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Chapter 11

Good Friends and Ice Cream

I don't know how long I was standing there for. My whole body had just become real numb. I didn't know what to do or say. Which was so weird for me. I was supposed to be the girl that always knew what to say. The girl who could play any guy and get what she wanted. The girl who never gets hurt. But how come I wasn't?

My heart literally felt like it had been ripped out of my chest. Part of me wanted to start screaming. 'You're fine. He doesn't mean anything to you. He's just a guy. Just a guy.' But I knew I'd be telling myself a lie.

I loved him. Just to think about that made me want to hurl. Partially because I was scared. Scared that I was in love and didn't know what to do. Scared of this feeling I had. But I was terrified with the fact that Ponyboy wasn't about to love me back.

I could only imagine how much he hated me right now. Thinking I was some slut who had cheated on him. With none other then Curly Sheppard. Now that was enough to make a girl hurl. The guy was a little pervert. I would never get with him even if my life depended on it. Dead serious. Yet how come everyone else was convinced I just had. That I had thrown away one of the few guys who actually cared about me.

That thought honestly did make me hurl. I felt like shit. And there was no one running to my side to help me. Everyone most likely was comforting Ponyboy. Telling him I was just some girl who didn't deserve him. Hell maybe I didn't. But at least I was a girl who was madly in love with him.

I was wishing desperately that I had asked Lee for that ride. But he wasn't coming. Most likely he and Danielle were off making out somewhere having a good time. At least someone is I told myself.

I was debating on going back inside but I didn't. I could only imagine the insults they had in store for me. And I wasn't ready to deal with them yet. So instead I decided just to wander around. Maybe someone I knew would spot me. Or maybe I get a lift home with some guys. I didn't know. I felt like I didn't know anything anymore.

After about ten minutes I seriously felt like I could have collapsed. My head was pounding and I didn't know my left from right. I was so light headed. I started screaming out random people's names.

"Garrett! Lee! Danielle! Dez! Jeff! Scott! Johnny! Pony! Any body!"

I fell to my knees crying. I was shaking and I was so cold. I was trying real hard not to pass out or something. Right here and now would definitely not be a good place. But I felt my eyes slowly close just as I heard a familiar voice.

"Over here guys! Oh my god Princess! Come here baby!"

I was shaking as Garrett lifted me up into his arms. I was crying into his shoulder. Man I felt like an idiot though. Why was I like this? It wasn't fair. None of this was.

"Princess are you okay?" Garrett asked as he walked over to Jeff's car with me in his arms.

"He… Pony… broke up with me," I said after a minute.

Hearing the words come out of my mouth I closed my eyes for a second. Trying to take in those words. But it was a lot harder then I thought. But I had to deal with it. We were over. Weren't we?

"It's okay Princess. You'll be fine. I promise," he said softly as set me down in the car. I had never realized how strong he was before.

I nodded my head as Garrett got in. He set my head on his lap and I started crying again. Mumbling things I even didn't understand. What was happening to me?

Scott had turned around and was looking at me kind of weird. He had never seen me like this before. I hardly ever was. It wasn't like me. But he was still real nice about both he and Jeff were.

"It's okay Kate. You way to good for him any way."

I wanted to say Ponyboy was to good for me. That I didn't deserve him. But I stopped myself. I was sounding like one of them girls. And that's something I definitely didn't want to be.

I was expecting for them to drop me off at Mrs. H's but they didn't.

"Where we going?" I asked as I calmed down a bit. I was still sniffling but Garrett was brushing my hair and telling me everything would be okay.

"My place," Scott answered.

"Why?" I asked.

"You didn't seriously think we were gonna leave you tonight did ya?"

I couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Thanks."

"Any time." Jeff said with a smile.

Once we got to Scott's house Garrett carried me inside. Then Scott took me upstairs to his sister's old room. She had just started college so the room wasn't being used for anything. I was grateful to feel a soft mattress underneath me and I had fallen asleep about the same time my head hit the pillow.

I woke up a little while later. It was still dark out so I figured I hadn't been asleep long. I heard voices downstairs and I listened intently to the conversation.

"How is she Garrett?"

"I dunno she seems pretty shaken up."

"I know I went to Dingo's looking for her the second me and Danielle found out."

"I nearly beat the snot out of that Curtis kid."

"No Jeff I want to take a few swings at him first and if there's anything left then you can have him."

Then I heard some laughter.

"I'm more concerned about Kate then beatin' up that kid."

"Is she still sleepin?"

"Yeah last time I checked."

"Can I go see her?"

"Yeah sure follow me."

I heard some footsteps and soon enough the door opened. Garrett opened the door and Lee stepped in.

"Hey there Kate."

"Hey Lee."

"How's my girl?"

"I've had better days."

Lee gave a slight laugh as he took a seat on the bed.

"Don't worry about him Kate."

I laughed.

"What so funny?"

"I dunno," I answered.

I knew if I told Lee I was in love with Ponyboy he wouldn't believe me. He would think I was tired and delirious. He would just shrug the comment off. So I decided to save us both the time.

Lee brushed my hair out of my eyes and looked at me.

"You know Bryan was right."

"Right about what?"

"You're eyes. They look real deep."

"Thanks," I said with a smile.

"Well I've got to go give Danielle a ride home before her dad kills me. I swear that guy is almost as scary as Gary's old man. But I promise I'll come right back."

"You don't have to Lee I'm fine," I paused, "Well I'll be fine."

Lee smiled as he got off the bed, "I know you will. But I'm your best friend. This is part of the job."

I gave a small laugh and nodded my head before Lee left the room. I was real glad he was coming back. I didn't want to be alone right now.

That night Scott, Jeff, Garrett and Lee all took turns talking with me. I felt like a little kid who couldn't be left alone for too long. But in all honestly I appreciated it more then I think they'll ever know. Scott, Jeff and Garrett kept coming up with these hilarious kits that nearly made me die of laughter. Lee sat beside me on the bed making sure I was all right. But even he couldn't stop himself from laughing every once in awhile.

We all fell asleep in that room and thankfully Scott's Mom had woke us up before Lee and I would have been late for work. I borrowed some of Scott's old clothes and Jeff gave Lee and me a lift. Amazingly enough I was only 5 minutes late.

If the news of me and Ponyboy's hook up was big, it was nothing compared to the news of out break up. I didn't even have to offer Leon a reason for being late.

"It's okay girl. I heard."

I had nodded my head. I was grateful but I hated being pitied.

But pity wasn't something too many people were offering me.

The store was quite busy today. Mainly because everyone wanted to offer me their insults. Calling me things like slut, tramp, good for nothing greaser etc... The list goes on and on. And I will admit there were definitely more creative then most people usually were.

Amazingly enough I took it all in strides. I felt like a real geek after last night. Bawling my eyes out like that and having to have the guys take care of me. It wasn't like me. I wasn't going to let that happen again. Or at least I was going to try not too. So unless the comment was really nasty I let it slide by with just a comment or the usually 'whatever.'

It was getting near the end of my shift and I was pretty relieved. Garrett, Scott and Jeff were coming to pick me up. Lee wasn't getting off till later so Garrett happily agreed to find something for us to do. I could only imagine what he had thought up. Garrett was a real sweetheart though. And he cared a lot about me. I cared a lot about all those guys.

Just as I was getting ready to leave a group of guys walked in. And one of them happened to be Dallas Winston.

"Hey! Kate!"

I tried my best to ignore him. I could only imagine what Dally had to say to me.

"Kate! I ain't invisible am I?"

"You are to me," I replied my voice pretty cold and harsh.

Dally rolled his eyes, "Listen I wanna talk to you."

"Oh what a shame I'm not really interested in a good old chat with you right now Dally."

"Listen Kate," he said obviously determined to say whatever he was going to say so I shrugged and faced him, "Ponyboy's a stupid kid."

I was a little shocked. Sympathy from Dally wasn't something I was expecting.

"Every guy knows you at least gotta sleep with the girl before you break up with her. Especially a girl like you."

I rolled my eyes. Now that was something I was expecting.

"Now I know I ain't no Ponyboy or anything. But if you want I'd be more then willing to have the break up sex with you in his place."

I shook my head and gave him the finger. I saw him smirk. I looked over at the other guys with him. Two guys I didn't know, one I recognized as Two-Bit. He had this look in his eyes that I couldn't explain. I never knew someone could hate you that much.

"What about me then Kate?" Two-Bit piped up.

"Why don't you leave me the hell alone!"

Dallas looked over at Two-Bit and they both laughed.

"Easier to say that to us then to Curly Sheppard eh Kate." Two-Bit taunted.

"I dunno what you could see in that little punk. I can guarantee I'm way better then he was Kate."

I could feel my temperature rising.

"Why don't the two of you fuck off!" I yelled at them.

"Oh getting feisty their Kate! I could see why Ponyboy liked ya so much." Dally said taking a step closer to me.

"Yeah. It's too bad you were just using him. He's a good kid Kate. He don't deserve that kind of shit."

"I didn't fucking sleep with Curly Sheppard!" I yelled at them.

After listening to all the comments all day. Taking everyone's bullshit. I knew school would be worse. But I couldn't stand much more.

"Oh come Kate. Don't lie to me," Dallas said getting even closer to me, "Baby."

"Get away from me! Now!"

Dally just smirked, "Make me."

Dallas got even closer to me and could feel him breathing on me. His breathe reeked of alcohol and cigarettes. He was completely wasted.

"Get away now Dallas!"

He just laughed and moved the hair out of my face, leaning, well more like forcing me to kiss him.

But I didn't. Reaching for my back pocket I reached for my switchblade. I took it out and held it out in front of me.

"Leave."

"Whoa! Whoa!" Dally said backing away, "I was just looking for a little love."

"Well you definitely ain't gonna find it here," I said calming down a bit but blade still in my hand.

"Alright. Alright were leaving." Two-Bit said as him and the other guys headed towards the door.

Just then Garrett walked in. He saw the blade in my hand and his eyes went wide in shock.

"Who's this?" Dallas asked, "Another one of your lover boys."

Garret glared at Dally as he made his way over to me.

"Leave her alone. And get out now." He said in a stern voice.

Dally shrugged and headed towards the door. But just before he left he stopped and looked at me.

"Well Kate. At least this one is a lot better then Sheppard."

Garrett was just about to pound Dally's face in but I grabbed his arm.

"Let it go." I said as I put my blade back in my pocket.

Garrett shrugged his shoulders but I knew he was determined to get Dally back. I knew he would eventually. Somehow, someway. I just didn't want to deal with that right now. I just wanted my friends and some ice cream.

Which is what I got. I swear sometimes those guys know me so well its scary. But after awhile I was back to myself again. Well as much as I could be. I was back to telling corny jokes and play fighting with the guys. Lee showed up with Danielle shortly after we had showed up at Scott's house. Danielle helped me eat a the tub of ice cream as the guy made jokes about us eating so much ice cream we weren't going to be able to move.

After awhile I told everyone I wanted to go outside for a second. They nodded their heads and didn't think much of it. Well Lee did. He made sure I was okay. But I assured him I was fine. I just needed some fresh air. Which was the honest truth.

I sat outside on Scott's steps for a while when I saw a familiar figure headed towards me.

"Hey Kate."

I looked up to see the Johnny standing not to far way from me. When Pony and I had gone out Johnny and I had gotten pretty close. He actually wasn't too shy around me anymore. Well he was, but not as much as some people. Besides he was a real good listener. He listened to everyone's problems when I knew he had a fair share of them himself. Usually I would have said hi to Johnny but I knew what he was going to say. And I wasn't in the mood to listen.

"Go away," I called back, "I'm pretty sure anything you've got to say to me was covered by Two-Bit and Dally."

"So they found you?" Johnny asked as he approached me though he stood a fair distant away. Probably cause I was glaring at him.

I rolled my eyes and nodded my head, "So you can leave now."

"Listen. I'm sorry. I really am about the whole thing. I know you didn't well… cheat on Pony"

I looked up and met Johnny's eyes. They had this puppy dog kind of look to them. I don't really know why but I could tell he wasn't lying.

"And how come you believe me?" I asked in kind of a defensive manner. Johnny was like Ponyboy's best friend. I was supposed to believe that he actually thought I was telling the truth.

"Cause I know you really like him. And you wouldn't do that sort of thing," he answered looking down at his feet.

I stopped glaring at him and felt a smile sneak up on my face no matter how hard I tried to stop it, "Thanks."

Johnny nodded his head, "Just thought I'd let you know. And don't worry about those other guys. They had too much beer I tried to stop them from going but…"

I nodded my head in understanding. I knew Johnny was the gangs' pet. I also knew he probably didn't raise too much objection to them looking for me. I understood. Johnny went threw a lot. I didn't want to put him threw any more stress on my account.

"It's okay Johnnycake. Thanks for trying though."

Johnny looked up and met my eyes. I smiled at him and he smiled back. I heard a cough and turned around to see Garrett standing there.

"Well I better get going Kate. I'll see ya later maybe."

"Yeah maybe. Thanks Johnny."

He nodded his head and walked off.

Garrett looked at me a little confused but I told him what had happened.

"Well it's good to know everyone around here isn't crazy."

"You don't got much room to talk."

"Oh really Princess!"

"Yeah really Joker!" I said with a grin.

He laughed and chased me inside to the couch where he tackled me and started tickling me.

"Not fair! The ice cream is weighing me down!" I said laughing as he continued to tickle me.

Stopping for a brief second I smiled. The one thing to cheer any girl up was good friends and ice cream.

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