one of them

twenty-two

Dallas' POV

I heard the door slam shut and I rested for a moment before moving around.

I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but it sure as hell wasn't that.

The nurse walked in. "You happy now?"

I sat up and stared at the door. "No."

"No?"

"No! She's got it all wrong! That's- That's not how things happened. Why would she think that?"

"I can't help you when you give me nothing to work with." She said plainly.

"When can I leave?" I asked quickly.

"I have to run a few tests-"

I cut her off. "Run them now! I gotta get out of here."

"Why didn't you say anything when she was in the room?"

"She obviously spent a lot of time thinking about what she said. I would've fucked it up if I said what I was thinking as she said it. And she said she would never say it to my face if I could hear it."

"Well, she did."

"She doesn't know that."

The nurse sighed. "I'll run the tests."

DJ's POV

I said goodbye to Johnny and I walked home alone. The breeze felt good on my arms. I felt like I got a lot off my chest. Just the idea of saying it out loud made me feel better. I couldn't tell you why, though.

I went home and the place was silent for a bit. Nobody was home so I had some time to myself.

I took a nap until I heard the front door open. I could tell by the way it opened that it was Sodapop.

I got out of bed and pushed my hair out of my face. "Hey, Soda." I said rubbing my eyes.

"Hey, Deej. How was your day?"

I decided to leave the part about Dallas out. About how I was even able to see him. I didn't want to hurt his feelings by me being the only one allowed in.

"I saw Johnny. Got some good news at the hospital."

"Johnny's gonna be okay?" He asked hopefully.

"He's gonna recover. And I found out that one of the parents from the kid who was in the church is paying all the hospital expenses. For me, Pony, Johnny, and Dal."

"No way! Really?"

"Yeah. I will say, I got a bit emotional."

"That's awesome, DJ. Now you don't gotta get that job."

I thought for a moment. "Actually, I think I'd still like to work. I think it's about time. I wanted a job before, but after mom and dad died I felt like Darry wanted me to focus on school instead."

"You gonna be able to handle both?"

"Yeah. I think so. It'll just be part time. Where's Ponyboy? Is Darry at work?"

"Yeah, he should be home soon. I think Two took Ponyboy for some ice cream. Celebrating the next chapter of our lives."

I grinned. "You get the mail?" I asked.

His smile quickly faded. "Yeah. Just a couple bills and another letter I sent to Sandy. Returned and unopened."

I frowned. I almost forgot about Sandy's cheating thing. Sodapop seems to hide his problems so well. It's hard to tell when somethings bothering him."

I sat down on the couch. "I'm so sorry, Soda."

He sat down next to me. "I just don't understand..."

I frowned. "I know, Soda. I know. Unfortunately, life has a funny way of doing that to us. But one day, you're gonna find a girl who's gonna adore you. And she's gonna be so in love with you that she'd never even think about looking at another guy. She's gonna love you for who you are and you'll feel even better about her."

He smiled slightly. "Thanks, DJ."

"I really do mean it. Don't lose hope. There's more people out there."

The phone rang. "I got it." Sodapop said. He picked it up. "Hello?"

It was silent for a moment as he listened to the voice on the other end.

"Oh, DJ, it's for you."

I raised an eyebrow and grabbed the phone from him. "Hello?"

"Hi, this is Brett Conners. I'm calling about your job application."

"Oh! Yeah! Hi. What about it?" I asked.

"I would like for you to come in for an interview. Does tomorrow at four work?"

I gasped. "Yeah! Yeah, that's perfect. I'll be there. Thank you."

"Of course. Have a good day."

"You as well."

I hung up the phone. "Well?" Sodapop asked.

"I have an interview tomorrow at four!" I said with a smile.

"Congrats, DJ! That's awesome!" I smiled and hugged him. Darry walked in the door. Soda spoke up. "Hey, Dar. How was work?"

"Pays the bills." He said taking his shoes off.

"Speaking of work... guess who has a job interview tomorrow?" I asked playfully.

"He called?"

"Yup! Just missed it. I'm goin' in tomorrow at four!"

He smiled. "I'm proud of you, DJ."

Ponyboy eventually got home and I made us all dinner. Some nice chicken wings. Dads favorite.

We sat down and there wasn't much conversation. I feel like we all had an eventful day that we weren't up for talking about.

Darry finally spoke up. "How are you in catching up with assignments, Ponyboy?"

"It's fine."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning I have a lot to do, but I'm working on it."

"Ponyboy," Darry scolded. "These grades are important. You gotta get this done."

"How come you never posted DJ about her grades?"

"DJ has her work done. She hasn't missed all her school for the past two weeks like you have. And when she did miss it, she got her stuff done."

"I'm working on it..."

I decided to stay out of this fight. I continued eating.

"You're living in a vacuum Ponyboy. You can't just stop living 'cause you might lose someone. I thought you knew better than that. And anytime you don't like the way I'm runnin' things around here, why don't you just get out?"

"You'd like me to get out, wouldn't you? You'd like for me to just get the hell out!"

"Goddamn, you guys!" Sodapop yelled.

I gasped as Sodapop stormed out of the house.

"Sodapop!" Darry called out.

"Not again..." I muttered. I put my fork down and stood up. "Just when things were turning back to normal. Come on, guys."