My Uptown Girl

A Burning Chapel

"I swear to God, Pony, if you don't put that ice cream down." Dallas was backing away from the younger teenager, holding his hand out to prevent the boy from getting closer. Ponyboy sauntered towards him, grinning wickedly with a chocolate ice cream cone in his hand. "I will shank you, don't think I won't."

Ponyboy hesitated for only a moment before deciding his fate. Yelling loudly, he ran towards Dallas and shoved the ice cream into his face, his audience cheering for him.

Shirley and Johnny were sitting on the trunk of her car, happily drinking their strawberry and oreo milkshakes as they watched Dallas rub his hand over his face, trying (in vain) to get the ice cream off of him.

"That's it." Dallas lunged for the kid and grabbed him by his shirt, dragging him towards the two spectators. "Shirley, could I have some of your milkshake?"

"Dally-."

"Thanks." In a snap, Dallas snatched the strawberry milkshake from Shirley's hand and opened the lid, revealing the whip cream inside. Ponyboy did his best to escape Dallas' clutches but the older boy was too strong for him.

Gripping Ponyboy's shirt tightly, Dallas held up the cup to his face and slammed the whip cream into his nose, laughing wildly as he did.

Shirley sighed as Dallas handed the milkshake back to her. Yeah, there was no way she was drinking it once Ponyboy's nose was in it. She hopped off of her car and went over to a nearby trash can, throwing the drink away. She'll make Dallas buy her another one later.

"Oh, Johnny, Shirley's dating Soda now. It literally just happened yesterday." Johnny turned his head to his older sister and glared, unamused.

"Seriously?" Johnny questioned. "After he hurt you? After he made you look like an idiot? Wasn't he the reason you got jumped by those Socs?"

Johnny was almost livid. He didn't like Sodapop after what happened on their "date". The only reason he even went to the Curtis house after that was because it was the designated hangout spot for the Greasers.

He recalls having confronted Sodapop after that night, when Shirley was working at the diner, and berated him for almost an hour before Darrel had to intervene. He hasn't talked to him since.

"Johnny," Shirley sighed heavily. "Yes, Soda has done some shitty things to me but he did apologize and he has been making up for it." Johnny didn't look convinced. "I'm still wary of him but I want this to work out."

"Besides," Dallas spoke up. "He knows that if he ever hurt Shirley again, he'll have me, you, Ponyboy, Darrel, and Steve chasing his ass down." Shirley smiled at the thought as she pictured a small mob chasing her boyfriend down the neighborhood. It was cute that they were so protective of her.

"Alright, let's head back and grab your shit so we can take you home." Dallas grabbed some napkins from the vendor at Dairy Queen and wiped off the remaining ice cream that was still on his face. Ponyboy did the same and, once they were both somewhat clean, they hopped into Shirley's car to make the drive back to the chapel.

Dallas handed Ponyboy one of his cigarettes, as he was driving, and the boy stuck it in between his lips, ready to light it.

"What the...?" Shirley threw off her headscarf and stood up in her seat to view the chaos. In the hour they had been gone, the chapel had caught fire.

Smoke billowed out of the boarded windows. The white chapel had turned black, covered in soot, and Shirley watched as a piece of the roof broke away, the chapel slowly collapsing in on itself.

"Why are there so many kids outside?" Dallas asked as he pulled in to the dirt road. Sure enough, there was a school bus off to the side of the chapel and a group of young toddlers surrounding the burning building.