I sat back down on the bed with Anna. I heard people trying to get in the door, laughing when I heard Eddy say:

"That's the junior high kid's nursery, you can't go in there! Only little kids who can't hold their liquor." I was just hating him more and more as the night went on. What the hell Anna had been thinking by seeing anything in the creep, I had no idea.

"Seriously, who's in there?" I heard somebody ask.

"Eddy's date, and some little kid who plays girls' basketball. Scout, or something. Some funny name."

"Scout Curtis?" The voice asking sounded familiar. There was a knock on the door and that same voice was calling my name.

"Little Curtis? You in there?"

"Who's asking?" I answered. I had no plans to open that door for anybody but Two-Bit.

"Sweeney. You okay?"

I unlocked the door and let him in, trying to memorize his face so the next time I saw him with Jakes I could remember which one was which.

"I'm fine," I answered, "but she's… not." I motioned to Anna.

"So I see… and smell," he said. "She got sick, huh?"

"Yeah."

"What the hell are you doing here? Don't even try to tell me your brothers know you're here."

"It's a long story. Believe me, I don't want to be here."

"You need a ride?" Hell, where had he been for the past three hours when I did need a ride? Now I couldn't leave before Two-Bit got there, or he'd panic.

"Two-Bit's coming to get me."

"I thought he had a broken leg."

"He does, but… he'll find a way to get here." I knew Two-Bit wouldn't ever not show after he said he would.

"Speak of the devil," Sweeney said, looking over my shoulder out the window. I turned to see Two-Bit's car pulling in. He climbed out, hobbling toward the house without his crutches. I was surprised, and a little relieved, to see Darry get out of the driver's side door behind him. I left Anna in the room with Sweeney, for just a second, to let them in the door. Lord knew, everyone else in that house was way too out of it to answer the doorbell. I was so glad to have Darry there, I could practically feel the tension draining from my body. I hadn't realized it, but I had been scared to death, yet trying to be strong, since the moment I thought about what could happen to Anna. Every muscle in my body had been tensed, ready to fight back against anyone who tried to hurt either her or me. I only felt the relief for a split second though, before opening the door.

Darry's face was pure panic in the doorway. My muscles immediately froze, again. I'd been so glad to see him that I'd forgotten about how much trouble I was likely going to be in.

"Are you okay?" he gave me the once-over, checking for obvious damage.

"I'm fine… It's Anna. She's in here," I said, leading them into the bedroom where she lay limply on the bed. Sweeney gave a nod to both of them as they entered. Darry knelt next to Anna and shook her. She mumbled but didn't wake up.

"What did she take, Scout?"

"What? I guess… nothing… I mean, as far as I know… she's just been drinking beer. A lot of beer. At least eight or nine, maybe more, I couldn't keep track. She got sick." It occurred to me that she could have taken something else... I hadn't been watching her every single second.

"Jesus Christ… And how many have you had?" He turned to me and for the first time I noticed that he was angry – really angry. The veins in his forehead were raised and his eyes were blazing.

I was shocked at the question. I was clearly completely sober.

"What? None, Darry. God. None. I swear."

"Go with Two-Bit," he spat at me, reaching down and scooping up Anna in his arms. I followed Two-Bit out the door, but held the door for Darry as he carried Anna out. A few jerks in the living room applauded as they passed through. Darry ignored them, as did I. I noticed Eddy in the corner with a girl on his lap and felt a whole new wave of hatred wash over me. I followed Darry out the front door and over to Two-Bit's car. I heard Sweeney offering to Two-Bit to drive the car for us, since Darry had Anna, and I was pretty sure Two-Bit was gonna end up back at the party after he dropped us off. He isn't one to pass up two free kegs of beer. And he probably had some plans to lay into Eddy about Anna, as well.

Two-Bit opened the back door and Darry climbed in, still holding Anna in his arms. I climbed in next to him, wanting to explain.

"Darry, I…"

"Don't, Scout, alright?' He was yelling though he was clearly trying not to. "Just don't. If you know what's best for you, don't even talk right now. I don't even want to hear your voice." He was angrier than I had heard him ever be, with me. I was scared, and angry with myself for doing something to make him so upset.

"Okay," I barely whispered, feeling the tears rising. I wanted to sink down into the seat so far that I disappeared, and just erase this whole night. I felt sick, about everything that had happened. I actually felt like I might throw up, which I knew would be really bad if it actually happened, since it would only fuel his suspicions that I'd been drinking. Sweeney got into the driver's seat and Two-Bit hopped in front, giving him directions.

We got to Anna's house and Darry didn't so much as look at me, just barked:

"Don't you even think of getting out of this car." I had no plans to move.

I watched out the window, silently, as he rang the bell and Alison came down to meet him, opening the door for him as he carried Anna up the stairs to their apartment.

"He was real worried, Scooter," Two-Bit said, gently, looking back over the seat at me. "He'll get over it."

"I didn't even want to go… I tried to call. I didn't do anything," I said, barely able to manage a whisper, I felt so low right then. I had no experience with Darry treating me this way, and it felt worse than I could have ever imagined. I watched as he reappeared in the doorway, then came over and hopped into the back, not even glancing in my direction.

"Let's go, Sweeney," he said, adding, just to make me feel worse, "it's way past Scout's curfew."

I just held my tongue. I knew he wasn't interested in anything I had to say at the moment. I had never seen him like this with anyone except Ponyboy, who usually deserved it when he got it. For the first time since I'd seen him hit Ponyboy, I actually was feeling a little bit scared of Darry. And it was a terrible feeling.

..........................

It only got worse when we got home, and I was heading for the bathroom when Soda came out. Pony opened the bedroom door and peeked out, too, hearing us come in.

"You okay, Scout? What happened?"

"She's fine, Soda," Darry snapped, before I could answer, in a tone that sent chills up my spine. "She's going to bed now."

I said nothing, feeling my cheeks burning. I quickly used the bathroom, went into my room, and sat down on my bed, pulling off my shoes as the tears rolled down my face. Not even a minute later, the door swung open and Darry was standing in the doorway. I guess he wasn't as done with me as he'd originally thought.

"Do you have any idea what would have happened if the cops had busted that party, Scout? Do you? Well, I'll tell you! Social Services would be here, right now, packing your bags, and probably Pony's, too! Don't you have any common sense? God, I'd think, after what happened to you, you'd know better than to put yourself into a situation where people are drinking and using drugs."

I froze at the mention of "what happened to me." If only he could understand how I had gone with Anna to prevent just that from happening to her. I knew how bad it was, and I would do whatever I had to in order to prevent it from ever happening to anyone else I cared about.

I wanted to defend myself, but I found that I couldn't. Darry was right; I had put our whole family at risk. I felt like I had tried to do everything right, but, in the end, if the cops had showed, it wouldn't have mattered. I would have ruined things, for all of us. I sat on the bed and let him yell at me, too ashamed to even look up. I watched my tears fall onto the wood floor, soaking them up with my stocking feet.

"God, Scout!" he said. "I never would have expected this from you! I thought you were the one with the school smarts and the sense. Of all of us, I thought you knew better! Saying you're going to a movie and going out to a beer blast instead? Why didn't you think, Scout? How could you do something so stupid? All this talk about you not feeling safe… well, how the hell am I supposed to keep you safe if the second I let you out of my sight you end up at a fucking drinking party! You can forget about working this summer, and about me calling you responsible, too, because this isn't something a responsible kid does!"

He stood there like he was waiting for me to try to argue back, like Pony always did, but I didn't have the words for it. I was too confused myself to even try to front a defense. I didn't move, or speak. I sobbed, silently, biting back my bottom lip. Finally, I heard him turn and slam the door behind him and stomp into the bathroom and eventually off to bed.

I changed into my pajamas, crying, and crawled into bed, turning to face the wall.

About ten minutes later, as I lay there, I heard my door open.

"Scout?" It was Soda.

"Go away, Soda! Darry doesn't want you talking to me."

He came over to the bed.

"He won't come back in… he went to bed." Soda sat down on the edge of my bed and rubbed my back.

"He won't even listen, Soda. He wouldn't even let me talk."

"I know. He's just… he's upset, baby. He'll get over it."

"I was trying to do the right thing. But he won't even let me tell him."

"Well, I'm here, so you can tell me."

"It was Anna. She made this whole plan to pretend to go to the movies but really, all along, she was planning for some guy to come pick us up, this guy she likes from the football team. I thought we really were just going to the movies. She already had been drinking, before the party, even. She started drinking back at her house, but I didn't. I swear, I didn't drink anything."

"I believe you," he whispered.

"Well Darry doesn't," I sniffed. "He won't ever trust me again, probably."

"Scout, he'll get over it. He was scared, when he got home and you weren't here… then he called Alison and found out Anna wasn't there, either… He just was scared, that you weren't where you were supposed to be. We all were. He was about to go out of his mind when Two-Bit finally called."

"I tried to call before that. All night. I tried to call anyone. Here, Two-Bit, Kevin... anybody who could come get us. Nobody was home. Then I couldn't get the phone back. I wasn't trying to sneak around… I wanted somebody to know where I was. I was scared, too. I never even wanted to go there in the first place.

"So why did you? Did those guys make you?" He shifted into protective mode.

"No, Soda… But Anna was going, and I was scared about what could happen to her… I didn't want her going off with them alone. I mean, I only got drunk one time, ever, and everybody knows what happened to me…" I felt a chill run down my spine as I thought about it. He let out a sigh and pulled me towards him.

"That wasn't your fault."

"I know… But… she drank so much there she passed out. Anything coulda happened to her…anybody coulda hurt her. I just wanted to leave, and get her out of there. I just wanted somebody to come take us home, so she would be safe."

"Nobody gave you a hard time, did they? I mean, nobody tried anything with you…"

"No… I was fine. I locked myself in a bedroom and stayed with Anna. I was just trying to keep everybody away from her."

"You were trying to be a good friend," he hugged me against him. "Darry will understand."

"I doubt it. He's never been mad at me like this before… Soda?"

"What?"

"I think he wanted to hit me, but he didn't 'cause Two-Bit was there." I doubted he'd care if Sweeney saw him do something like hit us, but he'd never do it in front of Two-Bit.

"He ain't gonna hit you, Scout." Soda sounded sure.

I didn't respond. Tears were streaming down my face. The last thing I ever wanted was to make Darry so angry with me that he couldn't even stand to hear my voice.

"I just keep screwing everything up, thinking I'm doing the right thing but it gets all twisted around and turns out bad."

"We all make mistakes. It's just part of growing up. And it sounds to me like this wasn't really a mistake. I understand why you did what you did."

I sighed and slid deeper down under my sheets.

"You gonna be okay?' I could tell he was sleepy.

"Yeah... Go to bed. I'll be okay. I'm just glad somebody finally came to get us."

"Well, sorry it took so long, baby. But you did right, by calling."

"'Night, Soda."

"'Night." He moved to smooth my hair back and felt the tears still running down my cheeks.

"Aw, baby, c'mon, don't cry no more. It'll be okay. He ain't mad so much as he was scared. Darry loves you. We all do."

That was enough to set me to sobbing again and I heard Soda sigh, as his full weight settled onto the bed next to me. All I could thing of was Darry, lying in his bed, just across the kitchen from me, and how badly I had disappointed him. Nothing more was said, but the last thing I remember before falling asleep was Soda's hand on my back: rubbing, circling, soothing me to sleep.

..............................

A/N: Angry Darry. What did you think?