Long Past Dawn
I know I have to get out, but where do I go? I hear sirens screaming in the distance as I race to the park. " He's just a kid! Don't shoot, it's not loaded! Please!" Two screams. Pony puts himself between the cops and Dallas and stands his ground.
Four Months Later, Present Day.
Ch.1: The First Fight.
As I sit on Darry's messy, crummy couch that seemed to have not been cleaned for years, I look outside to see the Socs and the Greaser's fighting in the lot. I can tell a rumble is about to break out. I sigh, knowing we have it easy, as a smirk crosses my face. We beat them last time, so why couldn't we do it again?
"Hey Roni, mind helping me out?", Pony calls from the kitchen. Right as I finish up helping Ponyboy put dinner away, Steve comes in and helps himself to a cupcake. Steve is Soda's best friend and has been since grade school. He's followed by Darry who ruffles Ponyboy's hair with a grin on his face. Darry is the oldest out of the Curtis siblings, and took custody after their parents died.
"I wouldn't do that Stevie, you might lose it later tonight.", Darry warns him with a sound in his voice that lets him know to put the cupcake down, but he takes a bite anyway. Sure enough, an hour later I hear the sound of Steve throwing up in the bathroom behind me. We were all headed over to the lot for our fight. Dally slings an arm across my neck and kisses my cheek. NO, we are NOT together. He's my cousin, and we moved here with his parents.
Tim and his gang join ours and Curly and Pony strike up a conversation about some Soc girls. We're about an hour in when I glance to my left and see a Soc kick Steve down to the ground beside me , and I grimace. That's gonna be a lovely bruise; Well at least Tim agreed to help, I think bitterly as I flip someone over my shoulder and onto the ground, hearing a sickening crack. Pretty soon, it starts getting really intense. It gets so bad I end up chasing one of them around the entire lot, when BAM! I momentarily gasp, before I see him. A man standing before me. We glared at one another for a split second that felt like an eternity, before I scramble up to kick him.
"RONI!", I hear Soda and duck a punch before returning to the rest of the gang. But, the Soc I kicked down had gotten up even though he had a huge bruise on his face. He began to chase me and I lead him on, before returning to beating him up even more. Suddenly, a rough set of hands begin to drag me away, and he runs off. Curly tells Dally and they go after him. I was too focused on fending off my attacker, a brunette with hard muscles and a sneer, not to mention terrifying eyes, when Dallas and the rest of the gang showed up.
" Get away from her!", Dally says, with a wrenched sound in his words. The Soc runs as soon as Two pulls out his shiny black blade that still has blood on it from the last battle. He and Johnny help me up off the grass.
" You okay, girly? ya sure got beat tonight that's for sure.", Tim says as he and his gang walk over. I nod, giving a smile that is not so sincere. Pony grins and pulls me along to where Darry and Curly are. They look at me and nod, clearly not believing a word. Dallas and I are the real fighters in the gang, and Tim saw that as soon as I showed up in Tulsa. We walk back to the house all together. We clearly had them beat by a long shot.
I plop down on the curb and massage my sore cheek, wincing slightly. Damn, who knew I would end up here fighting people for fun. I begin to think back to my family back in my hometown and sigh slightly in annoyance when I notice a sore tooth.
Flashback:
"NO! You can't take them! Please, they are all I have left! I need my daughter back!", Mom screamed and begged, but dad just stood there, not a word being said.
"Goodbye, Marie". The last thing I saw was my mom's sad face as the door slammed and I was led down the steps by an officer. Dally and I would be going to a foster home. No more parents, no more homes. That's what Dallas had told me as we ran away.
I guess that's what made us like that. Dally had been arrested at ten, and I was the one to get him out. We stuck together, we lived and did everything with one another, and I guess that's why Dal was so protective of me. He cared about Johnny and me. Johnny... If you can picture a dark puppy that's been kicked one too many times, you've got him perfectly. He's one of the kindest people I've met and one of the toughest kids around. We're his family now. That night, I lay in bed next to Dal and go over what happened, too tired to think, I drift off. Ch. 2: The Bad Dare.
It's been two weeks since the rumble and we're all sitting in the lot, drinks in hand from the D.X. I hear Johnny ask if anyone wanted to play truth or dare to kill some time. We all nod, and I glance sideways, smiling at him.
"Okay Dal, truth or dare", Pony asks him, smirking slightly. It takes Dally a minute, but he says dare.
"I dare you to kiss Cherry Valance!", He says. Two seconds later, the reply of
"B.S Ponyboy!", Comes from Dallas. I glare at him if only to shut him up.
" Ugh fine I'll do it. But if she gets pissed, I'm sending her to you, Curtis", Dally says and we all break into a fit of laughter.
"Darry, Truth or Dare?", Two asks. He has that look on his face and I know whatever he's thinking is something good.
"Dare", he replied. We all glance at one another. Darry was always one to tell the truths however, so this was a surprise for us.
"Okay I dare you to date Ronica.", Two said, probably not realizing how red we all were. Soon after, Dally gets up and leaves, and I glance after him.
TwoWeeks Later
I go to the lot just to cool off sometimes; usually after a long day's work. It was different this time, probably because I had brought Cherry along after school. Cherry was a good friend of mine, even if she was a Soc. We ended up staying later than expected however, and so I told her about the stars and constellations. She was entranced and sighed as we saw a few shooting stars go by.
We just stayed there as it got darker, when she brought something up.
"Roni? Dallas kissed me the other day… I don't know how to feel because I absolutely hate him", Cherry says with unease. I look over, her fiery hair a halo. I sigh and begin to think about the dare and what happened when Dallas kissed her at school. "Hmm. Why hasn't my mom called yet? She usually gets so worried by now.. Maybe it's because I'm with you and she doesn't think you're part of the gang", Cherry says as she pulls out her phone. I prop up on an elbow and grin at her, thinking about how much her parents really don't know. I tell her she should go if she doesn't want trouble and she agrees. Soon after, I see Johnny and we walk back to the house.
It's wednesday now, and we're all back to more truth or dare.
"Truth or dare, Roni?", Johnny asks me as he slides over to let Soda into the circle.
"Umm, truth I guess. I usually pick a dare though", I reply. Once I get adjusted to the gravel I nod for him to continue.
"Do you like that Soc boy?", he asks and the air goes still as I feel everyone's eyes on me.
"Roni… I mean really?", Darry says, with a look of hurt on his face. Dally swallows hard and Steve looks ready to snap.
"What, really? You actually think I like that loser? Hell NO!" I feel the tension ebb a bit and we sit there in silence for a few more minutes, before the roar of an engine sweeps past us. Johnny gets real tense all of a sudden. Getting beat up and then stabbing Bob made his anxiety worse than ever. We all tense as it pulls up to us and five Soc's get out. One face I recognise is Randy. He was Marcia's boyfriend before she got together with Two. My hand goes to my pocket where my blade rests, and I get ready to run. Dally and I give them a look over before I think about taking on the one in the middle.
He has dirty blond hair, and fierce dark eyes that almost make me wanna punch him then and there, not to mention he's scrawny a.f. The boy to his left is Randy, and the other three I don't recognise, But Two does apparently because a low growl starts.
"Lemme talk to the girl real quick. I wont hurt her, I promise", Randy says. I walk over and my lip curls a bit. We go to his car and he looks me over.
"Look, I just wanted to say that whatever happens, I'm sorry. I know that it was hard this past month..." He trails off, and looks at the sky. I have no idea what he's talking about, but I go along with it anyways.
" Thanks, Randy. Hey, how have you been? I hear school has been rough", I ask. He turns to look at me and I smile a bit. After all, being friends with Marcia means I got to meet Randy, and once you get to know him, he's really sweet. He's about to answer when Two comes up and tells me time's up. I sigh as he leads me back to the gang. The other Soc's are chatting with them, and the blond one is complimenting Ponyboy's still blond hair. The roots are coming back as his natural red brown hair, and I think it looks amazing, but I get the feeling Pony wants to dye it red. At least the blond parts.
Ch.3: Seashells.
The week drags by slowly. As I walk out to where Two said he would pick me up, I hear yelling. My friend Bianca drags me towards the crowd that's gathered around two people. It's no surprise when I see the biggest snob of Tulsa High, Alicia Vanderwall, screaming at her boyfriend. It's the biggest on and off relationship at the school. And guess what, her so-called "boyfriend" is Curly Shepard. Curly absolutely hates her, but really doesn't know how to tell her and to be honest, I feel really bad. I look back and forth for a hot second before she shoves me to the ground
" Look who it is, it's the girl that ruined EVERYTHING! You took away everything I loved, you little cockroach!" Alicia kicked me, and two of her friends dragged me to my feet. I'm being kicked and punched so hard I feel positive I'm dying. " Hey! Get away from her right now, or I will tell our principal and I mean it!" Randy yells running over with the other Soc friends of his. Randy's been helping me lately, and I'm more grateful than ever right now. Alicia is also a Soc, and a complete jerk to us. I could be a Soc, if I really wanted to, but my priorities are with my family and friends. Randy pulls me up and hands me to Ponyboy before going over to Curly. I have to sit down before I actually fall. The principal comes running over not two minutes after, and asks me to explain all the fighting going on, and why Alicia is screaming like a lunatic.
As we all sit to eat dinner at the dingo later that night, Johnny points something out.
" Your shell is missing, where is it?" he asks. I touch my collarbone, and my eyes go wide. The necklace he's talking about belonged to my mother and it's all I have left of her. Alicia must have ripped it off.. I'm gonna kill her next time I see her ugly face. I just want to end her sometimes. As we walk home after ice cream, I look to the sky at the same time Dally does and we smile. It's not a smirk or a tight one, it's a genuine and beautiful smile. I laugh at no one in particular, and suck in a cool breath. We lay down in the cool grass at the park, all gazing at the beauty of the sky up above.
" I missed doing this. You could see it so clear and beautiful in Windrixville.." Pony trails off. Johnny takes his hand and smiles at his boyfriend, who smiles back. Johnny's parents had been arrested after he got out of the hospital for abusing him, and he had come to live with Ponyboy. With his parents in jail, Johnny wasn't as nervous anymore.
I could stay out here all night sometimes if I wanted to. Dal leads me to Buck's place and we chat, about anything and everything.
" Sorry about the necklace... I know it meant a lot to you, so I made one for you. I hope you like it." Dally says.
" It's beautiful, Dally. I love this so much. Thank you" I say and hug him. I hope Alicia doesn't take this too. As I drift off to sleep, I feel Dally wrap his arms around me. As soon as I wake up, I feel his warmth disappear. I sigh and hop in the car to go to school. Alicia is bragging about the fight yesterday, and I sigh and roll my eyes. She eyes the necklace Dally gave me, and I narrow my eyes, clutching it tighter as a low growl escapes me. "Ohh, look who has jewlery now." she sneers and I really wanna hit her. I take my seat for homeroom and glance around. Posters line the walls, and sunlight streams through the blue tinted windows, lighting up the room like an aquarium.
" Please take out your journals, and turn to the next page." Mr. Johnson says. We do as told and begin writing. I look to my schedule and sigh in annoyance.
period: Science
period: Math
period: English
period: Elective 1: Art
period: Lunch
period:Gym
: Elective 2: Biology.
I have only one class with Alicia, and that's Science. I guess I lucked out huh. Steve and I meet up in the hall and I ask him what to do about Alicia. Even though I'm a god fighter, I can't just go up to her. I have a feeling she'd find a way to make things worse for me and my friends, and it's already bad enough. I'm scared of her, and rightfully so. She had a reputation for beating up whoever got in her way, and I had a feeling I was next. I didn't want to just walk up to her, I needed time and a plan. Until then, I'd have to wait and see what happens.
" Just stay as far away as possible from her." was Steve's answer. There wasn't much I could do except stay away anyhow. I slid over to my seat and set up for class. Ms. Jones said that we would begin a group project on the different elements, and that our groups would be assigned as well as our element. In my group I was with Ponyboy, Randy, A girl named Courtny, and Bianca. Our element was The avatar's choice, which meant we had to do a little bit of work for every element. I wasn't mad though, and I got the idea that Bianca was elated to start this. As soon as science was over, it was time to head to math, with our new teacher who's name was Ms. Olivia Hill. We all called her Olive though. She barely gave us any work, and we spent most of class doing what we wanted. When Alicia came over to harass me, Olive told her to stop and she listened. As soon as that class ended, it was off to english. As I was walking in the hall, I noticed a few of the Soc's surrounding me to keep trouble at bay as I walked to class. I thank them and pull up my laptop and begin to edit my slideshow on my summer essay. Mr. T came over to ask how it was coming along and I replied with the usual and filled him in on Alicia. Mr. T used to teach at the preschool down the road, but they tore it down for some reason, so he moved here to teach us instead.
A boy named Gale calls my name as the day drags on in art. I glance over before rolling my eyes at him. He's not a Soc, or a greaser, he's just Gale. Art passes by smoothly as I finish packing away my brushes and dump the water out to clean the pots. As I walk to the cafeteria, I see Ponyboy and Johnny chatting by the stairs. They get up and we walk down the hall. Lockers line the walls, making it narrow and cramped sometimes, except during lunch. As we reach the cafeteria, the smell of cinnamon hits me. A girl is selling cinnabons for a dollar, and boy do they smell amazing. I pay for one and bite into it, the sugar sizzling on my tongue. I take my seat across from Marcia and start on my salad.
" Roni, I have a race later this week and I was wondering if you wanted to come. I can get you in if you'd like." She says and slides me a ticket to her competition. Marcia and Cherry both do barrel racing and it's really fun. I've seen them in action and it's something incredible. Pony takes it and writes down the info in his notebook, probably to ask Darry if I could take him. After the day ends, I wander around until I reach the D.X and head inside for a coke.
" Hey there Roni, what can I getcha?" Steve says, and I grab a coke and pay for it. I head out to see Soda working on a car and call out to him. The girls surrounding him leer at me for a minute before leaving. He's always surrounded, and it's because of his good looks. He's a literal god in every girl's eyes and I just don't know why.
" Soda! How long till you're done? I wanna go to the park!" I tell him and
Sit on the hood as he finishes up. Once he's done, we head to the park and sit in the shade for a bit.
" Hey, Marcia was wondering if I could go to her race on Friday, and if I could take Ponyboy to ride and Johnny to watch with us when we go. Would that be okay with you and Darry?" I ask him and wait. Marcia has dragged me along to every race so far, and I hate to disappoint her now.
" Yeah that sounds like a great idea! I'll be sure to tell him about it at dinner later tonight. Can I come as well? I haven't been in forever." He turns to look at me.
I nod and tell him I would tell her tomorrow. We skip the rest of the day and head back home around four.
" AW COME ON!" comes from inside as we walk in to see the rest of the boys playing mario.
" Mind if I take a spin on the ribbon? I wanna go find M&M." I tell Darry. He flashed me a grin before handing me the keys to his car. M&M was one of my friends for a long time. He wasn't a Soc or a Greaser, he was more of a flower child, and had earned the name baby freak at one of the clubhouses down the way from our neighborhood. He had long black hair, always in a ponytail, and never went anywhere without a pack of candy, hence the name M&M. He wasn't at home a lot, and his dad hated the hair, so he stayed down at the clubhouse a lot, just to get away. I went to see him every once in a while just to check on him.
Ch.4: The Ribbon.
Once I park, I look around and see Marcia and her horse Benny. Benny is a grey dappled race horse, and is very attached to her. He is absolutely adorable too and is the ranch's best horse. The ranch where he is kept and where she races is called Old Pine, and is where Soda's horse Mickey was as well before they sold him. I have to stretch because of how stiff I was that morning, and I realise I should have had Darry help me stretch a bit earlier. I wave to Marcia and she shoots me a grin and a mock salute. I smile and begin walking over, but she tells me not to.
They trot over and she says that Benny needed a walk, so she brought him here. Another horse waits nearby, A beautiful mare by the name of Oakly. She is another dappled with a few markings on her hindquarters. She's the one I ride, and is second to Benny.
She and Benny are siblings, and are both used to race competitively in both derby and barrel. I hop on and we begin our search for M&M.
" Soda was wondering if he could come along to the race, and maybe ride. Darry said it was fine if we took him and Johnny along with us." I say as we head down the beach. It's getting late out, and darker by the second. We turn around and head back the way we came. The ribbon is a long stretch of road lined with drive in's and people from all over come to hang there. We decided to leave a few hours later, and take a trail not used by many, but it got us back to the ranch in time. I stopped to de-tack my horse and put her in the stall, but it took a while, seeing as she was as stubborn as ever today. I eventually got her in with Marcia's help and a bucket of oats, so we hop in the car and start our drive home, seeing the sun set as we pull into the driveway. I trot up the porch steps, and push open the door, Marcia in tow. Darry greets us and Soda gets up to give us space inside the living room. Two kisses Marcia on the cheek and Johnny gives me a hug. Pony turns away slightly, and I thought I saw a scratch but it could have been the lighting too.
After playing a few more rounds of charades and poker at the kitchen table, we all head to sleep. It was late enough that Darry told us to stay for a sleepover. We obliged and got ready to build our forts, planning it out as we changed.
" We're dividing into teams. Team A goes to the left side of the house, and team B gets the right side. You can use anything you want, so long as you put it back." Soda says once we're all assembled in the kitchen.
" Team A is Two, Roni, Pony and I. Team B is Marcia, Darry, Steve, Johnny and Dallas." Our team begins grabbing everything for the bones of the fort from wherever we find them. Duvet covers, sheets and pillows from the beds, And snacks and chairs from the kitchen.
" MOVE!" Comes from the other side of the house as we finish putting together our masterpiece. It was probably Steve which is no surprise as we hear a loud crash and a colorful array of words.
" Hey! We should connect them by a tunnel and make the house into a giant fort!" Pony says as he slips past Darry to grab a cupcake.
We end up destroying the other team and settle down to watch a movie. Johnny and I fall asleep sharing cashews for some reason, and Dal sneaks Pony out around three to go for a drive.
Ch.5: Race To Sunset.
Friday rolls around with speed, and I'm grateful. The first leaf falls outside the class window right as the bell rings. The air is crisp, and the sun shines brighter than ever before on the classroom windows as we prepare to get on the busses, noses pink with cold, and fingers clutching tightly to notebooks and backpacks. Friday rush ensues, with students cramming the halls and trying to all get out at once from every direction. As soon as I spot Pony, I grab him and run to my car. I asked if Soda would take my car for me, because we were all going together anyways. We hop in and set off merrily, rolling out of the campus and onto the street, being careful to not hit any cars.
" You can turn left here and head up the road a little ways." I say as we reach our destination. He parks and allows us to head over to where the riders are tacking up the horses.
" Oakley! You best behave yourself or I'm gonna-" I hear a man say as I walk over.
" Gonna what? Beat my horse?" I say and take the lead from him. I pat her muzzle and smile. I finish up the work of prepping her for the race. First, I take her blanket and slide it into position then lay the saddle on top. I add the breastplate next, to prevent it from sliding off. I attach the stirrups and put on her blinkers, halter and slide the bit into her mouth. I take her over to where everyone else was and hand her to her rider, Diego.
I take my seat next to Soda and Johnny, and the warning bells sound.
"Three, Two, ONE!" the announcer yells. All riders leap into action at the track.
" Rider Valance takes the lead, very closely followed by rider Curtis, ladies and gentleman!" Ponyboy had left us to do a lap or two. He had gotten into riding as soon as Marcia brought it up. Pony weaves in and out between the others, dust flying up from under his horses hooves.
" Come on Ponyboy! You can do this! Beat Cherry out! Lets go!" I scream as he flies past us. Pony's determined to win, and I could have sworn I could read his mind, as if he was saying something.
I have to win this! I have to! Just get past Cherry. Get past her and you can win this! I swerve past the others and fly to the finish line. Just a few more inches come on, don't let me down Reese! I encourage my horse and we kick it into high 'S GO! I fly faster, dust kicking up under my horses hooves. The track tears up beneath me as I go faster and faster, Past Marcia and the others, and finally past Cherry.
Pony flies past everyone else, and is neck and neck with Cherry. Dust is flying up everywhere, dark shapes inside the cloud. A loud whinny rings out and Pony and his horse fly out and over the mark signaling the second lap. Cherry says something and she spurs ahead, trying to beat Ponyboy, but he has too much of a lead on her. Cherry's horse follows Pony's pattern, trying to cut him off. He notices, and I hear him swear under his breath. Cherry looks smug, until Marcia cuts her off, giving Pony headway to fly forwards and complete the lap. The tension is high strung and taut as a wire ready to snap at any second. His face is once again set, and again I thought I could read his mind.
The pounding of hooves is familiar beneath me and I pace my breathing. Come on, come on! Last two laps, and I'll have this in the bag. Cherry is catching up, and I swear and swerve past another rider, getting ahead of them all. Marcia comes up behind me and I smile. She cut Cherry off, giving me the opportunity to get to the finish line. Reese whinys and we shoot out of the dust, leaving the others behind in our tracks. "LAST LAP!" the announcer shouts, and the adrenaline kicks in. We fly forwards and tear through the ending flag, coming to a halt hearing the roar of the ground around us.
"Pony's done it! Did ya see that?! That was amazing!" Johnny and I race over, pulling him and Reese into a hug. He turns away, hiding something it seems but maybe that was my imagination again. The other riders come over to congratulate him and hand him his medals. They tie a first place ribbon onto Reese's mane and give her a treat and water. A groomer comes and takes her to her post to be un tacked and washed down.
The race finished right as the sun finished setting, and the lights above blaze hot and white. Pony has a smug look on his face as we approach the others. Marcia squeals and hugs him and Cherry shakes his hand smiling.
" You put up one hell of a fight back there Ponyboy. I don't know how you did that." Cherry says as we walk to the car. Just wait till Darry Finds out I think. On the way down, I trip on a rock and fall, scraping my knee pretty badly.
" Are you okay, Roni?" Pony asks and pulls me up. I hop back and sit on the hood of the car as Soda looks at the cut.
" You'll be alright. Just watch your step babe." Soda lets me in and I start the engine. On the drive back, we blast music and sing along horribly to whatever comes on. Even the commercials had to be sung along to, according to Two-Bit. It was a ritual of sorts whenever something good happened. We had ended up driving out of the area to go to the race, and when we got back, everyone was waiting inside the house. I turned off the car and headed inside to a loud cheer from the boys. I was surrounded by them as well as cake in under two seconds. Darry scooped me up and brought me to the bar so that I didn't have to walk. I was glad, because hiking up to the track was hard and my feet hurt, not to mention I had tripped on the way to the car and fell pretty hard. I sit down and dig into my slice. Rich and creamy, it melted in my mouth and I shut my eyes. I walk over to the couch, and Two plops down and rests his head on my lap, so I run a hand through his hair taking another bite of cake. We put on a movie, and seeing as it was Friday, we got to stay up as late as we wanted to. Darry and Johnny sit on either side of me and Dal is curled up with his head in my lap. Two and Steve move to the floor with Ponyboy and Soda. They all start laughing when the main character, Sammy, Slips and falls in a puddle.
" What a loser! He could have avoided that!" Pony says as he starts laughing harder than before. I was gasping for breath , and started crying tears of laughter as Two hit Steve in the face with a slice of cake.
" DUDE! What's your problem man!" Steve says and smacks Two in the arm.
The rest of the movie passes in peals of laughter from all of us, and towards the end, Johnny plays a clip of a robot ending itself and being impaled on a tree branch. I was on the floor with Steve and we were crying and laughing even harder than before. Darry was in the kitchen doing the dishes with Pony, when a piece of cheese flew from the other side of the kitchen, landing on his head. Curly was the one who threw it, and he stood in the doorway, laughing his ass off with Soda who tried to walk and tripped over the porch rail landing in the bushes. Two howls with laughter and sinks to the floor, clutching his stomach, and Darry chuckles. I wipe at my eyes and shoot Curly a grin.
Ch. 6: Paper Cuts.
I wake up the next morning, curled against Dally and Steve. I had gone into the kitchen to make breakfast for the boys, When Pony trots down the stairs. He smiles at me, still slightly sleepy from Johnny's warmth, before pouring a glass of juice for himself and sitting at the table.
"What can I get ya Pony?" I ask as I flip the last two pancakes onto a platter.
" I'll take three please, Roni." he responds, as I take the syrup out of the fridge and the butter, and set it down on the table. I glance out of the corner of my eye, and I see him desperately trying to cover a bruise, and I think I see a scratch, with something. I choose not to say anything though, and leave him be.
I serve him his breakfast, and sit down opposite of him staring out of the window. He digs in, and is about to finish his first pancake, when Two and Dally come in. They serve themselves and chow down. Soon everyone is eating, and the day begins. The boys said they had something to do late last night, and I had let them go. An hour or so after breakfast, we head to the park and do a couple of laps to get the blood flowing. " Let's play a few rounds of volleyball!" I suggest and we all get into position. As I serve the ball towards the other team, I smile. Soda dives, and slips on the still wet grass. He lands hard on his ribs, and winces when he sits up. I go over and help him up.
"You get first serve. Sorry about that Soda." I say and flip the ball towards him. He takes a breath and spikes it to Steve, who hits it to Ponyboy. He ends up catching it and hits it to me. We were almost done, when Two accidentally missed Darrys hit and threw it towards two people. The girl shrieks and stands up almost immediately, storming over to us. " Who did that! I want to know!" she demands. I can't help but stare for a second, before she starts going off about her hair. It's Alicia, of that i'm sure, I can tell because of her eyes. What was once long, blond and shiny, is now short and choppy, not to mention sharpie dyed a dark ugly purple in some places, and is in a boy's cut, if you will. "Alicia! Wait, don't do anything yet!" Curly says as he runs up. She walks off in a huff, and I turn angrily to the boys.
" WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN DO THAT TO ANYONE!" I scream at them once we make it home.
" Well you see-" Steve begins but I cut him off
" I DON'T CARE! I DON'T LIKE HER EITHER, BUT YOU CAN'T DO THAT! EXPLAIN YOURSELVES! KEITH MATHEWS, SIT DOWN RIGHT NOW!" I continue to scream at them. As soon as I yell his name, Two skinks back to his seat looking guilty. Dally looks down guiltily and Darry looks outright ready to kill himself out of embarrassment. I sigh in annoyance. " We didn't want to.. She ended up bullying Ponyboy and she beat him up. And that's not okay.." Two says. I look at him. Pony pulls his hood down, revealing large scratches and a semi swollen eye. Man that boy can hide his injuries well. He had gone into the bathroom yesterday looking for a concealer and the rest of my makeup. I realize It probably happened when I let him go to the ribbon with a few of his friends a few days ago before the race, and now I'm mad at not only the boys, but myself for letting it get this far I hadn't really been paying that close attention, mostly because he keeps his head down a lot anyways. I knew something was up when I looked at him this morning, and he had turned away.
" When you let us leave last night, we kinda snuck down to her house. We were the ones that did that, and I know it's wrong, but oh man does she sleep heavily. It took us about three hours, and that's why we were late for breakfast." Steve says and looks at the ground. I shake my head, and can't help but wonder if she woke up at all during the process. I give them my best glare of disapproval and disappointment, and it seems to work. " Well, what's done is done. I'm still very angry, but we can't change the past." I say and look to the rest of them, now looking somewhat relieved that I gave them mercy.
"You should have told me you guys. This is below the belt, even for you, I mean honestly you three." I look to Two, Steve and Dal before shaking my head. Pony looked away and sighs. I've always known that they would do anything to keep one another safe, but I didn't expect them to go as far as to ruin her hair. Darry and Soda look at one another quickly before he glances at me. " Wait… SODAPOP! You were in on this too!" I say as Darry and Pony turn their full attention to Sodapop. " I admire your willingness to protect me, but this is a lot of damage you've done to her." Pony says. I know Darry is gonna have to call Two and Steve's parents, and I'll have to deal with Dally on my own. I'll let him off easy though I promise.
The next Morning:
Monday's suck. I groan in annoyance and roll out of bed to get dressed. I pull on a pair of jeans, and look out the window. " Damn, it hasn't stopped raining yet, has it?" Dally says and steps into the room. I shake my head and he hands me my coat. I take it and slip it on over my warm flannel before putting on my boots and my backpack. I grab my keys and umbrella and head to the car. I get to Tulsa High in a short amount of time, and head to homeroom. Or at least I was before I got shoved to the ground and kicked in the face. Alicia stands over me and get's ready to attack again, when six Soc's come over. They had had enough of Alicia's crap, and the whole school was sick of her to be honest. The teachers looked even more annoyed than usual, and the students were getting restless. The biggest one pulls me up to my feet and hands me my things. " I wouldn't do that Alicia, or I'll cut off every little strand of that rat's nest, and I'll make sure it hurts." Pony says and pulls out his blade. She gasps and backs away quickly. I spit at her, and I end up spitting blood, right into her face. I smirk and do it again, and it lands right on her new shoes.
She screams for the principal, and the Soc tightens his hold on me, keeping me steady. As our principal, Lizzie Porter, comes running up Alicia begins to make a scene.
" She hit me! She keeps punching me!" She screamed and started crying. I lunged and twisted my wrist free. She slapped me across the face, splitting my lip with her ring.
" You stupid girl!" Steve yelled and began to try to beat her up. Two grabbed him and dragged him back from Alicia. " BREAK IT UP!" Ms. Porter yells and leads us all to the office. " Who started it, Roni explain please." She says as she gets me ice for my head and lip and some water for all of us.
" It was Alicia. I was walking to my homeroom when she started beating me up. I did tell the boy's off for ruining her hair. It looks really good on you, Alicia." I say with a hint of sarcasm. She scoffs and rolls her eyes. "She continued to attack me until Ponyboy came over to stop her, and these Soc's came as well. Alicia started to blame me, and I apologize for ruining your shoes, Alicia." I say to the principal and Alicia. Ms. Porter nods and turns to her.
"I do not appreciate the way you are targeting and bullying others, Alicia. I would hope that you chose to talk instead of getting hands on with other students." She says. Alicia says nothing for a moment, before she pins the issue on me. "She's a slut and tried to get my boyfriend to sleep with her, and I have proof. She also repeatedly called me slurs, as well as being violent towards me and other students. I think she needs therapy and proper care for her issues. I don't trust her around me or the other students, and I fear for their safety." She says and takes a breath. Everyone stares as she hands her phone to the principal. An audio plays and I recognise it as one of the bridge war fights. A bridge war is where several people pay about sixty dollars to get on a bridge and fight with swords, knives and staffs.
It's dangerous, but it helps get emotion out. We used to do that back before I started school with everyone else, and we would do it on the rules are simple. First one to fall off loses, and there are ten rounds per person. Around maybe 70 people would show up to do it. We would choose our targets, and fight them. It was bloody and it had stopped a few years before when a kid fell and drowned. We had re-started it several months ago, however. " That is NONE of your concern. What I do on the weekends is my own choice, and you have no right to spy on me." I tell her.
" AHA! So it was you! I thought I recognised you, right from the first time I heard you!" Alicia looks triumphant, right until Ponyboy cut in.
"It's none of your business who she chooses to fight. And anyhow, we were messing around. My older brother was watching us. The only thing we were doing here was sparring with Johnny." He says. The principal nods and narrows her eyes. Not at me though, at Alicia. "You have now violated the personal property, privacy, and safety of another student, Alicia. I'm very disappointed in you. Not only have you done that, you have also chosen to gaslight the issue, and turned your personal problems, such as anger issues and lying, not to mention physical violence, onto others who have made it VERY clear they want no part in that. I will call your mother and let her know immediately of your shameful behavior." We all sit and gape as she goes to the phone to punch in a number. " Hello? Is this Mrs Vanderwall? Yes this principal Porter. Mhmm. Yes. Yes, I would- Well no but- Yes, Your daughter Alicia has chosen to repeatedly target and bully other children. Yes, Mhmm. She has violated several guidelines regarding this issue and has-" Ms. Porter was cut off sharply. " I'm coming to get her right now." could be heard on the other side of the line. I couldn't believe it, Alicia was leaving! Actually
leaving! Pony lets out a whoop under his breath, and I laugh in disbelief. She turns and glares at me. I only shrug and give her the "I told ya so" look. It didn't hurt much when she kicked me, and I was glad. The fall I had was already bruising up and it was painful.
As the day comes to a close, Angela Shepard comes up to me. She's the sister of Tim and Curly. I liked her well enough I guess, and we got along well. " What the hell happened to you?" She asked as we walk through the doors. It had finally stopped raining towards the end of were grey depressing clouds in the sky, not to mention puddles filled with a sad brown sludge. " Alicia beat me up again Angel. She keeps targeting me, and I don't know what to do! Every time I try to do something in peace, she ruins it!" I say. " Yeah she targets me too, but I can't tell Curly, because they would break up, and then we would have to deal with the whole "psycho ex" drama. Oh who am I kidding! I could totally tell him! UGH I HATE HER!" Angela yells. We spot Bryon and Ponyboy and head over. They didn't really get along that well to be honest. It had started when Bryon had found his old friend Mark hanging out with Pony more than him, and Bryon had also said the Curtis family looked too perfect for their own good. I had to laugh at that when he told me that. I pull Pony over and we come up with a plan to get Alicia out of our lives.
Angela comes over around four on Wednesday, bringing her brothers with her. Pony lets them in, and we gather in the attic. Soft chairs covered in a floral pattern line one wall, and a low hum comes from the A.C. The window is slightly dusty, and light comes through in patches of haze. It smells like old books , wool and candles up here, and it's my happy place. Pony and I come up to read when it's too chaotic downstairs. The chairs belonged to Mrs. Curtis before she and her husband passed away, and they were awfully comfy. I sit down and hand everyone a flyer. The flyer had information about track students. Pony had asked if the track team could have a flyer to announce events, and the T.H. design team obliged. Here's what the flyers said:
Come one come all,
To the annual school meetup:
Come on over to the annual track and field meetup after school, next Friday.
We will be serving food and drinks for our parents and students. The track team is happy to host this event and is welcoming to all who want to come! Our Tulsa High team's coach, Mr. Carvona welcomes you to the team:
Ponyboy Curtis
Veronica Winston
Casey Morgan
Rohan Vida
Jayden Ross
Kaylie Bestrum
Nico Barnhill
Bianca Weisse
Time: 4:45- 9:00 P.M
Place: Tulsa High
Be sure to come around to the drop off lot to park.
We look at the poster that pony had given us. Angela stared at it for a split second, and a grin broke out on her face. " I can't believe this! How did ya do that?" Curly asked and Ponyboy. He shrugged and grabbed a pen and paper. He quickly wrote down the agenda as to what, where, when and how the meet was going to go. " Roni, can you go and ask Darry if you can drive us down to the school? I need to get something." he asked me and I nodded. As I go down the stairs, they creak with age and my weight. I sneak into the kitchen to grab us some snacks and water while I'm at it. "What do you need, missy?" Darry says. I hop onto his back and wrap my legs around his waist. " Pony was wondering if I could take our club to the track rally quickly. He wants to speak to a few people about something I think." I hear Darry hum and he starts laughing.
" I'll let ya go, but be back by seven, okay?" he says and I nod. Grabbing my snacks, I call up to them.
They come tumbling down all at once, and we head out to our track rally. Once we park, Pony leads us over to a group of people, Soc's I'm guessing. " Hey Curtis what's up? Wait, I know what you need. Here, you need it more than I do. Who are they?" The Soc askes as we approach, handing Pony what looks like $100. I introduce myself first to him and his friends. " Dallas' cousin? Aren't you the one who beat up Alicia? She came running to me yesterday... I hope you didn't do what she says, and that she's exaggerating ." he says to me. Now that I look closer, he looks like her. Instead of blond hair, he has brown hair and unlike her pale eyes, he has sparkling green eyes. But, the nose and the lips are the same, the smile isn't as forced, and his laugh tinkles. He smiles at me and I smile back shyly. " Hey, would you like to grab dinner sometime? We could go to Jay's or the Dingo if you want to" He says to me. I feel everyone's eyes on me.
" I would have to ask Dallas first. I don't think I caught your name by the way." I say and he nods in understanding.
" I'm Connor. I'm Alicia's twin I usually keep out of her way which is why you don't usually see me. I understand if you don't wanna go out." He says and looks at the sky. I grab his hand and take out my sharpie. I write it on his upper arm where he can see it but it's hidden from Alicia. " We should go.. It's already 6:45. I have what I need, let's go." Pony says. I mouth the words call me later to Connor and I see him smile.
The drive home is mostly silent and I'm grateful. We drop Curly, Angela and Tim off at their house and I park in the driveway. I know I'll have no choice but to ask everyone if it's okay to go out with him..
Ch.7: Fallen Angel.
By the time I get inside with Pony, everyone is waiting. I put my things down and give everyone a quick hug. As I sit down, Darry starts laughing at something Steve said.
" You're literally so dumb Steve." I say and watch as he throws a pillow at Ponyboy who duckes it and hides behind Soda. " Oh cut it out Steve, would you leave him alone for once man?" I sigh and smack him roughly. As soon as I turn my back, Darry picks me up and throws me over his shoulder, pinning me in place. " Anyone want her?" he asks jokingly. Two raises his hand and I roll my eyes. Darry puts me down as I tell Dally to get his things. We head to the car and make it home safely for once. I stick my head in the door, and peer into the blackness. " Is my dad there?" Dal asks, his voice barely above a whisper. His dad could care less about where he is, but when he does come home it's literal hell. I nod and point towards the lump snoring on the couch. "Fuck... We can't stay here. Let's go" Dally says. I sigh as we walk back to Buck's place for another night. Angela calls me the next morning and I drag myself out of bed and get ready for school. On the drive over, the clouds part revealing the rays of sun that stream through my windows. I park and walk to class to find that everyone is staring at me. " What? Did I do something?" I say. Everyone started cheering my name and gave me a hug.
As the day went on I found that I was the school "hero" because I had made Alicia leave. It felt nice knowing that I wasn't the shy kid or the tough mean kid anymore, but the kind one who helped people. The teachers seemed a lot more relaxed, and the one who yelled a lot didn't at all. I noticed that a lot more people were fighting for my attention then the usual five or six. Randy came over to sit with me, and he brings Conner with him. He gives me a smile and a wave, and I wave back. " Thanks for getting Alicia off my back, she's such a thorn up my ass." Curly says as he plops down beside me.
" No problem! Hey, do you guys wanna hang after school? I'm free and Dally won't bother us. He's gonna be hanging with Sylvia." I say. Sylvia was his ex for a while, but he wants to make up with her, so they can at least be friends. I'm glad he's trying to make amends with her, he usually leaves the other girls to fix it themselves.
" Sounds great! I'll give my mom a call and tell her I'll be late for dinner tonight." Connor replies and shoots his mom a text. The day ends as we all walk over to the D.X for some snacks and a coke. " Who's this, Ronica?" Steve asks and comes around from the back. I introduce each one and we all head out to the lot where we play a few rounds of charades. The sun begins to dip below the trees as we come to a clearing in the woods, Pony had suggested we take a nature walk. I had a crown of wildflowers that Conner had made for me perched on my head. " Hey! Look what I found!" I say and grab Conner's hand leading him to where a bird's nest is. I take out my phone and snap a picture. I'll send it to Dally later. Pony snaps a branch and hands half to Johnny. The two find salamanders down by the creek and we splash around for a bit. " Lightning bugs! Cool!" Randy cups a few in his hand and I catch some too. We ended up grabbing dinner at the Dingo and walked home together after dropping everyone else off. Pony takes mine and Johnny's hands in his and we walk along. The night is warm and smells like the fall. We stop by the Dingo to pick up a bite, and also to order some drinks. I tell them I have to find Dally, and we take a detour to Buck's place.
I take a sip of my shake and smile at the two boys on either side of me. As I step inside of Buck's place with the two waiting outside, and a party roaring on just on the other side of the door, a wave of fear hits me. I realise I know no one here, and I doubt they'd listen to me if I asked them. I needed to find Dally. " Ronica? What are you doing here girly?" Buck asks and leads me away from the party.
" Have you seen Dally anywhere? I need to talk to him." I say. Buck nods and leads me to the door.
" He's at the station. They picked him up this afternoon." Buck tells me.
I have no choice but to get him tomorrow, it's too late tonight. " Lets go. I'll find Dal tomorrow." I tell the boys and we head home. I can't sleep at Buck's place, It's too noisy and chaotic, and I'm already at Dally's house. My aunt pulls me inside and leads me upstairs to my room when I knock at the door. She's the one who took me in after I ran away with Dal, and she's also the one currently holding custody of me. I collapse in bed and fall asleep quickly, mad at Dally somewhat.
" Hello?" I ask into the phone, and glance to the clock. It's 2:30 in the morning and still dark out. Not a leaf rustles and it's dead silent. " Roni? Can you come down? Angela is in the hospital." Tim asks me. THAT gets me moving real quick.
" I'll be down as soon as I can I promise." I throw on a shirt and pull on my jeans and shoes. I call Pony and he runs to tell Darry and Johnny.
" I'm coming to get ya hold on!" Darry says. I hop in the truck as soon as he pulls up, and the four of us head towards the hospital..
Angela is laying in a bed, her hair in tangles framing her face. " What happened?" I ask her. She takes a breath. " I was coming home, right? And as I'm turning to come down my street, this semi t-bones me! The dude skips past FOUR red lights and keeps going even after he hits me, and the driver flew out about six yards away after the truck stopped!" Angela says, fuming with rage. The driver was injured as well and I shake my head in disbelief. She ends up having to get surgery to realign her foot, so we head home to Darry's place. It's not worth sleeping, so we just stay up the rest of the time before I have to leave for school. Darry drops me off and I climb out. Maybe I should have slept a little longer... Oh whatever today ends early anyhow and I'm already late I tell myself.
I run all the way to homeroom just as the bell to go to first period rings. I groan and try to get there early for once, and make it on time. Better than late I tell myself. I rush to unpack my things, and make it to my desk right as it goes off. " Okay class, today we shall begin our new assignment.." I stop paying attention after that and just go with the flow. I ended up falling asleep a bit though. " Ms. Winston, please pay attention!" My teacher snapped during fourth period. My head shoots up from my desk where I had been drawing. " I am, don't worry." I say and try to pay attention. I go back to drawing Conner, who is sitting a few feet away from me.
By the end of the day, I'm exhausted. Dally pulls me to the car, and I fall asleep almost instantly. He had gotten out on good behavior this morning when I got to school, so he couldn't say hi to me, and I figured he had stayed at the Curtis household until it was time to pick me up. I was carried to my room by Darry, who lays down with me. We're both tired and still worried about Angela so we just lay there and fall asleep again rather quickly. I felt like I was off all day, mostly because of having to get up at two in the morning for Angela, but also because Alicia had left and it was my first time not being harassed by her every five minutes. We woke up in time for dinner. Luckily we were having take out from Jay's, and Steve had gone to pick it up for us. Dinner was a fun time for us because Marcia and Two were coming over. We dig in after everyone shows up and Pony puts on a movie. " I'm getting a bit cold, baby." Johnny says. Pony scoops him up and snuggles with him to warm him up. I smile and Dally pulls me over to him. I lay my head on his chest as he runs a hand through my hair. " There are perks to being his cousin aren't there, Roni." Soda laughs and Dal smacks his hand away from me. I sigh and giggle a bit before I bury my head deeper into my cousin, taking in his smell. He always smells good, like mint and, oddly, cookies. As it gets darker and later out, we all cuddle together, when a news report interrupts the movie. " breaking news. A storm is heading towards Oklahoma as we speak. Meteorologists think it may crash through Tulsa sometime next week, More as the story updates." The reporter says. We stare in shock as it comes to a close, and returns to the movie. A feeling of unease passes through the house, and I shiver a bit. Dal pulls me closer than before, and Two whimpers a bit.
The next day at school, all the teachers were talking about the storm. We had an assembly in the auditorium instead of homeroom that morning. I found Bianca and we eagerly began to discuss what happened. " My mom is saying that if it hits she's taking us away for safety." Bianca looks slightly annoyed at that. " She's also thinking of staying at my dad's place in New York. Maybe you and Dally could come!" She turns to me. In no way do I want to hurt her, but the only way you're getting me to go there is over my dead body. I hated it there, and so did Dal, so there was no way we were ever going back.
"You look a bit disgusted. Did I say something I shouldn't have?" Bianca says as she looks at me. " Yes and no. I have bad memories of that place, and plus, I need to take care of Dally and my family here. It means a lot to me though, that you're asking me to go but I really shouldn't." I say to her and she nods in understanding. She tries to hide it, but I can tell she's hurt by not only my reaction, but my response. " All classes to your homeroom please, single file! You will remain there for the rest of the day until you can be released to your guardians" Our principal gets us all organised and has our teacher lead us to our classroom. We get to do whatever we want, and I pull out my phone and shoot a text to Darry telling him that I'd be going with Connor . I explain the situation, and he texts me back, agreeing that it's safest to at least have me go with someone instead of letting me walk home alone today. Our teacher tells us that if we usually walk home to either take the bus or have someone pick us up. The wind whistles through the windows and I shiver and look over to Bianca. " It's been so odd the past week with weather, huh." Conner says to us. I nod and slide closer to him. Bianca had told me that she had a crush on someone in class, and I feel like it's Conner. Oh, I forgot to tell you, we started going out two weeks ago. The gang wasn't that happy but they knew it made me happy so they allowed it. He takes my hand, pulls me up to my feet and leads me to the door. " and where are you two going?" the teacher asks us.
" Uhh, for a walk. We'll be back soon I promise. Give us like fifteen minutes." Conner explains.
He leads me down the hall and out into the courtyard and hops the fence. I crawl over and land in the soft grass, slightly slippery from the dew that morning. We walk for about another mile or two before he sits me down in a little clearing by some willow trees. " So, I was thinking we skip the rest of the day.. I can get us into the roller rink if you'd like." Conner says. A grin breaks out on my face, and I drop my bag with a heavy clunk. I unzip the top and pull out my rollerblades. I keep them with me when I need a quick ride home. Shiny, they are blue black and silver. I haven't used them in a long time, so they were a bit rusted. Conner grins and takes out his as well. " Wow, I had no idea you had those Ronica," Conner says to me. I grin and tie the laces into a bow.
We skate around the town for a bit before heading into a convenience store. Night had fallen, and it was getting pretty late. " The dudes out cold. We could steal whatever we want. He's also deaf if I remember correctly so it's easy." I say and begin to prowl around the isles. Candy and sweet drinks line one side, while chips and energy drinks line the other. I take notice of what's here and snag a packet of gummy worms, a sprite, some chips, a lighter and some girl essentials before I head back to Conner. " I have what I need, let's get out before we get caught." I say and make for the door, but Conner grabs my arm.
" We shouldn't. I don't want to get in trouble with my parents, and if they find I was with you, I'm done for. Look, we can get what you need another time, can we just go and come back later please?" Conner asks, pleading with me. I look at him like he's crazy, a manic grin on my face.
" No way! I'll leave like $20 or something. It's not a big deal, man. Nights the best time to go, didn't you know? Come on, don't look at me like that, it's no trouble. Dally and I do it all the time-" i'm cut off sharply by Connor's nails digging into my arm.
" That's the problem! You shouldn't be doing this! What if we got caught. You could go to jail and so could I, and what would our parents say, huh? What do you think they would do?" Connor says. There's a look in his eyes that tells me I should listen, but I respond with something that I regret almost instantly.
" You're just like the rest of them. I knew it. All you care about is not getting in trouble and listening to your parents, not to mention you only care about that stupid reputation of yours. People like you beat up and almost kill people like me." I say and look back at him, dead in the eye. I drop a 20 on the counter before walking out. I check my phone and see it's 10:00 already and so I start walking, regretting every step I take. I hear footsteps behind me and break into a dead sprint for Buck's place, slamming through the door and running up the stairs to Dally's room. " Dal? Ya in there? I need to talk to you.." I trail off before the bedroom door opens and my cousin pulls me into a crushing hug. I dump out my loot onto the bed and shoot him a grin. I flop down and begin to munch on my chips when Dally tackles me to the floor, spilling them. I yelp and slug him in the jaw with my palm accidentally. " Oww, what was that for! That really hurt, like a lot." Dal says and rubs his jaw where a bruise was absolutely going to be in a few days. He grumbled something under his breath and I reached over and handed him a gummie in apology. " Little lady, someone's here to talk to ya. He says it won't take long." Buck says knocking gently on the door.
"Tell him to go away and if he doesn't Dal will shoot him." I reply. I know exactly who it is and I hate it.
Ch. 8: Shattered Blade.
Conner and I avoided each other for the rest of the week, and it killed me. Darry had spoken to Bianca's and Connor's parents, and they broke up. He went for a new girl, Ava I think her name is. I didn't bother to ask her though, at least not right away so I just kind of avoided her. By the time we had broken up, we had gone out for only a month. Bianca had started spreading rumors about me, and I did my best to ignore them. It was hard though, because she was my closest friend next to Angela.
" Hey, look. I know I didn't get along with you before but I'd like to see where this goes..." Alicia trails off. This was really the only face to face interaction we'd had in weeks it seems. She had caught me in the hall before class and pulled me to the gym. I sat on a bench and watched the rain fall outside. She'd gotten back about two weeks ago, and we hadn't talked that much at all. It had been raining for six days straight, and I don't think it'll let up soon. " I know my brother betrayed you and your trust, but I promise I won't. I don't want to hurt you the way those two did. I also heard Angela slipped her a threat in the hall this morning." Alicia says. I nodded and smiled at her a bit and began to walk to homeroom.
We got seating charts that morning and Alicia asked if she could move over to where I sat with Angela. " Sure, I guess if you want to you can." I said and scooched over. Everything was going well, up until a warning popped up on my phone. I began to swipe through and read what it was. I let out a gasp as the principal told us to meet in the auditorium. " Please sit. We have a very important announcement. I don't want to tell you this, but I have no choice. The storm is set to crash through Tulsa tomorrow. I advise getting home as soon as possible to pack. Get supplies and be prepared. You will come to school tomorrow morning, and will remain in the bunker until it is safe to leave. If your parents or guardians do not feel comfortable, they should notify me and tell me that you shall be remaining at home. The busses are waiting out front to take you home. Assembly dismissed." She finished and we all ran for the door, cramming onto the busses all at once.
I crashed through the door of the Curtis residence followed by Two, Pony and Johnny. "I'm calling Darry. Right now." Pony says, taking off his jacket and running a hand through his hair. I made a last minute decision, and called Alicia's mom. Maybe she could help us if we didn't know how or whatever. " Hello? Is this Mrs. Vanderwall? Yes hi this is Veronica. Mhmm. Yeah I was wondering if you could do me a favor. I need help preparing for tomorrow... Yeah. Mhm. Thank you so much for your time. Yeah talk to you soon." I hang up and sigh in annoyance. Pony comes back two minutes later, a look of fear on his face. I turn on the T.V and wait for a news update on what to do. Soda and Steve come in a few minutes later followed by Dal and Darry. I grab a list of supplies and run up to my room and begin to pack. I felt like something was off the rest of the day as we all prepared, and I was right.
Many Hours Later
I'm waiting with Dally at Bucks place, and I shiver slightly. Wind whistles through the crack under the door, and the rain lashes against the shuddering windows. I stamp my foot in annoyance, and I feel a tingle. I guess my foot fell asleep. I have my raincoat on, and my bag ready to go. I grip Dally's hand in my own, and look outside. It's morning, but the sky is pitch black and covered in a haze of clouds, rain lashing every which way. Buck comes over to tell us to be safe, and to call him if we needed anything. It's been flooding and raining all night, and way early in the morning. As I step out, rain slaps me in the face, and swirls up to my knees. " Gah! Let's go before we drown please." Dally says, and we take off down the street to the school. I burst through the doors, Dal on my heels and race down to the bunker, skipping steps and sliding down banisters. As I reach the doors, a clap of thunder shakes the floor and I stumble backwards, hitting the wall. I swear a bit, and drag Dally through the doors. Large, metal and rusted, they've held up against everything. I have to put all my weight into shutting them and even Dal had to help.
Pony pulls us way over to the back, handing us blankets and water along the way. Johnny gets up to give us space , dragging Two with him. I throw my crap into a corner and sink into a blanket, huddling close to the boys for warmth. "Damn it's cold. I wish it wasn't." Two stated. I wish we didn't have to go into lockdown, but I don't want to get killed out there. We set up a tent for ourselves, when Alicia runs straight into me, tackling me to the ground. " What happened? Are you okay?" I ask and lightly push her off of me. I stand up, pulling her with me. Alicia looks around ,embarrassed. "Sorry 'bout that, guys." She brushes herself off and casually leans against the wall. I grin at her and Two lets out a laugh. Pony snorts to himself as Bianca comes in, sopping wet from head to toe. " Too bad, babe. Too bad." Alicia says and casually hits her in the face with her water bottle as she passes. I snigger to myself, and so does Johnny. I drop down and unpack my bag. I bring out a ham sandwich, orange juice and a few slices of chocolate cake that Steve apparently snuck in. The smell of roses hit me in the face as Bianca looms over me, snarling a bit. I roll my eyes and scoff. "What do you want? I'm staying out of your way. Stay out of mine." I say just as rudely, if not more so in response. Living with a bunch of boys has made me that way. I stand up to my full height, glaring at her. I'm taller than Bianca, and she hates it. My lip curls into a snarl, and I hear a low growl come from Dal, standing on my right. Two begins to reach for his blade, but I still his hand. " I'm here to tell you this. Remember what happened last time? And how I beat the crap out of you? Don't cross me again.." She turns to go. I feel the blood rush to my cheeks in anger, and my hands start shaking. Before I know what happened, she's on the floor, holding her face.
"Miss Winston! Explain yourself this instant!" My principal walks over and I stare back defiantly. I'm not giving in that easily, not this time. No way.
" What is there to explain, she threatened to kill me just now, and she has a knife! I did what I could, even though I didn't think." I have a bad habit of doing that.
That's the only explanation she's getting out of me. Biance can lie all she wants, but I know the truth and so do the rest of my friends. " Look, Bianca had been a jerk to her ever since Connor became a part of her life a few weeks ago, and I know what went down. I know my cousin doesn't lie," Dally says while looking at the principal. Bianca is glaring at him, and as he turns to go, she tries to trip him. He accidentally steps on her hand. I laugh a bit, even though I don't mean to. Two is grinning, but trying to hide it, and Steve is full on howling. I start laughing at the sheer stupidity of the situation, and soon everyone that's here is laughing. Once I come down from my high, I stare at her, dropping my smile instantly. " Get out. Right now." I snarl and she scrambles up and runs back to her camp. I grin menacingly at nothing and turn to the boys. " Well that was easy I suppose. We just had to humiliate her!" I say and the boys all smile in return.
" I don't want you getting in her way, or her in yours, okay? Stay with me." Dally says and I nod.
The day passes quietly, with the exception of a few claps of thunder here and there. I begin to wonder when I can leave, when my phone buzzes. " Hello?" I ask with a bit of uncertainty in my voice. I wait, but nothing comes. I check the service, and nothing comes through. I sigh and put it back in my pocket, slumping against the slightly shaking wall. I stare at Bianca quizzically and quickly before looking away. " She seemed so nice, I wonder what happened to her.." Two says and he and Marcia join me, staring into space. I hear two large crashes come from above us, as well as a ripping, shrieking sound and I see Dal cringe. It remains somewhat silent, with the hushed chatter and the occasional whistling of howling wind from above. I begin to think about Bianca. Now that I think about it, I realize she had changed ever since I told her I was dating Connor. She'd become cold and distant, not to mention a behind my back remark every once in a while. Alicia was furious with him, and refused to speak to him for a week and a half after she found out. Bianca had been okay with our relationship, but I came to terms with myself about it. We weren't right for one another. . Whenever we sat together, she would leave, saying she wanted to give us space, or she would move seats to " Give us time to talk" But I realize she was doing it out of pure hatred and jealousy. Not to give us space, but to get me to want her back. Every time she asked me to talk in the hall, she was keeping me away from Conner, and getting herself closer. Leaving us, she hoped Conner would want her, and she was right. She had spun me into a web of lies, and I had fallen right into her plan. I hate myself for it, and Alicia knows.