Running Towards Home

CHAPTER 20

SAM'S POV:

It's been a week since the whole... incident. Two-Bit had the guts to bring it up once and I punched him in the face. Not hard, but hard enough for him to get the idea. No one brought it up after that. Pony still felt really bad after, but I reassured him it was fine. I kissed him to prove it.

"Hey, there's a dance tonight at Bucks. Anyone want to come?" Steve asks. We all nod, and Pony says "Would you come as my date?" He smiles shyly. "Of course, Pony!" I kiss him and Darry coughs, glaring at us. I roll my eyes at him. "I saw that, Sam." He says. He has a small grin on his face, but he tries to hide it.

We spend the day leading up to the party fooling around at home. We played some poker, and Johnny creamed us. He has a great poker face. I helped Darry bake a chocolate cake, and when we were done frosting it, Steve grabbed it from us and immediately cut out a huge piece for himself. "Steve, leave some for the rest of us!" I said, and he just grinned at me through a face full of chocolate cake. He didn't even use a fork. I'm not sure if he knows how.

"You look like a toddler with cake all over your face like that," I mock him. Steve just grins happily and shovels more cake into his mouth. Darry just sighs, and goes back to washing the dishes. "I think you may have a chocolate cake addiction, Steve." I say. "Better cake than-" Darry cuts him off. "Nope. Don't even go there. Don't give her any ideas." I laugh a bit, and Steve goes back to eating his chocolate cake.

In the hour before we have to leave for the party, I try to decide what to wear. I finally settled on an off the shoulder black top with a low cut neckline, a pair of black jeans, and my converse, since those are the only shoes I have besides my army boots. I tied my hair back, and put on my lipstick, mascara, and, to shake it up, some black eyeshadow. I look nice if I do say so myself.

We all clamber into the car and head to the dance. We climb out, and run straight in, my hand in Pony's. We get inside, and it's chaos. People are everywhere. The scent of alcohol and cigarette smoke hangs in the air. Music is blaring, and everyone is dancing.

Me and Pony danced together, laughing the whole time. He spun me as we danced, pulled me close during the slow songs. It was amazing. Time seemed to fly away from us. By eleven, a lot of people were drunk. I was exhausted from dancing for hours. "Pony, I'm going to go get some fresh air," I said. The cigarette smoke was giving me a headache. "I'll get us some drinks and meet you out there." Pony said. He kissed my cheek, and I headed outside.

I sat down on the sidewalk, a bit aways from Bucks so there wasn't as much noise. I heard someone come up behind me, and I stood up, thinking it was Pony. Before I could turn around, I felt something sharp against my back. "So we meet again." I recognize the voice immediately. Bob. I try to move to grab my switchblade, which I always carry on me since the last time I dealt with Bob, but he digs the blade in harder, to stop me moving. Not enough to draw blood but enough to cause me pain.

"Move and this blade goes right through your back." I gulp. "You look nice in this shirt, Sam." My eyes go wide. "How do you know my name?" He just chuckles. "I have my ways. I have to leave before your grease ball boyfriend gets back. Remember, say anything, his blood will be on your hands." I nod. "Next time I see you, I'll finish what I started." The pressure releases from my back and he runs away.

Pony comes out, holding two sodas. He comes over to me. "You okay?" I nod, and put on a false smile. He pulls me down next to him, and we drink our pepsis. "I'm getting kind of tired. I might walk back soon," I told Pony. "I'll walk with you." Pony says, and he lets' darry know where we're going. Then he starts to walk me home.