My Knight in Shining Armor

Chapter II

"Do you have any food allergies?" Steve asked me as we walked down to his friends' house.

I nodded. "Yeah, I can't have tomatoes."

Steve frowned at my statement. "We'll have to figure something out, then. Darry was making spaghetti tonight."

"Steve," I laughed. "It's alright. We can just swing by the grocery store, and I'll buy myself some alfredo sauce."

So, I purchased some alfredo sauce to just throw over the stove. I wasn't gonna let an allergy stop me from eating dinner. "I don't think the local corner store will have any brands you know," he said, walking in.

I laughed. "Alfredo sauce is alfredo sauce."

I grabbed one off the shelf and paid for it, and we started walking towards the Curtis house again. I was excited to meet Steve's friends-he had told me a lot about them. We walked in near silence, mostly because I had a lot going on in my mind. I stared off into the distance as I walked, until my cousin interrupted my thoughts.

"You sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Those boys didn't scare you too bad, did they?"

I laughed. "Nah, they didn't." I had lied. Those Socs (was that what they were called?) had scared me something awful. But I didn't need to think about it anymore. I mean, it was because of them that an awfully cute guy had come to my rescue.

"There's the house," Steve pointed out. It was only about a block away from his.

We walked in-we didn't knock-and all eyes turned to me. I instinctively looked down at my feet-I'm pretty shy around people I don't know. Don't be shy, I scolded myself. I made myself lift my head so I could at least see who I was meeting.

Steve started introducing me to his friends. "This is Darry..."

He pointed to the one that seemed to be the oldest. Darry was tall, over six feet, and muscular. I dunno... his blue-green eyes had a determined set to them. "Nice to meet you," he nodded.

"Ponyboy..."

Steve gestured to a younger guy, probably around fourteen or fifteen. Ponyboy lifted his eyes from his book just long enough to say "Howdy."

"Sodapop..."

Sodapop was waved at me and flashed a smile. He was pretty handsome, and he had a mischievous sparkle in his brown eyes.

"Johnny..."

Johnny looked about as young as Ponyboy, but Steve had told me that he was older. Johnny muttered a quiet "hi," and looked back down at his feet.

"And Two-Bit," Steve finished.

Steve pointed to a taller guy with rusty colored side burns and a Mickey Mouse shirt. He already had a piece of cake in his hand. Two-Bit held out his fork. "Want a bite?"

I laughed. "No, thanks. I'll get myself some later." I paused for a moment and turned to Steve. "Shouldn't there be one more?"

My cousin nodded. "Yeah, I don't know where-"

The door swung open violently. "What did I miss?"

When I got a good look at the guy, my jaw dropped. The messy white-blonde hair, the mischievous blue eyes, reckless smile. It was him, the guy that had helped me out at the rodeo. I couldn't help but blush.

The young man stared at me. "I musta missed a lot. Since when has the broad been here?"

"Dallas!" Steve hissed. He looked at me and waved his hand in front of my face. "Penny?"

I tore my gaze away from the young man, the one Steve had called Dallas. Apparently, he went by Dally, and was the toughest guy in town. "Oh, sorry."

Dally didn't take his eyes off of me. "Could you step out with me for a second? I need to talk to ya."

I looked at Steve, and back at Dally. "Alright."

I went out to the backyard with him, and we leaned against the side of the house. Evening had fallen, leaving everything dark. The night was calm and clear, and the stars were shining brightly.

"So, do you hang around rodeos often?"

"Actually, I do. I'm not from around here, though."

"Ya visiting?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm Steve's cousin."

Dally looked at me with wide eyes. "You're Penelope?"

"Just call me Penny. Thank you, by the way."

"For what?"

"For saving me. I'd be a goner without you."

"Yeah, you don't wanna mess with Socs, man."

We started to slowly walk back into the house, in silence. We heard a "Yeehaw!" or two, probably from Steve and Two-Bit, maybe Sodapop.

"Sorry you had to see this side of me-no one has before... it's just... you're a tuff gal."

"You're pretty cool yourself," I smiled. "We'd better go inside, or someone will think we eloped to Mexico."

We wandered back inside and got a bunch of smirks from the boys. "It's nothin', really," I pleaded.

"Oh, really?" Two-Bit mocked.

I nodded. "He just helped me out earlier. I need rescuin' from a bunch of rowdy Socs."

Darry raised an eyebrow. "Socs are bothering you already?"

"I guess. It's like that anywhere you go, really." I shrugged.

He nodded. "Alright. Let's dig in."

I pulled Darry aside for a moment. "Is it alright if I use your stove to heat up my own sauce? I'm allergic to tomatoes."

"Of course. I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"I didn't expect you to. I came prepared though." I laughed.

I quickly warmed up my alfredo sauce and sat down in the living room with the rest of the boys. There just wasn't enough room at the table for all eight of us.

"Did Dally beat the Socs heads in?" Ponyboy asked me, out of the blue.

I shook my head. "Not exactly..."

"I came riding in on my noble steed," Dallas interrupted, mock superiority in his voice.

"Sure, sure." Steve's voice was full of sarcasm.

My eyes were glowing. "He did, actually. He rescued me with his horse. Dallas was my knight in shinin' armor."

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Author's note
I already had a couple chapters done, so these should get you guys started. Enjoy!

Your friendly neighborhood greaser, signing off...
Stay gold y'all ⭐️