Infatuation

Chapter 6

"She's been through a lot, hasn't she?" A voice asks. I turn over the other way and open my eyes. Theres a different lighting. The lights in the living room are on.
 
A boy sits in front of me. He has reddish brown hair and shining green eyes. I stare back at him. His face turns red and he looks away.

I look around the room for Dally. He is sitting on the floor by the couch. I accidently hit him with my leg.

"Sleeping beauty's up," Someone says. I turn to look at him. Its the boy from earlier. The one with the rusty colored hair, "my name is Two-Bit Mathew's." He smiles at me. I return it. The smile feels weird on my face. Like it doesn't belong there.

Dally turns around to look at me. He frowns. I sigh. From now on, no more crying in front of people. There are six boys in here now. Sodapop is gone. Dally stands up on front of me.

"Nice of you to introduce yourself, Two-Bit." Dally says sarcastically.

"Hey, I'm just trying to make a good impression on the lady." He winks. Dally glares at him.

"It's not going to happen, Two-shit." Dally snaps.

"Again with the Two-shits! I don't make fun of your names!" Two-Bit yells. I let out a small laugh.

"You can always go by Keith." Steve says.

"That's not my name," Two-Bit says, "I would rather take Two-Shit over Keith any day." He laughs.

"Okay, okay. Let's introduce people. Monroe, you already know Steve, Sodapop, and now Two-Bit. The one in front of you is Ponyboy," Ponyboy resembles Sodapop. They must be brothers. He smiles at me. I smile back.

"The one in the corner is Johnny," he is smaller than all the rest of the boys. He has a scar from his eyebrow to his cheek, and black hair that he has slicked back just like all the other boys. Except for Dally, he doesn't have any grease in his hair. I wave at Johnny. He smiles back.

"The one in the armchair is Darry. He is is Sodapop's and Ponyboy's older brother. This is his house." Darry is big. Bigger than all the other boys. He stands up and walks over to me. He holds his hand out and I shake it. He gives me a warm smile.

"You will be staying here. You don't have to stay on the couch. We have a bedroom we are getting ready for you." He says with a light laugh. I smile back at him.

"Thank you, so much." I say. He nods his head and returns to his armchair.

The door opens and slams against the wall. The noise makes me jump. It reminds me of the sound the gun made.

"Pizza!" Sodapop calls out. He is carrying 5 boxes. There is a paper bag hanging from his arm. The boys all stand up and run to the kitchen. Steve knocks into Sodapop.

"Do you want me to drop the food?" Sodapop asks.

"Oh, you would never," Steve turns and runs into the kitchen. I slowly get up.

"Well, come on. There isnt going to be any pizza left by the time you get in there." Sodapop laughs. I follow him into the kitchen.

There is a big table with seven normal chairs, and a chair that is clearly not made for this table set. I sit down next to Dally and the other empty chair.

Sodapop places the pizza on the table and the boys go crazy. The only ones that have some form of manners is Darry and Ponyboy. Everyone else acts as if this will be the last meal they have for a week. There isn't even a chance of me being able to grab a slice. There are too many hands. Thats alright, though. I'm not that hungry.

Sodapop plops down in the seat next to me and puts a slice of pizza on my plate. He smiles at me.

"Thank you." I say. He smiles again and turns to his pizza. I feel Dally's eyes on me. I turn to look at him. He nods to my pizza. I look down at my plate and pick it up. He gives me a small smile. I bring the pizza up and take a bite.

It has no taste. Its just like mush in my mouth and I have no desire to eat it. I force myself to swallow it and take another bite. I can finish this piece. Maybe I'll have another if there is any left.

"Oh." Sodapop mutters. He reaches behind him and grabs the paper bag off of the counter. He pulls it into his lap and starts pulling out sodas. One by one he gives people different drinks.

Ponyboy, Sodapop and Darry get Pepsi. Johnny and Steve get Coca Cola. Dally and Two-Bit get beers. Sodapop pulls out the last bottle. It's Root Beer. My favorite soda. I smile at him. He pays attention to the small details.

Dinner is over in 10 minutes. The boys eat like pigs. There is no pizza left. I managed to get another piece, but only because Sodapop was looking out for me and snatched the last one from Ponyboy. This resulted in an argument.

"Hey! That's mine!" Ponyboy glared at Sodapop.

"You've already had like 6 pieces. Monroe has only had one." Sodapop retorted.

"I don't have to have it. Give it back to Ponyboy." I told Sodapop.

"No can do. It already touched your plate." Sodapop said. Ponyboy looked at me.

"You can have it." He said. I smiled at him. He smiled back.

"Looks like Soda has a new girlfriend!" Two-Bit yelled. My face got hot and I looked at my plate. Sodapop let out a slight chuckle. I didn't look up for the rest of the meal.

When dinner was over everyone returned to the living room. One by one the boys started to leave until it was just the Curtis brothers, and Dally.

"Where do you live, Dal?" I ask.

"I..." he hesitates, "I live in a bar." He replies.

"Oh." I reply.

"Thats why you are staying here. I don't want you staying a bar. Bad things happen to pretty girls there." He says. My eyes grow wide as the realization hits.

"Oh," I say again, "when are you going home?" I ask.

"I'm not going home tonight." He replies.

"Why?" I question.

"I want to make sure you're safe," he says with a shrug. it's weird having someone care of you like this. My Mom wasn't really the caregiver of the family. She was the worker. The one who brought home money. I suppose she ment for my Dad to care for me, but he never did. Instead, I cared for him. And myself. I feel my eyes start to water as I remember my Mom. I push the tears down. I will not cry again.

By the time 11 rolls around, Ponyboy and Darry are in bed. Ponyboy has school, and Darry has work. Sodapop has work, too, but he told me he usually goes to bed around 12.

I stay up as long as I can before I start to drift off. Dally turns back to look at me.

"Why don't you go to bed?" He suggests.

"Okay." I say. I stand up and Sodapop stands up with me.

"I'll show you where your room is." He says. Dally gives him a weird look. He looks between us and then rolls his eyes.  I follow Sodapop down the hallway. He stops at one of the doors and opens it.

Inside the room is a queen size bed with a white comforter. The walls are a soft yellow with hand painted pink and red roses. Its absolutely beautiful.

"Goodnight, Monroe." Sodapop says.

"Goodnight, Sodapop." I say back. He closes the door behind him. I can hear his footsteps retreating down the hallway.