My Knight in Shining Armor

Chapter XXII

We drove to the park—the one in the middle of town, so it wasn't part of Soc or greaser territory. We found a couple picnic tables and set our food down on them. The evening was calm and cool, and the sun was starting to set, casting a golden light on the park.

Couples and groups of friends were strolling around the park, ignoring us for the most part. The greasers were giving us indignant looks, thinking we were Socs. Some Socs, while walking by, stopped to chat with us, oblivious to who we were. Others, however, after getting a closer look, recognized some of us from the paper.

"We've had a happy evening," I remarked.

Dally sighed contentedly. "Yes, very happy..." His smile was as wide as the Mississippi river.

"And," Darry started. "I didn't tell y'all, but the hospital called earlier today and said Sodapop was doin' better. They'll probably discharge him when we visit him tonight."

We all cheered in a very unSoc-like manner, alerting the unwanted attention of some very classy looking Socs who had glared at us in disgust a few minutes prior. They walked over to us with scowls on their faces.

"Lookie what we've got here, Jakey. It's that kid we jumped in that greaser neighborhood awhile back," one of the Socs laughed.

Another one joined in the taunting. "Theo, he's the one who got his face on the paper. Horseman, was it?"

Darry tensed up and became protective. "I think you guys need to leave us alone." Steve stepped in front of Wendy, and Dally gripped my hand.

Theo laughed so hard he wheezed. "You think we're gonna listen to you?" He turned to a large group playing a lazy game of soccer. "Fellas, we got ourselves some greaser trash that needs to be taught a lesson!"

I looked at my wristwatch and bit my lip. "Darry, I know y'all love a good fight, but we need to leave now if we want to get to the hospital before visiting hours are over."

He looked at me and nodded, signaling the others to get ready to run. He knew what I really meant—there were too many of them. It wouldn't be a fair fight—seventeen of them against the six of us, me included.

I took off my high heels, and when Darry gave the signal, we all started running. Dusk had fallen, so it was hard to see the dark road, and my feet were starting to get scraped by the asphalt. I stepped on a rock and cried out, falling forward onto my hands and knees.

A strong arm grabbed me from behind, and a hand went over my mouth. I heard shoes skid, and someone cried out for me. "Penny!" I could hear Dallas shout in anguish.

He ran toward me and punched the Soc in the head, stunning him for a moment. Dally picked me up bridal style and ran after the other boys. We ran for a long time, Socs still on our tail. We finally lost them near the corner of Pickett and Sutton, and we paused to rest for a moment. I put my shoes back on and smoothed my dress to cover my scraped knees. No one would even know about my minor injuries.

We ran into the hospital and found ourselves at the front counter. "We're here to see Sodapop Curtis," Darry said, out of breath.

The receptionist smiled. "We actually discharged him. We aren't allowed to legally let him go without a guardian present—he's still a minor. Are you the guardian?"

"Yes."

"Alright. Sign these papers, and we'll send him your way."

Only a minute later, Soda came speed-walking toward us, much faster than the doctor behind him. Boy, was the reunion happy, even if it hadn't been terribly long since the accident. The doctor, however, started talking to Darry, and we all quieted down to listen.

"At first, we thought it was head trauma—we haven't completely ruled it out—but there was no concussion, no memory loss, no obvious brain damage. He can go right back to normal activity."

We all cheered and left the hospital in a happy mood, although, with every step, my bleeding feet in my high heels caused extreme pain.

"Let's celebrate!" Steve yelled.

"We will tomorrow, little buddy," Darry said. "I think the rest of us have had enough excitement for one night."

Dally put an arm around me. "See ya guys later. I'm gonna take Penelope home."

We started walking to my house, and my feet were really starting to hurt, and I started to step tenderly. I knew I'd need to clean my cuts when I got home so they wouldn't get infected.

"Penny, are you alright?" Dally suddenly asked.

I nodded slowly. "Yeah... why do you ask?"

"You're limping."

"I'm fine."

"Nope. I'm not gonna hear it."

Dally picked me up the same way he had earlier and carried me to the Curtis house. We got a lot of stares. "What are you guys doing back here?"

"Someone—" Dallas playfully glared at me, "—didn't tell anyone she got hurt running from the Socs."

"It's really nothing," I insisted.

Darry grabbed the first aid kit, and they took a look at my cuts. "What did you do?"

"My feet got cut up running—I couldn't run in the high heels—and the rest is from tripping. Dally saw that one."

Dallas sighed. "I'm sorry, Penny. This has turned out to be a pretty lousy night."

I gave him a sympathetic smile. "Dallas Winston, tonight was perfect. It just got a little... adventurous towards the end." I winced as Darry started to clean the cuts on the bottoms of my feet—it stung. "And Dally, any adventure with you is a good one."

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Author's note
That ending though. I may have said it before, but if I did, you get to hear it again: For the most part, I don't know what I'm going to write before I write it. This is just as much an adventure for me as it is for you.

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