Changes

Chapter Five

I didn't sleep for more than an hour last night, Dally was all I could think of, well not really Dally, but Dallas. The sweet guy underneath the badass shell.

I tried to make my dark circles look better with some makeup but it didn't work out so good so I just stuck to winged eyeliner. I put on one of the only dresses I owned. It was a t-shirt styles floral dress and I thought it looked great. I brushed my hair and let it do its own thing and then I went downstairs. Denise was still sleeping so I started to make some eggs.

I finished breakfast and did my dishes then wrote a note for aunt Denise.

Goin' out for a walk with Ponyboy, not sure when I'll be back, love you ~ Jana

I looked down at my arms and realized I forgot to cover them up so I ran upstairs and put on my leather jacket.

While I was coming back down the stairs, there was a knock on the front door so I ran. It was just Ponyboy. "Hey Ponyboy!" I smiled and stepped out. "Hi, you look nice today." He smiled. I smiled back and we walked up the road. We talked about nothing in particular, just stuff we liked and whether or not we thought Johnny was safe in that house.

Eventually I brought up school. "I'm gonna be so lost on Monday." I giggled. "We can walk to school together or get Darry or Two-bit to drive us. But I've skipped a grade so lucky for you I'm in the tenth grade so I can show you stuff around." He smiled. "You skipped a grade? Really?" I looked at him, rather impressed. He nodded. "I'm also in academic courses, but they're full of Socs." He sighed. "Are they rude to you?" I looked into his eyes and he nodded. "But I do t really care, I usually just ignore them and do my school work." He shrugged. "That's good, I'm just scared of the girl Socs, do they seem mean?" I chewed my lip not wanting to know the answer. "I'm not sure, I mean most of the guy Socs are scummy so I guess the girls would be rude in their own way too." He looked at me. I made a weird face. He laughed. "Sorry that didn't really help!" I looked up at him. "It's fine, I just won't talk to anyone but you." I laughed. He nodded. "That's the best thing to do for now." He agreed.

We ended up in town and we were walking by the dingo. "Oh, so is this where my aunt works?" I asked Ponyboy. "Yep, you could probably get a job there too if ya wanted." He smiled. I shook my head. "Nah, I wanna wait till' after schools all done and I've graduated." I said while looking in the window. "I understand." Pony smiled. We started walking again and we went into a corner store. "Do you want anything?" Ponyboy asked while walking to the back of the store. I shook my head and he nodded. I looked at the back of the store and smiled so big. There, flipping through a magazine, was Dally. He looked up and did the double take. "Hey guys!" He smiled. "Hey Dal!" Ponyboy smiled and went to the cooler while I stared at Dally. "Hey Jana!" He smiled. "Hey." I smirked. "You look amazing." He whispered so Pony wouldn't hear. I felt myself blush. He smiled and looked back at Ponyboy. "So, what are you two doin', cause I'm bored and got nothin' ta do." He smiled. "We were just gonna walk around town more, you know, I'm trying to get Jana used to the area." Ponyboy smiled. Dally nodded. "Does your aunt work tonight?" He smiled. I shrugged. "Probably." I laughed. "Well, since it's Saturday night, Buck's having a party and I was wondering if you wanted to come?" He whispered. I nodded and looked at Ponyboy. "Ok. I'll be by your place at 8pm. Be ready!" I smiled and he patted my back. "See ya Pony!" He called out and left the store. Ponyboy looked at me. "He seems to really be interested in talkin' to you." He smirked. I nodded. "Yea, he seems sweet, like deep down." I smiled and blushed. "There's no sweet in Dally, that's for sure!" Pony laughed. I looked at him and smiled.

Ponyboy bought a couple of cokes and gave me one. "You didn't need to get my anything but thanks." I laughed and took a drink. "It's cool, I guess I'm too nice of a person sometimes." He smiled and laughed. "Do you wanna go down to the DX? I know Two's gonna be down there cause' he's got nothin' better to do, we can just hang around with him, Steve and Soda." He looked at me. "Sure, I still wanna get to know you guys better."I smiled and we walked to the DX station.

Once we got there, Steve was working on a nice lookin' car. "Hey there!" He waved and we went inside. Soda was working the counter and there were girls everywhere. He looked up at us and smiled. "Pony! Jana! What're ya doin' here?" He smiled and the girls scowled at me. "Is Two-bit here?" Pony smiled. "Yep, he should be in the garage." Sodapop smiled. "I'm gonna go talk to him." Pony smiled at me and I nodded and looked at Sodapop. "How's it goin' Jana?" He smiled and I moved so I was leaning against the counter. All the girls scoffed and left the store. I laughed. "Well then, I didn't realize I was unwanted here by certain people." I shook my head. "Don't worry bout' them girls, they just think they can get with me." He laughed. Me and Soda talked for a couple minutes and then Steve, Pony and Two-bit came in.

Two-bit smiled and stood next to me. All of us sat around and talked for around an hour, until Soda got off. Darry showed up and offered to take me and Pony home. We accepted and got into his blue Ford pickup.

Darry pulled into my driveway and I got out. "Thank ya sir!" I smiled and he giggled. "Anytime, and hey, come over tomorrow for supper! Please we'd love to have ya!" He smiled. "Ok! I'll be there Darry!" I waved and walked into the house. I'd been out all day, it was now 5 o'clock. Denise was cooking and turned around. "How was town?" She asked. "Good! It's so cute and I love it!" I smiled and hugged her. "I'm making dinner and then I gotta go work at the hospital tonight." She smiled at me. "You work at the hospital too?" I was surprised. "What time do you have to be there for?" I asked, remembering that Dallas was coming over to take me to Buck's. "I've gotta be there for 7:30, and I'll probably stay for an extra hour or so and help, so I'll be home late, most likely 3am, but you'll be fine here by yourself again, you've got the Curtis brothers to look out for you." She giggled. "Speaking of the Curtis brothers, girls are falling for Sodapop some hard don't ya think?" I laughed. She nodded. "He's a fine lookin' fella, I'd love for you to be the girl to win him over." She looked at me and I felt myself blush. "He's a nice guy, but I'm not so sure he would ever be interested." I shrugged and grabbed plates for dinner. Denise has made some sort of casserole and she dished me up some. "You don't know that, you two are going through some of the same struggles, maybe he will, just get to know him better." She handed me a plate and we sat down at the table. "Well, I met all of their friends last night and they're all going through something, I could really get close with any of them." I smiled thinking about Dallas. "Any of them except that Dallas Winston, he's nothin' but trouble Jana." Denise looked me dead in the eye and my heart shattered. He's so sweet though. No one else knows... "I talked to him last night, he seems sweet." I looked out the window. "I'd rather not have you hang around him, but I can't stop you, just watch out for yourself Jana, I don't want this new town to change you, or the people." She half grinned. "I'll be ok." I smiled back and we finished eating.

I did the dishes and then went upstairs to pick out what I was gonna wear to Buck's. I chose a long sleeved, black, tight dress that came a little higher than my mid thigh. Denise knocked on my door and I threw the dress in my closet. "Come in!" I kinda yelled. "I'm leaving now!" She smiled. "Oh, ok, have fun at work." I giggled and hugged her. "I always have fun on break when all is nurses gossip! Have a good night Jana!" She kissed my cheek and went back downstairs. I watched the road from my window and when I saw her truck driving down the road a grabbed the dress and put it on.

I thought I actually looked good. I hope Dally liked it. I did my makeup a little heavier and brushes my hair again. By the time I was done it was 7:45. Dallas should be here soon I thought. I was about to get up when there was a knock on the door. Maybe Dal was early?

I walked downstairs and looked out the kitchen window. It was Sodapop. I answered the door and he eyed me up and down. "Woah!" Is all he said. "Hey there Soda, what can I help you with?" I smiled, bringing him back up to my face. "Well, I was gonna ask if you wanted to come to the nightly-double with me and Steve tonight, but you must be going somewhere else huh?" He shrugged. "Uh, yea, I'm going to a party at Buck's tonight." I started chewing on my lip nervously. "With Dally?" He looked up at me and I nodded. "Oh ok then." He started to walk away but I grabbed his shoulder and he turned back around. "What if we go some other time?" I smiled cutely. He smiled back. "I'd like that, how about next Friday?" He smiled. "That's perfect, and hey, can I get your guy's phone number just so I can talk to you guys and stuff." I asked awkwardly. "Sure, let me write it down!" He smiled and j handed him a piece of paper and a pen. He handed me back the paper and smiled. "Thank ya sir!" I smiled. "Well, I'll see ya around Jana!" He smiled and walked down the steps. "See ya!" I waved and went back inside.

I felt really bad because I did wanna get to know Sodapop better because he was a really sweet and genuine guy, but then again there was Dallas... I don't wanna get caught up between guys. I don't even know them that well and I think I'm already falling for them both.