides Susan and she might-
"Jacqueline?" The voice broke my thoughts in half. I wiped away my tears, recognizing the sound and glancing up to see Ponyboy standing in front of me.
"Uhm..." I muttered, quickly attempting to hide the fact that I was crying like a baby, but it was no use. I knew he saw me.
"Sorry I- what's wrong?" he asked looking down on me, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his blue jeans.
"It's nothin' don't worry, I'm sorry." I stammered sitting up straight and grabbing my purse to make a hasty escape.
"Well that ain't true doll, you gotta have a reason to cry." he said sitting down next to me and I sighed.
"I- I was supposed to go somewhere with a friend and somethin' happened so I left. We drove and I walked. Then I couldn't find my way home makin' me scared 'cause well...I'm in the white side of town. And then I'm worried 'bout what I'm gonna do with my friend 'cause he's probably mad at me or somethin' so I just haven't had the best night." I rambled, chuckling about the last part. Ponyboy nodded and listened intently, then stayed silent.
"Well...I could walk you home if you want, you're actually not too far." he offered and I shook my head.
"Oh no I couldn't subject you to that, it's already really late you can just give me directions." I said quickly.
"It's already late 15 minutes ain't gonna do nothin', plus people 'round here can get ideas, so I really should." he argued and I nodded standing.
***
"Thank you Ponyboy, so much you're a total life saver. Not just walkin' me home, thank you for comforting me as well." I said to the blond in front of me and he nodded with a smile.
"Of course, honestly I can't stand to see pretty girls cry." he told me and I blushed smiling. We said our goodbyes and soon enough I was being interrogated by my mother.
"What the hell are you doin' home at this time of night?!" she screamed at me and I kept my composure as I recounted the night to her, her face softening with each detail.
"Oh," she mumbled and I nodded.
"Yeah I'm sorry." I said and she shook her head,
"It's alright just...don't do that again Jesus Christ." she muttered shooing me away to my room. I nodded racing upstairs to avoid her changing her mind and punishing me. As I shut my door I thought about Ponyboy calling me pretty and I blushed. It didn't mean nothing, it was just nice to be complimented, right?
Ponyboy
I bit my lip as I opened up the front door. Darry has been more lenient on my curfew lately, but I knew it was way past it.
"Ponyboy where the hell have you been!" he shouted at me as I came through the door.
"I was helpin' a friend Darry it ain't a big deal." I told him as I shut the door. He rolled his eyes at me,
"Which friend was worth the risk of you bein' jumped then?" he kept on shouting.
"It don't matter." I mumbled as I glanced at Steve getting a real kick out of me getting yelled at.
"It must be a girl!" Steve cackled. I gave him a dirty look as he kept on laughing. Darry's demeanor changed from anger to curiosity when he heard the simple word 'girl'.
"What about a girl?" I watched Sodapop come downstairs from our room. Just great.
"It doesn't matter." I said again persistently, (it truly didn't) and Steve smirked.
"So you're sayin' it was a girl?" he asked like a cocky asshole. I didn't even bother denying it anymore and nodded finally,
"Yeah big deal?" I scoffed and Sodapop started asking me a bunch of questions that I truly didn't care about answerin'.
"What's her name?" he asked curiously as I walked upstairs to our room.
"Jacqueline Clark." I muttered.
"What she look like?" he asked, curiosity and excitement very prominent in his voice and I smiled a bit in spite of myself.
"She's got long dark hair and dark eyes." I said shrugging, still smiling.
"C'mon don't be vague man tell me 'bout your girlfriend." he pushed the questions and I shook my head chuckling as I sat on the bed.
"She ain't my girlfriend Soda it ain't a big deal." he rolled his eyes and flopped onto the desk chair.
"Fine but I'm gonna find out 'bout this girl one way or another Ponyboy." he teased and I laughed. Even if I was in a crappy mood from Darry and Steve, Sodapop can make anybody happy.