Disclaimer: The Outsiders- always been my favorite book, but do I own it? Nope. I'm okay with that, though, because I own Maggie and Karen and Elizabeth and all those happy people!

Chapter Ten- No More Interruptions

Cherry bit her lip as she stared at the bare walls around her. She had never been anywhere like this before, and honestly, she felt quite awkward. Reason number one being that she was sitting on a bar stool in a gold gown. Reason number two was that she was a Soc, and everyone around her could tell. Beside her, Ponyboy was talking to a thin man wearing leather pants and a leather jacket. Cherry's heart began beating faster and faster as music continued to play in the background. She only tapped her fingers on the bar and chewed on her lip.

"Can I get you something?" Cherry looked up, shocked. In front of her stood the bar tender, a cigar in his mouth.

"No, thanks. I'm fine," Cherry said quietly. The last thing she needed was to leave this place drunk. Cherry looked up at the clock above the bar tenders head. It said 10:46, the dance was well over by now. Marcia and Maggie were probably looking for her, or at least Maggie was considering Marcia was too drunk to find the doorway when she had left.

"You look like you need something strong." Cherry looked back down from the clock to see the bar tender still standing over her. Cherry shook her head and sighed.

"No, really, I'm fine." She tried her best not to sound irritated, but it was hard to hide the tone of her voice.

"Well then do you want to talk about it?" Cherry narrowed her eyes at the man still leaning on the bar in front of her.

"Excuse me?" Cherry said sitting up straight. The man just leaned over closer to her.

"A girl like you doesn't just get all dressed up to come to a bar. Did you get dumped?" Cherry blinked with amazement. This man was prying into her life like she was some emotionally disturbed hooker. Cherry shook her head and stood up.

"I think that guy over there needs another beer," Cherry said as she grabbed her tiara off of the bar and walked over to Ponyboy's side. She pretended to pay attention to their conversation, but she had no idea who or what they were talking about. She sighed again and looked around the room. There were about twenty people dancing in the middle of the floor, while several wasted men lined the outside walls. Cherry spotted a girl leaning against a wall very near to where Cherry stood. She had on a tan jacket and jeans with brown hair that fell in soft waves around her face. She looked as though she was having just as bad of a time as Cherry was. For a minute, she wanted to go over and talk to her, but decided against it considering she wasn't very well liked in this part of town.

"So, having fun?" Ponyboy asked as he tapped Cherry on the shoulder. She spun around to see him holding a beer and an old magazine. Cherry nodded and forced a smile.

"Won't Darry be mad if he finds out you were here?" She needed some excuse to get out of there, and that was the first thing that popped in her head.

Ponyboy shook his head, "No, he doesn't care, as long as I don't come home drunk." Cherry nodded understandingly and then excused herself to go to the bathroom. She fought her way through about four couples lining the hallway, and one passed out man laying across the doorway to the bathroom. She quickly closed the door behind her and switched on the light. She stared at her reflection in the mirror. At one point that night, she looked gorgeous, now she was missing an earring, one of her heels were loose on her shoe, and her hair flopped in tangles around her face.

"Can you hurry up in there? I'm gonna be sick!" Cherry rolled her eyes as she heard a voice from the outside, followed by a loud knocking. She quickly opened the door and moved out of the way as a blonde girl in a long shirt (and that's all) ran past her.

Cherry walked back through the couples clawing at each other and over to where Ponyboy was now sitting with Dally at the bar. Cherry sighed and smiled, happy to see that Dally was back. He'd taken Cherry's two bouquets of roses to Ponyboy's house, along with her jacket.

"Hey," she said quietly as she walked up behind them. Dally turned around and smiled. Ponyboy had a cigarette in his mouth and was talking to the bar tender. Cherry couldn't help but notice how many people he seemed to know.

"Hi," Dally's eyes met hers and she forced herself to turn away. Dally stood up, allowing Cherry to take his seat while he stood behind her. Cherry turned to the bar tender, who was still talking to Ponyboy, and pounded on the counter top.

"I want a beer, please," she said loudly enough for him to hear her. The bar tender turned to her, startled.

"Now, the little princess is drinking something. Glad to see you cheered up!" He turned away, moments later coming back with a two glasses of beer. He slid one to Ponyboy and placed the other in front of Cherry. Then he looked up at Dally and smiled. "But I would cheer up too if I spent a night with Dallas Winston" The bar tender winked at Cherry and then turned away again.

"Oh, no, we're not- it's not like- we're just-" Cherry struggled for words to describe exactly what her and Dally were. Dally leaned in between Ponyboy and Cherry and waited for the bar tender to turn around again.

"Let's just say it's not the kind of relationship you'd expect." Dally's eyes sparkled and Cherry could tell that he meant what he said. She could tell that he was going to treat her differently than any other girl.

The bar tender only nodded and smiled. Dally turned to Cherry and smiled, causing Cherry to smile too. She felt like she was flying, she always felt that way when Dally smiled at her. Dally locked his eyes on Cherry's and began to lean in. Cherry bit her lip nervously as he got closer, until finally she closed her eyes and prepared herself for the kiss of a lifetime.

"Dally, get over here man!" Cherry's eyes snapped open as Dally pulled back, his eyes still searching Cherry's. She sighed and stuck her finger in her glass, swirling it around a few times before putting it to her lips.

"Yeah, I'm coming." Dally stood up and walked over to a group of guys in a corner. Ponyboy stared at Cherry as she continued mixing her drink with her finger.

"You two are hopeless." Cherry didn't look at him, only shrugged. Ponyboy stood up and began to walk toward the door. "I'm gonna go home. Good luck." Cherry waved lightly and then turned her attention back to her drink. Why did Dally make her feel things she didn't even know she could feel? She got so nervous around her, so excited. But at the same time, she felt scared and confused. She couldn't understand why so many emotions existed in only one relationship. If that's what you want to call it.

"So, you're Dally's new broad, huh?" Cherry turned around as a boy about Ponyboy's age sat down next to her. Cherry shrugged, but then heard another voice behind her.

"Good luck, he doesn't keep girls very long." A girl maybe a little younger than Dally sat down on the other side of her. Cherry smiled politely and then opened her mouth to say something when the guy started to speak again.

"Yeah, he'll have a new you by tomorrow." The guy was now holding a drink that looked like a Coke, but Cherry wasn't sure. She held her hand up to silence the two people.

"No, no, I'm not his new girl, we're not anything, really." She turned to look at the girl who was twirling around on the bar stool.

"Oh, well that's too bad. You'd be the first girl he's picked up to be her school's Homecoming Queen." The girl stopped her stool to face Cherry when she finished the last part.

"How'd you know?" Cherry asked, studying the girl carefully.

"I go to your school, you're Cherry Valance." Cherry nodded and smiled. "I'm Karessa James, I'm a senior." Karessa held out her hand, and Cherry shook it happily. "That's my brother Moody. Actually, his name's Jack, but everyone calls him Moody. You can probably guess why." Both girls laughed as Karessa finished her sentence. Cherry turned around as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Cherry, we better go." Dally stared at Karessa as he spoke. "Karessa, what are you doing here?" Cherry stood up and began walking toward the door, but stopped as Karessa began to speak.

"I needed a place to hang for the night. Is that a crime, Dallas?" Dally shook his head and then leaned down to whisper something to her that Cherry couldn't hear. But by the look on Karessa's face when Dally walked away, she knew that it had to have been something harsh.

"Uh, it was nice meeting you two," Cherry said as Dally walked past her. Jack didn't seem to notice Cherry had even stood up, and Karessa waved silently as she stared after Dally. Cherry quickly turned and ran after Dally who was walking quickly through the parking lot.

"Dally!" she shouted. Dally stopped and turned around to wait for her. "What's up with that girl, how do you know her?" Cherry asked as she reached him. He shrugged and turned around to walk again, this time slower.

There was a long pause before he spoke, and Cherry could tell that he was thinking hard about his answer.

"I guess you could say she's the greaser gossip queen. Only she never spreads rumors that are true, and most of them are about me." Cherry looked at Dally as they walked, hoping that he would tell her more about Karessa. Dally didn't say anything more, though. He just stared straight ahead as the two walked underneath the street lights.

"Maybe she likes you." Cherry said quietly after a few minutes.

"Huh?" Dally turned to look at Cherry, who was casually looking at the ground.

"Maybe Karessa likes you. Some girls act like that when they like boys." Dally shrugged and then stopped. Cherry kept walking, but when she realized Dally wasn't behind her, she turned around to look at him. He was looking up at the sky, still thinking. He looked back at Cherry and then walked slowly up to her. She smiled, thinking he was going to tell her more, but instead he took her hand and led her into the middle of the road. "What are you doing?" Cherry laughed as they stopped in the center of the road. Dally looked back up at the sky.

"See that star right there?" he asked. Cherry looked up to where he was pointing and nodded.

"Yeah."

"Make a wish." Cherry looked at Dally shocked.

"What?"

"Just do it." His voice was soft, and Cherry did as she was told. When she opened her eyes, Dally was looking at her intently. "What'd you wish for?" he asked quietly, walking closer to Cherry.

"If I tell you, it won't come true!" She said, giggling. Dally smiled as she started to laugh.

"You know what I wished for?" Cherry stopped laughing and looked at him expectantly. She didn't know what made Dallas Winston act this way, but she liked it.

"What?" He was so close to her now, and she took a deep breath.

"No more interruptions." Cherry smiled and then closed her eyes as Dally leaned in further. This time, Cherry was ready. And the minute their lips met, all the feelings she was so unsure about made complete sense. No one in the world could change the way she felt about Dally. She was hiding from her heart for so long, but now she felt like this was exactly where she was supposed to be. She imagined her life as a movie, again. A movie with a happy ending, where two young lovers were standing in the middle of a road, kissing under the streetlights. All she needed to worry about was the present, not the past or the future. For once, she just needed to live for the moment.

You know what? Double digits, baby! Chapter ten, woot! haha. I love this chapter, and I definately think you need to love it too. It's long, and juicy. I think you guys need to tell me what you think, and give me some ideas for chapters to come. I have plenty of ideas, but more would help!