The next day at school I saw Andy. He was walking through the hallway all innocently, and if I hadn't known, I would have sworn that him and Dally had never talked a day in their life. The thing about the two was that they looked kind of alike: both had blond hair and a long, chizzled face, but Andy had a sweet kind of look to him. Like he didn't want to hurt anybody, and he wasn't high and mighty. He was just a guy trying to make it through life, like everybody else.
He didn't say hi to me. I don't know if I expected him to, but I was really disappointed when he didn't even acknowedge me.
But during lunch I had another chance. Two-Bit came bounding up to me, as usual, and grabbed me by the shoulders. He pushed me right out of the cafeteria and up to the front door before I was able to struggle out of his grasp.
"What're you doing?" I asked, annoyed. If I skipped with him like he probably wanted me to, Darry would ground me for life.
"Come on, kid! Don't you want to have fun?" Two-Bit whined. I frowned at him.
"Not at the expense of my life!" I shot back. He shook his head.
"Guess you don't want to hang out with Andy..." I watched him shrug, acting uninterested. I noticed a smile tugging at his lips and soon I was grinning along with him.
"Well, okay. But just for today! I'm never gonna let you talk me into this again, you hear?" My eyes widened as Two-Bit grabbed my wrist and dragged me out the front doors with him, not even checking to see if any teachers had seen us. He pulled me with him all the way to the back of the parking lot and then finally let go of me.
"Why'd you have to be so rough?" I was dusting myself off and glaring at Two-Bit.
"Don't be a pussy," I heard a laughing voice say, and my heart fluttered. I didn't even have to look to recognize that voice. It was Andy.
"S-Sorry," I mumbled. Wow, not even five seconds and I already sounded like an idiot! I was really going to have to get it together. "How are you doing, Andy?" I was kicking myself immediately after I finished talking. Why did I sound like such a doofus today? Andy smirked at me and took out a cigarette. I stared at them until he finally handed me one.
"Not too bad. You?" he replied after what seemed like an eternity of awkward silence. I felt around for a lighter in both pockets and sighed when I realized that I didn't have one. Andy laughed a little. "Relax, kid." he said, and then got real close to me to light my cigarette. I took in a few shallow breaths and tried to think of something cool to say.
"I thought Dally was gonna be here for sure." Well, I guess that wasn't too bad.
"Nope," Andy said. "Just the three of us today." And to tell the truth, I was perfectly okay with that. Of course, it would have been a tiny bit better if Two-Bit wasn't here...
We cruised around in Two-Bit's beaten-up car for a little while before we finally stopped at a gas station. This was nice, getting to just hang out with Two-Bit and Andy. They were good company. The whole way we just listened as Two-Bit went off about everything from his latest steal to his latest broad. I don't know why, but I could never picture myself talking about girls the way the gang does. I've thought all about them, and stuff Soda's said about getting with them. It just doesn't sound any good to me.
"Damn, speaking of girls..." Two-Bit wiggled his eyebrows and pulled up a little closer to the car full of girls parked at the gas station. I looked at them, uninterested. One was an ugly brunette with a big nose and another one was a ditzy blonde whose tits were so big, they looked ready to pop. Andy seemed to agree with me, because he shook his head.
"Naw, man. Not my type."
"Seriously?" Two-Bit gasped. "How can that not be your type? I'm starting to think you don't have a type, man..." Andy glared daggers at him.
"My type just isn't big boosey broad, that's all," he shot back, getting out of the car angrily. I snuck a glance at Two-Bit. He didn't seem to care that he'd offended Andy. Sheesh, if I had, I'd be begging his forgiveness. I got out of the car too and followed Andy into the gas station.
"Hey," I said quietly behind him. "I didn't think those girls were anything special either." He turned around and smiled at me half-heartedly.
"Thanks, kid," came his scratchy, gruff voice. I got this weird sensation: like butterflies in my stomach. Was that how I was supposed to feel looking at those girls? I shook the thought from my head and grabbed a coke, going up to the counter to pay for it. Just then, I felt a strong grip grab the coke out of my hand and slam it on the counter, along with a pack of cigarettes. "I got this," Andy said. I blushed.
"Thanks."
Andy and I walked silently out of the gas station and back to the car, where Two-Bit was eagerly waiting for us.
"I got her number!" he hissed, grabbing Andy by the collar and practically dragging him into the car. He shoved Two-Bit's hands off of him and rolled his eyes.
"Which one? Tits or big-nose?"
"Tits," Two-Bit said quickly.
"I have a thing for redheads." Andy said pointedly. I ran a hand through my red hair.
"I kind of like blonds," I dared to reply. Andy grinned at me. I smiled back a little bit, and then almost laughed at how completely oblivious Two-Bit was. There he sat, staring at the scribbled down phone number like it was a million dollars or something. I think it's pretty weird, what some people value.