"I Hated Sunsets"

Chapter Seven

"I swore I only talked for a few minutes." I said looking at the heaps of guys sleeping around me. The only people still awake were Darry and Dallas.

Darry looked to us "You two run along now, I think I've got these greasers under my watch." he said in a sarcastic voice. I stood up so that Dallas could stand up too and started walking towards the door.

Dallas lingered, finishing his weed, before standing up and walking around all of the bodies on the floor.

"I know just where to go." Dallas said, swinging his arm around my shoulders and walking out the front door. I was still only wearing the shirt Sandy got me, so the night air was cold on my skin. Dallas was oblivious and just kept walking along.

"So... this is where you've been all this time." I said into the night, looking up at the stars above us.

"Yeah." Dallas said, shrugging his shoulders. "I hadn't seen you around for years, where had you been hanging out Baby Cakes, a cave?" he chuckled at the last part and I joined in to make myself look a little less awkward.

"Nah." I said, looking up at him. "Worse, I was stuck at Tim Shepard's place." Honestly, I don't know why I stayed there all those years. Maybe it was the illusion of being in a gang and belonging somewhere for once. Being alone is fine, but really all I was looking for was to belong.

Dallas tensed up, I could feel it because his arm was still around me. "Really?" he said looking down at me. The two gangs were similar in the way that they were greasers, but from what I've seen so far that was the only way that they were similar.

"They fight good." Dallas said, probably not wanting to offend me if I still liked the gang. I didn't.

"And they're freaking horrible at everything else they do." I said smiling. I heard Dallas make a sound before smiling too.

"We're here." Dallas said as a building came into view, it had tires and liquor bottles scattered in the front yard. I had been here a few times before. It was Bucks place, Buck was older than most greasers but was bullied around so easily you wouldn't know it.

We walked up the steps to the house and opened the door, red lights streaming in on us and country music blaring. People talked at the bar, boys looking for the naughty and girls looking for the money.

"Why'd we come here?" I yelled over the music to Dallas who was right besides me.

Dallas merely looked at me "C'mon Baby Cakes, you can't say you don't enjoy this." he said, motioning around the party. I sighed. "And I know you wouldn't wanna miss out on this" he said then swayed his hips around and chuckled a little bit.

I laughed a little to, he seemed to enjoy it here. I looked over at the bar and was about to sit down in an empty stool when I saw Curly. He almost never came to these parties, why is he here now? Dallas was over near the pool table chatting up some girls now, and I didn't want to interrupt so I backed away and ran to the bathroom.

The door slammed and I sat on the ground putting my head in my hands, I hadn't forgiven Curly for what he had done yet, and I know he had a grudge on me. Embarrassing in front of Tim was one of the worst things you could do, and if he found me I don't know what he would do.

My switchblade was still in my back pocket. I was never gonna be touched by Curly again, not over my dead body...

"Get outta therrr." I heard a girl, probably drunk, scream as she pounded on the door. Whatever. I'd haft to go outside sometime anyways.

"Don't tell me what to do!" I yelled over the commotion to the girl, before pulling out my switchblade for good measures. She ran into the bathroom similar to the way I had just a minute ago.

Curly there or not, I was gonna get something to drink. The bar had a few more empty stools so I took one of them. Buck had a bartender, a real bad bartender, but still better than nothing. I ended up loosening control and taking eight beers, I could hold my drinks down, but I knew it wouldn't be long until I would loose it.

"Dally!" I screamed, hoping he would hear me. No one made any sudden movements towards me, so I stood up and started wobbling around, looking for him. The small crowd surrounded me, I didn't know where the end was or where I came from and I was starting to get dizzy.

Suddenly I felt a hand clamp on my shoulder as everything was getting hazy again, so I turned around and walked along with the guy in the leather jacket who had his arm over my shoulder. If it wasn't Dally, at least I'd be out of the crowd.

My feet slipped from below me and I landed on the floor, taking the boy down with me.

"Crap." he slurred out before standing up and yanking me by the shoulders making me stand up. I watched as he dragged me forward out of Buck's place, into his front yard. That's where I was dropped.

"Ow..." I stumbled up, the cold night air alerting me. Curly was there, smirking at me. ''Not again'' I said to myself before reaching into my back pocket.

That's when I felt a fist hit my face and my body hit the ground. After that all I could do was crumble up towards the warmth of the ground as hit kicked and stomped on me repetitively. He wasn't gonna stop, I knew Curly better than anyone else and I knew he wouldn't stop till he was forced to.

I reached into my back pocket to get my switchblade, and that's when everything went black.

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"Dammit." I heard Dallas rasp out as he shoved his head into my neck. I was being carried by him, and I would say I had forgotten why, but my many cuts and bruises reminded me when I moved up to look at him. How sweet, he looked worried.

My throat was dry so no words could come out and I could barely move. I didn't want him to be sad about what happened. Suddenly I felt a jolt and a rush of warmth, we were in the Curtis house.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Soda yelled, he was up and moving now, I hated the way he limped over to me, he needed to stop.

"Man, get something to clean her up with or something" I heard Dallas said loudly. My eyes were wide open, and I'm guessing Dallas only noticed when he laid me on the couch. He brushed some hair out of my face, that's when I noticed he had bloody knuckles.

"Clean yourself up will you?" I heard him say sarcastically before chuckling a little.

"What happened?" Darry said looking at Dallas with his arms crossed.

"I don't know, I didn't see her for a few hours and when I walked out she was sprawled out on the ground."

That's when Soda came to my side, holding a wet cloth, opening his mouth a little as he patted down my cuts.

"Don't worry, I'm just cleaning you up" Soda said smiling at me after I winced before going back to what he was doing. I embraced my position on the couch and relaxed a little, mindlessly listening to the boy's conversation until the sun started shinning through the door.