The Other Side

Prologue

She smoothed her hands down the front of her twill skirt and stood. And then Audrey realized that it had been over nine months since she had seen him last. With shaky hands, Audrey gathered the loose-leaf papers from the desk in front of her. Sliding them into a leather binder, she hurried to keep up with Mrs. Eubanks. Whom of which, was already halfway out the door. Murmuring a "Thank You" to the legal aid, Audrey sped up her pace to match her stride with Mrs. Eubanks. The staccato of their heels bounced off the walls of the courthouse in an off-beat rhythm. It was the only sound between the two ladies as they left the judge's private quarters.

Glancing over at Mrs. Eubanks, Audrey tried to decipher her expression. She wanted to ask questions about the hearing they were going to attend for Ponyboy Curtis. Yet judging from the grim set of Mrs. Eubank's mouth, Audrey was better off saving her breath. Audrey gave inward sigh and straightened her shoulders, shrugging off a wave of sadness. Not only was wallowing in her sadness pointless, it was also selfish. So much had happened since she had left her hometown for college. Not only were three boy's dead, but now a broken family was facing the reality of being divided again. Audrey wanted to scream at the unfairness of it all. She hadn't known Bob, Dallas, or Johnny really well. But she did know that no teenager deserved to die in the prime of their youth. Everything was just so mixed up...

It had been easy to forget about the struggles between the Socs and the Greasers while away at college. None of her friends in her classes had even heard of such names. And in fact, they had stared at Audrey quite strangely the first time she spoke of the rivalry in her hometown. She learned to keep her mouth shut about it, her friends didn't really seem to understand it anyways. Sure, they had heard of gangs and such before but why would a whole town be split like that, it was just odd. But now, as Audrey was ushered into courtroom by Mrs. Eubanks, the stark reality of why they were there made her feel foolish forever pretending that the Socs and Greasers had quietly dissolved while she had been away.

"We'll sit here, directly behind the families Miss Audrey," Mrs. Eubanks stated, pulling Audrey from her thoughts. Nodding her head, Audrey waited for Mrs. Eubanks to sit down before she sat in the seat next to her.

"Did you remember your note pad?" Mrs. Eubanks murmured, careful not to let her voice carry in the nearly empty courtroom, "Our observations from today will be vital in assisting our students in a smooth transition back into school, Ponyboy especially."

"Yes mam," Audrey answered quietly, as she pulled out her notebook and a pen from her purse. Opening her notebook to a fresh page, she crossed her legs and propped the notebook against her knee, ready for the proceedings to begin. Mrs. Eubanks continued on, explaining for what seemed the hundredth time that morning, about the important role school guidance counselor's play in a situation such as this and she hoped Audrey appreciated the opportunity, a young intern such as her, had been given. Suppressing a yawn, Audrey tried to appear attentive. Her eyes flitted around the courtroom as she tried to peek at who all had shown up for the hearing, absent mindedly nodding her head as she tuned out Mrs. Eubanks. Her gaze slid past Cherry, the girlfriend to Bob, who sat looking poised and prim next to her father. Audrey felt a small smile tilt her lips as she recognized aspects of her younger high school self in Cherry. She too had been, what the greaser boys had referred to as a "nice tuff girl." Although Audrey had once tried to get Darry to explain the difference to between tuff and tough, she never quite understood it, he assured her however that it was a compliment.

At the thought of Darry, Audrey's chest constricted and she to blink rapidly to clear the blurring tears from her vision. Taking a deep breath, she continued her discreet perusal of the courtroom, noting the tight drawn faces of both Randy, Bob's best friend and his parents. It felt strange to Audrey to see both Cherry and Randy looking so grown and adult-like. It hadn't even been a year since she had seen them last, but in that short time, it seemed the softness of youth in their faces had been replaced with hardness of maturity. She doubted the circumstances of today had helped matters much; if Audrey remembered correctly from the gossip her mother would pass along, Cherry had been dating Bob when he ...died. Audrey just couldn't quite make herself say killed even if it was to herself. Closing her eyes, she pushed the idea from her mind. Inhaling deeply, to clear her thoughts, Audrey opened her eyes to see Darrel Curtis staring straight at her.

All the sadness that had threatened to overwhelm earlier, came back full-fledged, nearly choking her. Audrey let out a strangled gasp as she forced herself to hold his gaze. Even when they were dating, Audrey had found it difficult to stare into his eyes, their cool blue-green color was striking against his sun browned face. The effect was often unsettling. As a shy person anyways, Audrey would find herself looking away after time. Most of the time Darry would laugh softly at her shyness, but then other times, she would see his eyes turn cold right before she glanced away and she knew he was upset. This time she was determined not to look away. It helped that it had been over eight months since she had seen him last and though a part of her wished she never had to face him again, deep down her heart thrilled at the sight.

He had changed. She did not know why this shocked her, but it did. Audrey wandered if he saw any changes in her, she would never know of course, his gaze was impossible to read. That much hadn't changed at least. A small comfort, but a comfort none the less. Amused at herself for clinging to something so ridiculous, she almost out right grinned at Darry. Luckily, she suppressed it at the last moment. The bailiff called out just then, announcing the arrival of the Judge. Darry swiftly turned away as he stood to his feet along with everyone else in the courtroom. Audrey's moment of triumph abruptly ended as she watched Darry lean down to steady his younger brother, who rose shakily beside him. Ponyboy looked as though the slightest puff of air would topple him over. Though he appeared to be holding it at bay, Darry's fear was evident in the way he gripped Ponyboy's forearm and jerked his head at Sodapop, silently telling his other younger brother to move in closer to Ponyboy. Audrey's heart ached for the rag-tag family that stood before her and she berated herself for coming, for thinking she could handle coming to the hearing. She questioned her decision to return to Will Rogers High School at all.

The judge began calling the witnesses to the stand, but Audrey heard nothing of what Cherry or Randy had to say. Her pen hovered uselessly above the paper, while Mrs. Eubanks was bent over her notebook, diligently taking notes alongside her. If Mrs. Eubanks had but glanced at Audrey, she might have seen the turmoil etched on Audrey's face. So absorbed in the testimonies of her students, it was to Mrs. Eubank's complete surprise when she turned to see how Audrey was faring, only to find the seat next to her empty. At first, Mrs. Eubanks thought that perhaps Audrey had slipped out to visit the lady's room or to have sip of water. But as the hearing drew to a close, and the Judge announced Ponyboy's acquittal to being an accomplice to Bob's murder, Mrs. Eubanks realized Audrey was gone.

Dashing the tears from her eyes, Audrey pressed the gas pedal harder, the engine of her 1964 Pontiac GTO letting out a throaty roar, as she sped past the city limits, leaving it all behind yet again. Her parents would be furious with her for blowing away a career opportunity, but Audrey knew with her grades it wouldn't be difficult to find another internship. "Running away is never the answer," would be the first thing her mother would tell her, just as she had told her before. Audrey glanced up at the review mirror, seeing her hometown shrink behind her, the distance between her and Darry growing with every passing mile. Forcing her gaze back to the road in front of her, Audrey admitted her mother was right, maybe running wasn't the answer. But neither was staying.