"You gotta give me more than that." Karen exclaims, leaning forward.
"That's all there is Kare" I sigh, thumbing through my tip money.
"Well I heard from Jenny Raye, who heard from Joyce Stewart, who said that Johnny Cade was talkin' about Dallas and how he's got his eyes set on some girl he met at Buck's. She thinks he might be fixing to go steady."
"Glory that was a mouthful, and we've just proper met once, he just keeps appearing. You know Joyce, the girl likes to exaggerate any story she can get those pointy little nails into." I almost wish Karen would think more.
"Well, then I also heard that Tim is trying to go steady, and that I heard from a credible source." She smirks.
"Curly can't keep his big mouth shut, can he?" I roll my eyes.
"Well, what do you expect?" she giggles.
"Not much more from the likes of him."
"Hey, watch it!" she jokes, jabbing a finger at me.
"Well, I have enough for the drive in." I sigh, pulling out some coins and letting the rest fall into my savings jar.
"Good, we can talk all the way there about your little situation." She squeals, tossing me a jacket off the ground.
"We ain't got nothing more to say about anything." I put the jacket over my shoulders, following her through her house and out the door.
She chats away at me as we walk, the night is dark and chilly. I don't pay much attention to her, only nodding along. Of course she doesn't seem to notice. I pull my jacket tighter around me, praying that every car that approaches us will keep going.
"You know the boys were talking about some big fight going down between a few of the hoods tonight." Karen's voice is suddenly much less jovial.
"That must have been what Tim and Danny were jawing about at breakfast this morning." I sigh, they both know how much I hate the senseless violence.
"Angie was telling me yesterday that it's because a few of the guys who aint with us, the Brumly boys, or the Curtis kids are causing some problems and everyone's blaming it on our boys."
"Come on Karen, you know better than to believe anything Angie says." I laugh, thinking about Tim's overly dramatic younger sister. One time she had our boys runnin' around looking for some boy who supposedly knocked her around, only to find out that the boy never existed and that she was just looking to cause trouble with a Soc who called her names.
"Well, I thought maybe this time she was tellin' the truth. There is a fight brewing though, Curly was getting ready when I left the house earlier."
I sigh again, running a hand over my hair. The boys fight far too much for my liking, but I know that the Curtis boys will always help us out if we need it. That thought calms my heart a bit, and I worry a little less.
We reach the drive in right before the picture starts playing, and we both rush to get seats in the back. I don't pay much mind to what movie is playing, mostly because a group of girls in the back is talking a mile a minute.
"Glory, those girls couldn't talk much louder, could they?" Karen throws a glare their way, raising an eyebrow.
"They ain't bothering me." I sigh, not wanting to cause a drop of trouble.
"Sylvia, you wouldn't tell me someone was bothering you if they were punching you right in the eye." She crows.
"There's nothing wrong with that."
"You're a greaser, aren't you raised to be really tuff, like me?" she laughs.
"Yeah, someone might think she's a Soc." A boy slides into the seat next to me, and I frown at his voice.
"Are you trying to follow me?" I groan, not at all phased by seeing him for the third time today.
"Well hello to you too Sylvia, my day has been fine, thanks for askin'." Dallas throws his arm around me and I pretend to be disgusted.
"I didn't ask." I try to shove his arm, but he just moves it to the back of the chair, too strong for me to move.
"Well you should have, I could have told you about how I thought about you while…" I cut him off.
"If you have an ounce of respect you won't finish that sentence."
Karen giggles and I turn to look at her with wide eyes, wishing she would just jump in and save me. She doesn't, just excuses herself to get us all a coke.
"Listen, how about you and me, we get out of here." Dallas dips his head, whispering right in my ear.
I pretend to notice that his hand has moved back to my shoulders. Most of me wants to go with him and find out exactly what makes old Dallas Winston tick, but the rational part of me over rules.
"I paid to see this movie, and I'm gonna see it." I sniff, looking at the screen.
"Of course you did." He smirks, chuckling like it's the funniest thing he's ever heard.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I narrow my eyes, trying my hardest to look tuff.
"Stop looking at me with that face, you look like a kid, even more than you usually do." He laughs again and my cheeks burn.
"Do you always have an insult for me?" I don't bother trying to look tuff, instead feeling really small.
"Hey, don't feel so special, I have an insult for everyone." He whispers in my ear again, and I shiver away from him.
"Well you're downright vile, Dallas Winston." I cry, standing up to move away from him.
"Alright, alright, I'll stop. Why do you have to be so touchy, man?" he stands with me, following me to find Karen in the concession stand.
She's in line with some girls she must know from school, so I just decide to leave her, knowing she will be fine.
I march straight out of the gate, all too aware of the boy hot on my heels.
"Why are you following me Dallas? It's been a week, and you keep turning up everywhere I am. Do you just want to make my like an absolute hell?" I whirl around, full aware of the scene I'm causing.
"Jesus, why do you have to make everything so personal, Soc." He laughs, not taking me seriously at all, and I deflate, giving in.
I follow him down the road, wrapping my jacket tight around me. For March, it sure is cold. He seems to be lost in his head, so I don't speak, honest I'm not sure I would even like anything he has to say anyhow.
"Sylvia?" he finally stops at a picnic table in the old park, and I sit down next to him, rubbing my hands together to warm them.
"Dallas?" I look up at him, he's looking out at the playground, some distant look in his eyes.
"Tell me something about you." He finally sighs tiredly.
"Like what?" I ask, suddenly conscious about my life as a whole. I know anything I say he will laugh at.
"Well, like I've been put in the cooler before." He smirks, but the mischief doesn't reach his eyes.
"Well, I have two brothers, and I take care of them." I try, but he waves his hand.
"Naw, none of that surface shit, I want to know something about you. Not what you've been told you have to do."
I'm downright confused about the conversation we are having, and the emotion laced in his voice. I look around nervously, licking my lips as I try to think of anything remotely interesting about me.
"Well, in school I used to be real good at science."
"Damn, is that the best you can do?" he looks upset, so I shrink back, waiting for something that never comes.
"Well tell me something about you then."
"I did some time in New York, liked it well enough, but life got tough, and this was the place I landed in. No one ever came lookin' for me, ya know. So I got tuff, and nothing hurts me." He pauses, looking down at me "tell me why you always flinch away."
No one ever really acknowledges it anymore, and I found it was just easier to hide it away and not talk about my mother.
"Well, when I was thirteen, my mother left," I look down at the ground like it's captivating me "after ten years of smacking me and my brother around. It's just easier not to talk about it I guess. Danny has tried to get me to stop being so timid, but it just won't work."
"Jesus." He groans, lighting me a cancer stick, even though he knows I'll just choke. When I do, he wraps his arm around me again, waiting for me to keep going.
"Some days I just think I'm bound to be scared for the rest of my life." He tenses, looking at me.
"You gotta be tuff, like me. The world can't touch you this way." He drags, blowing the smoke away from us "I'm gonna teach you how to be a grease, Sylvia. Then you ain't gotta be scared ever again.
I nod, it's odd enough, but I feel comfort in his statement.
"Tim, he ain't ever done nothin' to you, right?" Dallas asks, standing up and reaching for my hand. I don't let him take it, pulling away when he just keeps trying with that stupid smirk on his face despite the question he just asked.
"Nah, he's a proper angel." I roll my eyes, falling into step next to him.
We walk towards my place in silence, and I dread being home under Danny's watchful eye and the pressure to constantly fill my mother's role.
"So, we've known each other for a proper week, shared deep stories, I've seen your ass, and I think all this dedication on my part,"
"You mean stalking." I interrupt.
"Dedication." He gives me a look before continuing "earns me a date tomorrow night." I can tell he's real pleased with himself.
"I'm not sure I should be giving that honor to a stalker." I joke, walking ahead of him. He just jogs to catch up.
"Man, I won't even call you a Soc. I'll treat you real nice, like a proper gentleman."
I hold back a laugh, trying and failing to picture the boy in front of me as a gentleman.
"You ain't gonna leave me alone until I do, are you?" I sigh, recognizing my situation.
"Nah, I got all day to pester you until you say yes." He grins wildly.
"Well then, I guess you had better learn to be a gentle man."
"Damn, I'll pick you up tomorrow at seven, and for God's sakes wear something other than that light pastel shit you've been wearing all week." He stops in front of my house, giving me a slight squeeze, and once again disappearing into the night. Thankfully he leaves without kissing me unexpectedly.
I quietly open the door, greeting Danny who watches me carefully.
"Tim's been looking for you all night." He crosses his arms.
"I lost track of time, I'm sorry Danny." I fiddle with my sweater.
"You better watch the game you're playing sis, Tim don't share well." Danny warns, and I feel like a toddler getting a lecture.
"Yes, Danny." I whisper.
For once I'm not really sure why I'm mindlessly following everything Danny has to say, but I don't question it.
"There's dishes in the sink, Dad will want them gone before he gets back." Danny dismisses me.
I walk over and kiss his cheek, heading to the kitchen.
Reaching like I don't know my life has become a repetitive mess of keeping my mouth shut, and just listening and doing, I pull on, looking down, staying quiet, and putting on a show.