IF YOU EVER sneak into someone's car, the best hiding spot is by far the trunk. But it comes with a lot of unnecessary, painful kinks. Like how I'm sweating out of my freaking skin right now or how my body is probably littered with bruises from how wild Dally drives.
I already stripped my backpack, socks, and shoes off. If I stripped anymore I would leave my top or bottom half almost completely bare and the last thing I needed is for Dally to open the trunk and find me half-naked. He'd enjoy that too much.
I don't know how long I've been in here or how much longer it'll be before we get to my brother and Johnny. I was never claustrophobic, but the longer I sat crammed in this small dark trunk the closer the walls seemed to get. Like they were slowly closing in on me until I'm suffocating and begging for air.
I can't sit in this trunk much longer. It's too dark. To small. I have the option to bang on the trunk and hope Dally would hear me. I think we were far enough that he wouldn't waste the gas to drive me back home. But he could leave me on the side of the road.
Do I think Dally would do that? I don't know. Yeah, he's an asshole but leaving his friends' sister abandoned on the side of the road would probably catch him trouble. Darry would get pissed and as cocky as Dally was, I knew he wouldn't be stupid enough to think he would win a fight with Darry.
So, I made my decision.
"Help!" I scream as loud as my lungs allow, hitting and kicking at the trunk door. I continue screaming, hitting, and kicking until my legs and arms ache. Even then I didn't stop, but I was tempted to give up.
The stuffy air of the trunk was hard to inhale and it felt like someone had a cloth over my face, trying to stop me from breathing.
I didn't give up, banging on the trunk door hard enough that I wouldn't be surprised it if was dented. My breaths came out rapid and gaspy and with one final hit my body slumped against the trunk's plastic floor. I could feel the air leaving my lungs quickly and not entering fast enough making me feel lightheaded.
Sweat dripped down my body. I refuse to die like this. I shift so I lay on my side, my back to the trunk opening. I pull my legs to my chest. I take in as much air as my weak lungs can hold, I really have to stop smoking, and kick as hard as I can "Dallas!" I screech, kicking again and again.
A smile of victory paints my face as the car comes to a screeching halt. "Dally!" I yell, my voice weaker than before. I swear I'm never smoking ever again. I won't even look at a cigarette.
The car shakes as I hear a car door slam and seconds later I hear the jangle of keys and a metallic click. I could've cried in relief when the trunk popped open. "What the hell?!" I hear Dally exclaim. I could only hear him as I kept my eyes tightly closed, the sun too hot.
I feel my arms wrap around me and I'm yanked out of the trunk. I wrap my arms and legs around the person's body. I knew it was Dally and in a normal circumstance, I would've jumped away from him. But right now I was so hot and dizzy that I knew if I let go of him I'd probably collapse on the ground.
The fresh, breezy air filled my lungs as quickly as liquid and I sucked in as much of it as I could. I'm a starving man getting his first meal in weeks.
"Water." I croak, wiping the sweat off my forehead with my bare arm. However, it was useless as I could still feel beads of sweat rolling down the sides of my head.
"Jesus, woman." Dally mumbles. He jogs, holding me gently as he sits me down in what I assume is the passenger seat. "What the hell is wrong with you, woman? You could've died." Dally scolds as he digs through the bags of stuff he got from the DX.
"I told you." I take in a gulp of air. "I want to see my brother." Dally scoffs holding a water bottle out to me. I snatch it quickly and unscrew the cap, slamming the water in just a few seconds.
I could feel my empty stomach being filled, skipping lunch probably wasn't the best idea. But it was impossible to eat when right across the school yard Dally sat with Kathy on his lap, the two kissing and her giggling like an idiot. The sight of them all cuddled up and kissing made me want to throw up.
Dally looks at me like I have two heads "You kidnapped yourself and sat in the trunk of a car for an hour on an empty stomach just because you had a hunch that I was going to see Pony and Johnny?" He questions in disbelief.
"It wasn't a hunch, I knew you were." I replied matter of factly.
"No, you didn't. Does Soda or Darry know you here?" He questions.
"Nope, and we're pretty far from Tulsa now so you're best bet is just taking me with you." I hum with a coy smile.
By the way Dally's face scrunched up in a scowl I knew he would rather get run over than take me with him. His face relaxes, a grin that was anything but friendly making its way onto his face "I could just leave you on the side of the road." He hums.
I snort at his words "Then do it." I challenge. I knew he wouldn't and he knew I was smart enough to know that. Darry was already mad at him for not telling him where Ponyboy was. If Dally left me on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere with no food, water, or protection, Darry would beat him to a pulp.
It seemed like Dally was having an internal battle with himself: Deal with me or dump me on the side of the road. He was working on the pros and cons of it all. I hold back a smirk when he finally lets out a growl of frustrated defeat "Where the hell are your shoes?" He asks me looking down at my bare feet.
"In the trunk, oh could you get my backpack too becauseâ"
"I'm not your fucking butler." He grumbles, cutting me off. He stalks over to the other side of the getting in the driver's seat. The engine roars to life but Dally doesn't put the gear into drive yet. He was waiting for me to get my stuff and shut the trunk.
I get out of the passenger seat, the souls of my feet on fire as I rush across the pavement. I grab up my socks and shoes along with my backpack, making sure to shut the trunk all the way before running back up to sit in the passenger seat.
I shut the door and Dally revs the engine and my eyes fall on his hands. More importantly his knuckles. Cuts, scrapes, and bruises that are almost healed rest on his knuckles. The rings on his fingers would definitely be able to cut skin if he was punching hard enough. Deep gashes like the ones on that Soc's face. My mind flashes back to that Soc earlier today and it clicks in my head.
"You beat up that Soc." I say, his hand pauses on the gearshift and he looks at me with a raised eyebrow "The one that punched me, the blonde." I add.
"Now you're just making shit up." He says, rolling his eyes in irritation though I watch the muscle in his jaw pulse. He was lying.
"Someone woke up on the wrong side of Kathy's bed today." I retort. He scowls and I give him a cheeky grin, successfully getting under his skin.
I think he would retort but instead, he slams the car into drive and stomps his foot on the gas pedal. The car lurches forward and I have to grab the edge of my seat so I don't flip out of the convertible car.
My heart pounds in my ears, the air wipes past my hair, and my face is protected from the wind by the windshield. An idea pops into my head and my body moves on its own accord. I stand up, my hands gripping the edge of the windshield as I face the wind.
My hair flies wildly behind me and my eyes start to water from the harshness of the whooshing air. Dally's driving is reckless and if he took a sharp turn I knew I would fly out and yet I feel more alive than I have in weeks.
ð¥|TIME SKIP|ð¥
I'd never been to the countryside, all I had ever known was the small town I'd grown up in. But my mother used to tell me and my brothers stories of the beauty of the country. She spoke of fields of flowers that stretched for miles. Rivers, and creeks that had water fresher than what we got from the sink, so clear that you could think it was air, and great hills and mountains that watched over the people of the countryside.
She said that the sky was littered with stars that looked so bright that you might mistake them for glitter stuck in the sky. She talked about the fresh air that smelt of pine, wildflowers, and the musky smell of mildew. She also told us of her desire to sell our house and move us to the countryside for a better, more peaceful life for my siblings and me.
I always had mixed feelings when she brought up moving away. But now, as Dally drove up the rocky gravel of a large hill, I understood why she wanted to leave our small town.
Despite never seeing my mother in the countryside, everywhere I looked, she was all I saw. She was in the wind, gently caressing my face and hair. In the sky, that was as bright as her eyes. She was in the sun that shined as bright as she was and engulfed me in the warmth that felt like being wrapped in her arms.
She was everywhere.
Instead of feeling sadness or guilt like I have these past few months, I felt calm and closer to my mother than ever before. It felt nice.
My breath catches in my throat as Dally comes to a halt at the top of the hill. An old church that looked decades old stood a few feet away. Its wood was old and a dark color from the years of neglect it faced. Its windows were boarded up and busted, and a giant wooden cross sat at the very top of the tallest point of the church. On a tower that I knew would give me the view of many sunsets that would take my breath away.
The place looked rough, yet beautiful I would've loved to have seen it before it was abandoned. I knew it would be gorgeous if someone fixed it up. I could picture myself living in a spot like this years from now. Maybe with a husband and children or maybe by myself with a dog to keep me company.
"What's going on in that head of yours, huh?" Dally's voice pulls me from my thoughts. I turn to look at him shrugging my shoulders.
"Let's get going." I say, eager to see my brother and Johnny. Just as I'm about to stand up to hop out of the car, Dally's hand wraps around my wrist.
"Not so fast, turbo. Let me scope the place out, make sure they're still here and notâ" Dally cuts himself off as he realizes what he was about to say.
"Dead." I mumble, completing his sentence. The word alone makes my stomach churn.
"I was gonna say out in town. No need to be so morbid." Dally grumbles he rips his hand away from my wrist as if suddenly repulsed by me and quickly gets out of the car. He quickly jogs up to the church, not looking back at me as he disappears behind the building.
I didn't miss the pulse in his neck twitching when he spoke.
Minutes go by and Dally still hasn't come out, neither has Ponyboy or Johnny. Worry settles in my stomach and I debate if I should go check to make sure Dally is okay. But I knew he was fine, but there were only two reasons why he wouldn't be coming out.
Either he was currently talking to Johnny and my brother or he was trying to find a way to tell me they were not here. Or dead. I shake my thoughts away and stand in the car, squinting my eyes to try to see if I can see movement through the cracks in the boards that were secured on the windows.
My eyes are yanked away from the church when a patch of blonde running out from the side of it catches my eyes. My eyes seddle on the blonde boy running towards me and confusion fills me before realization settles in. My breath gets caught in my throat and I jump out of the car not caring if I get mud on the bright red paint as I rush towards my little brother.
Ponyboy meets me halfway, his body slamming into mine so hard that I'm knocked off my feet. Both of us tumble to the floor, our arms wrapped around each other so tightly that god himself couldn't pull us apart.
"Ponyboy." His name comes out breathy as I grasp onto him, it feels almost like a dream. I could feel him. I could smell his pine and cigarette scent. He was real.
"God, your hair is awful." I say with a watery laugh as tears roll down my cheeks, Ponyboy picks his head up from my shoulder a boyish grin on his face. I picked his blonde locks up, noticing his hair was also shorter and not loaded with grease like it used to be. He looked younger like this, more childlike. I liked it.
"Nice to see you haven't changed, you still look like a rat." He replies, laughing as I hit his shoulder playfully.
"I hate you." I tell him as I sniffle.
He wipes away my tears with the sleeve of his flannel "I love you too, sis."