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Chapter 7: Trust is Overrated

Kiki's Perspective

I was thoroughly relieved to see Echo traipse back into the house along with Soda and Johnny. Yeah, it gave me the time to call my mom and tell her Two-Bit and I slept over at the Curtises (which happened quite often). I conveniently left out the whole party incident. But anyway, it was great to have Echo back because Dally and Kris's petty bickering had been annoying the heck out of me.

See, Kris and Two-Bit were both hit hard in the hangover department, and thus, Kris was in a less than cheerful mood. It was real hard to bring Two-Bit down, but he was still mad at me. Damn, that boy could hold a grudge. Everyone knew him as happy-go-lucky and careless, but they never really noticed the other side of him. He was so overprotective of me.

Dally and Kris had been shooting each other death glares for the last hour or so. I couldn't begin to fathom why. Sure, they appeared to have a complicated history, but I figured if they truly hadn't seen each other in years, then the reunion would be more bittersweet.

Apparently not. She could barely stand to be in his presence and he acted like he just wanted her to slither back to wherever she came from.

Another odd thing was that neither of them addressed the fact that she was here, or why. They were just so focused on being angry with each other that it never came up. There was something beneath that anger, though, something else entirely. Disappointment.

It wasn't obvious in any shape or form, but it was there and I was by far the most perceptive of everyone in the room. She seemed a bit put out with his angry and violent personality, perhaps he wasn't always like that, and I saw him look her up and down a few times in surprise. What I knew about Dally is that he ran away from home when he was about eleven (he was eighteen now), and she looked about twelve or thirteen, so it was quite possible that last time he saw her was when she was five or six.

She must have looked so different. She wasn't a picture of purity at the moment with her smeared mascara and eyeliner and messy, hangover-style hair and drunkenness from last night. . . .

I walked over to Echo to escape from the warzone and noticed the red rims of her eyes. She could act as tough as she liked, but I knew how deeply she felt about things. It was all a facade. "You all right?"

"I'm fine," she sniffled and I just nodded, knowing that to be far from the truth.

"Come on, guys." As always, Soda tried to be the one to cheer everyone up. "It's the first day of summer! Steve and I don't got work until three, but he's with Evie now anyway. We should celebrate the first day of summer, and Echo, this may be the most freedom you have in a while."

She looked at him with a weak smile and turned to lean into me slightly. I knew she didn't want to go but she would so she didn't look bad. I gave her a squeeze on the shoulder for support and it granted me a nod.

"That'll be fun, we could pop by the Dingo for some grub, then maybe head to the bowling alley," Two-Bit said, taking another swig of a beer he must have grabbed while I wasn't looking. Oh, Two-Bit's logic. Trying to recover from a hangover with more alcohol.

"Yeah, that's the spirit, Two-Bit. What you guys think, we could show our new friend the neighborhood and get a little sun? Have an early lunch?" Soda smiled, looking at his sister with hopeful eyes. I highly doubted that there was anyone in the universe who could say no to that face.

Johnny quietly said, "I'm up for it."

Almost immediately after he said that a smile spread across Echo's face and she straightened her posture. "I guess since I won't be out of the house for a while, might as well grab at the chance."

"I would be more than happy to go," I said, laughing to myself at Echo's reaction. She never said it directly but I could see she had a crush on him. It was rather obvious.

"I'll go," Pony piped up, moving to stand near Johnny. I nearly jumped when he spoke; I forgot he was here for a second. Of course he wanted to come. He followed Soda like a little puppy dog follows their momma. I didn't mind, though, we got along okay.

Dally looked about ready to agree when something occurred to him. "Wait a second, Kris, could you not look like a damn whore?"

I wanted to slap my forehead but Dally would probably deck me one so I refrained. He just didn't have a nice bone in his body. Kristina looked like she had been slapped across the face for a split second until her expression hardened.

"Dally!" Two-Bit growled, half-serious for once. "My kid sister's in the room and you shouldn't be talking to your kid sister like that either."

Kristina ignored him, approaching Dally with an angry glower firmly in place. "Hey, Dal, could you not look like a damn prick? Oh, wait, you are a prick!"

Oh dear God, I thought. She's just like him! Dally was beginning to take on his famous 'dangerous' look and I feared for her safety.

"Echo, Kiki, girls, could you please go clean up while we talk to these two for a second?" Soda pleaded, ushering us out. Just like Two-Bit, he seemed strangely serious because I knew Soda didn't like people speaking like that in front of his baby sister.

Ponyboy and Two-Bit were watching the whole exchange with wide, interested eyes but Johnny just looked plain miserable. He hated it when people fought around him. My heart ached for him.

"Oooh, Dally's in deep shit!" Echo laughed as we left.

"Echo!" Soda yelled from down the hall after hearing her little comment. I was a little surprised. He never acted this stern, that was solely Darry's job.

We both entered her room and she fell onto her bed, still laughing. "Man, I like her."

"I don't know what I think of her yet, we have said like one word to each other- if that." I didn't really like Kris much in all honesty, she seemed like trouble and with all the drama still going on with the Socs she would only make it worse. And we really didn't need another Winston hanging around.

"Hey, she seems like she plans on hanging around so we might as well get used to her. She doesn't seem all bad, she did help us out last night with the fight," Echo reminded, searching through her drawers for something to change into.

"I ain't ever seen a girl fight like that, not even Angel," I said with reluctant admiration. "She fights like one of the guys."

"Is that a bad thing? I hear the Socs are now into jumping any greaser, no matter age or gender. They've been after blood since Johnny killed Bob, even though that was months ago. At least she can protect herself," Echo added, tossing me one of her dresses.

"I'm just sayin', Echo, I think we need to keep an eye on her. We don't know anything about her."

"Well it ain't like anyone asked," said a foreign voice in the doorway. We both spun around to see Kristina Winston leaning against the wall, eyebrows raised.

"Oh, I am so sorry, I didn't mean it like that." I was blushing like crazy and from the corner of my eye I could see Echo's mortified expression.

She waved it off, walking into the room without invitation. "Don't waste your breath, mini-Mathews. I don't give a crap." Kristina now glanced over to Echo. "Apparently wearin' clothes like this ain't a great idea in this area so I've been sent to change. Now, normally I would argue, but the babe asked me to."

"Ew, that's my brother!" Echo chided, slightly disgusted.

"Least you get to live in the same house with him." Wow, she really did not think that one through.

"That's. My. BROTHER!"

"Anyway, red, whatcha got for me?" She sat on the bed and waited expectantly. I fought the urge to gape at her. She had no manners whatsoever. God, she really was a lot like Dally, probably a lot more than she liked to admit.

"Okay, hold up, I don't know how they do things in your parts but before you start asking for stuff, people usually introduce themselves at the very least," Echo said, putting her hands on her hips.

She arched an eyebrow at her in an almost Two-Bit-like way. "Haven't ya figured it out yet? I'm the prick's little sister. Kristina Winston, at your service. Your name's Echo, ain't it? What the hell kinda name's that?"

Echo's expression shifted from annoyed to pissed off in an instant. "If you don't like my name, you can get the hell out of my house. Other people may put up with your shit but this is my house and you can get another attitude or leave."

If I were the target of that tirade, I would have balked and scuttled out with my tail between my legs. Kristina did no such thing. She slowly, leisurely, like she had all the time in the world, stood to her feet and got up into Echo's personal space. A flash of fear crossed Echo's face but she defiantly stood her ground.

I was half-expecting Kristina to punch her right then and there but much to my utter surprise, she drawled casually, "I like you, red. You got a backbone." That had to be jab toward me.

Echo was taken back but she recovered quickly. "Much obliged." She turned around and rummaged through her drawers till she pulled out a denim mini skirt, a red tank top, and cowgirl boots. Handing it to Kristina she said, "Should fit, bathroom's down the hall."

Kristina's lips curled up into a lopsided grin. "Well, I guess you ain't as sweet and innocent as they make you out to be because this sure ain't the sweet little dress I think they were hoping you'd give me."

After that, the sassy blonde made her exit and Echo shut the door behind her, smiling slightly. "I think she will fit in just fine."

I wasn't so sure.