My Knight in Shining Armor

Chapter XXI

My heart stopped. Dally wanted to marry me? Tears closed my eyes, but I knew I couldn't give the answer I wanted. It wasn't like me to be selfish. "I... I can't," I whispered. "I'm sorry."

Creases of concern quickly lined Dally's face. "Why not?"

I sighed. "My parents would freak. Their only daughter getting married, and with the loss of Kenny..."

Dallas laughed a sort of sympathetic laugh. "Oh, Penny. I already asked your father's permission. Does that change your answer?"

I gasped. "Really?" Dally nodded in response. "Then my answer is... yes! A million times yes!"

Dallas smiled real wide, slipped the ring on my finger, and stood up, my hand still in his grasp. "Penny, you won't regret this." He kissed me, long and lingering and passionate. Eventually, Dally pulled away. "We're not alone, ya know," he winked.

Suddenly, confetti poppers shot silver glitter high into the air. "Congratulations!" my friends all shouted, showering with hugs. They didn't lay a finger on Dally, though, because he would've broken it if they had. There was still a firm toughness to Dally, even if he'd opened up leaps and bounds. He was still Dallas Winston.

"We're celebrating at Rusty's!" Steve shouted.

I gasped. "That's a Soc hang out!"

Dally grinned mischievously. "It'll be a costume party."

The boys all stayed at the Curtis house to get ready, but Wendy and Wanda took me to their place. "Spencer's Special was having their 'end of summer sale' so we got a ton second-hand Soc clothes for a steal—enough for all of us," ends remarked.

We did our hair fancy, and we were careful with the eyeshadow.After we'd done our loose curls and soft makeup, we smoothed out the wrinkles in our fancy new clothes. "Now al we have to do," I started, "Is act like we own the world."

The girls laughed, and we moved toward the front door to wait for the boys. I wondered how long it would take the Socs to realize we didn't doing—we were their rivals.

A limousine pulled up in front of the house, and three boys stepped out—Dally, Steve, and Darry. They walked to the door in their madras and wine colored sweaters. "Lookin' sharp" I laughed, locking my arm with Dally's. "How'd you get one of these?"

He smiled. "I may have an uncle, who has a brother-in-law..."

Steve took Wendy by the arm and followed us. My heart broke, though, when I overheard Darry talking to Wanda. It had to do with the void, the absence that we all felt. We hoped we didn't have to celebrate anything without Sodapop ever again. "As Soda's older brother and legal guardian, I feel like it's my responsibility to make sure you're taken care of."

"Because you can't take care of him?"

"Perhaps."

We hopped into the limo and drove to the other side of town. We felt classy—and we were about to play the part. We decided to call each other by our middle names, so people wouldn't recognize our names—from the newspaper. I was Reagan, Wanda was Barbara, Wendy was Rhonda, Dally was Tucker, Darry was Shaynne, Ponyboy was Michael, Steve was Lucas, and Two-Bit was David.  It was sure funny, trying to practice and remember on the way up, so we didn't goof up while we were at Rusty's.

We sauntered in with our heads held high, the boys trying to get rid of the panther-like slouch they usually had. "What's something 'Socy' I could say?" I whispered to Dally.

He shrugged. "I dunno, milady, but I'm glad you missed that big party." He winked.

I quickly caught on. "Yeah. Those popular girls from homeroom last year were gonna be there."

"If I'm correct, you're one of them," Dally, or rather, Tucker, laughed.

"Cut it out, you two. You're making the rest of us look real greasy," Two-Bit laughed.

We sat at the table and ordered our food. The waitress walked away with our order and gave it to the chef, and immediately seated another group at the table next to us.

"Happy birthday, David dear!" the mother at that table was saying.

Two-Bit cocked an eyebrow. "But I'm David," he whispered.

Ponyboy suddenly turned white as a leaf and looked down at the table hurriedly. No one seemed to notice Ponyboy's sudden anxiety except me. "You alright?" I asked him quietly.

He shook his head. "It's the Soc that tried to drown me," he replied in a quiet whisper.

"You want to leave?"

"Nah. It'll be fine as long as he doesn't see me."

He narrowly avoided charges of attempted murder—David, I mean—but Randy wasn't so lucky. He was charged with attempted murder, underage drinking, and drunk driving. Our table chatter increased, but I wasn't very involved in it. I was busy keeping an eye on the Soc.

Suddenly, David—the Soc, not Two-Bit—leaned over to his mother and whispered to her. She abruptly stood up and glared at us. "Who do you think you are, coming in here?" she scolded, her voice rising. "How could you ruin my son's reputation, throw his friend in jail, kill his cousin—" It clicked in my head that she was talking about Bob. "—and march in here like you're one of us!?"

Every Soc at Rusty's turned to stare at us indignantly. A boy in the back stood up and cracked his knuckles. "It sounds like you fellas have been invited to leave," he growled.

The waitress finally arrived with our food. "May we have this to go?" I asked politely, eyeing the Soc in the back.

"Sure."

She left and returned quickly, and we transferred our food into the Styrofoam to-go boxes. We hopped in the limo, and Dally sighed. "Dinner at the Curtis house, I guess. Back to being greasers."

I laughed. "Who said our Soc fun was over?"

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Author's note
I wrote this chapter in a notebook—yes, on paper with a pen—while camping. I didn't really revise it a whole lot, and I didn't have backspace, so this is what you get lol

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