street fights

i'll be fine

Tessa's POV

"Sorry about him. He just doesn't really trust other people. But I'm Teresa. Most people call me Tessa, though."

"Nice to meet ya. And I doubt ma's gonna call anyone on you guys. Probably just offer you a place to stay."

I sighed. "Thanks, but it's gonna be hard convincing Dallas. He's stubborn. I have to go find him." I said.

"Just give him a second to come back. He might come to his senses." Sodapop said.

"I dunno. I've known him for years. I'd rather just make sure he stays ok." I mumbled.

"Alright." Their mom said coming out of the room. "Where did he go?"

"He stormed off. I'm sorry about him. He just has a hard time with new people."

"It's alright. I'll let you two stay here for tonight if you need it, but stay safe. Alright? I know you've probably got other stuff to do. I don't know your situation and I won't assume. But don't stay out too late at night."

"Thank you so much. I'll be back. I'm just gonna go find him. Can I leave my stuff here?"

"Yeah, that's fine. I'll come with ya." Sodapop said.

"Me too." Ponyboy continued.

"Darrel, go with them to make sure they don't get in any trouble." She said.

He sighed and opened the door for all of us. We walked out onto the street and I had no idea where to start. "Dallas! Come on! This isn't funny!" I yelled. "Where's a parking lot?"

"There's a lot down by the park behind our house." Sodapop said.

"That must be where we parked. As long as he didn't get lost."

We walked back towards where Ponyboy got beat up and I started to recall where we were. "Dallas!" I yelled when I saw him leaning on the edge of a gate. He was with another kid.

"Hey, Johnny." Ponyboy called out.

"Hey, guys." He said back.

"You know these guys?" Dallas asked.

"Yeah. They're my friends. Except her." He said looking at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Dallas, come on. What are you doing?"

"Yeah, I changed my mind. I like it here." I raised an eyebrow. "As long as you guys don't call on us." He said looking at the brothers.

"Dallas, they offered us their house to sleep at. Knock it off."

"Don't tell me what to do." He said standing over me.

"What has gotten into you?" I asked. "You've been such a bitch ever since we got here." I said crossing my arms.

"Y'know what? You're one to talk. I don't wanna hear anything coming from your whiny mouth."

I stood there in shock. This wasn't our playful banter. He genuinely meant that.

"Umm... ok..." I muttered. If it were anyone else, I would have had a comeback ready to retaliate with.

But this was outta nowhere.

"So we're staying at your house?" He asked Darrel. "Alright. Fine." He said walking past all of us.

I was still too shocked to move. Dallas and that other kid walked back towards the house and Dallas lead in the front like he owned the place.

"Teresa?" Darrel asked.

"Huh?" I said snapping out of my daze.

"You ok?" Sodapop asked.

"Umm... yeah. But- I dunno. You guys probably wouldn't understand."

"How weird it was that Dallas just snapped at you like that?" Ponyboy asked.

"I mean- yeah." I said. I started off to find an excuse for him, but I had none. I really did find it weird. "We always had this playful banter. Ever since I can remember. He's just never snapped like that. But y'know, I'm probably thinking too hard about it." I muttered.

"Are you guys friends?" Ponyboy asked.

"He's my boyfriend. We met when we were ten and we've been dating for two years. I just don't ever remember us getting in an argument. We both grew up similar and we never really disagree on anything."

"Maybe he's just letting new friends get to his head. Y'know? It's a lot sometimes."

"I guess." I muttered walking back towards their house. "Umm... I'll catch up with you guys. Just give me a second." I said, quickly running back to the bikes.

I opened the back of Dallas' compartment in his motorcycle and my heart dropped when I saw the bag.

It was pills.

He was doing drugs again.

I felt a wave of sadness take over. I thought he was done with this. I helped him get over it a while ago.

At least I thought I did.

I closed the lid and I caught back up to the brothers. We walked in silence back and when we got there I saw two more boys in the house talking to Dallas.

"Tessa, I love it here." Dallas said.

I rolled my eyes. "Hi, I'm Steve." One of them said.

"Well, hello there! I'm Two-Bit." The other one said flirtatiously.

"Not interested."

"Worth a shot."

I rolled my eyes. "So are y'all ready to go? It's getting dark soon I wanna get there first." Johnny said.

"Yeah. Just give me a second." Darry said walking into the back of the house.

"Where y'all goin'?" Dallas asked.

"We're gonna have it out in the park. There's a rumble tonight."

"A rumble. Like a fight?" I asked.

"Yeah. We're gonna beat those damn Socs." Steve said.

"What is a Soc? I've heard y'all say it, but I don't get it." I continued.

"It's like a rich kid. Short for socials. We're considered greasers."

"I've heard of greasers. But Socs are just rich kids with a fancy name?" I asked.

"Yeah, if you wanna get technical." Sodapop said with a laugh.

"Come on, let's get outta here before mom catches us." Darry said walking out the door.

"Can I come?" I asked.

"Look, I dunno if that's a good idea." Steve said.

"It's cause I'm a girl, isn't it. You hate women, don't you." I said, crossing my arms.

"I-I wait, no I never said that."

"Then let me come with ya."

"I mean..."

I rolled my eyes.

"Fine, fine. You can come."

I grinned and followed up with them.

"You wanna come, Dallas?" Johnny asked. "We need all the people we can get."

"Yeah, I'm down. Piece of cake." He said walking up next to us all.

"Alright. Let's go." Darry said.

Steve let out this Indian screech as he ran out the door. I let out a grin.

"Remember, cops show up, get outta there. We don't need anyone gettin' in trouble tonight." Darry said trying to get everyone to hear over the yelling.

Dallas grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side. "You sure you can do this?"

I pulled my arm away from him and scoffed. "I think I'll be fine."