A/N: I don't own The Outsiders. I've added a couple of lines in the middle, b/c I was going over my story and wanted them there. R&R. And in the words of Mia off OTH: Do me a favor, even if you hate it, lie and say you love it
Erika stayed for dinner and decided to spend the night. I'm pretty sure she just wanted to sleep in the same room as Sodapop though.
We were in my room, the one I share with Soda and Pony, painting our toenails red, listening to records and talking.
Darry was in his room, Soda was out with Sandy and Steve and Two-Bit were out partying. Dallas, Pony and Johnny were in the living room, watching TV.
Once our toenails were dried, we went to the living room to hang out with the guys. Pony was outside, smoking and gazing at the stars, Johnny was asleep on the couch and Dallas was about to leave.
"Where you going Dal?" I asked.
"Brumley Party. Wanna come?" he asked.
"I'll pass," I said at the same time that Erika said, "Yes."
Was she crazy?
Then I remembered that Nick was a Brumley boy, so they wouldn't mess with her or anyone with her. But I still wasn't sure about going to another party with Dallas Winston. Asshole.
"You need to get out," she said. "I'm tired though, I'll stay in and talk to Pony."
I knew Erika thought I didn't go out enough and stayed in too much. So what if I didn't want to be like Angela or Sylvia? I shook my head. "Fine."
On our way out, I told Pony where we were going so Darry wouldn't worry.
"Do you plan on abandoning me here too?" I asked.
"Depends on who I find," he said.
I rolled my eyes. Why did I bother?
"Did you have fun with Lucy?" I asked Dally, raising my eyebrow at him.
I think something that Dally likes about me is that I'm fearless enough to go to that conversation level with him. He's never met a girl who'd do that before.
"Yeah," he replied. "But Tim exaggerated."
"Cad," I said as we turned another corner. "Where the hell is this party anyway?"
I crossed my arms and shivered. In good ole Ponyboy-style, I had forgotten my coat on the way out.
Dallas lit a cigarette and stuck it in his mouth before taking his brown coat off.
"Here doll," he said, throwing the coat at me.
I know. The boy's charming.
I put the coat on, I liked and the way it felt. I looked around. It was too dark to tell where we were. It was for me anyways, Dally probably knew.
I saw a small, unpainted house that looked uncared for. It was at the corner. The house had a porch light on. That was unusual because their porch light was never on. I didn't even know they had one
"There's Tim's place," I said, pointing it out to Dally. "Which means, we're probably not near the Brumley party."
He shrugged. "Oh well."
Oh well?
"Dallas Winston!" I shouted.
"What the hell is your problem?" he asked.
"My problem is you drug me from my home and a night with my best friend to go to a party. Which, by the way, we are NOWHERE NEAR!"
He took a drag from his cigarette before saying, "I didn't make you come, sweetheart."
Damn, he had me there. I hated admitting when I'm wrong.
I also hated the shiver that ran down my spine from the mixture of his voice and him calling me sweetheart.
"Now what?" I asked annoyed.
"I'm gonna go look for a fight," Dally said.
I had to laugh at that.
"Want me to walk you back?" he asked.
"Sure," I replied like I didn't care. In reality, I was glad that he had offered.
We headed back to the Curtis house, passing Buck's on the way.
He stopped and looked at me. "Want to go in?"
Uh-no.
"You go if you want," I said. "I'm going home." I took his coat off and handed it back to him.
I turned and started walking home. It was a few miles away. I started running so I could get there faster. I prayed that I wouldn't see anyone along the way.
I felt a hand on my upper arm. My heart started pounding. I was scared. Was it a soc? A Shephard? A Brumley? Or someone else.
I turned around and saw Scott Blake. Whew. I just looked at him. I never knew what to say around him.
"Hey Georgia," he said.
"Hey Scott," I replied. My voice was soft and I wouldn't have been surprised if he didn't hear it.
"You are aware that what you're doing isn't a good idea?"
"What am I doing?" I asked.
He hadn't let go. I didn't care though.
"I thought you knew better to walk alone at night. You know what happened to Erika."
Last year, Erika got pissed off at her then boyfriend, and ran out on him at a party. She got jumped, beaten and raped. I didn't know the details just that we never walked alone at night again.
"I was with Dallas," I said.
"Are you on your way home?" he asked.
"Yeah," I answered.
"Okay, I'll take you there."
We started walking there.
"What are you doing Friday night?" he asked.
I shrugged. "I don't really have any plans."
"Wanna go to the Nightly Double with me?"
I felt my face get red. Was he asking me out? Would Erika be okay with it?
"Sure," I said. I said sure a lot. Was I the only one who noticed that?
He smiled at me. It was perfect. God, I loved that smile. "Good, I'll pike you up between 5:30 and six."
"Sounds good," I said.
We had reached my house. Damn, I had been hoping that the walk would last forever. Even though I knew it couldn't.
"Wanna come in?" I asked him.
He shook his head. "No, I'm going home. See you later Rosie."
He had started calling me Rosie whenever it first him that my face got red around him.
He headed to his home, and I headed into mine. I don't usually smile when I'm not around my friends, but that night, that moment, I was beaming.
