Save me, Dally

Chapter 2: That's Not What I Meant

Once I got in the parking lot I burst through the doors, gasping and coughing. My co-worker Stacey rushed out from behind the counter and grabbed my arms.

"Oh my gosh, what the hell happened to you?" She said, as we stumbled behind the counter. The three people in the diner were staring at me, but I didn't care much.

"Tim Shepard and his gang," I was still gasping, trying to catch my breath. Stacey poured me some water. "They were gonna jump me, but Dally... he told them not to." I finished, taking large gulps of water.

I looked up at Stacey's shocked face. She had wavy, dark brown, chin-length hair, and a face full of freckles. Her little pixie nose crinkled when her jaw dropped, and her dark, thick eyebrows shot up. She had a small and narrow face, but the rest of her was big-boned. She was around my age, fifteen or sixteen, and she has been working here for years. As well as being my co-worker, she was my best friend.

"You've got to be freaking kidding me!" she shouted, alarming the rest of the diner.

That's when our boss peeked his head through the delivery door.

"Girls!" he shouted giving us a warning look.

We mumbled our apologies, and Stacey pulled me down under the counter.

"Don't look now," she grinned devilishly "But Dally is here and he's in your section."

I gasped aloud and looked over the counter. No. Way. I quickly fell back behind the counter and looked at the laughing Stacey, absolutely dumbstruck.

"Where's the gang?" I asked.

Stacey was too busy laughing at my face to answer my question.

"Did you just roll out of bed this morning, your hair looks disgusting!" she said between laughs, with tears dancing in her eyes.

I self consciously took a fork and combed it through my flat hair. After Stacey composed herself, she helped me by twisting my bangs and pinning them out of the way.

"Good?" I asked.

"Yup, you look like the kind of broad he'd pick up out here!" she laughed again as I punched her in the arm.

I quickly gathered myself off of the ground and flattened my dress. I looked over at my section and found Dally staring at me with hate filled eyes. I didn't know who the hate was directed at, but I prayed to God that it wasn't me. It took all of the courage in me to skip over to his table and smile. My smile felt forced, like a grimace, but I kept it up.

"Welcome to 'The Dingo', my name is Tina and I'll be serving you this morning." I handed him a menu, and avoided his gaze as best as I could. But I couldn't help but peek up into his chocolate eyes. They could be warm if they hadn't seen so much.

"Yup." Was all he said to me as I turned and walked away.

As soon as I was behind the counter I collapsed next to Stacey who was curled up in a ball of laughter.

"How'd it go?" she asked, her face red and tear-streaked from laughing so hard."You look disgusted, did he try to cop a feel?" she questioned as the both of us doubled over in laughter.

"Girls, don't make me regret hiring your sorry asses!" bellowed our boss, Pete. "Now get to work!" He shouted.

We nodded at him and I stood up. Stacey slapped my butt and growled: "Go get em' tiger."

I giggled and walked back over to Dally. He looked up from his menu at me, then he put it down. I was sure my cheeks were still pink from laughing, but I was hoping he didn't notice.

"Are you ready to order?" I asked him as he crumpled up a napkin.

"Actually I'm here to talk to you." He said coolly.

I gulped as he gestured towards the seat across from him. The thing about being extremely pale is that anyone can read your emotions by the amount of blush in your cheeks.

"Alright, listen kid; I'm just here to say that you should've run faster when you heard that car." He said seriously.

I gazed at him, confused by his statement. Why? It's not like anything happened.

"Thanks, but I can handle myself." I said coolly, as I got up out of the seat. "Now do you want to place an order, or not?" I asked, glaring at him.

Who does he think he is? I may just be a girl, but I'm more than capable of taking care of myself in a rumble. I was just scared, that's all. I obviously would've done something.

"That's not what I meant." He said flatly.

With that, Dally got up out of the booth and stormed out of the diner. I stood there dumbfounded by the recent events. That's not what I meant? Well what did he mean? Before I could even pick up the menu, Stacey dragged me outside.