Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders, sadly. But I do own a whole bunch of other stuff. I own my shoes, my computer, my bed, my clothes… well you get the point.
Ahh! I know I haven't written in like forever! So, so, so, so sorry! I have been super busy, and I know that's a lame excuse and every writer on fanfiction uses it, but it's true! I won't be able to write much until summer, unfortunately. But when I do surprise you guys with a chapter, it will be good, I promise.
Chapter Thirteen- Being In Love
Cherry stared at the empty desk in front of her. Once again it was Monday morning, and second period Literature never seemed so boring. Marcia was sick, for the first time all school year, and Ms. Rockwell never seemed to take notice of the class when she was explaining a book assignment.
"This is a romantic novel. You should very much enjoy reading it, and of course, doing the book report that follows." Cherry sighed and snapped her gum in her mouth. She had been on the phone talking to Ponyboy all night the night before, and her eyes couldn't seem to stay focused.
Cherry shifted in her seat a little, and tapped her pencil on the desk. Ms. Rockwell glared at Cherry and then pulled her glasses over her nose to look Cherry in the eyes.
"Do you have a problem, Miss Valance?" Shocked, Cherry shook her head and sat up straight. "Then please, stop your fidgeting!"
Slowly, Cherry made it through second, third, and fourth period. When lunch came around, however, her head found its way to the table before any of her friends could even start to question her about the weekend's events. Cherry closed her eyes and tried to tune out all the extra noise around her.
"Cherry, hey, what did you do this weekend? The word around school is that you aren't single anymore!" Cherry groaned at Elizabeth's attempt at being conversational, and then tossed her wavy red hair back over her shoulder to look at her friend. She stood there, grinning wildly, holding her text books in her hand. "Well, aren't you gonna tell me who the lucky guy is?"
"If I told you, I'd probably have to kill you," Cherry paused and bit her lip, "or you'd kill me first." She picked up her books and stood up. Elizabeth pushed her way around the table to follow Cherry to another table.
"What's that supposed to mean? Oh, is it a secret relationship?" Elizabeth's voice was so high pitched and squeaky with excitement, Cherry almost laughed.
"Something like that. Where'd you hear about it anyway?" Cherry kept her eye on the floor, afraid that making eye contact with anyone would make her explode with happiness.
"Some loser I overheard talking in the hall. He was telling one of his friends that you were no longer a single lady." Cherry lifted her eyes a little at the word 'loser' but then decided it wasn't worth it. "Well, at least help me to guess. Give me some hints."
"Okay, ask me a question and I'll say 'yes' or 'no'." Cherry sat back in her chair and folded her arms in front of her.
"Is he cute?" Elizabeth's eyes grew wide in expectation. Cherry giggled.
"Yes, he's cute." Elizabeth laughed happily and tossed her hair behind her. "Next question."
"Is he sweet?" Cherry thought for a moment before giving in to the right response.
"On occasion."
"What? You mean he's not like really sweet and caring and kind? What kind of guy are you dating?" Cherry laughed and waved her hand in the air to dismiss the question.
"Next question."
"Is he older than you?" Cherry shook her head 'no' and rocked her chair back on two legs. "Is he romantic?" Cherry thought about the weekend, and the old abandoned museum.
"I'd say he's romantic. But in his own kind of way."
"Oh, so he's unique?" Elizabeth leaned forward, wanting to get as much information possible out of Cherry.
"Yeah, I guess so." Cherry gathered her hair into a bun with her fingers and then let it fall on the back of her neck. She glanced at the clock and pretended she was late for something. "Oh, Elizabeth, I'm so sorry, I have to go. Can we talk later?" Elizabeth shot the clock a glance and then nodded, disappointedly.
Cherry stood on the sidewalk in front of the school with Ponyboy. She knew she should go home, but there was something about the sunset that made her want to stay there forever. "You know what this makes me think of?" Ponyboy asked. Cherry shook her head and pulled her sweater around her tighter as a gust of wind blew through the trees. "It makes me think of being happy. Like the first time I met you, or days in the lot playing football with the gang." Cherry laughed a little and then studied the fading sun a little bit.
"You know what it makes me think of? It makes me think of the first time I've ever been in love." She paused a while to think about it harder. "You know, it's that feeling that nothing else matters as long as you're together." Ponyboy nodded looked at Cherry.
"Like with Dally? Are you in love with Dally, Cherry?" Cherry turned to look Ponyboy in the eyes. She felt a series of emotions all at once, she wasn't sure if she was or not. She did know though, that Dally was the one person that never left her mind.
"I don't know, Pony." Ponyboy nodded and then began walking away. Cherry stared after him for a while and thought about her answer. Then she turned to look at the sunset again. It was beautiful. Cherry thought of how she felt when she was with Dally, how it gave her that high, how she couldn't get ever seem to get enough. She thought about how she felt when he kissed her, the way they seemed to be meant for each other. Then she thought about Dally. Was he actually able to be in love? Cherry wasn't sure, but she was sure that her feeling for Dally wouldn't change, even if she didn't let him know about them.
"Soda!" Cherry was already half way down the aisle when the bell on the door dinged. "Sodapop!" Soda emerged from the counter at the sound of Cherry's voice.
"Well, hello, Miss Valance. What can I get for you today? The usual?" Cherry nodded and put her hand on the counter top.
"That, and I need your advice." Soda's face formed an odd shape and he leaned back against a wall.
"I don't know, Cherry, I'm not very good at giving advice." Cherry laughed and tossed her hair over her shoulder so Soda could see her face better.
"I think you can give me some advice on this one. Have you ever been in love?" Now it was Soda's turn to laugh.
"Well, Miss Valance, I think people's opinions of being in love are all different. I could tell you that I have been in love, but being in love to me could be completely different than being in love to you means." Cherry's face lit up and she grabbed her cappuccino off the counter.
"Thanks, Soda, that's all I need! I'll talk to you later." Cherry ran out the door as fast as she could. For the first time in a while, her life was finally starting to make sense.
Sorry that there isn't really any Dally in this chapter.. I just needed something to show you all what Cherry's feelings are through all this. There's a wee bit of a cliff hanger… not much though. Anyway, I promise to try to write more.. I have a bunch of ideas, I just need to arrange them, and find time to do that! Haha well thanks to all you guys who review! It's very much appreciated.