Disclaimer: I don't own The Outsiders
A/N: Thank you again to all my reviewers, and I'm going to miss you Chelsey! August is like an eternity away when it comes to updating. I'll live though. I'll do it for Johnny! Haha, sorry, corny joke. On with the 11th chapter.
Annie was secretly frightened at the sudden statement Dallas just made. Where was he taking her? A guy like him could have anywhere in mind. He was dangerously unpredictable. Sure, he was attractive, but she didn't regret turning him down for Johnny.
"Where are you taking me?" she didn't intend on sounding as scared as she did.
"Calm down, doll face. I'm not gonna hurt you or your baby."
"Then tell me where you're taking me!" she yelled impatiently.
"I'm taking you to a friend's place. You can stay there for the night if they let you," he said calmly, but pulling her along with such force he must've had some hidden anger.
"Why do you care what happens to me? I turned you down for Johnny. I thought you'd be pissed," she said, squinting suspiciously.
"I never said I wasn't pissed, and I don't care what happens to you," he responded.
She just rolled her eyes and let him pull her along to a really nice, red car. She'd never been in a car as nice as this one, and not nearly as close. The closest was when she was passed or was passing one going down the street. She sat stiffly in the passenger seat in fear of embarrassing herself by messing something up in this nice car. She didn't doubt the car didn't belong to him. Dallas Winston should never be allowed a car of his own. God knows the first thing he'd do is go down to some high stakes drag race and trash the thing.
He drove like a fiend an staying still wasn't easy if she wanted to prevent being thrown from the car like a rag doll. She should've known his driving character would match his real personality. She glared at him as she gripped the car door and the seat tightly. He didn't seem to notice his passenger's uneasiness. If he did, he didn't give a damn.
They finally skidded to a stop in front of a pretty run down looking house. It belonged in this neighborhood because the neighboring houses resembled this one. Down the street there were the sounds of a dog barking and nerve snapping yelling. The house they pulled up to had a scraggly front yard, surrounded by a rusty chain link fence. From outside she could already hear loud music an male rough housing. The only cars in front of this residence were a clanky, old Ford pickup and an old, just as noisy looking, buggy. Anyone with a brain stem could tell that the people who lived around these parts weren't rich.
Dallas got out and made Annie follow him up to the front door of the house, her clothes and earnings in her arms.
From the doorway she could identify a few more details. Like the smell. It was repulsive, but it could've been worse. It was of sweat, booze, and cigarette smoke. The only scent bearable she could identify was the aroma of something chocolaty. Maybe brownies.
Dallas pushed open the door. He must be well-known here if he could just waltz right in unannounced. Inside, as she expected, was full of adolescent boys. Annie didn't expect to recognize any of them like she did. How stupid. She forgot Johnny was good friends with him.
"Annie!" Johnny jumped up and hugged her despite the strange looks she was already getting. When he pulled away all the boys adopted a knowing smile. Johnny turned pink and looked at his feet. Annie didn't know what he was so embarrassed about. It's not like he shoved his tongue down her throat as a greeting (as much as she might have wanted that.)
"Hi, Johnny," he laughed. She'd seen him smile before, but his face never lit up like that when they saw each other at the corner store. It made her stomach do several happy back flips.
"So this is Johnny's mystery girl," one of the boys with a stocky build and prominent, rusty sideburns, said. He had a wide smile on his face, and he held out his had that was unoccupied by a beer. She shook it returning his smile politely. "Our Johnny's been talkin' 'bout you for a couple weeks now. Nice to finally meet you."
"Johnny's told me about some of his friends. Which one might you be?"
"Two-Bit," he replied, bowing. Annie laughed at this. She'd never been bowed at, nor id she think she was in sort of position for it.
"I should've known." She happened to glance over at the couch where she saw another boy she recognized. "Hey, I've seen you at the drug store before. I didn't catch your name. What was it again?"
"Ponyboy," he mumbled shyly. Annie resisted the urge to go "awwww." She couldn't help it. She though shy boys were adorable. She also resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow at his name. It would've been impolite so she just stuck with the formal, "Nice to see you." He blushed and nodded a little
There were a couple others who stuck to a polite hello. One was Sodapop, he was Ponyboy's brother and quite attractive. She didn't think any more of him than that; a pretty face. Then there was his buddy, Steve. He wasn't one of the more interesting. Then there was Darry. He was the eldest brother of Pony and Soda, and by far the most mature. He kind of scared her so she kept a safe distance.
She could definitely deal with staying here for a night, especially since Johnny was also going to be spending the night.