Trouble x3

Not So Home-y

Dalia's POV

I walked in the door and immediately stopped using the crutches now that I had somewhere to put them.

"Well... it's not much..." Sodapop said out of embarrassment.

"I like it." I said looking around. "It's way better than my apartment in New York. Mine's got four bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room and a kitchen and it's half the size of your house and smells like shit." I said with a grin.

They all laughed a bit and we all made our way onto the couch.

Two-Bit turned on the TV and just seconds later the door opened. "Hey, guys!"

It was Darry. "Hey, Dare. Whaddya doing home so early?"

"I decided to use my lunch break to come and show y'all the paper." He said.

Darry threw it on the couch and we all gathered around it.

HEROES OF THE WINDRIXVILLE FIRE FOUND "NOT-GUILTY" IN MURDER CASE

Tulsa teen, Johnny Cade, plead not guilty to all charges against him last week - who was facing up to ten years in prison - Monday, October 5th, 1965 and was today found not-guilty on all charges. He is "very grateful and glad everything is ok."

17 year old, Dallas Winston, has been taken into custody for hiding the two boys out, but will be released in as soon as three days.

Results on the trial for the Curtis' brothers was also a hide success for the family. The judge has agreed to place Ponyboy Curtis in his older brother, Darrel Curtis', custody.

There are not very many updates on the mysterious girl who ran into the fire before the boys. She was released from the hospital with an injury on her leg, a broken rib, and burns up her arm, but is said to heal all fully within four months.

I found it unsettling the newspaper knew that much about me. But I guess it could have been worse.

"That's great! Johnny's gotta be so relieved." Ponyboy said.

"Dally probably is, too. He would have been put in jail just as long as Johnny would have been if he was found guilty." Steve said.

"Hey..." Darry said to me. "You look... fine." He said more of a question.

"Wow. You should write birthday cards." I said with a dramatic clap.

"No, I mean... you're up and walking like normal. You're the mysterious girl in the paper, right? Please someone tell me I'm not going crazy." He said looking at the guys for the last part of his sentence.

"Nah, you're not." I said for them. "I have a compression thing around my stomach for my rib. You just can't see it through my shirt. My arms are gonna take a few weeks to fully heal and my leg is also wrapped in some compression garment but my leggings cover it so it's not too big a deal, either."

"We told her she should still use the crutches but she insists she's fine." Sodapop said to Darry.

"I've felt worse. I'll be fine. Once I go back home, I'll start that physical therapy shit and I'll be better in a few months." I said.

I realized my mistake once I had already finished my sentence.

I stopped talking quickly and hoped they didn't notice.

"Wait, you're going back to New York?" Ponyboy asked.

Well... I guess there's no hiding it now...

"I mean... yeah. I've got nothing for me down here. My life is up north. Where my friends are, my school is, my house is, my parents."

I didn't really care to ever see my parents again. But it added to the list of reasons why I wanted to go home and I wanted the list to be longer rather than shorter.

"Have you talked to your parents since you left?" Darry asked.

"No." I mumbled.

"They must be worried to death." Two-Bit said.

"Ok, ok, I lied." I said, giving in. "My parents are complete assholes. I would kill for them to disappear so I'd never have to see them again. My dad might actually kill me when he sees his insurance bill from the hospital." I said quickly.

"So how do we know you haven't lied about everything else?" Sodapop asked.

"Well... I guess you don't. But you just gotta trust me on this. My friend Lottie is probably losing her mind without me there. I still go to school. I might not be good at it but I am a student at New York City High School. And I actually have a place to live there. Down here I'd just be wandering around aimlessly half the time. And all my clothes, my shoes, my stuff in general, is just sitting at home waiting for me to use it again."

They all looked around. I don't think they really had a response to anything.

"And I don't really know you all that well. I mean, I know your names, but that's about it." I said trying to give them a response.

But they still had nothing. It was just awkward silence.

"Well, I better be getting back to work. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." Darry said closing the door.

I grinned and sat back down in the chair.

It was silent for a second. I waited for someone to turn the TV back on, but nobody did.

"So... when are you going back to New York?" Sodapop asked.

"Do you really wanna know? Or is this just to break the awkward silence?" I asked.

"I kinda wanna know." Steve said.

"Me too." Two-Bit followed.

"Me three." Ponyboy said.

Sodapop didn't respond. Maybe he really didn't wanna know.

"Well... I got my train ticket for tomorrow morning. So I'll be outta here by 5 AM."

They all looked at each other. "Oh. I thought it was gonna be more like... next week." Sodapop said looking at Ponyboy.

"Yeah. Me too."

"Well, the train only goes between Tulsa and New York City every three weeks. I can't wait that long to go back."

"I mean, it's your decision." Steve said.

"Grow up! It is my decision! If I wanna go back home, I'll go back home!" I yelled.

I opened the door and made sure to slam it shut behind me.

I take everything I said about that train ride back. I could not wait to get on the train tomorrow.