Emma stared at the pages in front of her and tried to make her eyes focus on the plight of Hamlet. Unfortunately, the only thing she saw on the page was Sodapop's face, his light blue eyes filled with laughter before he winked at her. She closed her eyes, counted to ten, then reopened them. Soda's face was still there. He was smiling at her, almost daring her to turn away. It was as though he were really there, could tell her every thought, and was ready to repeat everyone of them back to her verbatim.
With a heavy sigh, she slammed the book shut and sat back. Strangely enough, it was only when she studied alone that she found her thoughts drifting so heavily to Sodapop Curtis. When she spent her evenings at his house, she only thought of him when he actually came near. She could focus on her books at the Curtis house. Even when she just studied with Adelle, she could focus. When they were studying, there was an unspoken rule that neither said anything about anyone who lived on the North side. That would only end them up so far off course that they'd never be able to get anything done, and they had to get at least a little bit finished on their own, else Pony wouldn't help them at all. He wasn't going to do all of their work, and most of the time, they wouldn't even ask him to.
But, when she was alone, when the silence of her nearly emancipated life weighed down around her, she couldn't help but think of the cute boy with the laughing eyes that worked at the DX gas station. She wondered if, maybe, it wouldn't be so bad to go on a date with him. It wasn't like she had much of anything left to lose. She'd already handed over her Soc card when she walked away from Cherry at school. They certainly weren't going to talk to her, anymore. So, it couldn't really hurt anything to go to the movies with Soda.
She didn't really think that it was a fear of being banished that stopped her from being more open to the life that Adelle had put in front of her. In the past year, she had grown so distant that she felt like she wasn't part of the Soc crowd anyway. They talked, but she didn't hear what they said. Tyler Martin had asked her to go to the junior prom and she'd brushed him off. But, she still had her big house and her vacationing parents… and all of their money. Thus, as far as the others were concerned, she was still one of them.
Now, she was pretty sure that Tyler wouldn't be asking her to anymore movies. The invitation to join the cheer team wasn't going to come again. And really, she didn't care. She didn't want to be one of the mindless automatons that walked around with the naïve and self-absorbed view that the only problem in the world was whether to get the red convertible or the black one. She didn't fear losing their overrated approval. She feared the change.
As much as she didn't want to be like everyone else, Emma had grown accustomed to the only life she'd ever known. Everything outside of her own little area was unexplored territory. There were dangers out there, and she couldn't gauge how bad they were. She couldn't just take that plunge, and going on a date with Soda would be a full body cannonball right into the deep end of the pool. She was barely used to getting her feet wet in the wading pool.
But, Adelle had taken the leap, and she seemed to be doing…. Well, she wasn't okay, but she wasn't completely ruined, either. Her best friend had been happier than she could have ever imagined when Steve Randle touched her at school. That was the bright side to the dimming situation that loss more and more light with each second. Everything wasn't sunshine and roses, but it wasn't completely screwed up, either. There was still a possibility for the sun to peek through. She had Steve, after all, and that was all Adelle wanted. That had never been in question. What Emma wanted, though, was a whole other story.
Sighing, she stood up and walked to the window. What she wanted right then was to know if Adelle were okay. Flourescent lights up and down the street shone down on the darkening sidewalks of Tulsa. Emma had tried to call Adelle's house at least four times since she got home, but no one ever answered. She almost wished that she had gotten Pony's number, because then she'd at least have somewhere else to check. It would have been easier than searching for her at Steve's house because one, Adelle had mentioned a few days back that Steve's phone was off, and two, she didn't even know where Steve's house was to call him. All in all, she had no way of knowing if Adelle was okay, or if her life were in ruins and she was trying to be brave and handle it on her own.
And then, the phone rang.
Knowing something was going to happen and the reality of its occurrence were two different things, and Adelle found that out when she arrived home to her mother throwing all of her clothes to the floor and her father waiting for her at the door. She had disgraced the family. She cared more for her rebellious ways and those dirty hoods than she did her own family. She was a dirty whore. He knew what those greasy hoods on the North side wanted and the only reason they'd have to talk to her is to get that. The only reason to talk to her in public would be to show everyone else that some good girl had been tainted. She was tainted and dirty, and she would not live in that house.
Adelle tried to tell them that she hadn't done anything wrong. She even offered to go to the doctor and let them prove she was still a virgin. For as much as she said that she didn't care what they thought, she didn't want to be left without any family. She didn't want to have to grow up so soon. She was a teenager, and she just wanted to have fun. She just wanted to spend time with a boy that she really loved. She didn't meant to disgrace anybody. She would do anything to stay home, but then they told her what she had to do, and she couldn't. Anything but that, she had begged them, but the Landrys were persistent. It was either them, or that Randle boy at the gas station. She had to make a choice.
And before she knew it, she was in her car, sitting outside of the Curtis house. She'd considered going to Emma, but that wouldn't have been fair to her. She had caused Emma so much trouble already that she half expected to be turned away if she came knocking on her door. Besides, even if Emma did let her in, the Strattons would have kicked her out the second they returned from whatever European country that served as their vacation spot this time around.
She had driven past Steve's house, but the lights were out. If his father was asleep, she didn't want to disturb anyone. She didn't want to get Steve into any trouble. Besides, if he were home, at least one light would have been on. With the house dark, that meant he wasn't there, and part of her was glad. She didn't even know what she would have said to him if he were there. She hadn't told him about any of her troubles so far, and while she knew that he would find out eventually, there was no need to make him feel guilty when he'd been so nice at the station, early.
So, as the sun went down, Adelle stopped her aimless driving through Tulsa, Oklahoma and sat in front of the Curtis house. It was possible that Steve was inside, but at the same time, it was entirely possible that he and Soda were out doing something, somewhere. For as much as she knew, they could have still been at the gas station, which meant only Darry and Pony would be there, and maybe Two-Bit. She didn't know if she were in the right frame of mind to handle Two-Bit, but she hoped that he'd have enough decency in him to let it all go for the night.
Sighing, Adelle got out of the car and walked slowly towards the house. She stopped at the gate and turned back to her car. The top was down and the windows were up. The doors were locked. It didn't have anything to do with the side of town she was parked in. She locked her doors in front of her own house, too. All of her things were in there, or at least what she could grab and fit inside. There was still so much that she'd left behind, and she wanted to get them before her parents destroyed her things. And yet, she also hoped that maybe they would change her mind. Maybe they would at least meet Steve, realize he wasn't so bad, and let her come home. Of course, that was wishful thinking, but besides her money and her material things, that was all she had left.
Wiping tears from her eyes, Adelle opened the squeaky gate and walked the small path to the stairs. As she moved up the steps, she wondered if Darry would let her stay there for a little while if she gave him enough money to really fix the place up. She didn't want to move in for good or anything, just long enough to find some place else to go, or her parents changed their minds. Though, if she were waiting for the latter, she knew she really would have been there forever.
The screen door creaked as she pulled it open and her arm rose slowly. Her fist wrapped three times on the door and her arm dropped. She was standing there only a minute before she heard Darry yelling, and Ponyboy opened the door. He looked down at her with his dark hair falling past his eyebrows. She had never said anything before, or really even taken particular notice, but right then, she thought how much better he looked with dark hair than the platinum blond that he'd returned home with.
"Uh…" Ponyboy scratched the back of his head and said, "If you're lookin' for Steve, he's not here."
"I'm not. I mean, I figured he wouldn't be here. I, um… I need some help."
Ponyboy sighed. "I told you, Adelle, you gotta try to do it on your own. You don't pay near enough attention in class, and that's completely Steve's fault. You gotta..." He paused as Darry's voice came from what Adelle guessed was the kitchen. "It's Adelle!"
Darry came walking out with a towel over his shoulder. "Don't just stand there with the door open, Ponyboy. I'd expect that from Soda, but I know you've got better manners than that." He pushed him to the side and looked down. "Adelle, if you're lookin' for Steve, he's still at the DX with Soda. They should be back around here in a couple of hours." Another voice rang out and Darry turned. "Shut up, Two-Bit, or I'll make you go home." He turned back. "Did you want to wait inside?"
Adelle shook her head and ran her hands through her short black hair. "Everybody thinks I'm lookin' for Steve, but I'm not. I, um…" She turned and looked at her car, her belongings pushing against the windows. Her hand floated to her hair and shoved it uselessly behind her ear. "I got all my stuff in the car, Darry. I, um… I didn't have any place else to go, and I was hoping if I gave you some money that maybe, um, maybe I could, um…"
Her throat started to close around the knot that pushed its way up from her stomach and she could feel the tears starting to flow from her eyes. Darry touched her shoulder then his arm was around her back. She couldn't see much through the tears that fell, but she caught sight of blurs standing around her. Darry sat her down on the sofa and she looked up to see him, Pony and Two-Bit standing over her. Adelle's sobs were so loud that she couldn't understand anything Two-Bit was saying. She quieted herself enough to hear Darry ask Pony if he had her friend's phone number. Adelle knew that he didn't, and she tried to tell him what it was, but the words weren't coming. The best she could do was dig her address book out of her purse and hand it to him.
Pony ran off to call Emma and Adelle was left looking at Darry and Two-Bit. Darry sat down next to her and though he was initally tentative, almost unsure of what to do, he eventually pulled her close enough for her head to land in the dent of his shoulder. And that only made her cry harder, because someone who only knew her as Steve's girl cared more about her than her own father did.