Darling

The Kids Aren't Alright

The week had gone bye slowly and painfully. Luckily Saturday had come, and Darlene was grateful to be able to sleep in. She was sitting on her bed getting some homework over with before going to hang out with the gang. She could hear the birds chirping outside her window and there was a slight warm breeze. The train was passing by and she could hear it in the distance. She cringed and closed her eyes. The train passes, and taking a deep breath she opened her eyes and rubbed her temples. She closed her notebook and got up, deciding she didn't want to sit in there alone.

She left her room and walked to the living room. The whole gang was already there, except for Pony, who caught an early movie. She sat on the couch in between Dallas and Johnny. Soda walked in from the kitchen. He looked tired too.

"You alright Darlene?" Soda asked her.

"Yeah...I just hate that train..."

He nodded in understanding. "I know. How about we all head out now. It'll be fun."

"Football?" Darry asked coming out of his room, still pulling his shirt over his head.

"Hell yeah."

Steve and Two were the first out the door, pushing each other through the doorway. Darlene followed last, taking her time to walk as the warmth of the sun hit her face. September had started so she wanted to enjoy the warm weather before it would start getting cold out. As they walked to the field of grass, Darry began splitting the gang into two groups.

"Alright, let's do Pony, Johnny, Darling, and I, then on the other team Steve, Soda, Two, and Dallas on the other team." They all agreed and got into their teams. Even though Pony and Darlene were small, they were still really quick and strong. Plus they had Darry which gave them an equal advantage to the other boys.

They made it to the field and began to play. Steve was the first to get to the ball, but Darry got to him and tackled him. The ball fell out of his hand so Johnny grabbed it. Darlene ran to a spot away from the other team.

"Johnny!" She called. He threw the ball to her and she caught it. She looked to her right. Both Soda and Dally were after her. She ran the opposite direction as quick as she could, but wasn't quick enough. Dally grabbed her and brought her to the ground. Before he could grab the ball she threw it to Darry, who was motioning for her to do so.

"Damn!" Dally messed up her hair and let her go. She got up and dusted herself off, laughing as Dallas ran after Darry.

They continued playing for another couple of hours before deciding to stop to eat lunch. Nothing special. Just some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. After that they didn't do much. They sat at the Curtis house chatting and watching TV. Darlene grew bored and antsy, wanting to move. She remembered Mary gave her a number. She decided to try and give her a call. Maybe they could talk for a bit.

She got up and went to the only phone on the house, grabbing the paper with Mary's number that she had placed on a small side table. She smiled and dialed the number. It rang twice before it picked up with a kind voice saying "Hello?"

"Hi! This is Darlene. I wanted to call and see how you were and if you maybe wanted to hang out? I mean, we only talk at school." Darlene chuckled nervously.

"Oh my gosh, hi! Yeah, I'd love to hang out!" She responded happily.

"Cool! How about we meet around the dingo?"

"Sounds great, see you then."

Darlene smiled, "See ya." She hung up and immediately went to grab her jacket.

"Where are you goin'?" Darry asked. Oh yeah. She almost forgot to ask her older brother permission

"Oh um- I was gonna go hang out with Mary at the Dingo...if that's okay." Her smiled slightly lessened.

"Okay." He responded.

"Really?" She was a bit surprised.

"Yeah. If you have someone walk with you."

Darlene dropped her shoulders, "Fine. Soda, will you walk me there? At least your somewhat tolerable." Soda nodded and got up. The other boys gave looks of confusion, clearly offended. Two-Bit let out a scream of a laugh while to two Curtis siblings left the house.

It was warm out, and there was a slight cool breeze that blew her hair infront of her eyes. She didn't bother trying to move it out if the way. She never did. It always moved right back where it was. She often got frustrated with her hair not cooperating.

"A soc, huh?" Soda said.

"Yeah. She's nice, though. Don't worry." She nodded.

"I'm not worried. I'm happy for you. I think it'll be nice for you to have another girl to talk to." He shot her a smile.

"Me too." She smiled back and stuck her hands in her pockets. After a few more minutes they arrived at the Dingo. Darlene said bye and turned to the door, Soda waited until she got inside before leaving.

---

She stepped inside. It was slightly warmer in the small diner than it was outside, and it smelled of bacon and coffee even though it was already late afternoon. She looked around a bit until she spotted Mary sitting at a booth next to the window, looking at the menu. She smiled and started towards her.

"Hi Mary." Darlene said politely, sitting down in front of her.

Mary looked up from the menu and smiled back. "Hey, Darlene! What's up with you?" She asked, leaning back in the booth.

"Not much. I'm so glad we're able to hang out. It's been so long since I've hung out with another girl." Darlene was overjoyed. She knew it wasn't a big deal to others, but to her it was exciting.

Mary reached over and grabbed her hands. "Then I'm gonna make sure we have the coolest hang-out ever." She gave another quick squeeze before letting go.

Darlene nodded. "Hell yes."

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🥀🥀🥀
"Chances thrown, nothing's free
Longing for what used to be
Still it's hard, hard to see
Fragile lives, shattered dreams"