Family Is Found (Sequel to Running Towards Home)

CHAPTER 14

ARLENE'S POV:

I'm hanging out in my room. My mom is downstairs, but luckily she's asleep so I get a break from her for a while. I'm reading when I hear someone tap on my window. I crawl off my bed and look over. It's Sam. I open the window.

"What are you doing here? My mom's right outside my room!" I whisper. Sam scrambles through the window. "It's an emergency!" She whispers back. "What happened?" I say, helping her up. She gulps. Her hair is down, and she is blushing like crazy. "Why is your hair down? You never-" I stop. I crack a big grin.

"Sam. Move your hair." I say. Sam slowly moves her hair away from her neck. She has two giant hickeys on the side of her neck. "Oh. My. God. Sam!" I laugh. She whacks my arm. "Look, I was with Pony, we were making out at the park, and it got a little heated." Sam says. "I can't go home like this, Darry will kill me!" she whispers.

I run to my closet and grab out an old turtleneck. It's an ugly shade of green, but it's the best solution I can think of. I don't have any foundation to cover them up. "Put this on." I say, throwing it to Sam. "No way. They'll know what's going on right away. This is the most hideous thing I have ever seen, I would never wear this normally." She whines. She's right, but she doesn't have a choice.

"Look, it's this or nothing! Just say it's the new style or something!" I say. Sam sighs and puts it on. It's a bit big on her, but it covers the hickeys. "Does Pony know?" I ask. "Of course he knows! He's the one who gave them to me!" Sam says. "You have to head home, it's getting dark." I say, looking out the window. Sam nods. She hugs me, whispers a thank you, and climbs back out the window. I can only hope that Darry doesn't find out.

SAM'S POV:

I run home from Arlene's, and run in through the front door. "Sorry, I know I'm late. I stopped by to talk to Arlene." I say. The whole gang is here, Johnny, Dally, Soda, Darry, Pony, Steve, and Two-Bit. They're all sitting in the living room chatting. I was hoping I would only have to fool Soda and Darry, but I guess now I have to fool them all. Perfect.

"Eh, don't worry about it. Dinner's still in the oven." Darry says. "What's with the... interesting sweater?" Steve says, eyeing me suspiciously. "It's a gift from Arlene, I know it's bad, but I promised her I'd wear it." I say, thinking fast. Steve seems to believe it. Pony shoots me a glance, and I smile a little at him.

Everything is going great, until we're cleaning up from dinner. I was leaving the kitchen after bringing some dishes to the sink when I bumped into Soda, and his chocolate milk spills on my turtleneck. Shit. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Sam! I'll wash it for ya." he says. I back away. "Nah, it's fine. It'll dry." I say, heading into the living room.

"Sam, if you don't wash it now, it'll stain." Darry says. I shrug it off, sitting on the couch. "That just gives me an excuse to not wear it." I say. "Oh, just take it off. What are you hiding?" Steve jokes. "Nothing." I say, perhaps a little too quickly. Darry raises an eyebrow. His dad instincts are kicking in. This does not bode well for me.

"Sam. Take off the turtleneck." He says. "No. Why would I do that?" I say, trying to play it off. "Sam. Turtleneck. Now." Darry says. I can't get out of it now, better just take it off and get the yelling over with. The whole gang is watching now, silent, waiting to see what I'm hiding. Pony pales a bit, but no one notices. Then I take off the turtleneck.