Disclaimer: I don't own the Outsiders or Keeping the Moon.
Lovewriter45: LOL, but the cliffhangers keep you interested. Besides I had to end the chapter somehow. Her aunt was a little harsh about Dally but he'll redeem himself later.
XxAnGel02xX: I hope you enjoy this chapter.
oOoDancingQueenoOo: I hate cliffhangers too but I wanted to try and see if I could actually write a good one that got everybody's attention, which I did. But I probably won't be doing it again so don't worry. I hope you like this chapter.
WildTotodile: a new reviewer! I'm glad you like the story. I hope you read the other chapters and like them too.
ZELINDA: so many questions! You'll see what Trisha needs them for in this chapter. Aunt Candace just doesn't like Dally; sometimes people have no good reason not to like people. Plus she thinks he'll get Roxie in trouble (which considering Dallas's history I don't really blame her). But Dally redeems himself later, possibly in the next chapter.
Babygurl33: LOL. Alright…thanks for reviewing. Even though you know what's happening anyways. I hope you liked this chapter while you were beta-reading it. Ha-ha.
Sodapop's#1gurl: I know I'm so bad to torture you like this. I probably won't do it again. I just wanted to try it once. I'm glad you love my Dally. I love my Dally too. He's hot! Sandy will be getting her just desserts later (I love that phrase!). Soda's story has already been started. In fact I have the first chapter almost done but I have to touch it up a little, I don't really like the girl's name anymore so I have to think of one that suits her better. I don't know when I'm going to put it up. It will either be when this story is finished. Or if I'm feeling adventurous I may put it up as this story is winding down. I just don't want to put lots of effort into one of them and then end up neglecting the other one. You know? But I can tell you the title. As of right now it's called Black Roses Red. That may change but probably not because I really like that title. I hope you like this chapter. There's not a lot of Soda in it but there is some Dally near the end.
TWbasketcase: Hey Kristen. Thanks! If an awesome writer like you thinks I'm good then that's very flattering. I can't tell you how much I adore The World through the Eyes of a Basketcase. I wasn't aware that you are an Outsiders fan (maybe you aren't, I'm just assuming). I'm glad you think Roxie is loveable and relatable, she's supposed to be that way. I can't promise you a big rumble but there is going to be a fight, or a jumping is more like it. It will mostly likely in the next chapter.
Banana4422: Why don't you want her to end up with Dally? I thought you liked Dally. But now that I look back on it you like Two-Bit too don't you? Well dear, I hate to tell you but Two-Bit is going to end up with someone else. Not Roxie. I know it's sad but he's a little old for her. He's 19 and she's only 15 (almost 16). That's a pretty big age difference.
Author's Note: Yes I left you with a cliffhanger. I usually don't do that because I find cliffhangers very annoying but it got your attention didn't it? As of right now I have four exams left but after that I am free for the summer to write as much as I want! Goody! I just realized that the website to the Outsiders page did not show up which is very disappointing. I can't get it to show up but it is the offical Outsiders website. If you don't know what that is then Google it and it should come up.
Last chapter:
"I'll explain when you get here. Hurry!" Trisha said before hanging up. I glanced out my window as the wind picked up and thrashed my curtain violently as a summer rain started
Chapter Twelve
"Darry!" I shouted, pounding on the door, the wind whipping around me. It picked up my hair as the wet raindrops splashed onto my skin. I had told Aunt Candace that Trisha needed me. It wasn't a lie, but I still felt guilty when I went to the Curtis's to get the boys when I knew Dally would be there. Soda came to the door looking confused.
"Miss Roxanne?"
"Soda, go get Darry and everybody else. Something's wrong!" I said, tears running down my cheeks in spite of myself. I didn't have a clue what was going on but I was crying. Soda called the guys and they all came out onto the street looking confused.
"Why's Roxie crying?" Johnny asked, speaking up for what seemed like the first time.
"It's Trisha. She called me and said to bring you guys to the house. We have to go!" I said rubbing my eyes. I grabbed Darry's hand to pull him along. The gang followed quickly, running between the raindrops.
When we got to the house the first thing I saw was that all the lights were on. The VW bus was parked at an odd angle in the driveway as if someone had not paid much attention when they were backing in. The whole scene looked like something out of a horror movie with the wind thrashing the big oak tree, making it scratch the side of the house. And the rain coming down in big, fat drops to soak the dry dusty land.
Darry jogged up to the door and knocked. Immediately Trisha pulled the guys and me in. It looked like she had been crying. Olivia was no where to be seen. "Thank God you guys are here." Trisha exclaimed. She was pacing and wringing her hands. Two-Bit stepped forward and put his arm around her in a comforting way and she gave him a weak smile. "She won't come out. She's locked herself in," she finally said.
"Who?" Dally asked thickly.
"Olivia! Who do you think Dallas?" Darry snapped. Dally gritted his teeth and clenched his fists the way that he did when he was upset. I put my hand on Dally's arm, hoping to calm him enough so we could hear what happened.
"Olivia went to go see Mike. She left yesterday afternoon." Trisha said as Two-Bit squeezed her shoulder.
"I thought Mike was still off playing his baseball season." Ponyboy said sinking onto the couch. I bit my lip, wondering where this was going.
"Oh he is. He was in a town about two hours from here. So Olivia thought she would go surprise him." Trisha said. Her eyes were flashing bitterly and I gasped, realizing what had happened. Trisha had always joked to Olivia about it. How women love a man in sports uniform. But Trisha didn't mean it to come true. She liked Mike…I knew she did.
"Oh no!" I whispered. Dally looked at me.
"Roxie, what's the matter? You look like you're going to be sick." Dally said gently pushing me down into the armchair. I looked at Trisha who nodded to me forlornly. I put my head in my hands and tried to take deep breaths.
Then Darry caught on, as if he could read my mind somehow. "How long has she been locked in?" he asked urgently, looking around as if Olivia would pop out of thin air in front of him.
"What's going on?" Steve asked confused. "What happened when she visited Mike?"
"She went to his hotel room. And he was there…" Trisha began but Olivia appeared from her room. Her short black hair that was usually well groomed was disheveled. Little black lines of mascara were drawn down her pale skin from where she had been crying. She was wearing a pair of dirty old pajama bottoms and a tank top that had a stain on it. Olivia who was always so put-together and polished was looking like a train wreck.
"With a stripper. And guess who she was?" Olivia finished Trisha's sentence. Her voice was hoarse, from yelling or crying or both. The guys shrugged. I couldn't bear to look at her. Trisha must have had similar feelings because she was looking all around the room, besides Olivia. "His wife. And if you want the grand prize complete this sentence: she was blank." Olivia looked around at us. You could hear a pin drop in that room. When she realized none of us was going to answer she looked over at Trisha. "Go on Trisha. You were the one who always said how easy it would be for him to cheat on me while he was off playing somewhere." Trisha bit her lip. She had indeed said that.
"She was pregnant with his baby." Trisha said in a whisper. Olivia's eyes instantly filled with tears at the words. Darry moved towards her like it was instinct and let her cry into his muscular chest. It hurt me so much to see Olivia crying. She was always so calm and cool, always there to listen or to talk if you needed it. She was the last person in the world who deserved to be treated like this. It should have been Sandy or Evie or one of the other greasy sluts to have a boyfriend cheated on them, not Olivia. I think Olivia crying shook us all up a little. I could never recall a time when she was like this before.
Two-Bit rubbed Trisha's shoulders. Johnny and Ponyboy looked at their feet.
Soda and Steve, who usually were full of so much energy, were sober and silent and subdued. Dally let out a series of swearwords, some of which I didn't even knew existed. And I sat there in the chair that Dally had pushed me down into, with my face in my hands and tears in my eyes. Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder and to my surprise it was Dally. He sat on the arm of the chair and just left his hand on my shoulder, as if to let me know he was there.
After we had been at the house about an hour Darry looked at his watch. "It's midnight. Johnny, Ponyboy, you need to go home and go to bed. Roxie, you too. Don't look at me like that, I know you were sleeping." Darry said firmly. I sighed. I wanted to stay there and just sit with Olivia and let her know I cared. But I was very tired. I had fallen asleep off and on with my head resting on Dally's shoulder. Steve and Soda had already left. I think the somberness was getting to them. They were sad, I could tell.
But they couldn't stand being in room full of sad people. And Two-Bit was in the kitchen with Trisha making coffee, and for once I never heard Two-Bit crack a joke or try to make someone laugh.
"Darry its way too dangerous for them to go out at this time of night. They'd be jumped in a minute by the Socs!" Two-Bit said. Darry sighed, rubbing his temples. Darry and Two-Bit had volunteered to stay for a little while to make sure that Olivia was alright so Trisha could get some sleep.
"I'll take them home," Dally said looking up. Dally went over to Olivia and kissed her on the cheek, the sweetest thing I had ever seen him do. I got up and gave Olivia a hug. She smiled and kissed me on the cheek in a sisterly way and I smiled back.
"Feel better okay?" I said. She nodded, she hadn't said much all night except when she was telling the story after we arrived. Ponyboy and Johnny said goodbye to her and the four of us headed out the door.
Johnny's house was the first stop. After we bid him goodnight it was just me, Ponyboy and Dally. Dally was walking close to me, every now and then he'd put his arm around my shoulders for moment but then remove it. That was a lot coming from Dally. Ponyboy kept looking over at us, taking long drags of his cigarette and looking almost bitter but I wrote it off to the fact that he was still upset for Olivia. We all were.
However when we got to our houses he only mumbled goodbye and didn't even look back at us. Dally cocked one of his eyebrows like Two-Bit. "Wonder what his problem is?" he said in his gravely voice. I shrugged.
"I better go. Aunt Candace is probably worried about me." I said, crossing my arms and pulling my jacket closer as the wind picked up. Dally nodded but did not move. He stood stationary and studied me for a moment, until he shook himself.
"So long kid," he said flipping up his leather jacket collar. He waited until I got up onto the porch and had opened the door before he started slouching off. I turned to watch him go like I did weeks ago, after Trisha had dyed my hair. I was just as confused about him now as I had been then, only for a different reason now.
Alrighty so Mike and Olivia are broken up, obviously. Which is sad but that's taken right out of Keeping the Moon so I'm not making them suffer randomly like I did with Soda (although there is a reason for that which I will tell you later). I think it is very obvious who Roxie is going to end up with by now, and hope you guys are okay with that. I was a little hesitant at first but after a while I really warmed up to the idea. The other guys just don't have what it takes to be her man. Until next time:
Infinite X's and O's,
Hannah