Lose Your Mind-A Dallas Winston Fanfiction

Keep Your Enemies Closer

An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.-Buddha

I slipped out of the bed early in the morning, trying my best not to disturb the sleeping Dallas who was next to me. He could use the rest.

"Hey there, Iris." Darry smiled at me when I reached the kitchen, "You going to school today?"

I rubbed my neck with the back of my hand, "Gee Darry, I ain't so sure. I mean, I've been gone a whole year."

His face twisted up in a slightly disappointed manner, " You're so smart you won't even have to try to catch up." He tossed a piece of toast at me , "Come on kid, get going. Eat it on the way there. And give Pony a ride will ya?"

I figured it best not to argue with him. School was a sensitive topic for him, even though nobody ever mentioned him. One time Steve called him "All brawn's and no brains" Darry knocked him flat for that and nearly killed him. He was smart enough that he could have gone to college, maybe even graduated from it. But then his parents died and he just didn't have the money for it anymore. I knew he hated being looked down on for not going.

"Sure thing, Dar." I ran upstairs to change.

I threw a clean outfit over my head, and rapped my knuckles against Pony and Soda's door.

"Shut up!" Soda groaned from inside, "Just because you two got school doesn't mean I do."

I laughed, but ignored him, "If you ain't up in five minutes Pony, I'm dumping cold water on you."

"I'm coming, I'm coming." I heard him mumble through a sleepy haze.

He rolled out of bed within the next few minutes, dressed in slightly ripped jeans and a plain maroon shirt. I stared at him for a second when he walked down to the entry way. He had grown during the year I was gone, that was for sure. The innocence that once hung itself around his face had been lost and replaced by quiet wisdom.

"You best be getting there soon, or the principal will have your head. No more skipping Pony, I mean it!" Darry shouted from the kitchen.

"Yeah, yeah." Ponyboy rolled his eyes before shoving open the front door and hopping into my ride.

A sudden wave of nervousness hit me when we reached school grounds. It was a whole new year, what had changed while I was away? A whole lot, surely.

The first thing I notice when I cut my engine was everyone staring. I swear there wasn't a soul in the whole school yard who wasn't looking at me. I knew why too, that was the worst part. I was the girl who had gone crazy after her brother got killed and ran off to New York. In a town like Tulsa, these kind of things spread fast.

Next thing I knew I saw Two-Bit back flipping across the school yard. A few people shouted at him but for the most part they jumped out of the way. Some even laughed.

"Well look who decided to show up. I didn't think I would find you here." He cracked a smile at me.

"I wasn't expecting to see you either." I grinned, "Aren't you 19 now?"

"Age is just a number, baby." He chuckled before chasing after a few boys in front of us.

"Glad to see some things haven't changed." I muttered under my breath.

"What do you mean?"

I swore internally, I hadn't meant for Pony to hear me.

"Things just seem different, you know?"

"They are." He shrugged, "Things are getting bad again with the socs' again."

I looked away, "Has Bob been doing anything about it?"

Bob was their leader, to an extent. Randy was his left hand man and everyone else just did what he did.

"Ice, Bob's the one who's doing it."

The words were like a slap in the face, but if Ponyboy was saying them, who was I to question it? "I'll talk to him about it."

"You can talk all you want, but he won't listen." Ponyboy sighed, and then turned on his heels and headed towards the school.

There was still a bit of time to burn before the bell rang, so I went looking for Bob. But, he wasn't the one I found. I spotted H leaning up against the corner of the left side of the school, smoking a cigarette all alone.

"You stalking me now?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"I've always gone here, you're just now noticing me."

I wasn't in the mood to deal with his cryptic messages, "Have you seen Bob?"

He smirked at me like he knew what I was doing, "In the back lot."

I didn't bother with a thanks. I grew more and more annoyed as the stares increased, and pretty soon I wasn't looking away when people stared me down.

Bob was sitting on the hood of his mustang, with a fairly large group of socs around him. Maybe old me would have been to afraid to approach him, but I had changed. A couple of teenagers couldn't scare me away.

"Bob, can we talk?" I asked after pushing through the tight circle of kids.

Uneasiness was clear on his face, "Sure, what do you want?"

I was slightly taken aback by his rudeness, but not enough to be shaken, "Alone."

A few kids snickered, "Watch yourself Bob, this one's feisty."

Bob laughed, but shoved them away. Once they were gone he turned back to me, "What do you need, Ice?"

I crossed my arms over my chest, "Oh, so now you'll be friendly with me?"

"Look, things ain't the same as they were when you were here. I can't be seen with a greaser."

The bond that had been between us, crumbled right after that sentence. I knew then I wasn't in for some warm greeting. I was a damn fool for even thinking things could remain the same. I had always known it deep down, that the fall out between Bob and I was inevitable, and to think otherwise was just plain naive.

"Just leave them all out of this, you hear?"

He tilted his head, "Or what, Ice? You're going to kill me like you killed Curly?"

Anger flared inside me, "That wasn't me and you know that."

He gave me a slight smile, "Maybe I do, but nobody else does." He hopped off his cars hood, "Who do you think people are going to follow? Me, or a killer?"