king and queen

twenty

Alexa's POV

We eventually made it out of the downtown area and to this little subdivision.

It was only mid afternoon when we got here and I was a bit tired. There must have been a time change or something along the way.

"Alright, so this is the Curtis' house." Dallas said. "Darrel, Sodapop, and Ponyboy Curtis live here. There parents passed almost a year ago so don't mention that."

I thought for a minute. "Wait, Ponyboy is a person? And... Sodapop?"

They both grinned. "Yeah, they're people. They always just their dad was an original man."

"Dallas, you mentioned someone else earlier. Who liked Mickey Mouse?"

"Two-Bit." They said at the same time.

"Keith "Two-Bit" Mathews. I wouldn't call him Keith, though. He doesn't prefer it."

"Okay. Got it. Anyone else?"

"Just Steve Randle. He's Soda's best buddy." Johnny said.

"He'll probably have a chocolate cake shoved down his throat and smashed on his face. You'll recognize him."

"Alright. Got it."

"Just leave your bags there. We won't be long." Dallas said.

I put them over to the side and they opened the door. "Hey, guys." Dallas said.

"Hi, everyone." Johnny followed.

"Hey! Y'all are back!"

One of them came over and pat Johnny on the shoulders.

Wow. They lived in an actual house.

Not a duplex or an apartment. A house!

It was crazy!

I noticed the neighborhood, but it didn't hit me until now. They're probably rich.

Corinne was the only person I knew who lived in a house. And hers was beat down and old. But this place was beautiful and spacious.

"Who's your friend?" Someone asked.

I snapped out of my daze about the house. I walked around Dallas and went up to the tall man who asked who I was. "Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry. I just barged in here and didn't even introduce myself." I laughed a bit. "I'm Alexa DeVos." I said shaking his hand.

"Darrel Curtis." He said.

"Oh my, goodness! So this is your house?"

"Well, I do pay the bills on it." He said with a grin.

I laughed a bit. "I love it. It's so nice and quaint. My goodness, I can't believe you guys have your own house." I said looking around a bit more. "Do all country cities have actual houses?"

"Yeah. Where did you live? The streets?" Someone asked. He was wearing the Mickey Mouse shirt. He must have been Two-Bit.

"No," I said with a grin, "an apartment. It had one little living unit connected to the kitchen and then there were two bedrooms and one bathroom." I looked behind Darrel. "Y'all even get your own backyard!" I laughed. "Man, I woulda killed to grow up somewhere like this."

"Alright, Alexa, we better get going." Dallas said coming up behind me and motioning to the door.

"Aww... I just got here, though."

"Well, we can always come back and visit they're right down the street."

Dallas' POV

As soon as she introduced herself to Darry, the entire room looked at me with confusion. I motioned for them to ignore it for right now.

She was raving about the house and Ponyboy came up next to me and whispered something to me. "Is this the same Alexa DeVos you were complaining about two weeks ago?"

"Yeah." I whispered.

"What happened?"

"Not now. Shh."

Eventually I had to get Alexa outta there before she talked Darry's ear off. And I didn't want anyone to slip anything out about what I said about her. It'd kill her.

"Bye, everyone." I said as Alexa was out the door. She started to grab her things and collect herself. I snuck back inside really quickly. "If one of you says anything to her about what I said, I will have your head. Understand?"

Everyone nodded and I went back out with Alexa.

"So, Dallas, I gotta find a hotel. And I turn eighteen in a few months. I gotta find a job so I can get a house. Or at least a place to stay."

"Well, here's the deal. You're not going to a hotel. You're coming with me. And it's not the greatest. But it's do-able. It's more like a studio. It's above the bar and I can try and get you a job there. It's called Bucks. They make real good money there."

"Oh, I don't know much about drinks."

"We'll figure it out. I might be able to negotiate you a room as well. Help get on your feet, y'know?"

"Oh. Awesome!"

We walked a bit out of the subdivision and down to this little nightclub. "This isn't a strip club, right?"

"Nah, nothing like that."

I sighed. "Can I make a few phone calls here? I can't wait to start school somewhere. Where's the high school at?"

"Will Rogers is where everyone goes. I'll get you more information when we get there."

We walked up the small steps and into the building. It was empty. They must not be opened yet.

"Hey, Dallas." A man said.

"Hi, Buck." Oh he must be the owner. "This is Alexa. We was wondering if you can help us out a bit."

"With?"

"She needs a place to stay and maybe a job?"

"I got that extra room upstairs down the hall. But I dunno if I have any jobs opened right now."

"Oh, but I would be such a great addition. I have a bit of experience with customer service. I worked a desk job at a dance studio for a bit. I even taught dance."

"Well, we aren't a strip club."

I laughed. "No, no that's not what I wad implying. I could maybe supervise or manage? Y'know, give you a night off."

"I don't really have managers."

"Then just a supervisor! I'm really persuasive and good with people. If you just give me a chance I promise I'll make it worth your time. You don't even have to pay me until you see that this will be worth your time." I said with a smile.

He groaned. "Fill out an application. Dal, get her one. We'll see how it goes and we'll go from there."

"Oh, wonderful! Thank you so much. I promise this will be worth your time."

"Alright, Alexa. Let's go get you settled in."