It Happened Like This

ONE

It Happened Like This

I could feel music pumping through my veins. Questionable smells of smoke and liquor clung to every part of me. The air felt thick with sweat on the dance floor where people moved without an inch between them.

Judy waved to me from her corner of the room where she was getting rather close with a handsy greasy boy from the Brumly gang. I smiled at her and took a sip of the water I had cleverly disguised in a beer bottle.

Judy White was my best friend. We were exactly alike growing up as next-door-neighbors in the greasy south side of Tulsa, Oklahoma. We had the same interests, listened to the same music, pined after the same boys and were totally inseparable- until the day that sweet Judy White got her hands on Tim Shepard, glorified gang leader. She was with Tim for exactly one night and then everything changed.

Instead of spending our weekends doing homework together while listening to Ricky Nelson, Judy went to parties, flirted with boys, and drank like nobody's business. And I was dragged along.

I looked down at the tight black dress I had been cajoled into wearing. Noticing the way the old guy with the beer belly next to me was staring, I suddenly regretted my choice of attire. Realizing that it was probably about time to move, I stood up and started walking around.

Buck's was not an especially large establishment, but the near hundred people packed in like a sardine can hardly seemed to notice, or care. Maybe that was their excuse for dancing so closely.

I spotted one room not packed with people and decided to stop there for air. Judy would probably head upstairs pretty soon with that Brumly boy and forget that she was my ride home. The thought was kind of sickening.

I stopped at a table in the little room that held only a large pool table and a couple of cowboy folk getting hustled by greasers. I didn't recognize most of the people in the room, but brightened up when I noticed a couple of boys from the Curtis gang hanging around in a corner. Steve Randle was there with his buddy Two-Bit. Steve I recognized from all the time I spent at the DX when Judy felt the need to drag me over there so she could flirt with Soda. I didn't know the other boys from their gang well, but Steve and Soda were sweet boys- funny and loyal but also tough.

"Hey, Steve," I called out as I approached them, glad to see someone I could interact with.

"Connie! How ya doin'? Where's blondie?"

I flushed at the prospect of what Judy was probably doing right then. "Uh, I think she's upstairs... ya know... with a boy..."

The boys let out crude chuckles. "Man, look at that," Two-Bit pinched my red cheeks, causing me to swat him away in irritation, "She's redder'n a stop sign! I didn't know girls 'round here could do that anymore." He sent me a playful wink and I smiled.

If there was one thing I knew about Two-Bit Matthews, it was that he only went after blondes. Sure, he would flirt with me, but it was only friendly.

"Jesus Christ, those broads are fuckin' crazy." I frowned when I heard an annoyed voice approaching us.

I turned around as a lanky boy with dark hair and darker eyes approached us, cursing under his breath with vocabulary that would make a sailor blush. His eyes immediately locked on me as he reached our corner of the room.

His lips turned into a scowl as he took in my revealing dress and ratted hair. The sight no longer fazed me, a consequence of many years living on Tulsa's bad side.

"Who's this chick? She yours?" He asked the boys crudely. Without waiting for an answer, he turned to me and his rough voice turned patronizing, "Look, babe, these boys don't need anything you've got to sell, so how 'bout ya beat it, huh?"

My jaw dropped in shock. I had no idea what to say. My gaze turned to Steve, who looked torn between objecting or laughing out loud. With a contained chuckle, Steve easily said, "Dally, man, this chick ain't like that."

Dally... Dally... Dallas... Dallas?! "Dallas? Is that your name? Like... Dallas Winston?"

"Depends who's asking," His voice was gruff.

I frowned. "Connie Gale."

"Gale? What the hell kind of person has two first names?"

"That's my last name, you dummy! It's Connie then Gale!"

"Yeah, alright, Connie then Gale," Right then I was certain that I just about exploded from annoyance. Who does this guy think he is? I still hadn't the slightest conviction as to this person's identity.

"Well..." I struggled to come up with some kind of retaliation, "Well, are you Dallas Winston or what?"

"Yeah, that's me." His voice was casual, almost teasingly. I tried to calm myself when I noticed how he was taking oh-so-much pleasure in my irritation.

"Well, I've heard about you and I know that you're no good, so I don't need to take any hassle from you," I crossed my arms indignantly as I spoke with conclusiveness.

As I was about to turn away, Dallas spoke again, "If you're so much better than me, what's with the getup, huh, broad? Hell, this chick looks greasier than I do."

Don't turn around. Walk away. Don't let him get to you. I never was one to listen to my own advice. I turned around swiftly to face the disreputable teen standing before me. "I am nothing like you."

He scoffed. "Yeah, because every chick who wears a dress like that is lookin' to be judged for their character." He spoke uncaringly as he lit a cigarette and lifted it to his mouth smoothly.

To this day I am amazed by the way I had not screamed due to the immense vexation that was called Dallas Winston. I hadn't ever met the boy before this night and still he was the most nettling person I had ever met. And I had met Tim Shepard once.

"At least I could judge from a mile away that you're no good," I spat.

"I bet you're a prude." I gasped at his words, again feeling a heated flush rise to my face. I was sure that I probably resembled a ripe tomato as well.

I struggled to come up with a retort. "That was rude," I mumbled quietly, trying to calm my embarrassment.. He did not appear at all bothered by my statement. If anything, the accusation seemed to bring him pleasure. "I don't need to stand you any longer, so if you'll excuse me I will be leaving."

Dallas leaned back against the dirty wall behind me, not fazed in the least by anything I'd said. His eyes never left me as he raised a brown bottle to the smirk on his lips.

"Sure thing, square."

I huffed indignantly, opening then closing my mouth as I decided not to respond. I swiveled on my feet before making my way out of the smoky bar. It was futile at this point to wait on Judy, since I knew her well enough to know that she'd probably wake up in an upstairs bedroom at Buck's the next morning.

I walked myself home, still dwelling on the infuriating conversation I'd had with shameless Dallas Winston in that dark back room in Buck's. I reached my house and quietly crept to my room so as to not wake anyone, then eagerly removed the indecorous black dress that didn't match my character in the slightest. I wiped layers of dark makeup from my eyes that Judy had insisted she apply on me because I "would look about ten years old without it!" I fell asleep as soon as I could get into bed, then settled into a tranquil rest undisturbed by thoughts of lewd hoods residing in smoky bars.

That was the first time I saw Dallas Winston.