Hello my lovelies! I'm sorry if the last chapter was boring because of the flashback… I just thought you should learn a bit about her past, and Michael, the locket, and her mother… but this chapter will me so much more interesting, I promise!
IMPORANT: This will be my last update until… probably Friday… sorry, I have mid-terms all this week, and I have to study! School before stories, hope this chapter will keep you on your toes though!
~Missy
I sat up holding my head, trying to focus. I couldn't really see because my hair was all messed up and on my eyes… OH SHOOT! My hair! I looked around, spotting the blue cap on the coffee table beside me. I sighed placing it on my head, and froze. Coffee table? Where was I? I looked around, seeing that I was sitting on a loveseat in a small living room with cream colored walls. I tried to stand up, but my legs were too weak to move. I flopped back down on the couch, which hurt my already injured side.
I had no idea where I was, definitely not in the Curtis's home, but I didn't recognize this place.
"Oh, you're awake! You scared me to death!" said an elderly man around the age of fifty. I scooted back to the corner of the couch, afraid of him.
"Who are you?" I asked, my voice trembling. He smiled at me, holding a tray with tea and cookies.
"Mr. Blenton, now mind telling me who you are young lady?" he asked. Young lady? He must've known I was a girl….. But how?
"Alex… how do you know I'm a girl?" I asked, curious. He laughed,
"I have a daughter, and my late wife was a girl too… so I've been surrounded by them my whole life, I think I can notice a girl when I see one." he said. A late wife…
"Oh I'm sorry…" I whispered. He shook his head,
"No, it's alright Alex. But are you OK?" he said, with a hint of concern in his voice. What did he mean by OK?
"Why wouldn't I be?" I said. He looked at me with his brown eyes,
"Honey when I found you, you were bleeding from your head and had so many bruises on your skin, you looked like a zebra!" he said. Bleeding? I touched my forehead, and felt sticky, dried blood.
"What happened?" I said stupidly. He raised a white eyebrow,
"Mind telling me?" he asked. Of course I knew what had happened, Michael had pounded my head into the ground, and wrestled me for my locket… my LOCKET! I looked down, seeing nothing, and felt like crying, I had lost the last piece of love my parents ever had!
"My…my locket!" I cried. Mr. Blenton looked at me worried,
"Calm down child! Is this it?" he said, pulling out a silver necklace from his pocket. I gasped,
"Yes! Thank you!" I said happily, putting it on my neck. He smiled,
"Now that you have your locket, can you please tell me what happened?" he asked. I didn't know what to say, or where to begin. He knew I was a girl, so I couldn't lie, but at the same time I was just tired of all the lies. Tired of it all, tired of life. I looked up at him again, sighing,
"It's a long story…" I warned. He picked up a cup of tea, and handed it to me,
"I got time." he said, smiling.
"Well, it all started four years ago…" I started.
By the time I was wrapping up my story, I had eaten nine cookies, and drunk two cups of tea. Mr. Blenton hadn't interrupted once, just nodded his head here and there, and sipped his tea.
"And Michael went crazy and pulled a gun on me! And that pretty much brings me here… somehow, but I don't know how…" I finished. Mr. Blenton bit into a sugar cookie,
"Well Alex, I must say, you've gotten yourself into quite a pickle. But I was walking when I found you in the empty lot. I didn't know if I should've taken you to the hospital or not, but I figure to wait until you came around…" he said, explaining how I got here. I smiled,
"Thanks for not taking me to the hospital, I would hate for the Curtis's to find out… wait what time is it?" I asked worried. Mr. Blenton checked his watch,
"Hmm, it's almost eight thirty, why?" he said. I jumped up, crumbs falling on the wooden floor.
"Eight thirty! Shoot! I've been missing for almost three hours! I have to get going!" I said, looking around for a door. Mr. Blenton put his hand on my shoulder,
"Relax Alex. I can give you a ride, but you can't go out with blood all over your clothes, if you want to keep this boy charade up." he said. I looked down at my blue hoody, it was soaked in my blood, and I was worried about dying because of lack of blood.
"Oh… You're right… I don't suppose you have clothes to fit me?" I asked, sheepishly. He laughed,
"No, I don't. But my daughter does, go check in her room, she should have something." he said, pointing to a door, down a hallway. I smiled at him, and hurried into the room.
The moment I turned the lights on, I knew I would have trouble finding unisexual clothes. Her room was painted pink, with flowers and hearts. She had a pink canopy on her pink bed. God, I hate pink. I shivered, and opened one of her chipped, white drawers and blushed. It was her underwear and bra drawer. I felt like a creep going through her stuff and invading her privacy. I opened another one, which held dozens of pink shirt and sweaters. The next had jeans and skirts, which could work.
After I had scavenged through her pink wardrobe, I finally found a light blue t-shirt, and dark blue sweater, and jeans. Perfect. While searching, I also found a skin tone camisole, which I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I 'borrowed', besides I really wanted to see my figure at home with a camisole (even if I have my black one). I changed quickly, not getting a chance to see how bad I looked in a mirror (Partially because I was scared stiff of my reflection, but also because I told Ponyboy I would be home by seven). Mr. Blenton was waiting patiently in his black Ford as I hopped in.
"OK little lady, where do 'ya live?" he said, cheerfully. I felt a chill go down my spine, I didn't know where the Curtis's lived…
"Uh, I don't know their address, but they live close to the lot, so if you could drop me off by there…" I said. He looked unsure,
"Well, just as long as you run home. I would hate for you to get hurt again, oh by the way, are you sure I shouldn't take you to the hospital?" he asked. I shook my head,
"No, please don't, I explained to you my situation…" I reminded to him. He nodded, and started driving.
I didn't really know what to talk to him about, since he was a complete stranger. But I remembered his daughter's room, all pink like a princess. She must be little… but he's so old,
"So how old is your daughter? Six, seven?" I asked, which was stupid. Why would a six year old have so many bras? He laughed,
"I wish! No, she twenty three, married, and expecting her first child…" he said, quietly. Married and pregnant? At twenty three? Must be hard.
"Oh, how… exciting." I tried. He shrugged,
"It would be, but my little baby is up north now, and I never see her. After her mother died, she just… detached herself from me… It was like she died too." he said sadly. Oh, how depressing! I had been rambling about my own problems, without once worrying about this kind mans.
"Hey… now that you know I'm wanted for half a million, why don't you just turn me in now?" I asked. He smiled as he drove,
"Because I'm a father. No amount of money matters more than my daughter, but I know I much rather have her come back on her own, then have some random stranger out looking for her, and force her back to a place where she's miserable. And what am I going to do with all that money anyways? My wife is dead, I can't have anymore kids, and my only daughter doesn't even want to speak with me. I have no use for that money… but I wouldn't mind a mustang. And from your explanation of the 'Punee' and 'Trisha', I'm not cruel enough to bring you back to that. If Trisha was my wife, I'd be glad to be locked up in the Punee, no offense." he joked. I smiled, what he had said had touched my heart.
"So I'm guessing you want me to tell the guys I'm not really a boy…" I said to him, as he stopped at the lot. He looked at me in the eyes,
"No Alex, I would never. You're a young lady, and I can't make decisions for you, this one's all on you. If you want to tell them, then good, if not, then good too. Well, we're here." he said, smiling. I looked at my lap,
"I'll tell them tonight." I said finally. He looked at me,
"No, don't, you're not ready. You've been through too much for one day, you need time to think this through, think of what to say, and how to approach it. Sleep on it tonight, and tell them tomorrow." he said. That was a pretty good plan, and I wasn't sure if I could do it, but I knew I needed to try. I opened the door,
"Thanks , for everything, really…You helped me figure out an issue, so thanks." I said, smiling. He smiled back at me,
"No problem honey, just do what's right." he said. I was about to shut the door, when something came to mind,
"Wait… what happened to Michael?" I asked. Mr. Blenton looked up at me,
"Who? Oh you mean the 'Boy Toy'?" he said laughing. I wasn't.
"Yeah, he was the one who attacked me…" I said. Mr. Blenton shook his head,
"I didn't see anyone other than you here." he said. I gulped, he was still out there, and probably had told my dad that I was kidnapped by the gang, now I had bigger problems.
Once I opened the door to the Curtis household, I was hoping no one was home yet. God must not be to pleased with me for lying about my gender, because when I opened the door, not only were Ponyboy, Darry, and Sodapop awake, but the whole gang was there too! I took a deep breath, maybe I should just tell them now, I thought. But the moment I stepped inside, I knew it was a bad time, because Steve was bleeding on the couch. "What happened?" I gasped, coming closer, seeing his arm wrapped in bandages.
"What does it look like? A bunch of Socs tried to jump me!" he snapped. I frowned, I just wanted to know… I noticed Sabrina and Jeanette were there too. Jeanette looked like she was about to cry, which was strange since she had a thing for Dally. Sabrina, however, looked like she could care less if he was dying or not.
"I thought after the rumble, they would leave us alone, obviously not." Dally said. I saw Jeanette blush, I felt sorry for her, Dallas Winston didn't even see her. Sabrina looked at Dally when he said rumble,
"Ya'll had a rumble? 'Bout time! I need some action! Lets have another!" she suggested. Dally smirked at her,
"Now that's what I'm talkin' about, teach those Socs who their dealing with!" he agreed. Jeanette and Steve frowned at Sabrina and Dally who seemed to be tossing in ideas for a fight or ambush or something.
"Fights aren't a good idea, but after what they did to me, Sabrina, Johnny, Ponyboy, and Alex… it might be the only way." Jeanette said. Dally, Soda, and Darry seemed to come to life,
"What do you mean by 'what they did', we didn't hear of any of this… Ponyboy?" Darry said, suspicious. Shoot! I forgot to tell Sabrina and Jeanette to keep their traps shut! Ponyboy looked at me for help, and at the same time, everyone else became aware of my presence.
"Hey Alex, where ya' been?" Sodapop asked, next to a glaring Steve.
"Uh, places…" I trailed, debating on whether or not it mattered to keep my voice low, since I was telling them tomorrow.
I saw Sabrina turn away from Dally with a wicked smile,
"Oooh, did you go see your little girlie-friend?" she said. I blushed, I can't even have a boyfriend!
"If Johnny can't get a girlfriend, I doubt Alex can." Two-Bit joked. Dally smacked him on the back of his head, and Johnny simply smiled at me. I had forgotten about the stabbing, even though it was an accident, I still couldn't find the strength to look at him.
"I don't know… Alex and I have hooked up in the past, if you know what I mean." Sabrina winked at me. I felt my cheeks redden, as all the guys stared at me. What was she doing? Giving Steve more reason to hate me?
"No… no she's just k-kidding." I stuttered, laughing oddly. Sabrina glided on the floor, and hugged my shoulders,
"Don't act like you didn't like it." she said. Oh my… What is she talking about! I'm a girl! Well… not that she knows of. All of a sudden, Sabrina froze, and touched my back, and looked at her hands,
"Are you…wet?" she said, examining her hands, as she rubbed her thumb against her thin fingers. Was the blood seeping through my clothes? I didn't know,
"Oh, yeah… I fell into a puddle…" I said, nervously. She pulled away and gave me an unconvincing look,
"You fell in a puddle?" she repeated. I then realized how stupid it sounded, as I imagined myself falling backwards into a small puddle.
"Uh, sure?" I said. She looked at me for a second, and rolled her eyes,
"Fine, don't tell me what happened. I'm going to get some Coke, wanna come Dally?" she said, winking at him. He got up and followed her. I saw Steve and Jeanette fuming in the couch, glaring at them. As soon as they were out of sight, Steve jumped up, holding his injured arm, and shouted to Jeanette,
"Control your man!" Jeanette glared at him, and stood up too,
"Control your woman!" she hissed back.
"She's your friend!" Steve said, as Soda tried to get him to sit back down… how sweet.
"So? Dallas is your friend! There's nothing you or I can do to stop them! So I suggest you sit your behind back on that chair, and shut up so I can finish fixin' your arm!" Jeanette spat. Everyone stared wide eyed at her, everyone but Steve. He glared down at her, but the small sixteen year old held her place, not evening batting an eye. Steve finally took a deep breath, and sat back down, and let Jeanette finish wrapping his arm. I felt odd just standing at the doorway, so I took a seat next to Ponyboy. He was talking to Johnny about what Jeanette had said, never knew boys gossiped.
"Hi…" I said weakly. Johnny smiled at me, but Ponyboy frowned,
"Where have you been?" he whispered. I made sure no one was paying any attention,
"Out, sorry, did you eat dinner?" I said, trying to change the subject. Ponyboy wasn't satisfied with that answer,
"For three hours?" he said. I shrugged,
"Lots of things to take care of…" I mumbled. I hadn't noticed that Johnny was staring so closely to my face, and when I did, I blushed -stupidly.
"What happened… to your face I mean. You have a lot of cuts and bruises… and blood." he said softly. I stiffed, what should I say? I guess I could tell the truth now, since I was going to anyways. But with Steve injured, the last thing they needed is me jumping up and saying 'Hey! I'm a girl!'.
"When I fell in the puddle… the Earth, like hit my head, and face area…." I lied. But that didn't even count as a lie, since it was so stupid. Johnny raised an eyebrow, which I could hardly see with his bangs. Before he could ask anymore, Dally came back with his arm around a laughing Sabrina. Never underestimate the power of Coke. Jeanette glared down at her white jacket with pink lace, biting her lip.
"Alex, did you already eat with Ponyboy? He said you made dinner, then left to pick something up." Darry asked me. I didn't make dinner… I shot a glance at Ponyboy, and he had a look in his eyes that said 'You owe me'. I looked back up at Darry,
"Uh, yeah, thanks for asking…" was thanking people to 'girlish'? Maybe, but I shouldn't care, because tomorrow they would know. I saw the conversation switch from insulting the Socs who had jumped Steve, to making plans for a rumble.
"If I can get a hold of one of their club leaders or something, we could make arrangements." Dally said smiling. I feel bad for the guy Dally was making 'arrangements' with. And I bet his arrangements involved rearranging his face.
"I can lure them to the park, and we can corner them there!" Sabrina suggested clapping her hands. Jeanette played with her blonde hair, hating not having anything in common with Dally. I yawned, not from boredom, but from exhaustion. After the beating with Michael, I was sore to the core, and desperately wished I was home, safe in my warm bed.
"Well I'm going to bed," I said standing up. Soda looked away from Steve, and up at me,
"Are you sure? It's only nine…" he said. Only? I'm usually asleep by eight!
"Yeah, I don't feel to hot." I said, which really wasn't a lie. No one else seemed to care, but Ponyboy did look a bit suspicious. I shrugged it off, it didn't matter to me if he thought I was hiding something or not, he would know tomorrow.
I went to the bathroom, and looked at myself. Glory, did I look awful (and I mean more than usual). My face was bruised and cut up, and my forehead had dried blood all across. My hands and arms were covered in blue and purple blotches, like stripes. I really did resemble a zebra. I wondered why no one but Johnny seemed to wonder about my appearance. Maybe no else cared, or noticed, which seemed hard to believe.
I was too tired to shower, so I washed my face, removing all traces of blood and dirt, and hurried to my (Ponyboy and Sodapop's) room to change. I closed the door quietly and removed my blue cap, letting my messy hair fall out. I ran my fingers through my hair, feeling the dirt and dust in it. I would have to wash it later for sure. I sighed, and sat on the edge of the bed, removing Mr. Blenton's daughter's clothes (all except the camisole and my underwear of course, I'm not going to sit naked on their bed!). I shook my hair around, and looked down at my skin. I was a mess.
It reminded myself of a wild child living in the forest (with half a set of boobs), all alone in the world, with no family, just lost. I stood up and started pacing across their floor, thinking of what to say tomorrow. Maybe I could make breakfast, sit the Curtis's down, and remove my hat and explain. They might be more understanding than the gang. But I would hate to have to explain it twice… Oh what should I do! I closed my eyes, aggravated, I couldn't do this.
But I hadn't realized the door had opened, and when I did, it was because someone had gasped. He stood there staring at me, mouth agate, wide eyed, as he took in my appearance. God had invented locks for a reason, and I had forgotten to use it. But it was too late now, because he knew I was a girl.
Hahaha your wishes have been granted! Someone finally found out that Alex is a girl… but who? As I said, I won't be able to update all week, so hope this gets you excited! Also, I want to give credit to togssg16 for coming up with the middle class man finding her! If you have any ideas, feel free to tell me, who knows…. I might just use them… Review!
P.S Remember my poem? The last word was 'Believe' right? Look at the chapter name. Told you to read EVERYTHING I write!
