Tex (Dallas Winston)

Chapter Nineteen

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Another day, another dollar. It was hard for Talia to believe that they had spotted Dallas at the drive in a week ago, and he still had made no effort to try to find her or apologize to her.

"Doing okay, kid?" Steph asked, bringing Talia out from her thoughts.

The truth was, Talia wasn't doing quite so good. Her nerves were making her sick almost daily, and she was more emotional than ever before.

Part of her wished that Dallas would just come back to her; she felt complete with him. Without him, her world felt empty.

Yes, she had the Curtis brothers, and the rest of the gang, but she wasn't interested in any of them romantically. She saw them all as brothers, but NOT in the Alabamian way.

"Yeah, Steph, I'm fine." Talia answered, mindlessly playing with sugar packets in a desperate attempt to keep her mind occupied.

Stephanie scoffed. "I ain't known you too long, Tally, but I can tell that you definitely aren't okay. How 'bout I take you home tonight, huh? We can stop for food on the way, my treat."

It was tempting. Talia finally had a girlfriend who genuinely liked her for who she was. It wasn't Cassidy from New York, who simply pretended to get along with her for pity. No; This was a friend that Talia made on her own, and she was damn proud of herself for branching out.

"Sure. That sounds fun." Talia said with a gentle smile. At least her mind would be occupied for a while.

Thankfully, most of the time their schedules matched. They were usually on a shift together, and had a great sense of teamwork when it came to working together.

As such, they normally got off at the same time, and Stephanie had been more than accommodating to her and always offered to take her home if she hadn't scheduled anything with Darry or Soda.

Finally, as time seemingly passed by so slowly, both of them were relieved of their duty. Steph's car wasn't the best or snazziest in town, but it was what they were used to.

Stephanie wasn't a greaser, but she also wasn't a Soc. She had been an outsider at school, and dropped out when a few weeks after she started ninth grade and had been in the working world ever since.

"You know, I've never really done this before. You know, go out with a friend." Steph said as the two slid on their seatbelts and Steph started the car.

"You haven't?" Talia asked as Steph pulled out of the parking lot.

Stephanie shook her head. "Yeah, I had friends and stuff, but when I dropped out nobody really wanted to be around me anymore. Then my ex and I went out and stuff, but it was never really as friends."

Talia frowned. "Well, you have me, and we're friends so whenever you wanna go out, just let me know."

Stephanie smiled gently. "Thanks, Tally."

Eventually, as the girls talked, they reached the burger joint and got out of their car and headed inside.

"I don't know," Talia said hesitantly, "My stomach has been so rocky because of the stress. I might just get a soda or something."

Stephanie frowned. "Get something, girl! You gotta replenish yourself. If you eat, maybe it'll calm your nerves."

Talia shrugged. "I guess I'll get a burger and fries."

Stephanie grinned. "You'd better."

-

Talia's stomach felt significantly better after eating her entire burger and all of her fries. She knew, however, that it might not last long. That morning, mind occupied by Dallas, she had thrown up her entire breakfast.