"Johnny, what the hell was that?" I asked him angrily, trying hard to keep my voice down (despite the fact that we were the only two people in the house).
Darry had taken all the other Greasers out to grab some drinks in celebration of his new, much anticipated beginning. As much as I wanted to go with them, I had to know why Johnny Cade had lied to Darry in the way that he did, making me seem like I had done everything that had caused that college acceptance letter to arrive in the mail. I had forced Johnny to stay behind with me, despite the fact that he wanted to be out with the rest of the boys as badly as I had.
"What the hell was what?" he asked me, trying his best to act dumb.
"Back when Darry got his acceptance letter! You made it seem like it was all me, and you were puttin' me up on some high horse or some shit! What the hell were you goin' and doin' a thing like that for?"
"I'm just trying to play a little bit of cupid," he replied slighly, sticking his hands into his back pockets.
"What the ever-lovin' fuck are you talking about?!"
"I'm just tryin' to help Darry start a relationship before he heads off to Oklahoma state. Y'know, so that he'll have somebody to come home to during the holidays- somebody that he can stroke their hair as he passionately kisses her, somebody to bend down on one knee to...somebody to spend their whole adult life with..."
It took me a while to understand what he was insinuating. Unfortunately, my hand was able to figure it out before my brain could, and I found myself soon bring the palm of my hand against his cheek with a rather defeaning SMACK.
"Johnny Cade, are you telling me that you said all that shit so that Darrel Curtis would fall in love with me? What the fuck is wrong with you?! First of all, Darry is a twenty year old man, and I am a FIFTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL- besides the fact that he is a HALF A DECADE OLDER THAN ME, I AM STILL A MINOR. THAT RELATIONSHIP IS VERY ILLEGAL. And second of all, you know VERY WELL that I have a crush on Dallas!" I lowered my voice slightly as I said this. "Why are you trying to ruin my relationship with him by making Darry fucking Curtis fall in love with me?!"
"Why do I have to have a reason?" Johnny Cade asked me, suddenly becoming extremely defensive. "I'm just trying to help you out by pairing you with the perfect guy, that's all!"
"Perfect guy my ass! Admit it," I yelled, shoving my finger in his face. "The only reason you did that is to try to get Darry Winston to fall in love with me!"
"So what if I fucking was?! Did it ever occur to you that I did it so that you would stop taking my family away from me?!"
Johnny Cade's face was beet red, and beads of sweat were forming on his forehead. What he said stopped me dead in my tracks. He did it so that I would stop taking his family away from him?
"Johnny Cade," I said, my voice barely louder than a whisper. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Johnny walked over to the couch and plopped down on one of the cushions, causing the whole thing to sag slightly as he did so. I took a place next to him on the arm rest, crossing my arms as I looked at him with a furrowed brow.
"Look, you know what my home life is like," he said, doing his best to avoid meeting my gaze. "Utter cow shit. Hell, why do you think I spend so much of my time here? There's only so much of my parents neglect and abuse that I can take before I snap. Ponyboy, Steve Randall, Two Bit...them boys' my family. I'd have nothing in this world if it wasn't for them. And I know that makes no sense, 'specially since we're about to say goodbye to Darry 'till at least Thanksgiving, or Christmas at the latest. I knew what was gon' happen if you went and started to date Dally- we would never see y'all during the day. You may not believe me, but I know Dally much better than you do. And trust me when I say that we would see you two even less than we already do. I just can't have that. I need y'all." he looked up at me, the color of his cheeks having faded now to a light pink. "You're my family."
"Johnny Cade," I said, uncrossing my arms and placing my hands on each of my legs. "Dating Dally Winston wouldn't take up every living second of my day. Even if you think it would, it wouldn't because I would not allow it to. And even if that did happen, you'd still have Ponyboy Curtis to hang out with, if nobody else. I mean, you guys are practically brothers to one another. You're like this," I crossed my fingers together, showing him the close bond that everybody could see he had with Curtis. "Don't be stupid."
"Yeah, well, whatever," Johnny Cade said, springing up from his seat on the couch. "Forget that I ever even brought this up to you- I feel stupid for even trying to talk about it."
"Johnny Cade, don't be like that," I called after him as he walked out of the house, tearing open the door and slamming it shut behind him. I sighed, running my hand through the bangs of my hair.
I stood there for a few seconds, too preoccupied with my thoughts to notice Dally come in through the door behind Johnny Cade.
"Knock knock," he said. I looked up.
"Hey Winston," I replied.
"Everything okay with you and Johnny?" he asked. "I just saw him storm out of here. Seemed like he was pretty pissed."
"Yeah, he was. But it's over something stupid that's his fault in the first place. I think it's better if we don't talk about it right now."
"Oh, okay."
"Hey, why are you back here anyway?" I asked him, looking down at the watch I had strapped around my wrist. "It's only eleven-thirty, and you don't even seem remotely drunk."
"Yeah, well, I'm close to gettin' there," he replied with a slurred chuckle. "But, I came back here to see if you two were comin.' It ain't a real party unless the whole family is there."
"Oh. Well, yes, I was just getting ready to head down there," I told him.
"Then, shall we go back down together?" He asked, extending his arm to me in the same way he had done on our first date. I fake gagged as I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah, sure," I said as I took his arm in mine. "But enough with that fake-ass chivalry shit. It's really off putting and cheesy."
"Really? I thought that all girls liked that shit."
"No. In fact, a lot of girls rather hate it. And I agree with them- I think it to be cheesy and rather fake."
"Ugh, stop sounding like Cherry Valence."
"Fine," I said as we made our way to the door. "Let's just go drink 'till we're wasted. But not too wasted- me and Curtis got school tomorrow."
YOU ARE READING
The Good Bad Girl- the Outsiders Dally Winston x Reader
Fanfiction***Completed: I had written out a wedding scene but didn't feel like finishing it*** You stood with your back against the lamp post, trying not to break down in the middle of the street. Based on how dark it was out, it was probably around three in...
