Soda's POV
The front door slammed shut. Ponyboy and Darry had just left, and I had to leave soon.
"What're you doing today Dal?" I asked when he walked into the kitchen. Dally had slept on the sofa last night after the party. Almost half his face was bruised and swollen now, but I was wise to keep quiet about it. I looked just like him, except I also had my arm wrapped up in gauze.
"I don't know, probably headin' over to Buck's." he replied, stifling a yawn.
"You can chill at the station with me 'till my boss kicks you out," I suggested, running a comb through my hair.
Dally did a slight nod. "You ever going to see that Rose chick again?" He asked.
"Hope so. We hit it off last night."
"That's good. Are you finally done with Sandy?"
I shrugged, and put the comb down. "I don't know, Dal. How'd you go with Caroline?" I asked, changing the topic.
"Not too good. We didn't really... connect." he muttered, sounding a little disappointed. Huh, it's weird that this hit him hard. He never really cared about a girls feelings and what girls thought of him in general. Didn't know he had feelings, I used to always think he would grow old while tossing girls around. That Caroline girl sure was special,nobody ever made such a huge impact on Dally Winston like that.
"Don't worry about it, I bet if her boyfriend hadn't came she would've been head over heels for you." I told him reassuringly, heading over to the front door.
Dally scoffed. "Why don't you tell me all about that brunette?" he asked, following behind me as we made our way to the DX.
I smiled just at the thought of her. "Shoot Dally, she's one cool girl. She's sweet and nice and not like the others. I don't think she cares that I'm a greaser." I didn't know why I was opening up to Dally like this. Dally and I are good buddies but we never opened up to each other.
"Does she have a boyfriend?" he asked.
"Yeah, Archie Day," I answered, the smile quickly vanishing.
It wasn't long before we made it to the station. I still had around five minutes 'til my shift started. "Are you going to see Johnny today?" I asked Dally, shoving my hands into the front pockets of my jeans.
"Yup, like I do everyday. Wanna come?" he asked, looking over to me for a second before concentrating on lighting up a cigarette.
"Sure. I've missed that Johnnycake."
"We'll go see Johnny after your shift." He said before taking a long drag.
I spun around when I heard the door to the store creak open. "Come on Soda!" my boss yelled, looking slightly irritated.
"Coming!" I yelled back. Turning to Dally, I kept my voice low and said "I'll see you later Dal."
"Keep your friend there!" Yelled my boss again.
Dally did a little wave to my boss which led my boss to slam the door.
"See ya," Dally replied coolly, turning away and heading back in the direction of my house. I went into the shop to start working on an old and rusty pickup truck. But trying to focus on work was impossible when I could only think of Rose. I could even remember her scent; lavender. I was stupid for agreeing to go to that party to find a new girl. I was better off being alone than meeting a wonderful girl who I couldn't have.
Caroline's POV
The bell rang, and instantly everyone stood up and started filing out of the classroom. I clutched my books to my chest and headed out the door last. The whole walk to my locker, I noticed several people staring at me and whispering to their friends. They must've heard what had happened last night. News traveled fast at our high school.
"How's your day been?" Rose asked, meeting me at my locker.
Last night, just before we went to sleep, I had explained everything to Rose. I had told her about the rivalry between greasers and Socs. I told her how Johnny killed Bob, Johnny and Pony running off. Then when they came back, Randy left and never said why. I also told her how the greasers ended up winning the rumble.
"Not too great. Everyone seems to be whispering about me, plus, James has been acting really weird." I told her. "What about your day?"
"Alright I guess. In english Archie asked me why I was talking to Soda. 'Because he doesn't talk about popularity and money every second of the day like you' was my exact reply. Also, thanks to me, he now thinks that if he doesn't buy me lunch I'll never forgive him for being so harsh on me last night." She shrugged, a mischievous smile on her face. No wonder she was so happy. When she couldn't stand Archie, she would mess with him.
Rose and I made our way to the cafeteria and sat at our usual spot near a large window. Marcia and Cherry were already there, deep in discussion.
"Hi," I said, announcing my presence. Cherry and Marcia stopped talking, and turned to look at us with wide eyes..
"Is it true?" Marcia asked when Rose and I took a seat on the bench.
I gave her a curious look. "Is what true?"
"Is it true that you talked to Dally Winston?" Marcia dragged the words out.
"Pfft, no," I bit my lip. I never was a good liar. "Where did you hear that?"
"Don't lie Caroline..." Marcia warned, squinting her eyes at me.
When I bite my lip it means that I'm lying. I'm just really bad at it.
"Why did you talk to him? You're not supposed to talk to him!" Cherry snapped, looking slightly irritated.
"It wasn't my fault, he was the one who came up to me. Besides, the conversation wasn't even friendly. " I confessed. It bothered me how Cherry looked slightly jealous. Her having a possible crush on a greaser was one thing, but the fact that her boyfriend had died just a few weeks ago was another thing.
Marcia's eyes twinkled, and she opened her mouth to say something humorous, but she quickly cut herself off. "Boyfriend alert," she muttered.
I groaned. "Great."
I turned around and saw James coming towards us, and boy did he look mad. Archie followed behind him, holding a tray with a slice of pizza and a donut in his hands. He made his way around the table and placed the tray down in front of Rose.
"Thank you Arch," Rose said, smiling up at him and batting her eyelashes. He tensed at the nickname that he hated, but quickly dismissed his annoyance and pulled a seat over to our table to sit with her.
When I noticed the presence of someone standing right behind me, I turned my attention away from Rose. "I want to talk to you," James whispered in my ear.
"Yeah, well I don't." I snapped, trying not to let my fear show. Sometimes James really did scare me.
"I'm not going away till I get to talk to you," he growled.
I stood up abruptly, startling everyone at our table. "Please excuse me," I then followed James out the cafeteria and walked outside.
"What did you want to talk about?" I asked, cocking my head to the side impatiently.
"About last night," He replied, looking to the left then to the right to make sure no one was listening.
"Alright, what about it?"
"Were you drinking?"
I rolled my eyes." You drink, so why does it matter if I do?" I didn't actually drink; I just wanted to see where he was going with this.
"Yes or no Caroline..."
"No, I didn't drink."
"Were you smoking?"
"No, you know I don't smoke!" How could he even assume such a thing?
"Why did you go?" He asked, taking a step closer and lowering his voice to almost a whisper.
"Because I wanted to," I spoke through clenched teeth. His questions were starting to get on my nerves.
"Well, that's a good reason," he muttered.
"Why did you get into a fight with Dallas?" I asked suddenly, wanting some of my own questions answered.
"...'Cause he's a greaser..." he said it as if it were obvious.
I mocked his response. "Well, that's a good reason."
"Are you turning into one of them?" He snarled, pointing an accusing finger at me.
"No! I just want to know why you got into a fight with him when he wasn't even looking for trouble!"
"He was trying to make a move on you. For all I know, he got you..." James trailed off, looking sheepish.
"He got me what?" I crossed my arms and started to tap my left foot impatiently.
James looked down and mumbled something.
"What was that?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.
Keeping his voice low, and staring straight into my eyes, he murmured; "Pregnant."
I had the sudden urge to slap him. How dare he think I would go all the way with Dallas Winston! James and I had been dating for three years now, and he thought I would throw it all away for some greaser?! "You're right James, that's exactly what happened. I'm pregnant with Winston's child."
At first he was startled, expecting me to deny his accusation. When my words had processed through his brain, he raged. "Fuck! How could you Caroline?!" He pounded his fist on a the wall.
"No, how could you accuse me of cheating? I was using sarcasm when I said I was pregnant! I didn't have sex with Dallas!" I cried with disgust. It was taking all of my strength to remain calm and classy.
I turned to go back to the lunchroom, but James grabbed my wrist roughly. I held my breath when he dug his nails into my skin.
"Caroline, how was I not supposed to think that you hooked-up with Dallas? Dallas' known for this kind of stuff." He spoke through gritted teeth.
"I've been your girlfriend for three years now and you think I would throw all that away for some greaser with no life?" I questioned, on the verge of tears. "Dallas is a hood. He has no future, and I have no feelings for him." I wasn't lying about that part. I didn't want anything to do with Dallas.
He let go of my wrist and held both of my hands in his. "Caroline, don't take it personally, it's just that my life is hard." He said in a softer voice.
"'Hard' how?"
"You don't know what it's like to lose someone important to you." He looked pained when thinking about Bob. Archie and James were with Randy and Bob the night Bob died.
"Trust me I do. The real James Carter I knew wouldn't have started a fight with a hood who didn't even know what he was doing." I was going to stop there, but then I remembered the blade. "And the blade! Why don't you and your friends ever fight fair? I've been stressing out and blaming myself for all the serious cuts you gave those greasers. Can't you avoid a fight for a week at least? What's the point of violence anyways, huh?"
He sighed, starting to get annoyed. "What was I suppose to do? Let the greasers think I was weak?"
"Yes! What if Archie and the others hadn't come to back you up in time? You could've ended up in the hospital. Life isn't about trying to look cool or be popular, it's ab-"
"Oh I get it, you think I can't beat Dallas Winston." He cut me off, a scowl on his face.
"I didn't say that,"
"You implied it."
"James, I'm done talking to you." I was beyond pissed, and reached my hand out to push him aside and go back to Rose and the others. James quickly grabbed my right wrist again.
"James let go!" I cried, clawing at his hand clasped around my wrist. My wrist was starting to sting. The gold rings on his fingers cut into my skin. I could see a trickle of blood flow down my arm.
"We're not finished talking, don't you dare try to walk away from me," he growled. What was with him? He had never hurt me throughout our entire relationship. Now, looking at the blood that was seeping down my arm, I was starting to wonder if this was the real James and how severely my dad would beat him. My dad had warned him to never lay a hand on me or harm me in any way.
"James gets your dirty hand off of me!" I yelled now, desperate for anyone to help me. My wrist felt as if it was on fire.
"So now my hand is dirty?" He chuckled, letting go of my wrist. "What about Dallas? Is your precious Dallas Winston's hand dirty too?"
I clutched my now-free wrist, ignoring all the blood and swelling. When I looked up into Jame's eyes I realized something. He had raged at me because he was jealous. He was jealous that I had talked to another guy.
"Dallas is not mine," I spoke as calm as possible, my voice almost a whisper.
"But I bet you want him to be. I bet you've already slept with him, yet you still came back to me. You're a whore that's gon-"
I didn't let him finish his sentence. When I heard the word 'whore' being thrown at me, I saw nothing but red. I put my hand up and slapped James