Thanks for all the messages! it's what keeps me writing as much as I can...
Next chapter you'll find out everything about Hazel and Dally and discover some of her secrets and lies. More to come, thx. byebye It's my third day and I'm already bored. Johnny and Ponyboy went out to a movie with Two-Bit, Darry's at work, Steve and Soda are at the DX, and I don't know, and don't want to know, where Dally is. The clock says its 4:39…hmm. Ooh, I got an idea.
SODA'S P.O.V.
Only ten more minutes, and there's still a huge crowd of girls hanging around here. Sometimes their not all that bad, but most days these girls are real annoying. Steve reckons I'm just acting like this cause I'm still hung up on Sandy, which I guess I sort of am, but after a while, having a bunch of giggling girls drenched in make up and sickly smelling perfume can get old.
Finally, they started drifting out, while Steve was still in the back, fixing up a nice looking mustang. Then, just as the last of the Barbies left, in she walked. Today she had on another thin strapped black shirt that showed a lot of skin, but she covered up nicely with a faded jean jacket that was a little too big on her. She had that same necklace on again and was wearing jeans that were cut off real short, into shorts. And she was…barefoot. Man, I swear, she's one strange girl.
She walked right up, and flashed me a big, crazy grin that I had to return. "So," she said, suddenly, "can I still take you up on that offer from the other day?" Honestly, I had no idea what she was talking about. And I think she knew it, cause she added, grinning even more, "you remember, about showing me around town when you got off of work?"
"Alright," I smiled. There was no one left in the shop, so I popped my head in the back. "Hey, Steve! I'm heading out with Hazel. Close up when you're done." He waved me away, and kept on working. I still don't get how he loves those cars so much.
We walked right out, and I turned to her, confused, "Why do you want a tour if you've already been everywhere?"
"What, nothing's changed since I've left?"
I thought for a second. Had anything changed? Hmm. "Nope, I'm pretty sure everything's just how it used to be." She looked disappointed. "Wanna catch a movie?" I asked kind of hoping she'd say yes.
"Nah," she sighed. Damn, I heard they were showing a good one tonight. "Let's go to the park."
The park? No one usually went around there anymore except lovers and little kids. But then again, we were little kids when she was here.
When we reached the park, the fountain was still going and it was almost all empty. There were a couple kids in the pool, with what I guessed their parents, watching them at one of the old picnic tables. She walked right over to the swings and sat down, motioning me to join her. I did.
We sat in a comfortable silence for a while. It was a real nice day. A cool breeze was blowing, ever so lightly, and made the leaves on the trees rustle around. The sun was just about ready to go down, making the sky an orange haze.
"Sodapop?" She asked softly.
"Yeah?"
She was looking down at her hands, rocking slowly back and fourth in the swing. She sighed, slowly. "What happened when I was gone? You know…with Ponyboy and Johnny and everything?"
She looked up at me, her usually cheerful baby blue eyes now coated in sorrow. I didn't exactly want to go over everything. It felt like a lifetime ago and none of us had really mentioned it at all in almost a year now. But she deserved to know what happened…I could tell she was worried. So I started at the beginning, with Ponyboy coming home late and Darry, then the socs and Johnny, and how Dally helped them run away. She didn't interrupt or say anything; just sat there with her big, sad eyes. Then I told her about the fire, how the kids were in there and Pony and Johnny went in to save them and how Dally followed and saved Johnny.
By the time I finished, she was practically in tears. I really hated to see her like that; all sad when she's usually so happy. I pulled her in for a long hug, and she quickly buried her face in my sleeve. I saw a salty tear fall from her eye before she hurriedly brushed it away. "Shh, it's alright Hazel. Don't cry, we're all fine and there's nothing to worry about anymore. Please don't cry, Hazel baby, everything's fine now…" I knew I was lying. Everything is never fine here. We all get along good now, even Ponyboy and Darry, and we're all alright, but that doesn't mean the socs have given up trying to jump us whenever they can. Everything's a little calmer after that one soc got killed, but it's not perfect. Money's still tight and Darry's still stressed and we're all still greasers, but damn it, I couldn't let Hazel cry. Hazel without happy, is like the sun with no light. It's almost impossible and puts you down in a heartbeat.
She sat up again a second later and looked me dead in the eye. Then she spoke in a small, sad voice, "Sodapop? How come all the bad things have to happen to such good people?"
She was just like a little kid again right there, asking why people had to die or why you lost your pet. And I was the parent. What are you supposed to say? There's not much you can say, really. You don't know why and that's that, but I can't just say that to her. She looked so sad and she was looking into my eyes so intensely, looking for an answer…that I didn't have. I sighed, and did my best, saying, "Hazel, I really don't know. Maybe bad things happen to good people because they can handle it better then bad people. But that's just something I don't know." She frowned and looked back down at her feet. I had to hold her. I had to make her happy again, let her know nothing bad is gonna happen anymore, that she's home, and we're all together. The gang's together again. I pulled her in for another hug, wrapping my arms around her waist, with my head on top of hers, buried into the depths of my shirt. "Look, Hazel, life's never fair. But we're gonna be alright. You're home…I won't let anything bad happen to you."
HAZEL'S P.O.V.
We sat there for awhile, him stroking my hair and me in his chest. I hadn't cried in front of anyone in such a long time. It felt strange and kind of nice, at the same time. To have someone hug you and comfort you. Someone who really does give a damn about you and cares what happens. It reminded me of when my dad used to hold me when I was little and scared of monsters, or got hurt playing with the boys. Of course, I never cried in front of the gang…except for maybe Ponyboy and Johnny.
I thought about what Sodapop said. I couldn't believe what had happened with Johnny and Ponyboy and the fire. I wish I could've been here and maybe I could've stopped something from happening. I thought about Dallas…he saved Johnny. 'Well, so much for Mr. Tough Guy,' I thought. But Dally's a good guy; I knew that. Everyone has to care about something. For Dallas, it's always been his reputation, and one given person. I guessed now it was Johnny. That made me smile a little. Johnny and Dallas…so different, yet so alike. Johnny's everyone's kid brother; you had to love him.
Time passed as I sat there in Soda's arms and neither of us spoke a word. Maybe it was a few minutes or possibly hours, or maybe a lifetime went by and neither of us noticed. But anyhow, we eventually broke apart. He silently stared at my face, searching them to their depths, and for what, I didn't know. So I stared back at him, studying his dancing eyes. They were a chocolate brown. Not a dark chocolate, though, a milky, creamy smooth, milk chocolate. Like hot cocoa on a rainy day. You know, like right before bedtime when you're a kid, but you're not tired, so you stay up late with your mom or dad or maybe a grandpa or grandma, and they make you a hot chocolate with the whipped cream and marshmallows in it, and tell you a story, rubbing your back and drifting you into an endless slumber of dreams of snowmen and icicles and fantasies only real to a kid in their dreams. My Dad used to do that with me. And then Mrs. Curtis did it, too, with all of the gang. Darry and Steve and even Two-Bit said they were too tough for it; hot chocolate was for kids. But I saw all of them sneak a sip whenever it was made. Soda's eyes were so comforting.
"Soda," I whispered.
"Hmm?"
I smiled, "you have your daddy's eyes." He chuckled lightly and tucked a strand of my honey hair behind my ear. I didn't see what was so funny. I loved those eyes.
"It's been a long time since someone's said that to me." He looked at me again, then shook his head slightly and stood up. "It's good to have you back Hazel babe…Now, c'mon, let's go to my house before Darry has a fit."
He pulled me up and we walked home, talking lightly, and laughing at old memories. The stars were out and the moon was just a little silver sliver tonight, shining down on everyone below. I always wondered what it would be like on the moon. For some reason, I always keep thinking it'd be a whole lot of monkeys walking on a cheese like surface.
When we walked in, Darry shot up right out of his chair and barked at Soda, "Where've you been? You got off work three hours ago and couldn't let us know where to find you?"
I spoke before he could answer. I'm usually good at calming people down when I want to. "Look, Darry, me and Soda just went to the park and walked around for awhile. We told Steve and everything, but you know how he can be…" He rolled his eyes in silent agreement. "We thought it'd be smart to come back not too late though, so you wouldn't worry too much. But," I smiled, "I guess eight is past Soda's bedtime, huh?"
Darry smiled a little and Soda gave me a playful shove. "There's food in the kitchen if you're hungry at all." Soda and I exchanged matching grins, and ran towards the food. For such a small girl, I have quite the appetite. I'm not the biggest junk eater, but anything else I can scarf down in a heartbeat. I watched Pony and Johnny watched stunned as me and Sodapop each ate a whole chicken between the two of us, three glasses of milk each, a whole potato, and two pieces of chocolate cake. (Half of my second piece somehow ended up with Pony, though.)
Ten 'o' clock rolled around and I was starting to get a bit sleepy. "Anyone know where Two-Bit danced off to?" I yawned, stretching. I was sprawled out on the couch, my head in Soda's lap, and Pony and Johnny were on the floor playing cards and Darry was reading the paper.
Pony laughed a bit, before answering, "I heard he strolled off to a party at Bucks to get rip roarin' drunk and whoop it up a bit."
"Now why the hell would he do that?" I didn't want to sleep with no drunken Two-Bit. But I didn't want to sleep alone either.
Johnny smiled and looked over at me. "I think he's celebrating having his old best bud back."
Without thinking, I asked, "can I crash here and sleep with one of ya'll?"
Darry looked up from his paper. I knew he had to think about it. Although I used to sleep over all the time, a few years, or maybe more then a few, can change the way you think about things like this. "Alright," he answered slowly. "You can bunk with Pony in his room and Soda; you'll sleep on the couch."
Yay! I haven't had barely any time alone with Pony at all since I got back and I really wanted to talk to the kid.
I crawled into bed at eleven, in Soda's shirt and boxers, next to Pony. The bed was a little small, big enough to fit two teenage boys, but still a little small, but cozy, no doubt.
We talked for a little while, about school and sports and small stuff, but then got into the deeper things. I asked him how he felt about everything that happened and he told me he still missed his mom and dad, but he and Darry were getting along real well now. Then he started in about the fire. "It was real scary," he admitted. "I was scared for Johnny the whole time. We all were, really. If it weren't for Dally…" he sighed. "I don't know what would've happened."
I looked down away right then. I still just couldn't believe Dally. He had changed. He cared about Johnny. "Hazel?" Pony interrupted my thoughts. I looked up. He seemed troubled by something. He wanted to ask something. "Hazel…how do you know Dally?"