The Insider (Love Triangle with Soda and Dally)

Chapter One

"Johnny!" I yelled all of the exhaustion from the plane ride, finally transforming into happiness. I don't remember the last time I saw Johnny, probably when we were both younger, more innocent and free. Laughing on the playground as we swung on the swings, thinking that if we went up high enough we could touch the sky. Before mom fell for Tom and they moved to look for a new start that just came back full circle. I remember when mom was pregnant when I was young and she told me I was going to have a sister I was excited then but just because there was a new life I didn't think my life would have to be new too. Except clearly, I was wrong as she shipped everything to New York in boxes I couldn't help but feel like she was shipping me away too. Back in Manhattan, I got to learn how to be a better sister to Eloise and learned how to roll with the punches, protecting her at all costs just like how I was used to protecting Johnny. Since maybe the Louis sisters are alike in more ways than I thought, Johnny's mom and mine are always trying to find the good in the bad but never thinking they deserve more than what they're given. I hope I wasn't like that though and I hoped Johnny wasn't either.

"Hey Stel," he says with a smile and though he's changed, when he looks at me with those big black eyes I know he's still the Johnny I grew up with. I ruffle his hair as if telling him to loosen up since he's always been so shy, so tense. As if anything's gonna happen at any moment, he's trained to run well and I'm trained to fight. Probably the reason I ended up back here.

"I missed you," Johnny says and I smile. "Me too." Before we can say much of anything though, a guy with a stocky build and a brown leather jacket heads over. "Hey, I'm Dally." He says with a firm nod, "you must be Stella, I heard a lot about you." He tells me and I can't help but blush, sure Johnny and I are cousins but after we left our relationship became just that. No more best friends or partners in crime, instead it was like we became strangers. "You ready kids?" He asks even though he's older than us it's not by much. "I borrowed Buck's car, he won't mind." He tells us as he jingles the car keys up in the air. Johnny smiles, "thanks, Dal." I murmur out a thank you before we head to the car. A red Thunderbird.

"I hope I wasn't too far out of y'all's way," I say once I'm strapped in, Johnny insisted I sit in Shotgun though I didn't want to be too much of a hassle. "For a pretty broad like you, it's not too far," Dallas said winking at me, with his cold brown eyes that seemed to be the witnesses of more things than I could imagine. As if he'd seen the world. Which made me smile. Tom thought getting shipped off for the year would give me some time to reflect and change but I just ended up with people like me. Though I don't want to open up, not yet at least.

"Cut it out, Dal," Johnny said embarrassed, probably since the last time he saw me I was a girl in ponytails and polka-dot skirts not who I am now. With short brown hair and wears jean jackets and too short tank tops. The rest of the drive goes by in a blur, no excavation based on how fast Dallas can drive. I half expect the fuzz to pull us over before we can get back to the East Side.

"Welcome home," Johnny says sarcastically as Dallas pulls into the driveway of Johnny's house, the same house we grew up in before I left. Since mom didn't have a place to stay after dad left, we spent more time in this house than we did in our old one and so far it's exactly as I remember it. "Dad's not home yet," Johnny says his voice filled with relief and I can't help but sigh, seeing Johnny like this was the only part of him I didn't miss. When mom made us leave I kept trying to make her take Johnny with us but she just shook her head no matter how much I begged. "Put your stuff in and then let's go," Dallas says and I nod, already wanting to leave even though I haven't yet been inside.

I open the door to the guest bedroom and flop on the bed, that's more like a cot with blankets and two off-white pillows. It's not much but it's mine. The room is small more like it's meant to be an office but from what I remember Mr. Cade would rather drink than work. "Thanks," I say laying on the bed and Johnny grins, "sorry it's small." I just shake my head, being prioritized over I don't seem to mind. I then fold all of my clothes into the dresser before putting my toiletries in the hallway bathroom. I didn't bring much, just the necessities. Since there was more I wanted to leave behind than I wanted to take with me both emotionally and physically.

"You done?" Dallas asks and I nod as I put my suitcase in the small closet. "Ya." I tell him before we head outside, Mrs. Cade isn't there either, making me wonder if I'm grateful or disappointed. Since she's not the best by any standards but I do miss the grilled cheese sandwiches she used to make.

"Come on," Dallas says as I slide back into Shotgun and he zooms out of the driveway. "Mind if I smoke?" I asked pulling out a box of Kool's. He nods, "not unless you give me one." I laugh before handing him a cigarette and lighting mine. There's not much of a drive, just past caged-in houses and trees that already starting to change their leaves until we pull up to a house with a white porch and a chain-link fence. "This is The Curtis's." Johnny says quietly and I nod, "who are they?" I ask curiously and Dallas grins. "Friends," before Johnny answers, "family."

That's when I get it now, that all of the guys take the place of family for Johnny and I can't help but feel relieved, that at least he has something. Maybe if I had friends that tight back in New York I wouldn't have gotten involved with half the things I did. But I'm not so sure.

Dally holds open the gate as Johnny and I walk in before being greeted by a group of guys on the front porch. "Hey," a few of them say well a couple of them whistle. Johnny smiles, "this is Stella my cousin from New York." He says introducing me before the guys all nod. "I'm Ponyboy, Ponyboy Curtis." Says the youngest one with greenish-grey eyes. "Ponyboy?" I ask surprised, Ponyboy isn't a name you hear too often or not even at all. Ponyboy just nods, before I add. "It's a creative name." He grins at this, "well my dad was a creative person." I can't help but notice the word was and my heart sinks a bit. "I'm Sodapop, in case you wanted a more creative name." The guy with the flannel shirt and white tank top says and I smile. They look like their brothers but Soda's older and more handsome. With dark golden hair and dark brown laughing eyes, Dal seems to be looking towards the future instead of the past. "H-hey." I stammer wondering how long I've been staring and hoping that it looks more like I zoned out than I just met someone who could be from the silver screen. "Wow, I've never seen anyone into Soda that fast. You might have broken a record there, Stel." One of the guys says sarcastically his hair is in a ducktail with sideburns and he has a Mickey Mouse shirt on despite my prediction of him being at least 18. "Don't mind him he's Keith but everyone just calls him Two-Bit. I think you can see why." The oldest one says he's muscular and tall with icy blue eyes. "And I'm Darry, Soda and Pony are my kid-brothers." He explains and I nod. "Nice to meet all y'all," I say and Darry nods. "You want some celebratory chocolate cake and lemonade?" He asks me and before I can even nod we head into the house, surrounded by the rest of the gang.