♡ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ꜱᴀʏ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ♡

0 6

(Cary's POV)

After I finished toasting the sandwiches, I wrapped them in wax paper and put them in a bag before we headed out.

On our way there, Pony pulled out a pack of cigarettes and started to light one before I gave him the side eye. He sighed and handed it to Johnny, who stuffed it in his pocket. I shook my head, knowing he would just give back to Pony later when I wasn't around.

"Man, Cary," Johnny said, "when can we eat those sandwiches? They smell amazing."

"When we get there," I laughed, "I think it would be nice to eat with them."

I looked up the sidewalk and saw a few guys walking towards us.

One of them looked familiar—Curly Shepard, I think his name was. Although I knew his older brother Tim pretty well, I didn't know Curly and had only seen him passing on the street and vaguely heard about him through stories the guys told me. He had apparently been in and out of reformatories for years, liked to pick fights with Socs and steal from any store in town, but other than that he was a pretty decent guy that could hold his own.

He wasn't particularly good-looking but he wasn't downright ugly either, just sort of average. He had long, brown curly hair, hence his name, and brown-gray eyes. He didn't look to be much older than me.

"'Sup, Pony. Johnny," he said before turning to me, "Cary." I was shocked he even knew my name.

"Curly, right?" I asked.

He held his hand around the butt of a cigarette that hung out of his mouth as he lit it. "That's my name, don't wear it out," he said, winking at me, "nice to finally meet ya, hun."

I glanced at Ponyboy and Johnny. Their eyes were blazing.

"What's a pretty girl like you hangin' around us Greasers?" He said, stepping a bit closer. He looked me up and down, checking out every inch of me.

I shifted my feet uncomfortably and turned my eyes away from his flirtatious gaze. "I am a Greaser. Pony's my brother."

"Yeah, I know," he smirked, "you just look too classy to be a Greaser."

"Thanks..." I said awkwardly and quietly as if it was a question. I wished he would stop looking at me like that.

"Cary," he started as he blew a puff of smoke, completely oblivious to my discomfort, "I was wondering if you—"

"Well, Curly, it was real nice talking to you, but we really gotta get this lunch to Soda and Steve before it gets cold," Johnny said as he started to walk off, "see you around, Curly."

I was shocked. I had never seen Johnny act so brash towards someone, much less one of his friends.

Curly looked just as surprised as I was. He said nothing as Ponyboy and I followed Johnny.

"Listen, Cary," Pony said as we crossed the street to the DX, "if he asks you out, don't accept. He's a cool ol' guy, but he'll run you into a lot of trouble."

I gave a short laugh. "Trust me, I wasn't planning on it," I said as I pushed the door open to the DX, "isn't he one of your buddies, though?"

"Yeah, well...just trust me, okay?" He said as we walked into the garage.

"I brought sandwiches," I announced as I plopped the bag on the workbench.

Steve popped his head out from underneath the car they were working on. "Oh, baby," he said as he jumped up and dug through the bag and plucked one out. He tore it open and took a huge bite before saying, "thanks, Cary. I'm starving."

I laughed, "I couldn't tell."

Soda poked his head out from under the hood and rushed over to me.

I pulled out a sandwich and held it out for him. "Here—" I said before he wrapped me in a hug so tight I about couldn't breath.

"Soda, what's wrong?" I asked.

"I'm just glad you're safe," he said as he let me go.

"Why? What happened?"

He looked at the ground and stayed silent.

"You can tell me," I said gently.

He ignored me and looked at Ponyboy and Johnny. "What's up with you guys?"

I looked back at the two of them. Pony was grinding the toe of his Converse into the ground while Johnny just stood there angrily. I could practically see the steam coming out of his ears.

"Curly was flirting with Cary on our way here," Johnny said, his hands balling into fists before shoving them in his pockets, "as if we wouldn't notice. We were right there."

Again, I was shocked. Never before had Johnny been so mad. Not ever since I came home crying when Jonathan cut me.

Soda groaned. "Oh, this just keeps getting better and better!"

"What happened, Soda?" I asked a bit more demandingly.

He looked at me. He had our Dad's dark brown eyes, but for a second I swore I saw a hint of angry red in them. I would be lying if I said I wasn't even a little bit frightened.

"Jonathan stopped by today. He was asking about you."

I was suddenly taken back to last night. I was naive to think Jonathan would just let it be and leave me alone. I knew better than that.

"He called you his girlfriend," he scoffed, "I can't believe that guy."

"You should've seen him, Cary," Steve said behind me and I turned to face him, "I ain't never seen Soda so mad before. I thought he was gonna kill the guy."

Soda mumbled something and I looked back at him. I used two fingers to turn his head to look at me. "Listen to me, Soda. Don't let him make you mad. He's just trying to get a rouse out of you. He likes to cause drama and he likes it when people are scared of him. Don't give him what he wants."

His face flashed from angry to worried to sad then back to worried all within a second. "I don't know, Cary. He seemed real determined to find you..."

I never thought Jonathan would kill me. Then again, I never thought he would hit me or slash open my palm, but here we are. If he was asking around and looking for me...

I suddenly realized that he could kill me, that he would if he really wanted to. A lump formed in the back of my throat and I wanted to bawl right then and there, but I didn't want to worry Soda anymore. He seemed so worked up as it was.

"I just...I'm scared he'll do something to you if he finds you again." His eyes went sad. "I'm worried about you, Cary."

I swallowed and wanted to say something but didn't in the fear that I would cry.

Soda hugged me again. "Just be careful, okay?"

"I promise," I said, composing myself, "I always am."

He gave me one of those grins that could make anyone grin back at him as I placed a sandwich in his hand. "Eat," I commanded.

"Thanks, Cary," he said as he tore it open.

I didn't eat—the appetite I worked up since breakfast went away at the mention of Jonathan. My stomach twisted into all sorts of knots.

Steve had finished his sandwich, so I gave mine to him. He didn't want to at first, but when I tossed it to him he ate it like he hadn't eaten in years.

We left not long after that.

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Sorry this took so long to get out...imagine accidentally deleting a whole chapter and having to rewrite it all. Couldn't be me.

(it was me ;-;)

Love y'all. Stay gold.