Dallas Winston Has A Sister? (Outsiders Fanfic)

How Do You Talk To Girls?

Note to Readers:  I really like this one, so I'm publishing it even though it's kind of the same as I Would Say Sorry, But I'm Not.  Same events, but from a different point of view.  Hope you like it!

        Ponyboy was walking around outside, enjoying the cool night air and hoping to watch the stars for a while before Darry made him come in.  All the sudden, out of nowhere, he was knocked to the ground by something, or more so someone judging by the yell he'd heard.

        With a grunt he landed on the ground, hard, but surprisingly whoever it was, probably Two-Bit, didn't decide to smash his face into the grass.  And it seemed a lot lighter than Two-Bit......

        "Gotcha," Tara said with an almost goofy grin on her face, and immediately Pony's face reddened.

          The girl he'd had a crush on ever since he first saw her was currently on top of him.  Trying to ignore the romantic aspect of it that kept popping into his mind, cause no way was that something Tara would ever do since she didn't even know (hopefully) that he liked her, he joked, "I thought Two-Bit had lost some weight."

        She laughed, which made Pony smile, he loved her laugh.  It was never fake or forced, always a pleasant sound rather than the tittery girly giggles like every other girl he knew.  Not that there were that many, but maybe Soda's, Steve's, Dally's, and Two-Bit's girlfriends counted, though he never liked any of them in the end.

        She smacked him on the head playfully and then got off, and Pony was almost disappointed until he saw Dally come up the path to the house, recognizing them in the dark and calling Tara's name.

        He quickly got to his feet next to Tara and when Dally asked, "What are you doing?" Pony gave Tara a helpless look.  He could never lie successfully to Dally, and he wasn't a very good liar in the first place though he could usually come up with lies pretty fast.

        Tara quickly covered for him, saying, "I ran into Pony cause I couldn't see where I was going."  She was a good liar as Pony had learned from experience, he almost thought she was telling the truth except for the fact that he knew what had really happened. 

        Dally seemed to believe her and said, "We'd better go.  It's pretty dark out already," and then went back the way he came, saving them from having to lie anymore.

        "I would say sorry, but I'm not sorry," Tara said and Ponyboy almost thought she meant it the way he wanted her to, until she continued, "That was pretty funny," with a smile.

        He loved her smile too, no matter if it was mischievous or joking or sincere or a simple half-smile which is what she did now.

        "See ya," she called and he mumbled, "Goodbye," as he watched her go, mentally kicking himself once again for not having the guts to tell her how he really felt.  She was barely out of sight when Darry yelled at him to get in the house, and Pony shouted back irritably, "I'm coming," glancing back one last time at where she had disappeared around a tree.

        He went in the house and got ready for bed, remembering the feeling of the light weight of her warm slender body sitting on his back, even if she had knocked him to the ground and just knocked the wind out of him.

        Ponyboy climbed in bed next to his brother after turning off the light, and they were silent for almost a minute before he rolled over onto his back and asked Soda, "Can I ask you something?"

        "Yeah, what is it, kid brother?" Soda asked him, sounding only half awake and using Darry's pet nickname for them.

        Pony hesitated before asking, "How do you talk to girls?"

        Right away Soda caught on and asked slyly, "Is this about Tara?"

        "N-Yes," he said, knowing that Soda could always tell he was lying, even in the dark when he couldn't see his ears reddening like they were doing now.

        "You ever bother trying to tell her that you like her?"

        "No.  What am I supposed to do, just blurt it out?" Pony asked sarcastically, raising his voice.

        "Quiet down, Darry's sleeping," Soda commanded, putting a hand over Pony's mouth.  He pushed it away but stayed silent, waiting for his brother's answer.

        "Sometimes that's the best way to go about it," Soda replied, his voice so quiet it was almost inaudible as he closed his eyes to go to sleep.

        Immediately, fear rising in his chest at the thought, Pony contradicted, "What if she doesn't like me back?"

        "There's only one way to find out," Soda mumbled dreamily, and for a split second Pony hated Soda for being so smart, at least with girls.

        He sighed and rolled over to go to sleep, but thoughts were swirling around in his head, every single one related to Tara in at least some way.