A/N The sentence number of girls he had under his belt will show up near the beginning and just for clarification this is a general term for the number of girls he has taken out, been with, fooled around with ect, this doesn't necessarily mean he slept with them, just a general term for how many girls Dally has been through.
Cassandra ran her hand down Aristocrat's muscled neck, she had been riding him almost everyday after school for a solid 4 days and he had become much better with his leads. Cassandra gave the gelding one last pat before going to retrieve his tack. Cassandra was in a good mood, today was Tuesday, the day she was going to the Dingo with Dallas. She didn't know how he planned to pick her up, he didn't know her address. Or phone number either.
Ponyboy hadn't been impressed when he heard the news yesterday in class, he had warned her a dozen times not to go and that he wasn't her type of guy. Cassandra was tired of hearing about 'her type' apparently everyone knew what she was looking for in a boyfriend except herself. Ponyboy had made a dozen reasons why he wasn't good for her and had went into excruciating detail of the number of girls he had under his belt, how many times he had been in jail and anything else that would discourage her from going out with him. Cassandra planned to go, she had told Ponyboy politely that she wanted to find out for herself and not to worry, she wasn't planning on marrying the boy.
"Were gonna do something a little different today, boy," Cassandra said to the gelding, who sniffed her palms, searching for treats. "Apparently there's some trails around here."
The gelding responded by sniffing the pockets of her jeans. Aristocrat was smart, knowing Cassandra kept treats in her jeans pocket as a reward.
"Cassandra?" Randy walked over to the cross-ties, giving Aristocrat a little pat.
"Hey Randy," Cassandra smiled at the older man.
"I've got some hay comin' but I gotta run in to town and grab some grain, could you keep an eye out for it?"
"Sure," Cassandra said, placing the saddle on Aristocrat's back.
"Tell the guy I'll pay later, he knows I'm good for it. If you go up to the house when the truck comes, my boys will unload it."
Randy had two sons, Thomas and Dan, both out of school and working. Cassandra had met both of them briefly last Saturday when she had enjoyed lunch with the Shaw family. Mrs. Shaw was a amazing cook and loved to make sure Cassandra was well fed, often bringing snacks out after she had finished with Aristocrat.
"Sounds good," Cassandra said, tightening the girth.
"Okay, well, I'm off. Hay should be here any time."
"Bye Randy," Cassandra called, watching him make his way to the barn door. She heard a truck door slam and the engine idle.
Cassandra looked at the clock hanging in the tack room, it was noon, time to turn the horses out into their respective paddocks. She exited the tack room and made her way to the left side of the barn, which held 5 of the Shaw's horses. All together the Shaw's owned seven horses and two horses were boarders. Cassandra retrieved the halter off of Flora's stall. Flora was a sweet, dapple grey eight year old mare, she was showing at the 3'3 level with Randy's daughter, Elizabeth.
Elizabeth was Cassandra's age, but they had totally different interests excluding riding and weren't in any classes together in school. Cassandra hadn't even seen Liz in school. Liz was extremely dedicated and often rode with Cassandra, horseback riding wasn't Liz's only talent and on the days she wasn't riding she was dancing. Cassandra clucked to the mare, as she led her into her paddock. Cassandra brought out the other horses without incident, until it came to Vegas. Vegas was a flighty, ill-mannered colt. He was the newest addition to he small barn, Randy had bought him because of his bloodlines and planned to race the colt come the summer.
"Hey Vegas," Cassandra cooed, as she slipped the halter over muzzle. He flipped his head before she could get it over his head. The halter fell to the ground.
Cassandra sighed, this was the usual struggle with Vegas. It was the same everyday. After the third attempt, Cassandra had finally gotten the halter on Vegas. She held the leadline short and made her way to his paddock. Of course the paddock that Vegas was assigned to was the farthest from the barn, Vegas snorted and pranced beside Cassandra. She turned him in a small circle to calm him down.
"Shh, boy," Cassandra said gently, running her hand down his neck to calm him down.
Cassandra gently tugged on the lead-rope, urging Vegas forward, he responded, prancing every few steps.
"That's it, good boy, just a little farther," Cassandra kept her voice calm, soothing the flighty animal.
Vegas co operated the rest of the 8 feet to his paddock and just as she undid his halter and left him to charge around his paddock, a truck carrying a full bed of hay came up the drive. Cassandra waved to the driver, who was just about at the barn and went to get Randy's boys. Cassandra knocked on the paint-chipped door and was instantly greeted by Mrs. Shaw who offered Cassandra a cookie at the door.
"I saw you come up the steps," Mrs. Shaw explained warmly.
"Hay's here. Is Thomas or Dan around? Randy told me they'd unload the hay."
"Yes, yes. Just a second, dear."
Cassandra watched the pleasantly plump Mrs. Shaw retreat into their stylish country home. She could hear Mrs. Shaw yelling for the two boys and two sets of heavy footfalls on the second floor. Cassandra smiled shyly when the boys came into view. They waved at her in greeting, pulled on their work boots and headed out to deal with the hay without a word from Cassandra.
"Are you hungry, dear?" Mrs. Shaw asked, beckoning Cassandra inside.
Cassandra accepted and made her way to the Shaw's cozy kitchen. Mrs. Shaw was in the middle of baking batches and batches of cookies for a bake sale fundraiser and allowed Cassandra to sample one of each kind.
"Thanks," Cassandra smiled, grabbing a couple from each cooling tray "I'd better get back to Aristocrat, I've got him all saddled up."
"Course dear!" Mrs. Shaw squeezed her arm lovingly "Come by for dinner if your still around!"
"Hey boy," Cassandra greeted the gelding, munching on cookies.
Aristocrat was very interested in the new treat and sniffed the air eagerly as Cassandra neared. He let out a nicker, begging for treats.
"No, you can't have these," Cassandra produced a carrot from her back pocket, courtesy of Mrs. Shaw and fed the treat to the eager gelding.
Cassandra made her way into the tack room to collect Aristocrat's bridle. Once the bridle was on and Cassandra had mounted, the pair were ready to go. Randy had talked about trails near the outdoor arena and Cassandra was eager to try them out. She kept close contact on Aristocrat as they entered the trail, she had never taken him out before and didn't want there to be any accidents. Aristocrat proved to have excellent manners, gaining enough of Cassandra's trust to loosen up a bit on the reins.
The serenity of the trail allowed Cassandra's mind to wander to her plans for tonight. She hated to admit it to herself, but the last couple of days Dally had been on her mind a lot. She was a little nervous, according to Ponyboy, Dallas was very experienced with the opposite sex and herself, no so much. Cassandra had had all of one boyfriend, he was the sweet-sensitive type, he was a nice enough guy and that had had fun together, but he bored her. Dallas didn't, he caught her attention, he kept her interested, he was rough and raw and dangerous. He was a challenge. Cassandra let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Dally did this to her, he could make her cheeks pink and knot her stomach with something she couldn't place, without even being around.
He was dangerous, most definitely .
The trail was a 45 minute loop around of the Shaw's and surrounding properties and ended right around Vegas's paddock. Aristocrat whinnied loudly to his friend and in response the blood bay colt paced the length of his paddock. Cassandra dismounted near the barn and led Aristocrat inside. She noticed the hay stacked right in the middle of the cross-ties and was forced to untack Aristocrat in a stall.
"Sorry," Dan looked embarrassed as he gestured to the offending hay.
"It's not a big deal, I'm almost done anyway." Cassandra smiled, the boys were always pleasant to her. She took Aristocrat's tack and made her way to the tack room. She was surprised to see Dan following her.
Dan was the youngest Shaw, he had just graduated a year above Cassandra. He looked a lot like his mother, with her warm green eyes and dark brown hair. Chubby cheeks had been passed down to both the Shaw brothers. He was tall-- he towered above Cassandra who thought she was of normal height-- maybe she was a little on the short side--. She liked to think she was 5'3½ on a good day. Dan was a sweet guy, always polite when she joined the Shaw's for dinner, he always made polite conversation when they crossed paths and generally reminded Cassandra of Mrs. Shaw. Cassandra blushed a little, remembering how she had thought he was good-looking and still did. He reminded her a lot of her ex-boyfriend in California.
"So?" Dan began awkwardly, earning a confused look from Cassandra.
"So…" Cassandra replied, looking for something interesting to say.
"God, this is going to sounds dumb," Dan started "I heard you have a thing with Dallas Winston."
"Yea, kinda I guess," Cassandra shrugged. She had learned of his reputation from Ponyboy who reacted in a similar way when he heard of the Friday night adventures. "So?"
"Oh, nothing" Dan shrugged, looking clearly embarrassed "Didn't think he was your type, is all"
Cassandra couldn't help but feel annoyed at the 'not your type' comment. She should be the one to decide what type of guy her type was. It was petty and a little immature, but Cassandra wanted to prove everyone wrong, no-one wanted her to go, and that made her even more bent on going. Cassandra shrugged in response.
"Well, I'd better go finish that hay. I'll see you around?"
" I'll be here," Cassandra smiled.
Cassandra walked over to the stall Aristocrat was inhabiting, gave him a kiss on the muzzle and led him to his paddock.
--
Cassandra got out of the shower, and began drying her hair. She had run into Ponyboy and Johnny at the corner store, on her way home from the barn. After a mild argument and a pout, it was decided that Dallas would be picking her up over at the Curtis's house, just in case one of her parents ended up at home. Cassandra attempted to brush her hair, which was a rats nest. Of course today of all day's the household would run out of conditioner.
"Cassy!" Susan smiled at her as she walked into Cassandra's room. Cassandra missed her little sister, with school and Aristocrat and the odd social invitation, Cassandra was rarely at home anymore. Susan had become quite popular in her elementary school and was rarely at home either. She noticed the heavy eyeliner around Susan's eyes and grinned at her sister. She remembered only to well the first time Angela and herself had experimented with make-up.
"Hey Suze, what's up?" Cassandra beckoned Susan closer.
" I'm just about to walk to Cheryl's but I thought I'd come say bye. I don't see you much."
Cassandra felt her heart fill at her little sisters comment. She put down her brush, pretty much ready to give up on her hair anyway and wrapped her sister in a bear hug.
"Your to sweet, now how about I teach you to put on eyeliner?"
"What wrong with it?" Susan defended "I like it like this!"
Cassandra stifled a giggle, she had reacted in the exact same way when Mrs. Andrews had attempted to teach her about make-up.
"Its not bad," Cassandra walked into the bathroom, wetting a wash-cloth. She watched as Susan gingerly rubbed off the thick, dark, crooked lines. "A little goes a long way, Suze."
Cassandra took the eyeliner pencil in her hand, lining Susan's upper lashes with a trained hand. "Look up," Cassandra murmured, her tongue out in concentration. She lined her sisters lower eye. It was wobbly, but better then before. It was always harder doing someone else's make-up. Susan smiled at her self in the mirror.
"Cassy, we never hang out anymore!" Susan pouted, "Will you show me how to do my make-up? Soon?"
"Next week I promise we'll spend some time together, okay?"
Susan looked satisfied with this, dropped a kiss on Cassandra's cheek and bounced out the door.
"Be safe!" Cassandra called and smiled, she was exactly like her own mother.
Cassandra got to work on her own makeup, she lined her own upper lashes, she usually only bothered with foundation and mascara, but it was a special occasion and Cassandra needed to look good. Fifteen minutes later she was ready to head over to Ponyboy's. She shrugged into a sweater, brushed on some lip gloss and was out the door.
"Hey, " Soda grinned as he opened the door, beckoning her inside. "Dally's on his way."
Soda led her into the living room, Ponyboy was sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table doing his homework. Ponyboy gave Cassandra a pointed look as she sat down.
"Excited?" Soda asked, grinning mischievously.
"She shouldn't be," Ponyboy mumbled, obviously in a bad mood.
"Look, Pony," Cassandra sighed " I don't get what the big deal is. You always tell me he's a good guy. You told me he was loyal, remember?"
"Yea, but he didn't want to date you then." Ponyboy crossed his arms "He's not your type. Dally doesn't want a long-term relationship, he wants a good.." Ponyboy trailed off, his ears getting red.
A knock sounded at the door and Cassandra sat up straighter. Soda took notice of this and grinned.
"Don't get too excited, Red," Soda grinned like the cat that ate the canary. "That's just Steve comin' to pick me up. Have a goood time," Soda waggled his eyebrows, receiving a dark look from Ponyboy.
"Look, Pony," Cassandra started, softly. "I'm not that kind of girl, I'm not going to do anything like, well, that, with Dally at this stage of the game."
Ponyboy didn't reply, instead he took a interest in his homework.
Cassandra sat back with a sigh. She considered Ponyboy a good friend and hated to see him all pouty and angry, but he just didn't understand. Cassandra wished she could talk to Angela, but the call would be long distance and she knew her parents wouldn't be able to afford it-- she didn't want to put any unnecessary strain on her parents who already worked all week long. A car horn honked, breaking Cassandra from her thoughts. Ponyboy looked out the living room window and Cassandra could tell by the narrowing of his eyes that it was Dallas. Cassandra got up, smiling hesitantly at Ponyboy.
"Have a good time," Ponyboy mumbled sarcastically, turning back to his homework.