Chapter 4 The Drive-In

Night had fallen across Oklahoma again when the day had turned to dark, and Ponyboy, Johnny, Opal, and Dally were on the other side of a fence of a drive-in theater.

The fence wasn't connected to the ground very well, so there was an opening where Dallas had crawled under to get to the other side. Ponyboy then went under it as well and then Opal followed him. She and her brother then helped Johnny get through it and after helping him back up, the three friends saw that they had made it to the drive-in theater.

The two siblings and friend then followed Dallas by walking closely behind him and started to walk over to the theater.

But as the three were walking by and over to the theater, three Socs had gotten out of their car.

Two of them were boys, most likely the same ones that beat up Ponyboy and Opal the other day, but one of them was a girl. Something unique about her was her bright red hair, but also the fact that she seemed to be upset with the other two Socs standing with her by the car they just got out of.

"Cherry, just relax!" One of the boys told the redheaded female Soc, whose name was really Sherri Valance, but everyone who knew her called her Cherry due to her hair color.

However, Cherry didn't really seem to care that the boy wanted her to calm down.

"Just try, you're supposed to be my girlfriend!" The other boy said, who seemed to be Cherry's boyfriend.

"Don't you ever pull on anything like that!" Cherry snapped to him.

"Are you serious?" He asked while the four Greasers walked by and just ignored the scene. "Don't do this to me!"

Cherry walked away from the car and left the two of them to take her seat. After Cherry left, the two Socs got back into their car and Bob, the one who was Cherry's boyfriend, couldn't believe how his girlfriend was acting that night.

As the movie was beginning to start and people were taking their seats, Ponyboy, Opal, Johnny, and Dallas were sneaking into the theater to find a place to sit as well.

Dallas got onto one of the cars and jumped over it before looking back at the movie screen. The movie playing was the 1960s version of Gone with the Wind.

As Dallas went to take a seat in one of the rows, Ponyboy, Opal, and Johnny followed him by sitting in the same row next to him.

Meanwhile, Two-Bit was also at the Drive-In and was looking through the window of one of the cars, jumping back and laughing after trying to flirt with one of the ladies in there.

A few minutes later, Cherry was sitting in the front row of seats with her friend, Marcia, as the movie was beginning to start. Ponyboy, Dallas, Johnny, and Opal were sitting in the row behind Cherry and Marcia.

"You sure you wanna do this?" Marcia asked Cherry as they took their seats.

"I came here to see a movie and I'm gonna see a movie!" Cherry said as she and her friend sat down to watch the movie, which was beginning to start.

Meanwhile, Ponyboy was shivering behind them since he was not dressed appropriately for the temperature outside.

"It's freezing," He commented while covering his arms.

"Why didn't you bring a coat, stupid?" Dallas asked him while lighting his cigar and putting it in his mouth.

He then stood up to take something out from his jacket and put it next to the seat Cherry was sitting in. He then picked it up and showed it to her while she looked at him in confusion.

However, Marcia laughed at the sight while Dallas gave a smile as well. He then sat back down in his seat and looked back over to Cherry.

"Some cute redhead, huh?" He asked.

Ponyboy just looked at him.

He then leaned over to where Cherry was sitting and got his eyes real close to her hair. "Are you a real redhead?" He asked her as she backed her face away from him while smiling.

He then leaned back into his seat. "Are you real?" Dallas asked her.

He then leaned back into his seat and put his feet up on the chair next to Cherry, still trying to get her attention. But as he was leaning over a bit, he fell out of his seat and onto the ground!

Ponyboy laughed at this while Cherry just smiled as she turned her attention to Dallas. She then went back to watching the movie as Dallas got back up and looked at her from behind.

He then got his face closer to her hair and smelled it while touching one of the stands.

"How can I tell if this is your real red hair?" He asked her as Cherry just smiled while laughing a bit, but she still was more focused on the movie.

"If this is the same red hair that you have on these eyebrows, too?" Dallas asked her, but Cherry didn't respond to him as she tried to watch the movie, now having more of a frown on her face.

Dallas then touched her eyebrow with one of his fingers, causing her to back away from him a bit as he did the same.

She now had a somewhat annoyed look on her face and tried to ignore Dallas and watch the movie instead.

Dallas then backed away into his seat again and Ponyboy, Opal, and Johnny all watched him do this. Ponyboy just sat there while Opal rolled her eyes at the sight, but Johnny seemed to be bothered by his friend's action.

"Leave her alone," He told him, but Dallas didn't hear him as he looked back over to Cherry.

He then put his feet onto the back of her chair and Cherry was starting to get really annoyed with Dally's antics.

"Get your feet off my chair and shut your trap!" She snapped at him.

"Who's gonna make me?" Dallas asked.

"We're gonna get a coke," Opal told him as she and Johnny were about to leave the sight, but Dallas just ignored them both.

"Who's your boyfriend?" Dally asked her while leaning back over to her.

"Leave her alone," Johnny told him again, but Dally still didn't hear him.

"That's the Greaser who just got out of jail," Marcia told Cherry as she nodded in response.

"Whatever you say," She responded as Dally just gave her a look from behind.

"Better leave us alone or I'll call the cops." Cherry threatened him, but Dally wasn't scared at all.

"Oh, my, my! You got me scared to death! What am I gonna do, Pony?" Dallas teased, but Ponyboy or his friends didn't say anything to him.

"This girl is making me shake," Dallas said as Cherry tried her best to ignore him and watch the movie.

"Why don't you be nice and leave us alone?" She asked politely as possible.

"I'm never nice," Dallas told her while getting close to her face again. "Can I interest you in a Coca-Cola or a 7up..."

"Get lost, hood!" Cherry snapped at him while turning around, shocking Dallas a little. She then calmed down and turned back around to try and watch the movie.

"I'm sorry," Dallas apologized, but Cherry didn't say anything to him in response. "I didn't know you had this problem of yelling in my face."

Cherry still didn't say anything to him as he looked behind himself before standing back up.

"Alright, I'll go," Dallas said while getting out of his seat. "I know when I'm not wanted."

And with that, Dallas left the scene as Cherry was finally left alone for now. Ponyboy, Johnny, and Opal just watched their friend leave and were also quite disturbed by what he had just done to Cherry.

"Hey, Pony, me and Johnny are gonna go get a coke, is that fine?" Opal asked her brother.

"Sure," He told her as Opal motioned Johnny out of his seat.

The two then left the sight as they walked away to get a coke and were both quite disturbed with what Dallas just did to Cherry.

Ponyboy was now left alone as Cherry and Marcia still sat together in front of him.

"Are you gonna start in on us?" She asked while turning around to face Ponyboy.

"No," Ponyboy answered.

Cherry was glad that the younger Greaser was just here to watch a movie and leave her alone. "Anyway, what's your name?" She asked him.

"Ponyboy Curtis." He answered.

"That's an original name," Cherry complimented, trying to be nice.

"Yeah, my daddy was an original person. I got a brother named Sodapop and a sister named Opalescent, even says so on our birth certificates." Ponyboy responded as Cherry smiled at him.

"My name's Sherri, but my friends call me Cherry because of my hair." She said with a smile while turning around to face Ponyboy.

"Yeah, I know, we go to the same school, you're a cheerleader," Ponyboy told her.

"Yeah," Cherry answered, somewhat surprised that Ponyboy was going to high school since he didn't look the age.

Marcia was also thinking the same thing. "You don't look old enough to be going to high school." She commented.

Cherry just looked at him. How could a Greaser be so smart that they were put up a grade? "What's a nice, smart boy like you hanging around with trash like that for?" Cherry wondered.

"Dally's my buddy, I'm a grease, we're all friends." Ponyboy told her, making Cherry realize that he and Dallas were friends due to both being Greasers.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know," Cherry apologized before turning back around to face the movie again.

She then wondered something else and turned around to face Ponyboy again. "Uh, your brother's Sodapop, he works at the gasoline station right at DX I think?" The redhead asked while turning around to face Ponyboy.

"Yeah, that's him." Ponyboy replied.

Opal and Johnny then walked back over to the row where Ponyboy was sitting and Johnny sat next to him while Opal sat on the other side, also noticing the two girls were still sitting in front of her.

"He's a doll, she didn't know he was your brother," Cherry replied with a smile and laugh, also causing Ponyboy to laugh in response.

She then began to wonder something else. "How come we don't see your brother at school anymore?"

Just then, Dallas came back from behind the two girls and sat down next to Ponyboy on the other side while holding a few drinks of coke for them.

"Oh, has he been working full time since your parents died?" Marcia asked as Dallas handed her a coke.

"He's a drop out," Ponyboy responded to the girls.

"Oh, that's too bad," Marcia told him with sympathy.

Dallas then had one more drink, but he handed it to Cherry. "Here, I thought this might cool you off," He sat down in the front row next to Cherry.

Cherry just looked at him with surprise, but also confusion and Dallas just sat next to her like he didn't do anything to her.

Opal saw what Dallas had done and just put her hand over her face in annoyment.

But just then, as Dallas leaned back into his seat while smiling, Cherry took the straw out of the cup and threw the drink he gave to her and splashed it all over Dally's face!

Everyone at the theater saw this and when Opal saw it, she wanted to laugh so hard!

"Maybe that'll cool you off! You're going to talk to axes and I might cool off!" Cherry snapped at him, but Dallas didn't really seem too angry with what she just did to him.

Instead, he got real close to her and held her while getting in her face, almost as if he were going to kiss her or something. Cherry became disturbed by this and tried to let go of Dallas, but he just wouldn't let her go.

Everyone at the theater watched this and Ponyboy, Johnny, and Opal looked at each with shock and disturbance as Cherry begged him to let her go. "Get off! Get off of me!" But Dallas continued to harass her and just wouldn't leave her alone.

People were beginning to yell at Dallas to take his seat and shut up, but he wasn't listening. He kept harassing Cherry as she started to become really pissed off with him, but also a little scared.

Ponyboy just watched as Dallas did this while Opal had her mouth open in shock. She hated whenever Dallas flirted with girls who just wanted to be left alone and this was him at his worst.

However, Johnny kept watching this and just couldn't take it anymore. "Leave her alone, Dal," He finally said while standing up high out of his seat.

Dallas finally let go of Cherry, who very angrily left his grasp.

Dallas couldn't believe what Johnny had just told him. "What did you say?" He asked with surprise and shock.

"Come on, you heard me, leave her alone," Johnny replied, sounding stronger than ever, but also still had some weakness left in his voice.

Opal couldn't believe what Johnny had just told Dallas, that she was not only surprised, but also proud of him for standing up for once.

Dallas looked shocked at first, but then his stern face reapered. "What did you say to me, you little shit?" He snapped. "What did you say to me?"

Johnny recoiled his words, but Opal couldn't believe what Dally had just said to Johnny.

"Did you hear what he said? He said to leave her alone! Are you deaf or something?!" Opal snapped while standing up, also shocking Dallas at first.

But all Opal did was give him a deadly glare.

Dallas returned that glare to her and Johnny and gave Opal a smirk. "If you weren't so pretty, I'd have to teach you a lesson."

Opal was shocked by these words. Ponyboy was literally sitting right behind them! "You know my brother's behind you, right?"

Dallas then looked behind him to see Ponyboy was watching the whole thing.

"What's it to ya, Dal?" Opal asked him. "She didn't do anything to ya, so leave her alone. Come back when you learn some manners."

"How about no?" Dally smirked. He then turned his attention back to Cherry, who didn't even look at him and just ignored him.

"Dal, leave her alone." Ponyboy finally told him.

Dallas then very angrily looked back to Johnny, then Opal, and soon, back at Cherry. He couldn't believe his two friends had just told him off like that and very angrily got out of his seat.

Cherry looked at him as he got up and he looked behind to see tons of angry people yelling at him to stop his flirting and sit down. Dallas couldn't take it anymore and left the scene in anger, finally leaving Cherry alone as he left.

Opal sighed as she sat back down in her seat along with Johnny. The two may have been a bit harsh on Dallas, especially Opal, but they just couldn't stand him flirting with Cherry like that. Somebody had to say something and those two people were the ones most unexpected to do it.

Cherry then turned back around to face the three Greasers. "Thank you," She told them, looking at Ponyboy, Johnny, and Opal. "He had me scared to death."

"You're welcome and don't worry, if Dally ever does that to you again, you won't be scared of him anymore." Opal told her with a smile.

"You sure didn't show it, ain't nobody talking to Dally like that," Johnny replied.

"Well, I saw you do it," Cherry told him.

Marcia then turned her attention to the three Greasers as well. "Don't y'all come up here and sit with us? So you can protect us,"

Ponyboy, Opal, or Johnny didn't even know what to say at first. Greasers hanging around with Socs? No way! But these weren't any kind of Socs, these were only two girls who didn't seem to have a problem with the Greasers and they just stood up to her after all. There wouldn't be any fights starting as long as Dallas didn't return.

Johnny looked at Ponyboy. "What do you think, man?" He asked him.

"Come on, might as well." Ponyboy replied.

"Oh, hell yeah!" Opal exclaimed as she, her brother, and Johnny got out of their seats from behind the two girls and sat in the front row with them.

Johnny sat next to Marcia along with Opal while Ponyboy sat next to Cherry.

"How old are y'all?" Marcia asked the three Greasers.

"Forteen," Ponyboy answered.

"Sixteen," Both Johnny and Opal answered at the same time.

"Huh, I thought you were all forteen," Marcia replied.

"Me and Johnny only look young for our ages, some people even say I have a baby's doll face. I'm always hanging around with my brother and him, so it's a common mistake." Opal explained to her.

Meanwhile, Cherry was looking at Ponyboy and smiled before turning back to face the movie playing.

"How come y'all ain't scared of us like you was with Dal?" Johnny asked while turning to Cherry. Cherry just scoffed.

"Oh, you two boys are too sweet to scare anyone and neither is your girl," Cherry replied while looking over at Opal.

"You're right about that, unless someone tries to mess with me, my brothers, or Johnny," Opal told her with a smug grin.

"Besides, I know about Dallas Winston," Cherry said before looking back at the movie. "You three don't look mean."

"Yeah, right," Ponyboy replied while eating his popcorn. "We're young and thin."

"No, you're just not dirty." Cherry told them.

"Come on, Dal's okay. I mean, he's tough and all over, he's a cool little guy if you get to know him," Johnny assured her.

"Yeah, he's really sweet around me and Johnny, he just likes to play little jokes once in a while, even if they're not always funny," Opal told her with a smug smile.

"He'd leave you alone if he knew who you were." Ponyboy told her, referring to her being a Soc.

"Well, I'm glad he doesn't know us." She said as she, Marcia, and the three Greasers went back to staring at the movie.

But just then, someone came walking from behind the five of them and grabbed both Johnny and Opal from behind them! Opal screamed along with the other girls with surprise before realizing that it was only Two-Bit playing a game on them!

Ponyboy gave Two-Bit a playful smile along with Cherry and Marcia, but Opal gave Two-Bit an annoyed look while Johnny looked as white as a ghost.

"Two-Bit! Look what you did to my hair!" Opal complained while trying to fix her ponytail.

Two-Bit just gave her a playful smile as he noticed the two Socs sitting in front of them.

"Well, now, we got here the great grandmothers, huh?" Two-Bit asked the two girls as everyone just laughed. "What are you young ladies doing hanging out with these crazers, huh?"

Two-Bit leaned down in between the seats of Marcia and Johnny.

"Dal was bothering them, they wanted us to sit with them," Johnny answered.

"Huh? Where is old Dal now anyway?" Two-Bit wondered before another friend of the Greasers came up in front of them.

"Yeah, where is old Dally?" Tim Shepherd asked.

Ponyboy looked behind and around him to see if Dallas was anywhere to be found, but he didn't see him anywhere.

"He left." He responded before turning back around to watch the movie and eat his popcorn.

"Hey, I know he slashed by tires!" Tim Shepherd told him.

Ponyboy looked around again to see if Dallas was hanging around anywhere, but he couldn't be found.

"He left, he's not here, really," Ponyboy responded before turning to Cherry and Marica. "Have you guys seen Dally?" He asked the two.

"No, no, no" Both girls responded while shaking their heads.

"Yeah, well, I'll be looking for him." Tim Shepherd told the two before walking off.

A few minutes later, Ponyboy and Cherry were inside of the concession stand to get more popcorn. As they were doing so, some of the Socs were also waiting in line, with some of them cutting in front of others and starting fights with each other.

"Your friend, the one with the sideburns, is he okay?" Cherry asked, wondering about Two-Bit.

"Yeah, he ain't dangerous like Dallas if that's what you mean," Ponyboy responded while walking into the line with Cherry.

"Sure scared Johnny and Opal," Cherry said while getting ready to pay for her popcorn.

"Johnny's a nervous wreck anyway, he got beat up a few months ago by some Soc."

When Cherry heard this, she began to wonder about something. "Is that how he got his scar?" She asked, referring to the scar on Johnny's face.

"Yeah, the guy was wearing a few rings," Ponyboy answered.

Cherry wonder something else. "So what about Opal?"

"She's a nervous wreck too, ever since mom and dad died, she's been having nightmares daily," Ponyboy told her.

"What kind?" Cherry asked.

"Not sure, she won't say, but she's also traumatized by the fight Johnny got into since she was there as well."

"What happened?" Cherry asked him, wondering about the horrible fight that seemed to have scarred both Opal and Johnny.

"Well, the Socs were picking on her for being a lady before Johnny came in to save the day, but he didn't since he ended up getting beat up and is now left with a scar. Now Opal's scared of being left alone and she's always hanging around with me and Johnny so none of us gets hurt."

Cherry was somewhat shocked by this story. Being a Soc herself, she always heard the fights they got into with the Greasers, but this was just awful to her. Now she understood why Ponyboy didn't like the Socs, but she also had to make him understand that not all Socs were the same. She wasn't like them and didn't want to start any fights with the Greasers.

"Not all of us are like that," Cherry assured him. "That's like saying all you Greasers are like Dallas Winston."

She and Ponyboy then turned around to see the Socs still fighting with each other.

"Come on!" One of the Socs yelled to another while pushing him down.

"I know what you're gonna do!" The other one yelled. "Let's take it outside!"

Cherry just frowned at the sight while Ponyboy just watched, still believing that all Socs were just their same violent and rich selves.

"Alright, you two, why don't you both take it outside?" The salesman said to the two fighting Socs. "Come on," All the Socs then left to go outside.

Cherry then turned her attention back to Ponyboy. "So you think the Socs have it made, the rich kids, the south side Socs. Well, I'll tell you something, Ponyboy, it might come as a surprise, but things are rough all over." Cherry told him, trying to make him understand that the lives of Socs could be just as hard as the Greasers lives.

Ponyboy looked at her. "Come on, let's get out of here. Too little to think we love to mix."

And with that, he and Cherry both left the concession stand.

Meanwhile, back out in the theater, Opal and Johnny were still sitting together while Two-Bit was entertaining Marcia.

"So, uh, the south side, huh?" He asked her.

"Yeah," She replied with a smile.

"Must be a nice neighborhood," Two-Bit said.

"It is, I like it." Marcia told him, still having a smile on her face.

"Yeah, I'm from the other side of town." Two-Bit told her.

Ponyboy and Cherry then returned to their seats and sat down to watch the rest of the movie without talking.

Cherry quit worrying about her problems for now since she had made new friends with people she never thought she would, Greasers.

Now that I've finally written the drive-in scene, this story is gonna start getting really interesting later on. I also liked writting the scene where Opal stands up to Dallas and how Ponyboy explains to Cherry why Opal can get easily startled and doesn't like being left alone. I'll explain more of Opal's mental health problems later on, because the next few chapters are when the Greasers are really gonna get in it with the Socs. Please review cuz I need some right now!