The Curtis Sisters -Volume 1- Juniper

Chapter 3 ~ The Glimmer of Ice

"June?" A faint voice called out to me from the darkness. "Juniper, can you hear me?"

"Pony?" I answered back in a haze. My eyes fluttered open but there was a bright light shining above me that kept them from opening all the way.

"No" the voice said softly "It's...It's Dally."

"Dally?" I struggled to sit up. The voice I was hearing sounded nothing like Dallas Winston. This voice was nervous and somewhat tender. I felt a hand supporting my back as I moved into an upright position and checked my surroundings. "Why am I in the kitchen?" I asked, although about a million other questions were coming to mind at the same time.

"Here's the ice" Jimmy said handing Dallas a bag. Dally had been crouching beside me and he moved the rest of the way to the floor, sitting in front of me and gently holding the ice to my eye.

"Here" he said taking my hand and moving it up towards his. "Hold this."

I couldn't help but stare at him. Waking up on the kitchen floor was disorienting enough without the added confusion of Dally being nice to me. Or being nice to anyone for that matter. For a brief moment I wondered if I was still unconscious.

"What happened to your cheek?" I asked cautiously, noticing the red welt that spanned across his cheekbone. Dally's lip turned up at the corner and he glanced over my shoulder.

"Your brother" he motioned with his chin. I turned to see Ponyboy on the other side of the room holding the phone to his ear and speaking intensely to someone on the other end. I turned back to Dally. I wanted to ask him so many more things but my stomach was feeling uneasy. I had never had this long of a conversation with him before.

"Oh" I mumbled. "Sorry." Dally's expression mimicked my own surprise. Why had I just apologized?

"He's just bein' your brother" he said with a slight shrug. I was caught off guard in that moment by his eyes. The absence of his icy stare had somehow transformed his whole face. It was like looking at a whole other person. I stared in wonder at him, remembering a second too late to keep my mouth from dropping open. Luckily, he didn't seem to notice.

"Hey, June, listen I'm really sorry" he continued. "I didn't know you were gonna jump in front of me like that." My face flushed red with embarrassment. "I ain't never hit a girl before" he winced slightly. "Honest. That ain't my style, you know?"

I nodded but couldn't bring myself to say anything. Instead, I kept waiting for this dream to end so I could wake up to the real Dallas Winston. The one who would have just called me a dumb broad and stepped over me as he left with his date.

"Soda's on his way", Pony's voice cut in from behind me, causing me to jump slightly. He kneeled down at my side. "How you feelin' Junie Bea?" My eyes flashed between the two of them, wondering how Ponyboy had actually gotten away with hitting Dallas unscathed. Had he really not hit him back? I checked Dally's eyes for some sign of animosity but he was still looking at me with such a forlorn expression that I almost felt sorry for him for hitting me.

"I'm ok" I answered, dropping the ice from my cheek. "I'd like to get up." Dally put his hand out to help me up but Pony jutted his arm in front of it.

"I got it" he said roughly, giving him a sideways glance. Dally's head snapped back a little, then his expression slowly soured and his eyes turned back to ice. He watched Pony help me up off the floor and stood up himself, stuffing his hands into his leather jacket.

"There a problem, kid?" he asked coolly. Pony's eyes flickered with a sudden realization. He had gotten away with a lot and it had made him almost forget who he was dealing with. "It ain't like I hit her on purpose." Dally's eyes narrowed and his chin jutted out. "Punk" he muttered in disgust. Pony's eyebrows furrowed in frustration but he kept his tone in check.