The Best Thing ||A Darry Curtis Fanfiction||

Chapter 7

Kacie almost felt guilty leaving just like that, without a word to Angie, who'd become her best friend over the years. Anyways, she hadn't told Darry anything yet. She was waiting for the perfect moment to tell him the truth. To ask him if he would come. She didn't know what she would do if he said no, and she didn't let herself think about it too much.

On Saturday afternoon, she was back in the gym that she knew all too well, standing with Angie, trying to talk her out of her nerves. It was another parents weekend, which they had once every few months, where they showed off some routines that they weren't competing with. Angie hated them just as much when her dad wasn't there.

"You'll be great, Ang. You're amazing and you have nothing worry about. You know that!" Kacie had told her, trying her best to give a coach-like pep talk. Kacie had already gone, and knew it would be easy for Angie. She had this routine down pat. Angie tried to focus on her breathing, scared for some reason.

"You're like... having a panic attack. What's up with you?" Kacie asked. She knew that couldn't be nerves because of her dad. Although he was an alcoholic, abusive and forced her to stay with these lessons, even after her mom, the one that wanted her to do them, left the family, he was still proud of his little girl on these days, and always excited to see her. He just wasn't the nicest afterwords.

"D-Dally's here," she said quietly. She had only seen him a few times since he came here from New York a few years back, but she'd been in love with him ever since.

"He is?" Kacie questioned. She hadn't realized it.

"Y-yeah. He came to support you with Darry. A few of their other friends came too, I think," she said. That gave Kacie an idea.

"Well, you know what? You are the greatest gymnast and dancer in all of Tulsa. Tons of people have told you that. There's no way you could mess up with that elegance and grace of yours. Go out there, Angie and impress Dally. Wow him," Kacie declared. She had always believed, no matter what teachers and judges said, that Angie was better than her.

She looked the 12 year old over. She was young to be this good, and look the way she did. She was mature for her age, which matched her perfect dancer's frame, the kind that even an adult would have to work for years to get. She was thin, with curves and a smile on her face that danced into her eyes like she did while preforming. She was self conscious of her breasts, which were small, but that was normal for her age. Still, most people thought she was older, 14 or 15, at least, and she was worshipped at the studio by students older and younger.

"You're gonna do great," Kacie said, tilting Angie's chin up so she was looking in her eyes. Angie smiled that beautiful, energetic smile of hers.

"Let's have a hand for Jamie Johnson. And up next we have Angelina Forest!" An announcer said over the loudspeaker. Kacie hugged her.

"Good luck. Meet me back her when you're done, I have to talk to you." Angie looked back once, wondering what she needed to say before going to do her routine. Kacie watched from behind a curtain as Angie effortlessly flipped and cartwheeled, doing high jumps and more. She did her routine perfectly, without even one mistake, and the room erupted in cheers. She jogged back to Kacie, out of breath.

"So... What did you want to talk about?" She asked. Kacie immediately started feeling the way Angie did before she preformed her routine. But worse.

"Uh, it's kinda hard to explain," she said.

"Is something wrong, Kacie?" Angie asked. Kacie shrugged. Sure, lots of things were wrong right now, but if she could explain what's going on to Angie and she accepted it, everything would be a lot easier.

"I... I'm gonna be going away for a while," she said. Angie looked at her, confused and worried. Kacie didn't give any more information yet.

"What does that mean, Kacie? You're leaving me? You're quitting gymnastics, moving? What?" She asked. There were tears in her eyes already, she had already lost so many people, Angie was unsure if she could take the loss of any more.

"I..." Kacie didn't know how to word it.
"I'm running away." Angie stared at her.

"That's really funny, Kacie. Now what's going on?" She asked. She didn't believe it for a second, or she didn't want to, at least.

"I'm sorry, Angie. You know how hard this is going to be for me, but I need to. And I'm gonna try to take Darry with me," Kacie said.

"Do you think he'll go?" Angie questioned in response. Kacie thought about it for a second. She'd been wondering the same thing for a little while now, since she decided that this is what she would do. It was all starting to feel real, she just didn't know if she would go if he didn't come with.

"I... I dunno. Even if he doesn't, I kinda have to. If I don't, I'm just going to be stuck. Nothing'll change," she tried to explain. She didn't even know how to word correctly what she was doing. It sounded wrong, like she was giving up on everything, when in reality it was just the opposite. She wasn't exactly "running away", she was just leaving. And for a good cause.

"I don't understand," Angie whispered, upset. Except she did understand. She understood how selfish she was. Although she rarely talked about it, Kacie had said things about her home life before. About her mean step-sister, and terrible "parents", and Angie knew she wanted to leave. In fact, she thought that if she needed to, she should. She knew what her situation was like and would do anything to get her out of it. It still hurt, though, knowing that she was going to, though, and Angie would be losing the only stable person in her life. She'd never had a friend as long as she'd had Kacie, her ballet and gymnastics just took up too much time to keep up with having a social life. All she'd ever had were her parents, and that wasn't much to brag about.

"I'm sorry, Angie," Kacie said. She was just as upset as the younger girl. She felt as if she was betraying someone whom she might call one of the most important people in her life. But she didn't tell her that.

"You know what, Ang? I'm sorry for having to do this, but I have an idea. Maybe I can make it up up you," Kacie said, taking her hand. She faked a smile, hoping her tears didn't ruin her makeup.

"Where are we going?" Angie asked, sniffling. Kacie pointed towards Darry in the stands. Angie knew immediately what was going on.

"No! Please don't, Kace. I'm not ready," she whispered. Kacie pulled her along.

"He's nice, Angie. Don't look so nervous!" Kacie responded. Angie put on her best smile, wiping at her red eyes.

"Hey," Kacie said to Darry and his friends when she got over to them. She sat on Darry's lap, kissing his cheek, and patted the seat next to them for Angie.

"Guys," Kacie spoke. "I don't think you've met my friend. Angie, these are Ponyboy, Soda, Dally and Johnny. Guys, this is Angie." She pointed to them all individually, wondering in the back of her head why Steve and Two-Bit weren't there.

"Nice to meet you," Ponyboy said. Johnny nodded with him. Darry smiled at her. They'd met before.

"You did pretty good out there, Angela," Dally said.

"Pretty good?" Angie asked, not correcting her name. "I'm the best gymnast in Oklahoma. I think I did a little better than pretty good." Kacie smiled, all of her nerves gone. Obviously, Angie's were too. For a moment there, Kacie felt completely at ease.

A/N: Angie is my baby and she and Dally are my OTP and I just want to start her story already but it's 4 years in the future and there are too many spoilers. Anyways, predictions on Kacie? Let me know!