Chapter Two- Don't Want You to be Perfect

A/N: I have to admit. Darry has to be one of my favorite characters from the book. I know, I know. He hit Pony and he was too hard on Pony and he was the one who drove Ponyboy away and all that, but I still like him. Maybe it's because I'm also the oldest of three. Oldest siblings unite!

Disclaimer: If I owned "The Outsiders," I would've been rich and famous which would mean I'd be too busy on a private jet with my friends going to Tokyo to even care about writing this story. And if I owned "American Idol," I would make Ryan make up his own lines instead of paying writers to write them for him. And if I owned Simple Plan's "Perfect," maybe my singing wouldn't be such crap.

"We're back, And we'll be getting ready to start the show right with Darrel, Darry, Curtis!" Xena said proudly. Then she turns to Darry who is sitting in the seat next to her. "Hi, Darry!"

"Hey, Xena," Darry said.

"So, we've heard that the song you chose to sing tonight is dedicated to your little brothers. Is that true?"

"Yes, it is. Especially to Ponyboy because in the beginning we didn't get along so well. This is to show him that I really do care," Darry said.

"Awwwwww…" the crowd coos. Xena lets a little tear come out of her eye and rubs it off.

"That's beautiful," she says. In the background we hear Jay yelling backstage.

"I don't want to take medication! Nyah!"

"Jill, would you just take it? You're scaring all of us!" Carly yells. She is obviously aggravated.

"So, Darry, what is the song you'll be singing?" Xena asks pretending she can't hear what's going on backstage even though it's so obvious.

"Well, it's a parody by RockerLane--,"

"Getting old here! Would you just let the grease sing so we can get on with this?" Bob yelled from the judges' table

"Alright, alright. Everybody, up first is Darry Curtis with "Don't Want You to be Perfect!"

The lights dim as Darry goes to center stage and stands next to the microphone. A soft intro is heard first, then it becomes distorted and the lights flare up. Then the music is calm again and there is a single spotlight on Darry.

"Hey, bro, look at me
Sit back and talk to me
Am I too hard on you
At times?
And do you think I
Work all the time
Trying to make a life for us?
But it hurts when
I completely lose your trust

And now I try hard to keep you
I just wanna raise you right
I'm never gonna prove my love for you
I never said that I don't care
But some things aren't fair!

We haven't lost out yet
I can't lose you forever
I don't want you to be
Perfect
It's not too late
Our troubles, they'll pass
I don't want you to be
Perfect

I try not to think
About the possibility
Did you know that night
I thought I lost you
Through the days
You were hiding
I almost died myself
And I never got a wink of sleep

And now I try hard to keep you
I just wanna raise you right
I'm never gonna prove my love for you
I never said that I don't care
But some things aren't fair

We haven't lost out yet
I can't lose you forever
I don't want you to be
Perfect
It's not too late
Our troubles, they'll pass
I don't want you to be
Perfect

Things are gonna change soon
I have told you before
I promise I'll make it up to you
Please don't clam up on me
I can't believe it's been so long
Just talk to me
So I can understand!"

The mellow music from the intro starts up again followed by heavy distortion. Then Darry sings the final chorus.

"We haven't lost out yet
I can't lose you forever
I don't want you to be
Perfect
It's not too late
Our troubles, they'll pass
I don't want you to be
Perfect

We haven't lost out yet
I can't lose you forever
I don't want you to be
Perfect
It's not too late
Our troubles, they'll pass
I don't want you to be

Perfect."

The song is finished off with one final chord and applause is followed.

"Yay, Darry!"

"WOOT!"

"Encore!"

"Marry me, Darry!"

Randy gets ready to give his comments.

"It was alright, man. Maybe a little pitchy but it was good," Randy said in his best judge voice. Does anyone ever notice that the judges always say the word pitchy? Seriously, what's wrong with also saying off-key?

"I loved this performance, Darry! It was one of your best!" Cherry said cheerily like Paula always is.

Well, duh! It's his only performance so far! Xena thinks.

"Well, I always thought that a Greaser couldn't possibly sing, but you did alright for one," Bob said.

Darry thanks the judges for their comments and Xena starts talking again.

"Well, I hope you liked Darry's performance! Dallas was supposed to have performed next but due to some technical problems, we had to delay it." Translation: RockerLane1110 still hasn't figured what Dally's going to sing. "So instead, Two-Bit will be up next after this commercial break!"

Commercial #2

(It's a Geico commercial. Jay is sitting on a park bench reading the latest NANA book when the gecko comes up beside her.)
Gecko: Excuse me, Miss, but would you like to find out how you can save a bunch of money on car insurance?
Jay: (keeps eyes on book) Nope.
Gecko: (realizes that Jay has said the wrong line and whispers to her) Psst… you were supposed to say yes.
Jay: (still with eyes on book)Why? I don't have a car.
Gecko: This is a commercial. It doesn't matter.
Jay: (finally looks up from book and realizes that she's been talking to a gecko the whole time) Eek! Why's the lizard talking to me?
Gecko: I'm a gecko and I'm just a publicity stunt so let me just tell you about Geico.
Jay: AHH! The gecko's talking to me! (calls to her right) Carly! Come quick! There's this scary gecko after me!
Carly: (comes over annoyed looking) What is it this time?
Jay: (points to gecko) This gecko talked to me!
(Carly looks at the gecko for a second which is looking at her with innocent eyes)
Carly: Jill, take your medication. PLEASE!
Jay: NO! It really talked.
Carly: Yeah… right.
Anna (RL1110): What's going on?
Jay: The gecko's talking to me!
Anna: Gecko, shut up.
Gecko: I just want to tell you how you can save a bunch of money on car insurance! Man, I don't get paid enough to deal with you guys!
Carly: That gecko really is talking! SECURITY!
(Kayleigh comes in and picks up the gecko and brings it somewhere else.)
(At the bottom of the screen, it says: No talking geckos were harmed in the making of this commercial)
Kayleigh: I don't get paid enough to do this.

End commercial

Carly: What the hell was that?

A/N: This chapter sucked so flame me all you want. I am going through writer's block for this story, so until I figure out some new idea for this, I might not update this as often as you'd like. Sorry! But read and review, please!