Graceful Hands (Ponyboy Curtis Fanfiction)

Chapter Two

Ponyboy's P.O.V. continued

         "What was that for?!" I demanded as soon as we began to head back towards the other side of town. Dally's lips curled into a smirk, making my blood boil.

         "It sure is fun messing with you," Dally chuckled, ruffling my hair with his fist. I rolled my eyes in annoyance and took a step away from him. His demeanor changed into a rather shocked persona. "You were talking to a girl?"

          "Yea, don't act so surprised. I've talked to Cherry Valance before," I defended. "Its not that big of a deal."

          "It kind of is," argued Dally. "You were flirting with her, I could see it in your eyes. I've never seen you that forward with a girl before.

           "Neither have I," Johnny piped up. "I think that's a good improvement." Dally scoffed at the remark, amused by it.

             "Maybe we'll hook 'em up!" he joked. Throwing his cigarette to the sky for emphasis. Ashes sprinkled the ground that met our feet, getting on our shoes a bit. I cursed under my breath and ceased walking. I licked my finger and bent over to get the ashes off my white converse.

                "See what you do," I mumbled, furrowing my brow. Dally ignored my newly irritated nature and went on being carefree. Still, he led the way with the same smug expression painted on his face. Sometimes I wondered if it was permanent; I'm sure I wasn't the only one who wondered that.

                  Later that night, I crawled in bed next to Soda. I had been particularly quiet but no one seemed to take notice; which was good. I didn't like attention drawn to me. "You alright, Pony?" Soda asked, throwing some extra covers above my shoulders.

                "Yea I'm fine, don't worry," I told him, trying to get comfortable. I stretched my legs to the edge of the bed, cracking my ankle.

                 "It seems like something's bothering you so I was just checking. Is anything on your mind?" I wanted to answer yes, but I was hesitant.

                 "I met a girl today... her name was Ellis. She was pretty and was playing her guitar. I was trying to talk to her and Dally came interrupting, calling it flirting. It was embarrassing that he said that in front of her and he wouldn't stop teasing me. He thought it was a joke since I haven't really talked to a whole lot of girls."

                 "Pony, he can be an ass but that's how he shows he cares. It's probably a shock to him since he's used to you being about the gang all the time. Seems like he's taken a parents perspective on this in a way." Soda's words sounded reassuring but I didn't believe them.

                 "Then he should be more mature," I scoffed, shutting out everything and preparing to fall asleep. Soda didn't say anything back and when I heard his breathing get heavier, I knew he had knocked right out.

///

               "We got more time to kill, might as well go to the Dingo, eh?" Dally suggested. Neither I nor Johnny argued, following along behind. A few greaser girls were there, dowsed in a too-sweet-smelling perfume. I turned away and gagged at the stench. One wore a heavy coat of red lipstick and bright colors above her eyes. I believe it was called eye shadow? I wouldn't know, I didn't have my mother still around nor did I have sisters. Wasn't my fault I wasn't informed of all things makeup related. Although I was not well-educated in that topic, I knew those girls had too much of it on. My mind flashed back to Ellis; her rather short brown hair, deep blue eyes, and soft smiling lips. I remembered she didn't have much makeup on; just the minimum and she looked fine.

           When I regained focus of the things around me, I noticed Dally hitting on one of the girls. I could hear him whispering things to her, but I didn't bother to decipher what it was. Plus, I was quite certain I didn't want to know.

           Johnny and I sat down; starting to talk amongst ourselves. "I hate how he's always talking dirty to the girls," Johnny whispered. It was weird to hear Johnny say an ill word against Dally, but then again, I didn't blame him.

            "Yea, he should treat them with respect, not with pleasures," I commented. I turned to see Dally ordering the girls some Coke's, wasting his money. Clutching my new football tighter, I directed my attention away from them.

                   Johnny and I grew bored, there wasn't a whole lot for us girl-shy types to do except sit and chat. Twenty minutes went by and Dally was still hitting on the girls. Dally took one by the hand to lead her somewhere. I cringed, thinking it must be the bathroom. Johnny gave me a knowing look and we beat it out of there.

                 "I bet we'd treat girls a lot better than him," I told Johnny. He didn't doubt it, agreeing with me without hesitation. He picked at his nails as we walked to nowhere in particular.

                 "I'd give her flowers and tell I love her." Johnny's eyes grew distant as I could tell, he began to imagine it. "I'm certainly not like Dally is, but I know if I met the right girl, I'd fall for her."

                 "Me too," I added. Now Johnny and I both knew the girls would go right for Dally instead of us in any situation, but sometimes we wished someone would want a nice guy. Someone who would hold their hand; make them feel special, not someone who would rather feel them instead. Sure, we'd join in with Dally's dirty talks on occasions, but we were normally gentlemen-like. Being low and saying disgusting things to a woman was not what we'd want to be known for.

                   For a while, Johnny and I laid on our backs in the lot, watching the clouds blow past. I could feel my eyes droop, but the sound of footsteps made me bolt up. 

         "Why'd you two take off like that?" Dally stood there, looking quite miffed at us for ditching him. Johnny and I sat up, both of us figuring out what to say.

            "You were obviously busy," I said, taking the heat. "We didn't want to stick around while you were doing your business. That's nasty. Besides, we didn't have nothing better to do so we came here."

             "You two are lucky I knew this was the first place to find you. If you weren't here, I would've thought some socs got ahold of you," he explained. "You could've at least let me know you were leaving, though."

             "You mean go knock on the door while you were in there with her?" Johnny seemed disgusted by the thought. Dally laughed, patting him on the back.

               "Well at least let one of those other girls know and tell me," he said with a grin. "Let's walk Pony home." He nudged my arm before helping me up. "He'll have a long night to think about that new dreamgirl of his."