"I could fall in love with Dallas Winston. I hope I never see him again, or I will."

Cherry's POV

I climbed into the blue Mustang with Marcia. It was packed with boys and the smell of booze hit my nose head on. The must made the air humid and this made the experience worse. God, I hated it when Bob drank. He turned crazy, like a whole new person. I couldn't stand it. As we passed the greasers I had just been talking to, I looked at Ponyboy's expression. His mouth was dropped. I sighed. I should've never told him about my feelings for Dallas Winston.

Soon, we arrived home safely. I got out of the car and said goodbye to Bob. He was most likely going to get into more trouble tonight. I walked inside of my grand baby blue house and was greeted to the smell of dinner. Turkey, my favorite. I followed the sweet aroma to the kitchen where our cook, Lester, was preparing dinner.

"Hi, Lester," I greeted as I looked through the ice box.

"Hello, darling. Dinner will be ready in an hour or so." He continued to prepare the meal. Having nothing to do, I went upstairs to do my homework. It didn't take me long, I made good grades. I was the smartest in my classes. After I finished my homework, I decided to take a walk. The fresh air would do me well. I put on a coat and walked out into the cold outside air. I was walking mindlessly and didn't realize I was in greaser territory. A blue Mustang caught my eye.

Oh no, I thought. Bob and his buddies are up to some trouble. I followed the car and soon a park came into view. Bob and his friends got out and started terrorizing some boys. Those boys looked familiar...

They all started to run. I gasped and followed close behind. Randy was helping Bob dunk a boys head in the fountain. I saw dark, greasy hair and realized it was Ponyboy! I ran to the fallen one's aid. That one must be Johnny. He didn't seem to notice me and took out a switchblade. He ran up to Bob and before he could hurt him I screamed, "STOP!"

They all froze and looked at me. "What the hell are you doing Bob?" Bob smirked drunkenly at me.

"They were messin' with you, Cherry. Had to teach them a lesson." He hadn't let go of Ponyboy's head and I commanded him he release the boy. He did, into the water. All the Socs ran away to the car and drove off. I got Ponyboy's limp body from the water. He was unconscious. My father trained me in CPR, so I used what I learned. I began pushing on Ponyboy's chest and giving him air through the mouth. A moment later, he began coughing. I wrapped my coat around him and gestured for Johnny to come over.

"What were you going to do with that switchblade?" I asked him sternly.

"I-I-They were going to kill him! I was tryna protect my best friend..." Johnny shook with fear or cold or both. I smiled softly at him.

"Let's get you two home," I said and helped Ponyboy up. He was shaking uncontrollably.

"No! Don't take me home!" Ponyboy refused.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Just don't. Please." I looked into the boy's green-gray eyes. Fear was flooding them. I nodded and decided I would take them to my home. I was freezing too, but I wasn't going to snatch the jacket from Ponyboy. We walked along the sidewalk for a while, and I got lost. Johnny nor Ponyboy knew where we were. Suddenly, a hand on my shoulder startled me. I almost jumped outta my skin!

"The hell are you doing with these boys?" It was Dallas Winston. Ponyboy gave me a look and I looked sternly at Dallas.

"Bob and some other Socs were drownin' Pony. Cherry came to save us," Johnny explained. Dallas just huffed.

"You shouldn't be here this late. Hell, you shouldn't be here at all." He looked directly at me and started to grab Ponyboy from me but I grabbed him back.

"They're coming with me," I retorted.

"To Soc territory? I don't think so."

"C'mon Dal, it's for one night. We'll be okay," Johnny said. Dallas glared disapprovingly at Johnny for the second time that night. The first time when Johnny told Dallas to stop messing with me.

"Fine. Take this." Dallas handed me a switchblade. I froze and looked at it for a long time.

"I won't be needing it," I said.

"Yeah you will. Trust me." Dallas grabbed my hand and put the switchblade in it. It felt weird. I didn't like it. He didn't give me a chance to respond because he ran away. I sighed and we eventually found our way to my house. I grabbed a ladder from our shed and extended it to my bedroom window. Johnny and Ponyboy climbed it and I instructed them to stay put in my room until dinner was over.

I ran through the front door to be greeted by my family in the middle of saying grace.

"Sherri where have you been?" My mother asked, concerned.

"I took a walk and got lost. Sorry ma." I sat at the table. Everyone looked at me strangely for a minute, but continued with grace. After dinner, I ran up to my room to see Ponyboy and Johnny smoking.

"Hey!" I whispered harshly and took the sticks from their mouths and threw it out the window. "Where did you get those?"

"Your dad's room," Ponyboy said. I sighed.

"I told you to stay put. If my parent's caught you..."I didn't continue. I took some extra blankets from my closet and set them on the floor.

"You will be sleeping here. I'll lock the door so my parents won't see you two. Now go to sleep." I turned off the light and the boys proceeded to follow my orders. I lay tired on my bed and fell into a dreamless sleep.