hot chocolate [sodapop curtis]

CHP. 15

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CHAPTER FIFTEEN
DALLAS IS NOT A FAN OF SMILING- ESPECIALLY WHEN ITS FOR NO REASON
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We arrived at the church and I now regret letting Dallas choose the location. I look to him as I stare at the church, awestruck.

"Hey, Dal," I say, hopping out of the shiny car.

"What?" He responds, lighting a cigarette.

"Remind me again, were you high or drunk when you made the decision to let the three of them to stay here?" I ask, slamming the car door shut. Dally looked over at me with anger flooding his eyes and his eyebrows furrowed.

"I'm sorry, please tell me I heard you wrong." He turned his whole body towards me and let his cigarette hang from his lip.

"You know that the boys will smoke a ton and one stray cigarette they forget to put out could set this place aflame!" I throw my hands above my head and let them fall back down in frustration. Dallas sighs and walks over to me, throwing an arm around my waist, and I would normally be fine with this, you know if it were Two-Bit or Steve or (especially) Sodapop, but since it was Dallas, he decided it would be a fun game to slowly let his hand drift down towards my ass. I spun out of his arm and gave him a disapproving look. He threw his hands up in defence with a look on his face that read 'I didn't do anything'. But that was soon replaced with a sly smirk.

"Right, sorry. I forgot that you were in ~love~ with Soda," He spoke with that stupid, smug grin on his face that made me want nothing more than to push him into a hole.

"Yeah, because that's the biggest problem, Tucker." I teased, looking at him with narrowed eyes and a dull look on my face, lazily sticking my tongue out the side of my mouth. I turned back towards the church and walked without him. He grabbed my forearm and turned me around.

"About what you were saying before that. You know that they're responsible enough to know to put out their cigarettes. And I barely know Sylvianna, but she hangs out with you, so I got a feeling she won't let 'em forget." I smile at his words and shake my head.

"That is where you are wrong, sir. Sylvianna is irresponsible and chaotic, and she knows it. She never listens to me," I say to Dallas with a smirk. He raises his eyebrows and nods his head.

"Well then. They're fucked."

"For once, I agree with you."

We entered the church and there the boys and Sylvie were, asleep on the pews. But it seemed their appearances had changed, some more than others. Ponyboy's hair was now bleach-blond and cut short, Sylvianna had hers cut to her shoulders, and Johnny simply trimmed his hair. None of them looked bad, but it was strange. I remember Sylvia promising me that she would murder someone before she cut her hair, and she sure did keep her promise.

Dally walked over and nudged Pony in the chest with his foot, which woke him up pretty fast. Sylvia woke up right after and launched herself onto me, causing me to stumble back but hug her back regardless. She went over and squeezed the life out of Dally, which confused me, and so it did him.

"I don't care that I've met you twice, it's just so great seeing people that aren't these two dumbasses!" She let go of Dallas and smiled wide. He was speechless and not in a good way, until he spoke up.

"Little word of advice, kid. Don't hug me. Ever." Sylvie shrugged and sat on the pews. I decided that changing the subject was the best thing I could do, so that's exactly what I did.

"Pony! Your hair is blond and it's weird in a good way! Any-who, you've got mail!" I say to him with a smile, handing him the letter.

PART TWO

We ended up going to Dairy Queen because the kids apparently were living off of bologna sandwiches for the past week-or-so.

We sat down at a booth and the three of them practically devoured the bbq sandwiches and banana splits they ordered, washing it down with a cold Pepsi. Looking at them now, I can't even begin to imagine what these kids have been through. Getting caught up in a murder, hiding out in an abandoned church. It's terrifying. I don't know if I'd be able to deal with it.

Dally began talking about how dangerous it had gotten back home. I had zoned out until he said, "...I started carrying a heater." By then, he had my full attention. I turned to him with a wild expression.

"You what!" I whisper-yelled, not wanting to draw attention to ourselves.

Ponyboy had a similar reaction. "You kill people with heaters!" I hushed him slightly to try and let him know he needed to quiet down a little bit, but he didn't pay much attention after Dal's next statement, which was, "ya kill 'em with switchblades, too, don't ya kid?" I gave him a look that read 'not cool' and he changed the subject back to his gun.

"Don't worry. It ain't loaded. Not aimin' to get picked up for murder. But it sure does help with a bluff." I shook my head at him and turned back to Sylvianna who was chowing down on the last bit of her sandwich. She looked up and saw me staring at her. She gulped down her food and smiled at me the bright, toothy smile I've missed these past few days. Even though there was barbecue sauce covering her face, she was still adorable.

I giggled and smiled back at her. Dallas looked back over to me.

"What're you smilin' at?" He scowled and I just grinned.

"I dunno. Maybe you should try it." I said, stealing a scoop of Ponyboy's banana split.

"Try what?" He said, unimpressed.

"Smiling for no reason. It's pretty fun."

Dallas scrunched up his nose. "No thanks."

After we finished up our food, we walked back to Dally's (Buck's) T-Bird. I had Ponyboy sit in the front because Sylvianna insisted on me sitting beside her so that we could catch up. I wasn't complaining at all. I missed her and I wanted to fill her in on all things that happened between me and Soda, but there were three guys in the car, one of which was his brother. So instead, I simply told her that life was good and everything was alright.

And I really thought it was. Until,

"I'm thinkin' about turning myself in."

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lmao it's three in the morning when i'm writing this rip my sleep schedule.