Stay By Me

Chapter 10

Something was off about that girl, Dally was already well aware of that. But this was something else entirely. She'd come up to him at Buck's and asked to go to his room. Of course he'd agreed, but he should have payed closer attention to her request.

So here he sat on his grimy mattress, while she did who knows what in his bathroom.

When she came out, she seemed like an entirely different person. She'd changed out of the rancid jeans and T-shirt she'd been wearing, and her hair now fell in loose waves rather than the tight braids it had been in earlier. It also seemed like she'd washed her face and upper body, her skin glistened as if it were slightly damp, and it was red as if she had been roughly scrubbing her arms.

She walked out sipping on a bottle of tequila. He wasn't sure if she'd found it or if it had come out of her bag as well.

"Is that all you wanted to come up here for?" He asked,disgruntled. He felt like she'd just cheated him out of his time.

"Mostly," she replied. The light passed over her face, and he noticed the sickly tone to her skin, and the large dark bags under her yes, not to mention the remnants of bruises from days prior. They somehow matched the look on her face, one of masked calmness, covering one of insanity.

He realized that even if he wanted to, which he didn't, sleeping with this girl would be wrong. He was starting to understand what Sodapop meant about her. Something wasn't there, something that made people human.

Nevertheless, she sat down beside him and leaned back, still sipping on the tequila. "Get that look off your face, Dally, it ain't pretty on you."

He realized he had a look of concern on his face, for her or himself, he couldn't tell.

"Get out," he snapped at her. "If that was all you wanted, quit wasting my fucking time."

"I could pay it back to you," she said in a flirty and seductive tone. Her hand started inching closer to his crotch.

Though a significant part of him wanted her to continue, he pushed her away. He noticed that through the cheap perfume she was wearing, she also smelled faintly of gasoline and smoke.

That sent him onto high alert. Based on the eerie calmness on her face, this wasn't some accidental fire. She had purposely doused something in gasoline and lit it on fire.

"What the hell did you just do?" He barked at her.

She flinched a bit, then calmed her face and forced a smile and laugh.

"Do you really want to know?" She giggled.

Honestly, he didn't really want to know. But he had to, now that she was apparently Sodapop's problem. He didn't answer her, but he continued to look sharply into her eyes, silently demanding an answer.

"First I went home. Well, I say that, it's not really home anymore. Actually, it really isn't, now. Anyways, I went in. Put oil and paper on places I wanted fire. Then, I turned on the stove. And I left. I could see the flames by the time I was at the end of the street," she said, her words punctuated with giggles. It was very disconcerting, considering this was mere hours after she'd eaten dinner with the gang at the Curtis house.

"And then after that, I went to an abandoned lot. Destroyed that damn car. Broke the windows, slashed the seats and tires. Then I poured the spare fuel onto those leather seats, then I lit it too."

She stared at her hands, which still stunk of the gasoline.

"I guess I was lucky this time," she chuckled. "Not that it does me much good. By all means, it would have been just so easy to go up in flames with it all. But I still have shit I need to do before then."

"Before what?" Dally asked tentatively. He had grabbed himself a bottle of whiskey, and was downing it much faster than she was the tequila.

"End it. Call it quits. Slash the wrists, or down a bottle of pills. That was my original plan, but I realized I had shit to do before that."

"Like burn down a fucking house?"

She nodded. "Had to make that piece of shit pay somehow. He controlled and warped my life. But as sick and twisted as it is, it satisfies me to imagine him coming home. He doesn't claim me as any daughter as his, which is good. But I wish I could be there, to see as he drives past the flaming remains of his own car. As he drives to see the burning shell of his accomplishments."

Dally decided that he was scared of this girl. Something about her was hypnotizing though. It would be smart if him to get her out of his life as fast as possible, but for some reason he didn't. She fascinated him. Something about her made him want to know everything about her, until she was his.

Her face twisted into an angry expression. "It still isn't enough. He deserves to get what he gave."

He gave her a once-over. He knew what she was referencing, he knew what that spot on her back was. He saw the bruises on her face. He'd seen the same marks on Johnny. Only Johnny wasn't confrontational. He was like a kicked puppy. She like as if you kicked a feral cat. She definitely was confrontational. Which... reminded him of himself, with a more dangerous twist, if that was possible. His actions were stemmed from anger, hers were from hopelessness.

Since he was no longer protesting her presence, she kicked up her feet and made herself at home beside him. She lit a cigarette, exhaling with a huff. She still seemed antsy and on edge, but she sat there like she knew she was going to have to stay there or else. She flicked her switchblade open and closed, trying to harness some of that untapped extra energy.

Suddenly, she stopped. She put the knife back into the pocket of her jeans, and stubbed out her cigarette. She suddenly stared at him for a moment, before kissing him aggressively. Her hands twined in his blonde hair, and his hands found their way under her waist band.

"Please," she begged against his lips.

This time, he didn't push her away.

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Okay not gonna lie ghost readers are genuinely kind of disheartening, interaction is much wanted! Thanks!