Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Stacy Worden. She belongs to my best friend. Anything Stacy or Bobby does or says was not written by me. It was written with the help of my real life best friend who created Stacy while we were on MSN and bored. Yes, Stacy is Sylvia's cousin and Stacy will be in my story a bit.
I do not own Victoria, who belongs to texaskid, or The Outsiders, which belongs to S.E. Hinton.
I woke up to silence. Only being here four days, I still knew that was unusual. Silence was brief if it ever occurred. I was alone in bed, seeing as Victoria had gone off to Buck's the night before with Steve because of her fight with Dally.
The sun was just beginning to shine through the curtains, and Jet was still asleep beside me. So I snuck out silently without disturbing him and went out to the living room, tip-toeing in my bare feet.
When I got out there I didn't really find anything else unusual; Johnny was asleep on the couch. Dally had left the night before and Two-bit not being there was no surprise, either. He almost always went home at night and just came here around breakfast time.
I knew that Steve was with Victoria, and it was too early for any of the Curtis boys to be awake. Or at least not up and awake.
So I grabbed the hoodie off Darry's chair – I had no clue whose it was but it didn't smell bad so it was okay – and slipped out the front door without a sound.
Sitting on the front porch in the cool, fresh morning air, watching the sunrise, curled up in someone's oversized sweater was a comfort I would never take for granted. It was an old routine and self-comfort that I was all too familiar with. A luxury that I would not always have, time to myself, room to breathe, and freedom and silence to think.
I took a deep breath, breathing in the perfect mixture of morning air, aftershave and the faint smell of tar roofing from the hoodie, and the damp odor of dewdrops on grass. The smell of the sweater gave me a hint that it was Darry's – but I guess the size should have been my first clue.
Suddenly I sensed a presence beside me, and when I turned to look I was surprised to find Darry sitting beside me intently watching the sunrise. And I thought Pony was the deep and dreamy one.
"Good morning Darry." I greeted quietly.
"Good morning Emma." He smiled, still watching the sunrise. "It's been a while since I've had any time to myself. I can't even remember the last time I sat on the front porch and watched the sunrise." Darry took a sip of the coffee he was holding.
Neither of use said anything for a while.
"Want some hot chocolate?" Darry asked as the sun rose higher, shining its amber rays across the sky.
"Sure, but I don't want to wake anyone up."
"I've already got a pot made – I thought it would be better than coffee this morning."
"Isn't that what you're drinking?" I asked puzzled.
"No – this is hot chocolate." He stood up and went inside.
Only about two minutes later he returned with a steamy mug of hot chocolate.
He handed it to me. "Thank-you Darry."
"No problem kiddo."
I sniffed the chocolate, breathing in the sweet aroma. Then I noticed the four mini marshmallows floating in it, melting rapidly.
"Careful it's extremely hot." Darry warned.
"No kidding."
We sat in silence for a while, drinking our hot chocolate and just enjoying the quiet.
"I better go wake up the boys – Soda's gonna be late for work." The sun was fully up now and I was finished my hot chocolate.
"Yeah, I'll go put our mugs away."
"Naw, I'll do it, I'm going in the kitchen anyways." Darry took my mug and went inside before I could even get up. I sighed, took one last glance at the sun – now high in the sky, then got up and went inside.
When I got inside Johnny was sitting on the couch. He smiled a silent greeting to me then whispered, "Good morning." He rubbed his eyes then ran his hand through his messy and not yet greased hair.
"Good morning, sleepy head." I replied softly, smiling back.
I heard some noise in the kitchen so I followed the sound – hoping to catch Darry in the middle of making breakfast so I could help. Darry hardly ever accepted anyone's help – but I forced mine on him – so he could not refuse – because truthfully he knew he needed it.
Just as I suspected, Darry was in the kitchen making egg and toast.
Without saying a word I went into the fridge got out the chocolate milk and grape jelly – Soda, for some strange reason, like grape jelly on his eggs. Then set them on the counter – causing Darry to look up. I grabbed some plates and cutlery and put that on the counter, too.
"How do you want your eggs or would you rather have some cold cereal?" Darry asked as her served Pony's and Soda's eggs.
"A piece of toast with butter is fine, thanks – I'll get it myself, and some orange juice." Then before Darry could ask me to – because I knew he would – I stuck my head around the corner.
"Johnny what would you like for breakfast?" He was sitting on the couch quietly talking with Pony.
That's when I noticed how truly quiet it was. As I stopped to listen I heard only the quiet mumblings of Pony and Johnny, Soda in the shower, and Darry putting some chocolate cake in the oven. I sighed, it was nice to have quiet – it was a very rare and treasured thing in this house.
"Johnny?" I asked again.
"I'm fine." He said looking up.
"Johnny Cade you have to eat something for breakfast. Now are you going to tell me what you want or am I going to have to choose for you?" I said sternly but still in a soft voice.
"Whatever Pony's having." He said rolling his eyes and sighing.
I nodded and turned back into the kitchen. "Same as Pony." Darry nodded and cracked another egg into the pan.
I made his toast and my toast, buttered them, poured three glasses of chocolate milk, and one glass of orange juice for myself.
By the time I did that, Darry was finished everyone's breakfast. So I put the plates on the table.
"Breakfast!" I called; Pony and Johnny immediately came to the table.
"Soda – breakfast!" I said knocking on the bathroom door. The water continued to run. "SODA!" I banged on the door. The water turned off. "Breakfast!" I said and sat down at the table.
Soda came to the table a few moments later once we had all started eating, dressed in only a pair of jeans. His hair was still pretty wet and drops of water ran down his bare neck and chest. I laughed inwardly at his inability to dry himself off.
Two-bit burst in the door a few minutes later; he went straight to the fridge and pulled out a beer, then came into the dining room and leaned in the door way, taking a swig of his beer. "Hellloo, gang!" He greeted loudly.
"Hi Two-bit." Johnny and Pony mumbled.
"Hey Two-bit." Darry said getting up. "Hurry up Soda; you're going to be late for work!" He cuffed his brother over the head playfully as Soda jumped up to go get his uniform on. Taking Soda's and his own dishes, Darry went into the kitchen.
Two-bit plunked his butt in the chair beside me. "And how are you this fine day Emma?" He asked.
"I'm perfectly fine, thank-you Two-bit for asking." I laughed at our little charade – we had spoken the whole thing with fake British accents.
Johnny laughed and Pony rolled his eyes and said; "You guys are crazy!"
I put my plate in the kitchen and shooed Darry away, insisting he had to go to work and that Pony and I would do the dishes.
And we did. While Johnny and Two-bit watched Mickey in the living room, Pony and I did the breakfast dishes. Pony was washing and I was drying because I hate the icky feeling of wet leftover food in the bottom of the sink, and Soda usually dried, so Pony was used to washing anyways.
"So, Pony, you're going into ninth grade in the fall, right?" I tried to make conversation between dripping wet plates.
"Uh, actually I got put ahead a grade so I'll be in tenth." Pony said, and then exclaimed, "Ohh gross! Darry forgot to scrape Soda's egg off his plate!" before bringing his soapy wet hand out of the water with a piece of soggy egg in it. I giggled as he dropped it in the garbage with disgust.
"Aren't you a little nervous since it's your first year in high school and you're already going to be a sophomore?" I asked as we settled back into doing the dishes.
"I don't know." Pony shrugged. "Kind of, but since Johnny is in the same grade, it won't be too bad."
"I guess not." I struggled to get the towel into one of the glasses to dry it. "You must be pretty smart to get bumped past ninth grade." I looked at Pony.
"I guess."
"I heard you're good at track."
"Ya. I like running."
"Hey! Me too!" I smiled. "Except I never go out for track. I never do anything outside of showing up for school and passing. The only extra-curricular things I do are detention and expulsion."
"Are you that bad?" Pony asked, shocked.
"No, but the school bully started to get the better of me in fifth grade, and the school board always found the poor kids with single moms at fault; I just got the lucky job at the time."
"But that's not fair."
"So?" I shrugged. "Life isn't. I get over it. New school, no big deal."
"Was the next school better?"
"Well, I never got in trouble; whether I did anything wrong or not, no one did. Trashy school on the trashy side of town. I got by."
Pony looked shocked, and I guessed the information I was relaying was new territory for him. 'Weird. He grew up a greaser. How does this surprise him?'
Clearing my throat of the awkward moment, I tried a new approach at conversation. "Hurry up with those dishes; I don't want to be here all day!" I poured some excess water from a glass onto his head.
"Hey!" He protested. "You know, Two-bit told me you were the one who pushed me out of bed."
"Two-bit!"
"Whaaat?" He called.
"And I don't think that bucket of water did the trick for revenge." Pony finished.
"Oh really now, so what are you going to do wash me? 'Cause if so, I guess I can go take a nap first if you're going to wash me as fast as you are those dishes." I teased, putting down my dishtowel and putting a hand on my hip.
"Ya know? I think your hair could use a quick wash." He took a handful of bubbles and plopped them on my hair.
"Really? Well, I think yours is a bit greasy too!" I took bubbles and rubbed them into his hair.
The following dish-soap-bubble war ended with Pony and I sitting on the floor in a large puddle of soapy water on the floor, laughing like lunatics.
"Wooow. You guys really cleaned the dishes well." Two-bit teased from the doorway. Johnny laughed at the sight of us.
Pony and I just kept laughing; we couldn't stop.
Then Two-bit started laughing. Really loud. And he wasn't stopping.
Eventually Pony and I stopped laughing to look at Two-bit who was now slapping his knees, tears in his eyes, laughing like a lunatic.
"Two-bit it's not that funny." I giggled.
"No…" He laughed. "But… you have to… clean this… all up yourselves." He slapped his knee again.
My mouth dropped in mock-shock. Pony looked at me and I nodded.
We took the container or rinse water and dumped it on Two-bit's head as Johnny jumped out of the way; completely drenching him from head to toe.
Now Johnny was laughing too, rubbing at the little bit of water that splashed onto his arm.
Then we all burst out laughing.
A while later Pony and I were on our knees mopping up the water in the kitchen and the dining room, while Two-bit dried himself with a towel he borrowed from the Curtis' bathroom.
When Tim walked in I was trying to mop up the water around the doorway between the kitchen and dining and Pony was in the kitchen getting that water up.
"What the…?" Tim asked with a confused look on his face. Two-bit was drying his hair with the towel now.
"Oh hey Tim." Two-bit greeted. "Pony and Emma were just doing the dishes."
"I see…" Tim laughed, shaking his head. "Hey where's Dal?"
"Dunno." Two-bit shrugged and dropped his towel on my puddle.
"Thanks." I used it with the towel I already had to sop up the wet soapy mess that was all over the hardwood floor in the dining. Luckily it didn't get to the big area rug in the living room.
"Alright, well I gotta go, so see you guys around." Tim said and left.
I finished drying the floor in the living room and when I stood up the knees of my jeans and the calves were soaked and my hair was still a bit damp.
I went to help Pony but he was done, too, so we just put the dirty soaking wet towels in the dirty hamper.
I changed into my jean capris because my other long jeans were wet and combed my hair then left the house.
I was just walking down to the playground when some guy running down the street, and not paying attention to where he was going slammed into me and knocked me down. The short, scruffy black haired teen quickly got up, shook his head, and took off again.
A girl rounded the corner at a sprint and almost ran over me, but stopped just before she stepped on me. The blonde looked at the guy running down the street, then down at me, and then back at him. The girl sighed and extended her hand to help me up.
I took the girl's hand and stood up. "Thanks." I said brushing myself off. 'At least she had the decency to stop and help me.'
"Sorry about that." The girl fixed her side pony. "Jerk. I guess he wasn't watching where he was going. What an idiot."
"Uh… ya." I wasn't sure what to say. "It's fine."
"I haven't seen you around here before, you must be new right? My name's Stacy. You are…?" She asked me.
"Emma." I smiled. "Yeah, I'm new in town."
"Nice to meet you." Stacy shook my hand.
"Ya hungry? It's around lunch now." The blonde looked at her watch. She had a nice figure and was very efficiently sized in the bust area.
"Ya, I'm a bit hungry." I shrugged. Truthfully, I wasn't that hungry, and was feeling a bit icky again. Cramps a bit. But I saw this as my chance to make my own friend.
The girl looked into her pocket. "Well how about I treat you to lunch? My way of saying I'm sorry for his actions. How 'bout it?" She looked at me with bright blue eyes. Darker than mine; prettier, warmer.
"Uhm…" I hesitated.
"If you don't want to, it's fine."
'No. We gotta be friends'. "Um, well, I am kinda hungry… but." Would the gang be mad? Would Dally? He got mad about everything else… And I need a family more than my own friends… And he's kinda hacked off at Victoria at the moment, so he's in a bad mood… "Sure…"
The girl looked at me skeptically. "Um, if there's something you have to do like check in with your parents or something, we can…"
'Ha! My mom? Ya... we're going to go all the way to New York City and ask my mom if I can have lunch with you here in Tulsa?' But instead of what that little voice told me about being mean, I felt ashamed. "My parents aren't here…" I said quietly, trailing off and toeing the ground. 'Because I'm a runaway.'
"Oh..." She bit her lip. "Well, uh, where do you want to go? Anywhere's fine for me." She gave me a soft smile.
I looked up, regretting what I said. She looked… embarrassed? She probably thought I was an orphan! "I'm kinda new in town… Only been to a few spots; Dairy Queen, The Dingo. You choose the best place."
"Well then how about The Dingo? That actually works out." She said slowly starting to walk in that direction.
"Sure." I jogged to get up beside her.
"So what brings you to Tulsa? If you don't mind me asking." 'Here we go again. Man, I should have gone for guy friends again – they never ask this personal crap.' Yet something made me want to be friends with her… she was different from other girls I met; didn't seem trashy, and was nice.
"My dad." 'Only give her the information she asks for… give that willingly and nothing more.' I instinctively reminded myself.
"Cool." She sighed a bit.
"He's in jail." I offered after an awkward moment. 'Damnit' I cursed myself, I gave out involuntary information. 'But now you might have something to talk about. If she asks about it, answer. If not, then drop it.' The voice in my mind switched gears as my mood started to switch; my mind realizing this could end badly. I concentrated on the voice.
"Your dad's in jail?" She asked, interested. "My aunts in jail, too. She has been for a few years now. I'm not close to her though, so it doesn't matter to me." Somehow, this girl opening up to her was a relief.
"Yeah, I'm not sure why he is, but apparently he is. I've never met him. All I really know about Dennis Winston is he's my father and in jail." I opened up. "I'll keep going.' Seemed like she wanted to hear about it – no one else cared, or bothered to ask me how I felt about this stuff or what I thought. "Why's you aunt in jail?" I didn't really know my aunts, and hadn't seen any of my family since my Nanna died.
"All I know about Dennis Winston is that he's Dallas Winston's dad." She seemed to realize something then. "You must be his sister! Right?"
"Yeah, I am. People say I look like him." I know I look like him; he has my white-blonde hair and the same wicked-cold blue eyes I was born with, except I'd gotten them to soften, while his remained cold.
She looked into my eyes, than scanned me top to bottom. I didn't like the bug-under-microscope feeling. "Yeah, actually you do look like him. I didn't notice till I looked at your eyes. Same cold eyes as him. Speaking of which, how is he? It's been a while since I talked to him."
I blushed at the eyes part. My eyes weren't really cold…were they? I thought I had tamed them… "You know Dally?"
"Yeah I know him." 'I wonder how?' "You know I meant cold as in the colour – they seem nice and soft!" Her lie was slightly comforting – I now knew I was better than her at lying. Amusing. But I took to her heart her effort to cover her mistake and not hurt my feelings – so she was honorable in my books.
"Oh." I said, considering maybe I had jumped to conclusions about my eyes. "He's ok… I guess. Depending on how you define 'fine' or 'normal'. I don't know what you know him to be like, so…" I didn't want to say bad stuff about Dal and have it come around to the gang. Then they – mainly Victoria – would never like me, and I'd just have made another eight more enemies.
"I met him a while ago. We were never really close though, I should put it."
"Well if you truthfully wanna know how he is, I think he's a little harsh." 'A little?' "Got in a fight with our sister last night. Haven't seem him this morning, or Victoria since yesterday."
"He can be harsh. Being honest I'm not quite fond of him." She said, slightly lost in thought.
"You're not?" 'Why?'
"Let's just say he did something that ticked me off a lot. I don't care about it now but I don't trust him or talk to him anymore. I ignore him really…" She explained.
I was curious, but didn't want to be nosey. "Mind if I ask what he did?"
"He cheated on me." She said bluntly, kicking a rock on the road. 'She DATED him?' "We dated for a week and a half. He was supposed to meet me for a movie and Dairy Queen one day, I waited an hour or so but he never showed up. So I walked home and on the way there I heard noises coming from a car that was slightly moving." Stacy said, not seeming to really be telling me this as much as she was reliving her anger. She glared at the ground as she kicked the rock again, harder this time.
"The bitch screamed out 'Oh Dallas! Oh baby!' I knew it was him, and I knew the bitch he was fucking was my cousin Sylvia. Sure enough it was. When I knocked on the window, he saw me and guess what he said?" She didn't give me time to answer, letting out a huff. "It's not what it looks like.' Like, really? I can tell! Jeez, the bastard had her shirt unbuttoned to the bottom, her skirt undone, and he's sittin' there with lipstick smears on and no belt and his zipper undone. HAH!" She let out a small laugh.
"He got hit pretty damn hard after that. Same with the bitch, but she got it worse. She knew better. After all, we know each other. Then again, she's a slut, so I should have expected this. I didn't think he would actually try that with me. I thought of it a few times though so it didn't upset me, just ticked me off." Stacy finished her rant.
"Oh." I was not surprised about Sylvia… she was a total whore; always pissing Angel and I off by trying to get with Tim and what not. "So who's he dating now…?"
"He's been dating the same bitch. Sylvia. The little." She muttered a few curse words. "They broke up a few times. I don't know why he won't end it. She cheats on him all the time." 'No kidding! She really prefers Tim…'
"I'd dump her sorry ass after the first time. Like I did to Dally, but of course he doesn't. I don't know what he sees in her. Probably nuttin' but her boobs. Which of course I don't get. There are a lot of great girls around here that have great bodies and their not sluts and they actually have personalities."
I could tell she was embarrassed about ranting; but she needed it and it was helping her.
"I'm used to people pouring their anger out at me; lecturing me or confiding in me. Either way it happens all the time. I don't mind." I smiled. She looked better after getting all that out. 'Wow, Dallas is a lot lower than I first thought.'
She smiled back at me; I think she likes me!
"So are we gonna eat?" I was hungry now... but asked nicely because I had just met her, and didn't really like being a burden…
"Yep! We're almost there." We turned the corner and pointed to The Dingo. She walked ahead and held the door for me, handing me some money once I was in.
"Order anything you want, I'll be right back." Stacy walked over to the waiter who was taking some plates in and she stopped him at the door. She talked to him for a bit as I took a seat. He set the dishes down on a nearby table in a bit and crossed his arms. Stacy turned around and started toward me but he grabbed her by the arm and handed her some money. 'So she only had enough money for one, played me for dumb and thought I wouldn't realize she was suckering money off a waiter that she obviously knew.' But then again, she didn't realize I was from New York, and I could be assumed dumb – what with the little "innocent" act I was dancing for everyone.
She kissed him quickly, then came over and slipped in across the table from me.
"So have you decided on anything?" Stacy asked me, looking at the menu.
I was a little hurt that she had played me like that. I could have paid for my own lunch; I had money back at the Curtis'. "I don't know. What are you getting?"
"Probably fries or something, I'm not sure yet…" Stacy looked down at the money she had suckered. She had plenty. She'd better give him the change back…
"Hey, you ready to place and order?" A boy asked and Stacy looked up.
The kid with the name tag 'Bobby' fixed his thick black hair and smiled down at Stacy. Ugh, he was such a pig.
Stacy smiled back and eluded to pretty much just that. "I thought you were going to serve them?" She said pointing her thumb back at a group of girls with big boobs and too much makeup.
He laughed. "Only you and your friend today. So, whatchas getting?" Friend. Hmm, that sounded nice – and seemed much closer now than before.
Stacy took a last look at the menu. "Just fries and water for me please."
He looked surprised. "That's all? You usually eat lots more than that. Besides look at the money I just gave you, you could get anything on the menu, babe." He said smiling. She handed him the money she didn't need.
"Naw, I'd have to pay you back later." He refused it. "Take it Bobby." She said stuffing it in his shirt pocket.
"Fine…" He said turning to me. "And what can I get for you, cutie?"
I raised my eyebrows. Maybe I could slip into my tough act when I was with Stacy; she seemed tough. It wasn't like I was bringing her to meet the gang. This was my friend; I'd finally made my own friend. "Cutie? Hm… you could get me a better and less pervy waiter." I smiled, quickly scanning the room and feeling relieved to not recognize anyone; none of Shepard's gang were in site.
Stacy smirked. "I agree." He pouted at us.
"Oh, come one, I'm not that bad, I haven't even said anything yet…"
Stacy raised an eyebrow as I had. "Oh really? You sure about that?" She said with a small smile. He laughed a bit.
"Am I gonna get my order or what?" I looked at him, serious. But inside I was laughing; curious at whether he would or not.
He looked down at me. "Some time maybe." He laughed and wrote it down and walked to the kitchen.
I raised my eyebrows when he left. I turned to Stacy. "Is he coming back to get my real order, or is he actually getting a new waiter?" I laughed at the last part.
Stacy laughed. "He probs just getting us some water or something." Soon as she finished he came back with two cokes and set them on the table.
"On the house, thought I'd treat yas." He turned back to me. "What can I get you?"
My stomach growled. "A burger and fries please?" I asked politely, switching back to my new, nice, Tulsa-self. Emma Winston, kind and sweet and innocent. As opposed to Emma Smith who was tough and popular, a very mouthy, bad girl with a rock solid rep.
"Sure thing I'll be back in a sec." He walked into the kitchen.
"He's a really nice guy once you get to know him; I've known him for years now." Stacy smiled.
"I'm sure." I smiled.