Sam wasn't quite sure how to respond. Darry and Ponyboy were just staring at her like she was crazy, like she didn't belong there. Well, Darry was staring at her like that, but Ponyboy just seemed to be shying away from her, like if he took one step closer she mite bite. At this moment; she kind of wanted too. Being stared at like that was unpleasant, unwelcoming, and just plain rude. She hated it with a passion and seriously considered making up an excuse to dash through the door. It wouldn't be too hard to get out of the house, what with the screen already being torn and all. She could just pretend to be a pencil or a dog even and slip through the holes of the metal like fabric. But, of course, she wouldn't just leave Soda like that. He was counting on her to make a good impression on the boys. It was a lot to ask of her when all she'd probably get in return was sex; mainly for his pleasure. Sounds like a fair trade, huh?
"You stayin' for dinner?" Darry broke the silence with a cough to clear his throat.
"Long as you don' mind," her reply came out quiet, like a whimper, "I wouldn't wanna be a burden." She looked over at Soda, studying his features. He was far more relaxed than you would expect. The well structured bones in his jaw lined perfectly with his smile and his greased back long hair made his ears visible; they were red. Red with embarrassment, more than likely. He hadn't thought this through very well. All he had told Sam was that she had to come in, meet 'em, then leave. He said nothing about dinner. What a small but important detail that was left out.
"I'll set the plates." The kid of the brothers dashed off into the kitchen without another word. Ponyboy. That was an odd name, but she liked it nonetheless. Once Soda had made a joke about the kid asking someone to be his Ponygirl; Sam got a kick out of that. She'd heard he was kind of not all there, in the daydreamer kind of way, but she had no idea he would run off on her like that. Maybe he didn't like her. That was possibly the case, or maybe he was just shy around girls. Most guys were; but a Greaser? It didn't quite fit.
Each had given a reply and Darry dragged Soda off onto the front porch, making sure to close the door behind him so she couldn't hear. A sick feeling grew in her stomach as she was able to hear her name mentioned on their way out. Certainly she'd never be invited over again if Darry had truly disliked her this much. Oh well. She rather liked the idea of never coming here again. The presence of the house was just unacceptable. Everything was old and nothing was new except the food, it was almost impossible for her to stay in such an environment like this. She didn't fit in at all, with her white tank top and short leather skirt. The boys were all wearing baggy shirts that buttoned up to the collar and ripped jeans that fit loosely on their legs. That may be their casual clothes, but sadly, she had a different idea of casual. All she ever wore was either clothes too tight or too big. Doesn't matter, she would never be invited over again anyway, so why not wear what she pleases?
Making her way into the small dinning room area she spun in a circle every few steps, admiring the wallpaper and decor around her. The walls were white that had turned dirty and kind of a badge color, not very attractive, even some of the cracks in the corners where the walls met had already turned brown. It was obvious that the boys knew how to clean, considering they had clean dishes, which were now neatly placed across the table, but they seemed to be lacking in the more feminine sense of cleaning; obviously. With one last spin she slipped on a loose tile and sprawled to the floor, forcing herself to fall on her knees in order to prevent injury to her butt. Smart idea, right? I mean, no one wants to walk around with a bruised butt for a couple of days, hurting your knees was so much easier, and a lot less humiliating to explain. Giving a grunt she slammed her fists against the ground muttering foul words.
"Whoa, are you alright?," Ponyboy came dashing in from a small pantry closet and knelt down beside her, offering out his hand, "I was just getting' some napkins and I heard a loud THUMP. What'd you do?"
She cracked a smile and took his hand. "Just some dancin'."
"You oughtta be more careful, uh..Sam, right?," He looked dumfounded, "These tiles'll gettcha when you least expect it." With a careful tug on her arm, he pulled her up and pulled a chair over for her to sit on.
"You're tellin' me this now? That one jumped out at me just a minute ago, I could've died."
Ponyboy laughed weakly and propped her leg up, dabbing at the now torn skin with a napkin. Her knee was sore, and she could barely move it, but by the way he handled her, she couldn't feel any pain besides the stinging she was getting from the dabbing. Hopefully the new flesh would form before she returned to work on Tuesday. She didn't exactly feel like wearing a band-aid to work, certainly not around the pigs she worked with. "Say, kid, you like me, dontcha?"
"Uh, well...I don't know you." He shrugged and threw the napkin away before walking into the other room.
Life had two kinds of people. The kind that you get a long with, and the kind you don't. Ponyboy was in the middle. He had helped her, then denied her his approval. What was she to think of this? There was no possible way that she could actually understand whether he liked her or not. She tried asking, but that failed, she'd simply have to win him over. The simple things like buying him presents, taking him places, blah blah blah. Stuff no one cares about. A creak sounded from the living room, then wood hit wood as the door closed; Darry and Sodapop appearing on the inside of the house. Sam dashed into the living room, kind of skipping it looked like, due to her now injured knee.
"Dancin'?" Soda grinned at her entrance and crossed his arms over his chest. That's when Sam noticed that Darry had his arm over the boy's shoulder, not an angry hold, but a pleasant one. Darry was smiling. Darry was smiling. It was the first time since the, what, ten minutes that they've known eachother. What a miracle; the talk possibly went well and Sodapop had convinced Darry about their relationship.
"Just a lil' bit."