After graduating college, Austin Curtis returns home without really knowing what to expect. Time has helped her mature, but through the years she spent away from Tulsa, there was a nagging in her mind about how she left everyone...more specifically...
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The dull porch lights, which Austin remembered to have been partially burnt out for years, had been replaced with a string of lights that stretched along the back side of the house, and the sad, faded lawn chairs the Curtis family has neglected long ago were gone, yet in their place was an actual patio set. Austin was gracious to see Gracie had brought a new life into the home when the gang was in need of hope. Gracie's presence in Austin's absence gave Austin a small sense of relief in knowing her brothers were still being taken care of, and that their home wouldn't dwindle due to age and neglect. The tree beside the house still stood in its glory, so for old times' sake, she adjusted her skirt so she could scale the oak's branches, and then gently eased her way onto the roof. Once up, Austin tiptoed across the roof until she could see out into the street below, then she laid flat on her back with her feet pointed toward the gutter. The stillness of the dark, chilly night was peaceful despite the irritating goosebumps that formed along her arms and legs, and Austin felt truly relaxed for the first time since her truck carried her past the city limits sign. However, the calming nature of the night's silence was short lived as the slam of a screen door carried through the air.
"Why did you invite me to a party your ex-girlfriend was at?" Sylvia's voice drifted toward Austin's ears in the wind. Hearing the shrill hiss of her tone, Austin tensed and prayed neither her nor Dallas would notice her stretched out across the shingles, unintentionally eaves dropping on their not-so-private conversation.
"Austin and I never dated and you need to stop bringing that up! How many times do I have to tell you that she abandoned everyone?" As the wind lifted Dallas's angry words to her ears, Austin bit her lip and her stomach dropped. There was resentment to his voice, one that Austin didn't think could ever be repaired, but she tried not to concern herself with anything being said. Instead, she became eerily aware of the chill of Dal's pendant as it hung on her sternum.
"You still brought me to that bitch's house!" Sylvia hissed.
"You've been over here so many times through high school, and in the past three years you've been hanging around here, you've never mentioned her! It's always been her house and you've never had a problem coming over before," Dallas countered.
"She wasn't here in those three years! And I never cared in high school because...well look at her! She was a loser and a nerd. I didn't know you'd have a soft spot for such a pathetic little girl."
"If she's just a pathetic little girl, then why are you making such a big deal about her being here?" Dallas calmly retorted. From where she lay on the roof, she could see him straighten his posture and broaden his shoulders to keep the illusion that he was in control of the situation, but Austin knew better than to believe his gimmick.
Sylvia was wild, and not the appealing kind of wild similar to a wild mustang that Sodapop possessed. Sylvia Espinoza was a rabid opossum; her neatly filed claws could cut just as deep as her manipulation, and her fangs could tear away at a person's flesh the way her words could tear apart a person's soul. Austin figured one of the reasons she hated Sylvia most was because she had the ability to make Dallas believe all of the negative things he'd ever heard said about himself. He already thought himself to be worthless, but whenever he was with Sylvia, she solidified that mindset. She was a self-fulfilling prophecy for Dallas, and as long as she was around, he'd never see himself for what Austin had saw him for, for what her mother had seen him for, for what Austin loved him for.
