Hey guys. Here's another chapter for you all. I hope you enjoy it. I added more Pony/Hannah, Johnny/Lori. Read it and let me know what you think.
I don't own the sexiest being alive in the 1960s, aka Dallas Winston, or any other of the Outsiders, but I do own Cassie, Lori, and Hannah.
Chapter 9
At quarter of seven, Ponyboy started his walk over to Hannah's house. Darry wasn't too happy about him going over to the Soc side of town by himself. He tried to have Pony take someone with him, but it was Pony's first date so he decided to be lenient. In the end, Darry told him to "just be careful."
Pony walked past the Dingo and Buck's and the Shepard's house. He stopped when he reached the railroad tracks that separated the poor east side from the privileged west side. He was a little nervous to cross those tracks. He didn't know what would happen once he stepped on that side of town. He finally worked up the courage, crossed the tracks and continued his walk to Hannah's.
He wasn't really noticed by anyone on the west side. They mostly just ignored him or walked into him like he wasn't even there. No matter if anyone saw him or not, he still felt like he stood out from everyone.
He found the address that Hannah had given him and stood on the sidewalk, gazing up at the house in awe. It was huge and very expensive looking; of course that's what everything looked like on this side of town. He couldn't picture his girlfriend living in a house like this. She just didn't act like all the other Socs he was around during school.
When he got over his initial shock, he walked up to the front door and knocked. He stood there for a moment waiting for someone to answer the door. The door opened and a woman who looked like a maid stood in the doorway. "Hi, I'm here to pick up Hannah," he said. She turned around and walked away. Pony was confused, but he entered the house and closed the door behind him.
"Miss Cade, a boy is here for you!" he heard the woman yell up the stairs.
"Be right down," Hannah yelled back.
"You can wait in the living room," she said pointing to a room to his left. "She'll be down in a minute." Pony nodded and she walked away. He went into the living room and sat down on the couch. He felt really out of place in the house, a little uncomfortable. He hoped Hannah would be down soon.
Five minutes later he heard footsteps coming towards the room. He stood up, praying to God it was Hannah. He was disappointed when it turned out not to be a beautiful teenage girl, but a middle-aged man. The man stopped in his tracks and looked Pony up and down. "Who are you?" the man asked.
"Ponyboy Curtis, sir. I'm here to pick up Hannah," Pony answered nervously.
The man gazed intently at him. After a few more minutes, he stuck out his hand. Pony took it apprehensively and the man introduced himself. "I'm Michael Allen. Nice to meet you. Sit down." Pony sat back down on the couch, and Michael Allen sat down in a chair across from him. "So are you her boyfriend?"
"Umm…yeah."
"I see. And where are you planning on taking her?"
"The carnival. We're meeting my brothers, my sister, and some of our friends there."
"How old are your siblings?"
"My brother, Darry, is twenty. My other brother, Sodapop, and my sister, Cassie, are seventeen."
"Sodapop and Ponyboy. Those are original names."
"Yeah, my dad was an original person."
They sat in silence for a moment. "What are you planning to do with your life? How are your grades in school?"
"My grades are good. All 'A's. After high school, I'm planning on going to college and major in writing. I wanna be an author."
"What kinds of things do you want to write about?"
"It'll probably be mostly fiction, but the story lines will be taken from real life experiences." Michael nodded.
"Sounds good. I hope it all works out for you."
"Thank you, sir."
"Ponyboy!" a female voice said from the entryway. Both men looked in that direction. A girl wearing a mid-thigh length jean skirt, a black polo shirt, and white tennis shoes appeared in the doorway. "I see you've met Michael."
"Hey Hannah. 'Bout time you got down here," Pony said smiling. She smiled back.
"So what have you two boys been talking about?"
"Ponyboy was just telling me that he wants to be an author."
"Oh. Well Pony, we should probably be going. It's past six."
"Okay." He stood up. "It was nice meeting you, Mr. Allen."
Michael stood up. "You too, Ponyboy." Hannah took Pony's hand and led him out the door.
When they reached the sidewalk, she put her arm through his. "So what did you think of my stepfather-to-be?"
"He seems nice enough."
"Yeah, he is. It's just…I don't know. He's just too nice sometimes. He's better than my real dad ever was."
"Sorry."
"It's not your fault my dad was an ass. Who cares anyway? Michael's cool. Plus, this is the happiest I've ever seen my mom."
"That's good at least." She nodded.
"How was your walk to my house? No Socs bothered you did they?"
"Nope. It was fine. They mostly just ignored me."
"I guess that's better than them harassing you." A silent 'mhmm' came from Pony. "What time are we supposed to meet the gang?"
"Umm…I don't know. I guess we'll just see them at the carnival." She nodded. "Cassie's goin' with Dallas. Can you believe that?"
"Well, I guess they're getting closer and closer everyday. What do you think Tim's gonna say? I don't think he knows."
"I have no idea, but it won't be good. He likes her and I don't think he's gonna forgive her soon when he finds out she's back with Dal after he cheated on her."
"So tonight should get interesting then?"
"Yup. Could get very intense."
Dallas was sitting on Cassie's bed, waiting for her to get out of the shower. It was after seven o'clock and she still wasn't ready to go to the carnival. Dallas sighed. They were supposed to be ready to go by now. Johnny and Lori arrived fifteen minutes ago, but he told them to go ahead and that he and Cassie would see them there.
A little while later, Cassie finally emerged from the bathroom in a towel. She was beautiful without her make-up and without her hair done. She was gorgeous just the way she was.
At that thought, Dallas smiled mischievously and stood up. He walked over to where she was standing in the mirror and wrapped his arms around her from behind. He brought his mouth down to her neck and kissed her collar bone. He saw her smile in the mirror. He moved his hands down to her hips and around front. Dal then brought his mouth up to her jaw line and ran his tongue over it. She continued to smile and turned around. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her mouth against his. He started moving towards the bed and when they reached it, lay down on top of her. She didn't protest so he moved his mouth back down to her neck and kissed it. He ran his tongue along her collar bone and she softly moaned. He smiled against her neck. She ran her hands up and down his toned back which was covered by his form-fitting white t-shirt. Dallas decided that her reactions must be a good sign so he moved his hand down to his belt buckle and started undoing it. That was when she pushed him off of her and got up.
He rolled onto his back and sighed, frustrated. "What now, Cassie?"
"We just got back together and you're already trying to get in my pants." He gave her a funny look. "I meant it figuratively. We can't do this Dallas."
"Why not?"
"I'm not ready, for one. We have to meet the gang at the carnival for another. The making out I can deal with, but I don't wanna have sex with you this minute. Maybe in the near future but not now."
He sighed loudly again and sat up. "I'll meet you downstairs." He got off the bed, grabbed his jacket and left the room. Cassie watched him go and sat down on her bed. What am I going to do with that boy? she thought to herself.
After a few minutes of sitting in silence, she got up, went to her closet, and took out a pair of dark, ripped, form-fitting jeans and a red halter top. She brushed her hair, threw it up into a messy bun, and did her make-up. She grabbed her black Converse, put them on, and headed downstairs.
Dallas was sitting on the couch, still fuming. She walked over to the couch and straddled Dallas. He turned his head to keep from looking at her. "C'mon Dally. You knew we weren't going to do it right then and there, so why are you so mad?" He stood up and she fell on the ground. She furrowed her brow and stood up. She walked over to where he was standing by the door and wrapped her arms around him from behind. "C'mon Dal. Forgive me." She kissed his neck and waited for him to respond. When he didn't, she walked around to the front of him and looked up into his eyes. He still avoided her gaze. "Dal, forgive me, and maybe later I can do something for you." She moved her hands down to his belt buckle and smiled up at him. He finally looked at her and smirked.
"You're such a tease." She just shrugged. He pulled her against him and kissed her forehead. "C'mon. The carnival's waitin'."
Johnny and Lori were sitting on the top of the Ferris wheel, looking around at all the people enjoying the carnival. They hadn't really talked much since they left the Curtis' house. They didn't talk a lot, but usually more than they were. "The view is beautiful from up here," Lori said, breaking the silence.
"Mhmm," Johnny agreed. He looked down and saw Pony with his arm around Hannah a few seats ahead of them. They looked happy.
"Okay Johnnycakes, what's wrong? I can tell something is bothering you."
"It's nothing."
"It most certainly ain't nothing. Now tell me what it is."
"Fine. I don't know if I like you because you like me, or if I really have those feelings for you."
"Well that wasn't what I was expecting."
"Sorry."
"Its okay, Johnny. People grow apart. I was actually having doubts about us too. I'm not really sure how I feel about us anymore."
"So what do we do?"
"I guess we could take a break and see what happens."
"We could do that. And if we feel that we like each other, we can just get back together." Lori nodded. "What are we gonna do for the rest of the night?"
"We are going to just hang out tonight, like old times. It'll be fun."
"Okay." They smiled at each other and the Ferris wheel started moving again.
Where could they be? Darry thought. Dallas and Cassie still hadn't shown up. The gang was supposed to meet at the carnival at quarter past seven, and they still weren't there. Hannah, Pony, Johnny, and Lori had run off to the Ferris wheel as soon as they arrived; Two-Bit had found some blond and was off doing god knows what with her; Steve and Soda were off somewhere, leaving Darry to wait for the two lovebirds by himself.
Dal and Cassie sauntered up to him around quarter of eight. "Where were you two?"
"Sorry Dar. We just got a little delayed." Darry glared at both of them. If looks could kill… "No, it was nothing like that. It just took me forever to get ready. I took like a thirty minute shower, and then I couldn't pick out an outfit. It was all very time consuming."
"Yeah sure. I'm gonna go on a few rides, then I'm heading home. I got work tomorrow. I'll see you guys later."
"'Kay Dar. See you at home." Dallas and Cassie watched him walk away. "So what ride we hitting first?"
"How bout something dark, where no one can see us?" he said roguishly and nuzzled against her neck. She giggled and moved away. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her against his chest. She looked up at him and smiled, before he leaned in and kissed her softly.
"So this is your friend?" a voice from behind them said. They stopped kissing and looked.
"Hi Tim," Cassie said trying to act innocent.
"Hey Shepard," Dal said, not knowing why Tim sounded so angry.
"I'll be right back," she said to Dal and walked over to Tim. She walked by him and he turned around and followed. When they were away from a crowd, they stopped.
"It looks like Dal is more than a friend," Tim said.
"That's because he is. We're back together."
"When did that happen?" he asked angrily.
"I don't know…"
"Cassie!"
"Okay, about a week ago."
"He cheated on you, Cass. How can you get back together with him?"
"We both made mistakes that night."
They were silent for a moment. "How could you not tell me this? I thought…we were doin' so good together."
"Yeah, as friends, nothing more."
He walked over to her and pressed his lips against hers. He pulled away and looked at her. "Can you honestly say that you felt nothing?"
"Yes, I can. I love Dallas. I'm sorry, Tim, but I don't have the feelings that you want me to have for you. I just want to be friends with you."
He shook his head and walked away. He couldn't believe it. He cheated on her, and, yet, she took him back. Dallas doesn't deserve her. She deserves so much better than him. What? Like me? I'm no better than Winston. He couldn't see how she could have no trust and faith in him one minute and be in love with him the next. It just didn't make sense to him.
Wait a minute. Why do I care? He thought. He shouldn't be this attached to a girl, especially one that he's never actually been with. This girl was getting to him and he didn't like it. It wasn't supposed to be like this. The toughest hoods in this town are going soft. Me and Winston falling for a girl. This can't be happening. He'd have to do something about this.
Steve and Soda had just gotten off the roller coaster, when Steve spotted Cassie and Dallas kissing in the middle of the walkway. His first reaction was to be pissed off, but then when he realized that they were back together, his expression changed from one of anger to one of despair. "C'mon man," Soda said, trying to get him away from the make out scene that was starting to ensue.
Steve couldn't help but take one more look at her. He truly found her amazingly beautiful and thought that he might actually love her. He had no idea what to do. She had made it clear two weeks ago that she had no feelings whatsoever for him. He certainly could not fight Dallas for her; Dal would murder him. Stupid feelings, he thought, good for nothing except heartbreak and misery.
"I don't know what she sees in him," he said more to himself than Soda.
"Man, you gotta get over her."
"Why? She deserves so much better than Dallas."
"She loves him, and I doubt anything will change that. They're good together." Steve rolled his eyes. "I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything, but nothing you do is gonna change her feelings for you. She doesn't like you that way. You're not even really friends! You two just used to put up with one another cause you had to!"
Steve just stared at Soda. He couldn't believe Soda was saying these things. They were supposed to be best friends. Soda was supposed to support him in all his crushes and actions and beliefs, not put him down and say he doesn't have a shot with the girl he wants.
While Steve was staring at his "best friend" in disbelief, he walked straight into someone. He looked at the person that he had knocked down and helped her up. "Sorry," he said.
"No problem. A little dirt never hurt anyone," she said.
Steve nodded and continued walking with Soda. The girl stared at him. Oh my, is he hot, she thought, I hope I see him again.
Steve, oblivious to the girl, redirected his thoughts back to Cassie. She's so beautiful, amazing, smart… He couldn't believe how much he wanted her. His life always felt like something was missing and he thought that maybe she could be just what he needed to fill the void.
Hey everyone. I'm not really sure what to do about Johnny and Lori. I can't really think of anything to happen with them, but if any of you have any suggestions, I would welcome them happily. Please let me know if you think they should get back together or stay apart or any other things between them.
