Save me, Dally

Chapter 1: Meet Tina

Its twelve o'clock in the morning and all I can think about is how different life will be in twenty years. We wouldn't be wearing kerchiefs and knee length skirts with cardigans. The Kennedys wouldn't still be in Washington. But most importantly, I wouldn't be standing in the shadow of my older sister Robin.

I love her, I really do, but all I can remember since grade school was the continuous stream of 'Robin this' and 'Robin that'. No one has ever stopped to think about her younger sister, the slightly queer, smart one who is only popular because her sister is. And the punch line to that joke is that I'm not even close to popular.

I'd be lucky if people would even bother to remember my name, let alone accept me. I learned a long time ago that it wasn't worth the aggravation to impress people; I just blended in, and I needed to accept that.

There really is nothing to compare between me and my sister. She has gorgeous strawberry-blonde hair that curls in spirals down to her bellybutton, her figure is tall, with legs for days, and her eyes are a breath-taking green that remind you of dewy grass in a meadow. Then there is me; I'm deathly close to being as unremarkable as the color beige. I have flat and dry cherry blonde hair, that frizzes and expands to twice its size, then there's my figure which is awkwardly tall and flat in all of the wrong places. My eyes were the only pretty thing about me that could even compare to my sister. They are a stone grey, with dark rings around the iris, and blue flecks in the middle.

In relation to social class, I'd say my family and I are in high standard. I mean, there are the poor, the slimy, the middle-class, the high-class, and the rich. I'd say we're somewhere between middle-class and high-class. It doesn't really seem like much, but when you're surrounded by the poor and the slimy, it's pretty up there.

I'm starting my first day of high school in several days, and honestly I'm not really nervous. There is really nothing to be nervous about, I mean, no one sees me anyway. Besides, high school can't be that much different from junior high. Not taking the tremendous load of school work into account, I'll still be in school with the same mean girls and tough guys who smoke cigarettes every forty minutes and offer you a drag. It'll just be a larger pond, and I'll be a grain of sand: constantly turned over, but too small to really be appreciated.

I tossed and turned in my bed again thinking and thinking about my last days of summer. It was still around eighty degrees in Tulsa, but it was beginning to cool off. I knew I couldn't do much, maybe go to the nightly double at the drive-in tonight. The town was filled with possibilities, but I was thinking more along the lines of a place where I won't get jumped.

Once I finally fell asleep it was four o'clock in the morning. I had to wake up in two hours anyway to help Robin with the chores. During the time I was awake I decided that I'll catch the double feature at the drive-in. I also thought about work and my job as a waitress. You can really make bank waitressing, if you're nice to your customers and give them a few extra cups of syrup.

I had finally drifted off again when there was a loud knock on the door.

"Tina, get your lazy butt out of bed! Its seven o'clock out here and you need to take out the garbage, you hear me?" Robin shouted from outside my door.

Seven o'clock? I have work in fifteen minutes! I jumped out of bed and dashed over to my closet. I tugged open the doors and grabbed my pin-striped blue cap-sleeved dress, and my pale yellow apron. I threw the garments on quickly, leaving my nightgown in a pile next to my desk. I leaped for my pair of black Mary-Jane's and skidded out the door.

"Don't forget the garbage!" Robin called from the sink.

"I can't, I'll be late for work!" I shouted back.

Robin sighed and continued with the dishes.

"You owe me a nickel!" she called as I was halfway out the door.

I didn't answer, I just kept running down the street to 'The Quick Diner', hoping my boss wasn't there first shift considering I'll probably be ten minutes late. As I ran and ran I hear the sound of cars behind me. The town must be waking up, I thought. And with that I sprinted faster, already knowing it was going to be a busy day. But as I sped up, so did the pick-up truck that was behind me. I stopped dead in my tracks knowing who it would be before I even turned around.

"Hi there, Tina." Tim Shepard said.

His rusted pick-up was stacked with all the kids in his gang. They were all decked out in leather jackets and cigarettes. I didn't know how they knew my name, considering I wasn't Robin, but I wasn't going to ask any questions.

"Get lost flake." I spat at him, as he opened the car door.

A million things ran through my mind as he and his gang stepped out of the car and onto the pavement. Should I run? Should I fight? Should I search for the nearest payphone? I didn't know.

"What are you guys doing out so early anyways, still hung-over from last night's beer-blast?" I asked taking a step back as they advanced on me.

"Look Tina, we just want to have some fun." Said Tim slyly.

I knew what fun was and it wasn't this. I was ready to book; there was enough space for get-away between Michael and Ken, and I was leaning forward on my feet. That was until I heard a familiar voice.

"Let her be, Tim." Said Dally Winston sternly.

I knew exactly who Dally was. He was the coldest, toughest, meanest person in Tim's gang. His dark brown eyes were so frozen of feeling; they could be as white as ice. His shaggy black curls were hung loosely around his head, considering he was the only one in the gang that didn't have hair grease. The only times I hear about him is when he gets arrested, which is quite often. He was the biggest bad-boy in all of Tulsa, who would pound you if you looked at him the wrong way. I was staring at him, so confused. Was he blitzed? If anyone were to carry this out it would be Dally. He looked back at me with cold, warning eyes. I took this as a signal to beat it out of there. I whipped around and dashed to the diner.