Ashley Curtis... Ponyboy's sister...

If Darry yells at me, shame on him If Soda does... - chapter 16

Sodapop marched me to my old room. This morning, Soda and Darry must have dragged my bed out of the attic. Soda shoved me on the bed and stormed out, without a word, slamming the door behind him.

I crossed my arms, and stomped my foot. The sound of my foot banging on the wood echoed through my house. It sounded like it could have been the big bang or the shot heard round the world.

A few minutes later, Darry walked in. I looked up to see that there was blood on his knuckles. I couldn't tell if it was his blood or Dally's. And if it was his, it could tell that he hurt himself hitting Dally, not the over way around. Dallas was too scared to hurt Darry. Much too scared.

"Ashley..." Darry said in a low, irritated voice. "...Why?..."

"Why, what?" I muttered, rolling my eyes. "What did I do wrong this time?" Sodapop walked in and stood in the door way.

Soda just looked at me. "You know what you did wrong." he said, tapping his foot.

"I don't see that I did anything wrong." I said, "You'll have to tell me. Go ahead."

"I said: No boys!" Darry said, "And what did you do? Wait,... I don't want to know." He turned away. He left the room. He walked and walked and walked. Sodapop followed him. He looked at me,... sad. Sadder than I've ever seen him. He shook his head, leaving and slamming the door behind him. I laid down, watched the ceiling. I groaned... I growled...

And hour later, I heard a knock at the door. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" I screamed, "GET OUT OF MY LIFE!!!"

I heard another knock directly following the first followed by, "It's me." Ponyboy. It was Ponyboy.

"Come in." I said, not completely thrilled. What if Darry sent him.

Pony walked in the room with a slice of chocolate cake. He sat next to me and handed me the plate.

I gave it back to him. "No thanks." I said.

He took the plate and put it on the table. I must have been shivering because he put his jacket over me and put his arm around me. "You okay, Ash?" he said.

"Not really." I said, looking down.

He put a finger on my nose, making me giggle. I looked up, smiling. "You always know what to do, Pony."

"I know." he said lighting up a cigarette. "I'm your brother, I have to." I took the cigarette out of his mouth and put it out. He looked at me slightly annoyed.

"I'm your sister," I said, "I have to." He smiled, rolling his eyes. He knew that I hated to see him smoke. Sometimes he just forgot.

"So," he said, "...Dally?" he said, looking at me funny.

"Yeah." I said, ignoring the fact that he found Dally repulsive. "He's just... Different... He's a bad guy,... But... He has this light to him... A heart of gold." I looked up to see that Ponyboy was still looking at me funny. "Stop that!" I said, jokingly socking him in the arm.

He shrugged. "Well," he said, "I've known Dallas Winston for more than three days, so,... I kinda don't trust him."

I glared at him, crossing my arms.

He put his arms up, defensively. "B-But I might be wrong. I might be wrong."

"He's a good person, Pony... Really good. He-he just ain't got the best life goin' for him. If it wasn't for Johnny,... He wouldn't have a thing. I want to give him more to care about in life. More to wish for... More promise for the world... Pony, remember that poem you like? The one about gold not lasting?"

"Yeah," he said, shrugging.

"Well," I said, "I know it can't and won't stay. I know that maybe a long time ago, Dally might have been gold. I also know that we should try to keep the people that we care about gold for as long as possible. Understand?"

"Yeah," he said, "but why him? Why Dally? You could try to keep anyone gold... Why him?"

"Because Dally's the only one who really needs it."

"What about Johnny?"

"Everyone loves Johnny and he knows it... You tell Johnny you care about him, don't ya?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Do you care about Dally?"

"Yeah,... I guess."

"And you told him that?"

"Well,... No-"

"-Exactly... He doesn't know that anybody cares about him, other than Johnny... And... I do care about him... I've seen two different sides of Dallas Winston... The one y'all see... That's not the side of him that I'm talking about... You get it?"

"Yeah," Ponyboy said, smiling. "I get it... And... I'll tell Darry and Soda to go to hell... I'm on your side, sis." he kissed me on the forehead and headed out the door. (As you might have noticed, that's the only way that my brothers say bye and I love you)

Once I was alone, I heard a knock on the window. I turned to see Dally, outside, waiting for me. I opened the window.

"Look," I said, startling him. "I ain't no Rapunzel. And you ain't no prince. Let's act like greasers. K?" He giggled at my little joke.

Then, I asked. "How much did you here?" He smiled and kissed me.

"Just enough." he said.

That was my first kiss. I've been through high school and college... But that was still my first kiss.

"I love you, Dally." I blurted out.

"I love you, too, Ashley."

We just stood there... Gazing into each other's eyes... Neither of us dared to blink.

Then, I heard a deep, much calmer than earlier, voice call, "Ash, who ya talkin' to?"

"No one!" I called back, snapping Dally out of his trans.

"You better go." I told Dally, "If Darry finds out-"

"If he finds out, I'll set the record straight and tell him that I really care about you. Okay?"

"No," I said, grabbing his hand. I looked into his eyes. "I don't want him to hurt you. Leave..." I smirked, "I'll call ya later. Okay?"

He hesitated. I started to hear the sound of Darry walking down the hallway. "Okay." Dally said, blushing. "I-I love you."

"I love you, too." I whispered, closing the window. I watched him run down the street, yelling, "SHE LOVES ME! SHE LOVES ME! SHE LOVES ME!!!" I couldn't help but giggle. I stopped when the door started creeping opened. I put my head down and pretended that I had been crying.

I love you, too, Dally...