𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧 , 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬

nine.

MADELINE WINSTON

the smell of cigarette smoke fills my nose as i'm stirred awake. i open my eyes to see a shirtless dallas tapping ashes off the butt by his window.

"what time is it?" i mutter, sitting up.

"damn, it's about time you woke up." dallas is startled by my awakening. "it's 10."

i look at him with sleepy, heavy eyes, "can i try?"

dallas looks at me and then at the cigarette i'm staring at. his face contorts as if i've just said the dumbest words.

"what're you crazy?"

"no. not really."

he rolls his eyes at my response, but surprisingly hands me the cancer stick. i inspect it quickly before holding it to my lips. i breathe in and feel the smoke hit the back of my throat. tears well up in my eyes and my throat tightens; i have no choice but to cough the smoke out.

dallas laughs, taking the cigarette back into his possession.

"i just wanted to—" i'm interrupted by a cough. "—try it."

"well now ya did. c'mon, get dressed. we can go out for breakfast or somethin'."

•

dallas and i sit across from each other as we dig into our breakfast at the diner.

"are you gonna visit johnny today?" i ask.

"yeah, i don't know. maybe." he shrugs his shoulders as he cuts into his pancakes. "do you work at the DX with soda and steve?"

i shake my head, stirring the red straw around my ice water, "no, i usually just help out whenever i'm needed."

"good. because, i called darry this morning when you were asleep; he said you're enrolled for school and starting monday."

i let out a whine of disapproval.

he laughs, "hey, you gotta go. when social services gets here i'm sure they won't like it if you aren't goin'."

"yeah, but it's not like they'd take me away from you. i don't even live with you."

dallas' eyes turn a little hard when i say that, "i'm working on it."

we finish our breakfast in small talk after the housing situation came up, and then he drives me back to the curtis'.

"where you headin'?" i ask, stepping out of the car.

he has one eye closed as a ray of sunshine hits his face perfectly, "into town again probably. i promised buck i'd fill up the gas. i'll see ya later kid."

i smile as he drives off and then i give the front door of the house two knocks.

"it's open!"

"hey, ponyboy." i step inside, seeing him in the kitchen cooking up some eggs.

"hey, mad!"

"eggs and a cigarette for breakfast?" i laugh seeing one in between his fingers.

"uh, it's better than two-bit. he drinks beer for breakfast."

"well i guess tobacco and protein is a better choice than just beer."

he smiles, but i can tell there isn't much past his eyes besides johnny's health, "you hungry at all?"

"no thanks, i just ate with dally." i follow him to the table to sit with him while he eats.

"oh yeah, you went with dally last night didn't ya? i asked darry where you were this morning."

"yeah, he showed up as soon as soda helped you in the car last night."

"did he tell you about school on monday?" he takes a bite of his eggs.

"yeah," i drawl. "maybe i'll be in some classes with johnny when he gets better! maybe some with you too if i get lucky."

he smirks at the sound of that, looking at me with puppy dog eyes, "maybe."

•

"you wanna race?" pony asks as we walk on the side of the road into town.

"race?" i question. "to where?"

"to the DX around the corner. whoever wins gets a free soda at the next movie we see!" pony starts running before he even finishes his sentence.

i sigh, quickly running after him and yelling, "who cares about a free soda?"

i feel my cheeks burn from the coldness of the wind whipping against my face. it's hard to catch deep breaths in such cold weather like this. we turn the corner and are almost at the parking lot of the DX when i somehow pass pony and run straight through the doors; directly into someone's arms.

"woah, there mad! you all right?" soda chuckles, looking down at me.

i struggle to talk as i try to catch my breath, "yeah, just racing pony."

pony bursts through the doors not a second later, and i turn around to see him hunched over with his hands on his knees.

"you beat pony in a race?" soda asks as his little brother struggles to get a deep breath in.

"yeah?" my eyebrows knit together, and i realize his arms are still wrapped around mine.

"i run track and i'm the fastest on the team." ponyboy speaks up. "you should definitely try out this week!"

"i'll give it a thought." i grin. "hey, is my brother around?"

soda finally lets me out of his grip; the warmth on my upper body disappearing quickly, "uh—no." he shakes his head. "i haven't seen him. why?"

"oh, just wondering. he said he'd stop by to fill up buck's car." i made my way over to the counter. i take a strawberry sucker out of the jar and start unwrapping the paper.

"you know those are 2 cents." soda laughs as i pop the lollipop in my mouth.

my eyes widen quickly, "i've been eating one everyday i'm here since i got here."

"it's okay. if anyone asks, just lie."

"great advice, i'll take it."

pony comes over to me as soda goes to help a customer at the register. "so you'll really maybe try out for track?" he asks.

"yeah, do you think i could make it?"

"absolutely." he smiles as he attentively watches the movement of my lips sucking around the lollipop.

i return the smile before the customer speaking with soda catches my attention.

"have any of you seen dally?" the guy asks, looking away from soda to pony and then quickly glancing at me.

"no, i haven't, tim. why?" soda asks as the receipt prints.

"he slashed my tires, i'm sure of it." tim says sternly as he scopes me and pony out.

pony and soda make a quick glance at each other. "he's not here." pony shakes his head.

"i heard he's got a sister in town to live for now. better hope he doesn't have a blade once i find him." tim takes the receipt from soda.

"why?" i ask, and tim's attention turns back over to me.

"well if he's carryin' a blade that's gonna call for a nastier fight. and if he's got someone to look after now, that won't be too good for dal." tim explains to me. "i've seen you around these guys a lot recently. ponyboy's got a girlfriend?" he cracks a smile at pony; one i never thought i'd see come from someone like him.

pony laughs, "no, tim. she's our frien—"

"i'm dally's little sister." i smile, cutting ponyboy off.

tim's expression drops, and he opens his mouth to say something, but pony mutters, "shit" under his breath a little too loud. our heads turn toward where he's looking out the window.

outside is dallas—pulling up in buck's car for some gas. tim cracks his knuckles against his palms and swiftly heads out the door.

the rest seems to happen in slow motion.