A/N: First and foremost, I would like to kindly thank all of my wonderful reviewers Your comments are always both helpful as well as inspiring. I hope this chapter meets your expectations and, for those of you wondering, I have finished an outline for this story. In other words I know where its going. I'm still open to suggestions and requests though, so share if you have any ideas or questions. Thank you for waiting. I tried to post this yesterday but there was a stupid error! This week is going to be busy, but I'll do my best to up-date soon for you guys. Enjoy and remember to leave a review, please!
Babygirl
"Yep, it's an original name, but my dad was an original person..."
Chapter 5: Not All That Bad
"Everything all right, Baby?"
"Yes." I lied as I stared intently out the window, seeing nothing.
"Had a little bit a trouble back there?" He ventured.
"Everything's fine, Eugene." I said more clearly, wiping a few tears from my cheeks.
"Oh, I see. Of course it is." He played along, having no idea how much it meant to me.
"Where is Milly?" I asked more to change the subject than out of concern.
"She said she wants me to drop you off at your ballet lesson and pick you up."
"I hate ballet, Eugene."
"Why?"
"I just do. You know what I mean, don't you?"
"Sure, sure. I hate salmon, no real reason I just never did care for it."
"Anyway, will you drop me off at the jail instead
"No. I'm afraid I can't do that." I laughed weakly at his serious tone. "That I can't do." He added again under his breath.
I slumped down in the seat and refused to meet his eyes in the rear view mirror. I let the tears spill down my face only because I couldn't help it, but I refused to make a sound. The knot in my throat was so tight I felt it may break.
For a while, we just drove all over town until finally we had apparently reached our destination and he stopped. Only, this wasn't our destination. We were before a house very familiar to me, but one I had not seen in so long it took me a moment to be sure and then another moment to allow myself to believe it. This was Emily's house!
I had missed our afternoons together so much. The way thing used to be I would go straight here or she would come home with me as her mom was always at work. Then, we headed to the lot to play ball. Without me there I doubted she was still playing, or at least not nearly as often. After all, she had been there more to watch Sam than train for the World Series. I wondered about her now more than I had in the weeks before. Back when my life had been very different, we had promised to be best friends forever, no matter what. What if she had moved on and found other best friends? I had found Nelly and Miles. We weren't as close, but we were still friends. I hadn't been allowed to contact her. What if she thought I abandoned her? I knew what that felt like and it wasn't pretty.
I stopped my musings as I saw Eugene's face.
"Go on, doll."
"Eugene..."
"Yes."
"You... Can't you get into trouble for this?"
"I don't see how as you won't be going back to ballet lessons after today. You've got 2 hours. Make the most of it." he winked.
"You're the best." I ran out of the car and right up to the door.
"Miss?"
"Yes?"
"One condition,"
"Yeah?"
"Don't go see or talk to your brothers. I know it's tempting, but that just not something any of us or them can afford right now, understand?"
"But why-"
"Why don't matter. Just leave them be for today or go home."
"Alright, Eugene. See you later. Bye." He drove off. I knocked on the door, nervous for the first time on this porch, and saw my friend's red hair coming from their kitchen. She swung open the doors and her brown eyes got huge.
"Baby?"
"Hey Emily. Want to play?" I answered, a little unsure. She tackled me into a giant hug and we rolled down her front porch stairs. It hurt, but I was so happy to see her happy to see me that I didn't even mind.
"Babygirl Curits where the heck have you been?"
"The south side."
"You poor thing!" she joked. I love that attitude she has, just like her brother.
"Where's your brother?"
"At your brother's house, as usual. Hey! You want to go tag along with Johnny and Pony?"
"No."
"No?" she raised an eyebrow.
"I want to but we can't be seen here. Can we play in your room, or out back? I'll explain everything."
"Sure."
Heading inside, we cautiously shut the door behind us and headed to the kitchen where Emily had already made a snack. It was peanut butter and jelly. I smiled when she handed my hers and made another. It sure was a comfort knowing that some things never changed. If I had a dollar for every time Emily had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich I'd be rich enough to buy Milly's Cadillac.
"So," She began with that mouthful of peanut butter talk that I had learned to understand a long time ago. "What's up on the south side?"
So I told everything, as best friends tend to do. She interjected at all the right places with all the right comments, as best friends do. She too thought Nelly sounded pretty tuff and that Miles was nice. She wanted to know if there were any cute Socs. She liked the car too, and, of course, she understood how I felt about the whole mess. When we finished talking about me and the south side, I realized I only had an hour left. I felt a sick knot of that anxiousness and dread of the moment Eugene would show up. I asked her what had been happening here. She dropped her cookie.
"You mean," she gulped. "You haven't heard?"
"Uh...no?"
"Okay. Sit down." She then proceeded to tell me all that had been going on here and man was there a lot of gossip to catch up on. Apparently, Dallas Winston was getting out of the cooler early and Johnny had been beat up really bad by some Socs. Really bad. I grimaced as she described his broken and bloodied face. She said he had actually cried and that he couldn't even move or call for help when they found him.
"My God. Poor little ol' Johhny." Even though he was bigger than us, and tougher, it had always seemed fitting to call Johnny little.
"Yeah. Word around town is whoever was responsible is about to get pounded by none other than the great and powerful Dally. Oh- and there's something terrible-"
"What?!" I demanded.
Outside came a beep beep.
"Sam is dating, horror of horrors, Sadie!"
"Oh no." I groaned.
"Guess you gotta go, huh?" grumbled a downtrodden looking Emily. I had not seen this discouraged side of her before and didn't really want to.
"I'll be back." I offered, reassuringly. In return, she flashed me a Soda-rivaling grin.
"Great." She said simply. I scribbled down my number on piece of paper and told her to call in an emergency. Otherwise, I'd be back next week.
Briefly, I thought of running away and hiding out with Emily, but only briefly. Instead, I gave her a slight hug and raced outside; reluctant to leave, but happy that we were still friends. Besides, I didn't want to bother Eugene, who had been nice enough to do this for me. I reminded myself, ducking down to avoid being seen in Emily's yard, to pay him back.
Once back on the south side, I let out a low sigh and went to clean up before joining the dinner table.
"How was your day?" asked John, the man of the house. I still wasn't sure how to answer that question.
"Alright." I tried. That seemed to suffice, as usual. Nervously I coughed. "I do have something I'd like to ask you though." At this, everyone's ears perked up like cocker spaniels. I wasn't sure whether that was a good sign or bad.
Then John, looking pretty nervous himself, asked: "What is that?"
Sucking up my courage I answered: "I"d like to quit ballet." If I wasn't mistaken, he breathed a slight sigh of relief. What was he thinking I'd ask for?
Milly, on the other hand, was outraged-to say the least.
"Absolutely not! That is a cultured and enjoyable class for a young lady."
At the words 'enjoyable' I let out a low snort. I couldn't help it- it just slipped out. John almost smiled, I think. Before Milly could continue her tirade, he interjected with: "I'll think about it." I was surprise to find Milly had fallen silent. She was glowering at me, but not arguing the point further.
"I could take etiquette or something." I offered, following Eugene's master plan.
"You must be desperate." He was sure in good mood today.
" There's a class at the school."
"Speaking of school," he raise an eyebrow. "Anything interesting about today?"
'Oh God,' I thought, 'he knows about Darry!' I had thought sister Treadwell was on my side, but she had tattled.
"Um..." I stuttered.
"Let's see it." he said, putting down his napkin and fork.
"See what?" I asked, truly puzzled.
"Don't play games with me, young lady. You know very well I want to see the report card you received today."
"Oh." I breathed a sigh of relief. Not for long. Worry soon came on in new waves. Did Socs expect even better grades from their kids than Darry? I handed it over nonetheless. His eyes scanned it closely, held it up to the light, and stared some more.
"Very well done." he said. He sounded surprised. Maybe I'd done better than even Socs expected. Or maybe he expected greasers to all be stupid. I didn't care. He was actually smiling.
"I think this deserves a reward. What would you like for dessert?"
"Chocolate cake." I said immediately.
He laughed. "Chocolate cake it is."
I stood there awkwardly for a moment unsure of what to do with myself. Did he want a hug? Did I?
"Now about this ballet business," he leaned forward seriously. "You really hate it?"
"Yes." I sighed desperately.
"Well, I don't see a problem with etiquette classes, do you Milly?"
"Of course not." smiled Milly with that false cheer I hated so much. Suddenly, I really missed my mom. If I had to hug someone in this room it would have to be John. So, I reached forward quickly wrapped my arms around him tight, and gave him a slight squeeze. Surprisingly, he returned it.
Lying in my bed that night, full of chocolate cake I thought about my very long, very strange day. All in all, it had been a day of twists and turns and unexpected surprises around every corner. It had been a day of revelations and retrospect. It had been a day of returning to old places and turning over new leaves. All in all, it hadn't been that bad.
A/N: I hope this chapter was long enough for you! I was a little worried about this one. To be honest it's not my favorite but the plot is about to thicken quite a bit so even if it wasn't your favorite, please continue to read. As always, reviews are VERY appreciated! Thanks for reading!