People Don't Change (Dally Winston)

Chapter 14

Tap, tap, tap. Something repeatedly hit my window, waking me up. It was the middle of the night, and my room was pitch black. I hesitantly reached over to turn on my lamp.

The light flickered on, brighter than I had expected. I squinted and shielded my eyes from the glare, blinking quickly. The tapping continued.

Finally, I stood up and walked to my window. I never left my window open all night. My bedroom was on the first floor, so I was just too scared to.

I opened the blinds to reveal a person standing there, silhouetted in the moonlight. I stepped backwards, momentarily startled, before realizing it was just Dally. What was he doing here?

"Jenny, can I talk to you?" he asked, once I had managed to pry the window open. It had been really humid the past few days, and all of the excess moisture had caused the wooden window frame to expand.

"Now?" I asked, "Two-Bit'll hear you."

"You realize there's a simple solution to that, right?" he asked, sarcastically.

"And what would that be?" I asked.

"Just come outside," he said, trying to grab my arm. I stepped back and pretended to consider this.

"Hmm...no," I said. He rolled his eyes at me. He knew that I would eventually go outside.

"Come on."

I giggled and started to climb out the window. My bedroom door would make too much noise if I opened it. Dally helped me and I landed noiselessly on the ground.

We just stood there for a few seconds, before he started talking, looking serious all of a sudden. "So, what I wanted to tell you was that...I-I've...liked you for a while. Since we were kids actually." He ran a hand through his hair, nervously. I had never seen Dally act nervous. About anything.

"When you first came to Tulsa, I was so confused about my feelings, but I've thought about it, and I was wonderin' if you'd go out with me?" he asked. I stood there for a second, looking shocked.

"Yes," I answered, "I feel the same way about you." I smiled up at him, and he genuinely smiled back at me, before wrapping his arms around me.

He had hugged me plenty of times before, but the last time had been before he left. That hug felt like the end, but this one felt different. It felt like the beginning.

At that moment, there was a loud crack of thunder, and rain began to pour from the sky. Within seconds, we were drenched. I laughed and Dally just looked at me like I was crazy. Then he leaned down and lightly pressed his lips to mine. In the background, lightning flashed against the dark sky.