Dallas couldn't help but feel useless to Cherry. He tried his hardest to not let it bother him, or at least not to allow Cherry to notice that he was bothered; but every muscle in his body couldn't stop him from feeling the way that he did at that very moment. Cherry continued to stare at Dallas while sitting on her couch, as he stood next to the door.

"So how are we gonna settle this? What's the plan?" Dallas finally mumbled while rubbing the back of his neck. Cherry wiped her tears and looked away. She could not look at Dallas when, clearly, she knew that every move she made was wrong. Cherry knew within herself that denying Dallas' ownership of the baby was wrong, beyond wrong. However, she could not have possibly imagined going through what would have lied ahead if her, if mother and father were to have known the truth.

Finally, turned away from him, she spoke with a cracked voice, "We don't say a word. That's…that's about it."

Disappointed, Dallas nodded as he nearly poked his tongue through the inside of his cheek, holding back words he knew that he'd regret saying to her. His worse exactly would have been, Guess you were never fuckin' tough enough, Red. He continued to try with every power in his body to refrain from screaming at the girl, he was so upset. So frustrated, he almost felt as if he had uncovered a frame of Cherry's true sense of personality that he never wanted to discover. After all this time, Dallas had finally earned her trust. And to see that Cherry was still having doubts about admitting their relationship to others, it disgusted him. Dallas hated two-faced people, and that was what Cherry was.

Dallas reached for the door handle to leave, but his mind was still minutes behind him; still reacting and processing what Cherry had said about her plan. He turned around for the last time, and stated one last thought.

"I've just got one question," he spoke up, "What you gonna' do when Bob's parents find out?"

Cherry just sat there in silence, completely caught off guard from this. He's right, she thought. What was Cherry going to do once they had found out? Surely they would want to see the baby. After all, it would be there only grandchild. What would she say to them? How long could she keep up a lie like this?

Dallas continued to speak while opening the door, "You know I'de fuckin' do anything for you, Cherry." And as he finally took one step out the door, he stated, "But I'm not lying for you, or our kid."

As he slammed the door behind him, Cherry began to burst into tears. As she laid down on her couch, clasping on to the nearest pillow, she weeped, and weeped, and weeped some more. What am I doing? she asked herself. This wasn't the normal Cherry, this was not who she was. Since when had she cared about her parents' reaction more than the boy she had loved most?

She spoke aloud through her tears, "I'm carrying Dallas' baby. Dallas' baby."

She could hear someone pulling into her driveway. And what more of perfect timing could have existed; it was Cherry's mother and father. Confused, Cherry quickly wiped her tears away, once again, and shuffled over to her window. She had thought that they were to return home by 1:00 in the morning, and it was only almost 11:40 at night. No, no no no… she thought to herself, I'm not ready for this, I can't do this.

She then wondered if her parents had seen Dallas walking down the hill as they drove up it. Had they even known that she was even talking to Dallas? No, no they did not. Cherry's family would never allow such a thing; anything associated with social rankings and wealth, Cherry had been raised under a strict radar. There was no such thing as intermingling with greasers, not in Cherry's household.

As her mother came first walking in, she let out a deep sigh, "Ah, Cherry darling. I'm afraid we're home early tonight." Cherry remained blankly stared as she watched her father walk in right behind her.

"Your father, here, got into it with one of the gentlemen down at billiards. And if you ask me, I much rather would have stayed home then watch a fight about absolutely nothing." Cherry had no idea how to respond to this, especially after what had just happened between herself and Dallas. She only nodded in silence.

"Cherry sweetheart? Something wrong?" her mother asked.

"Can I talk to you about something? Maybe in about five minutes?" Cherry hesitantly asked.

Her mother continued to stare at her, confused, while her father paused. "And why not now?" he asked, hanging up his hat on the rack.

"Just-just get settled in. We don't have to discuss it now, I just want us to all be together for this." she explained quietly.

Cherry's mother had thought that Cherry might have been waiting to introduce some good news to the family, however her serious expression had implied otherwise.

"Sure dear, I suppose I'll change. Honey, you really should change that awful shirt." her mother turned towards Cherry's father.

Cherry speedily walked into her bedroom, completely filled with regret. Why, why did I have to do this now? Why couldn't I just wait? She could barely even decide what to do while she had waited for her parents to sit down. Should she climb out her window? Call Dallas, or Marcia? Cherry knew that she was thinking like a mad woman. She couldn't help but feel upset for immediately forcing herself to deal with her parents. Speaking to Dallas must have given her some sort of emotional momentum, causing her to introduce the subject as soon as she laid her eyes on her parents. At this very moment, Cherry had begun realizing that it was time to face the consequences for the decisions that she had made. Cherry had overheard her father talking in the living room, "Do you suppose it's her grades?"

Her mother's voice faintly projected through the walls, "Certainly not, Cherry is always on top of her game. Perhaps a surprise." she laughed. Oh my god, I'm dead Cherry thought. Just the thought of Cherry's grades going down had brought anger to her parents, only imagining how they would take the pregnancy news made Cherry want to faint.

Cherry glanced over at her window, and there she saw the brightly-lit moon that had always greeted her every single night. Staring at it, she couldn't help but recall a specific memory; that of which her and Dallas were laying in his bed one night, staring outside his window.

"You know I barely even noticed that I could see the moon from here until you looked at it." Dallas said to her, letting Cherry rest her head upon his chest. Dallas had just begun noticing that she was gazing out his window. "How come you're always lookin' at it?"

Cherry looked back at Dallas, "I don't know. It's always made me feel relaxed. Reminds me of how small everything else is in the world."

Dallas tried to feel the same way, but all he could see was the moon. A small, white circle placed in the middle of the sky. "I don't feel nothin'." he said, "I've got a lot more shit goin' on in my life that's way bigger than the moon."

Cherry continued to look at Dallas, at his face. She kept thinking of what a beautiful look he had to him; those bright eyes, the positioning of his lips, his cheek bones, the way his non-greased hair had naturally rested upon his head, the way he looked when she could tell that he was thinking. He looked so-so on his own. And that was what had stroked Cherry as attractive the first time that she had laid eyes on Dallas. He was very individualistic, very independent. Dallas was never a follower.

"Dallas, have you ever thought about the future? Like what you'll be doing ten years from now?" Cherry suddenly brought. She couldn't figure out what exactly had made her bring this up, it just came to her.

"Nah, I'll be here." he said. It was the way that he said it, almost as if he had already planned himself a future that he knew was not very enjoyable; perhaps Dallas knew that he would remain a greaser for the rest of his life, forever and always.

"Why do you say things like that?" Cherry asked curiously.

"What?"

"Like…'oh, I'll be here. Blah blah blah..' " Cherry mocked him by impersonating his low voice.

Dallas smiled, "Oh, is that what I sound like?" The two laughed as Dallas brushed his hand up against her cheek.

He then continued as he looked down, past Cherry's delicate chin, "I don't know, I just say it just 'cause. I know my place, and I know I can do perfectly fine on my own. I've managed."

"But don't you ever want to live your dream? Fall in love? Have a family? Any of that?" Cherry continued to ask.

Dallas was puzzled by the way Cherry had been asking this. He had never actually thought about any of these things before, he always just…lived.

After a pause, he replied, "You're the only thing on my mind right now, and I'm happy with that."

Back to reality. Cherry refocused her eyes as she continued glaring at the moon, took a deep breath, and walked out of her room. She began to feel her heart race as she saw her mother and father sitting beside one another on the couch. She walked slowly towards them, and sat among the chairs across them. She could feel both of their eyes gazing into her, watching Cherry fiddle with her hands.

"So a lot has been going on lately." Cherry spoke up, finally breaking the silence. She realized that her parents were in no mood for fluff; they wanted the news. She continued to think of what she should say next, as she glanced at the impatient faces glaring back at her.

"I really don't know how to say this," Cherry began to feel a tear rolling down her face, "and believe me, I've been trying so hard to find a better way that I could say this."

Cherry began to feel herself losing control of herself. She did not want to cry in front of her parents, it only made things worse. Her mother's face began to frown, and her father became worried. Cherry looked up at them from staring at her hands, took a deep breath, and spoke the truth.

"I-I'm pregnant."

Cherry's father's eyes widened tremendously. Her mother, after a long pause, began to cry hysterically into the father's arms. Cherry began to feel very uncomfortable. What was even happening?

"This cannot be! What did we do wrong?" her mother cried. The way Cherry's mother had reacted, it began to bother her. Cherry continued, "Mom, this wasn't your fault at all. It's a mistake that I've made for myself. You-you guys, you guys have taught me everything right, and I-"

"Sherri, what do expect us to do about this?" her father interrupted, raising his voice. The way he had said this frightened Cherry. Cherry's mother, after minutes of crying, got off of the couch. She walked over to the telephone as she said through her tears, "We have to tell Bob's family. They'll want to know about this immediately."

Oh my god, Cherry thought to herself. Could it be? Did Cherry's mother actually just do all of the work for her? WIthout saying a word, Cherry's parents had already assumed that Bob was the father. For some reason, however, Cherry felt butterflies begin to drop within her stomach. The sound of her mother's voice began to make Cherry ill, as she began to recall Dallas' face when she had told him that she was going to lie about everything.

Cherry couldn't take it. She couldn't watch her mother dial the phone, she couldn't stand knowing that Bob's parents were about to be lied to, she couldn't stand hurting Dallas. Her Dallas, the boy who gave her everything. She just… couldn't.

So, she said something.

"No, Mom, no. Stop!" she raised her voice as her mom began to hang up.

"What?" she yelled back.

"Bob isn't the father."

"Then who the hell is it? Young lady I want to know who did this to you! Who? Hello? Do you at least have the decency to respect your parents enough and respond to a simple question?" her father screamed.

Cherry grew tired of the yelling, the anger, the crying; everything began to make her mind stir. She couldn't think, she didn't have time to think. So, she spoke.

"It's, it's…It's Dallas." she began to cry.

Her father began to laugh, however it was not very realistic. Cherry's father had wanted to believe that she was joking, only because he knew, just like everyone else in town, that Dallas Winston was no gentleman. He was a 'hood', a nobody, a troublemaker, he was trash; he was a greaser.

"You better pray to God that you're pulling our legs, Sherri Valence." her father snapped.

Cherry spoke very quietly, "Daddy, he's not who you think he is, he's a genuinely nice person. And he promised he'd take care of me and the-"

"YOU THINK PEOPLE LIKE DALLAS KEEP PROMISES LIKE THIS, SHERRI?" her father's voice began to crack from the yelling.

Her mother continued to cry, however she began to speak with a more upsetting, stern tone, "For God's sake, Sherri, he killed Bob! Have you lost your mind?".

"He did not kill Bob, Mom! You know that!" Cherry became upset.

"He's killed someone, I'm sure!" her Dad cut in.

"What are you even doing hanging out with people like that, Sherri?"

"I don't judge people based on class level, and you shouldn't either." Cherry raised her voice.

Her father continued to yell, "You are in no position to tell us what we should and should not do."

Cherry realized that she wasn't going to get any support from her family as long as she continued yelling back at them. After taking a deep breath, she responded calmly.

"I know that this is going to change my life forever. Trust me, I have been regretting this the moment I had found out. But what I need to hear from you is that you will be here for me, and that you understand how sorry I am."

Apparently her mother did not listen to a word that Cherry had said, because she only responded with, "How long have you been keeping this from us?"

Cherry continued, "Not very long. Look, I know that you've heard a lot about Dallas, but you haven't heard the truth. And the truth is, he loves me, a lot. And he wants to be there for me no matter what happens. And-and I love him too."

Cherry's father only looked away, he couldn't stand to look at his own daughter any longer. "Get out of this house." he said. Her mother did not say a word. Cherry, with tears still streaming down her face, asked "Wha-what?".

"I said," her father remained still, staring out the window, "Get out of my house, now."

And just like that, her heart dropped. This was the absolute worst that could happen. No, no, the worst that could happen was having not being able to see Dallas ever again. Still, however, this was the second worst thing that could happen. Cherry didn't know how to respond, she only turned to her mother, who also looked away.

Her mother finally spoke up, "Cherry sweetheart, if you choose dishonor this family, and our morals, then you choose to not live under this household. And frankly, this is the ultimately worst thing possible that you could have ever done to us."

Cherry was heartbroken, but she knew that this would happen. Without saying a word, she grabbed the keys to her car, a jacket, and walked out the door. Now almost twelve at night, Cherry sniffled through the freezing air, making her way to her car. There was only one place that she could even possibly think of going to at this hour; and that place was Dallas'. The only problem was, he could have been anywhere. What if he wasn't at his home? Knowing him, especially after the fight that they were just in, he could be out with his friends having a drink, or even seeing a movie. And what was she supposed to do if he wasn't home, sleep in her car, outside of Dallas' place?

All of these thoughts, they rummaged through Cherry's spaced-out mind as she began sitting in her car. As she shut the door behind her, she realized that there was nothing else that she could have done. Whether Dallas was home or not, it was her sanctuary. She started up her car, slammed the gas pedal, and drove off into the moon-lit light.