Cadaverous Love

Chapter Twenty-two

"Why'd you guys buy so much?" Johnny asks Soda.

"There's seven grown," Darry says and then turns to Ponyboy, "and growing guys here, and we all know that each of our stomachs count as two. Also, the girls eat a fair share as well."

"Yah- don't forget that Em eats like a horse." Dallas chimes in. Two merely laughs to himself and puts a hand on Ponyboy's shoulder.

"And I guess you could say this one here eats like a pony." He winks as a small rush of laughter fills the room. Pony's ears turn really red, "oh I'm just playin' kid. Ponyboy is a very nice, original name."

I rest my head on the table and let out a long breath I didn't realize I was holding in.

"You're not going to start crying now, are you?" Dallas says loudly. It might seem like a question you could ask when you are concerned about someone, but it's not when it's coming from Dallas.

"No," I respond shortly.

"What's for dinner?" Someone asks- I don't care enough to lift my head up to see who's talking.

"Oh yeah, pizza." I can tell it's Vicky who's talking, she has a very distinctive- but sweet- voice.

"Pizza?" Dallas's low, almost strained voice spreads through the air thick and loud, "how are we suppose to make pizza?"

"It's easy, I'll show you guys everything."

--

After Vicky and Sodapop gathered all of the ingredients and she went through the basics- I stopped listening after 'First you have to-"- we all find space to actually make them.

Dallas stands next to me; Morgan and Pony on the other side of the table, and Johnny on the left side; Steve secluded himself in the corner of the small kitchen, as if making pizza is a fine art that needs to be handled correctly; and Soda, Darry, Two-bit and Vicky share the small amount of counter space.

Vicky puts three medium sized balls of dough on the table. Dallas takes a hold of one.

"Oh my gosh," I say to him, "when is the last time you've washed your hands?"

"Uhhhh-"

"Don't worry, Emily," Vicky assures me with a slight laugh, "any germs should be killed when we put the pizzas in the oven."

"I hope so," Steve says, "we all know where Dally's hands have been." Quiet laughter fills the room, and one heavy chuckle from Dallas.

"That's not very funny." Darry responds, a sense of urgency in his voice.

--

Everyone follows the instructions pretty well. Pony and Morgan are talking quietly, Johnny silently puts tomato sauce on his pizza and I can't pay much attention to any one else besides Dallas. Whom is smacking his hands down in the flour like a toddler.

"Hey," he says to me. Turning to face him, he puts floured covered hands on each side of my face, leaving white handprints on my cheeks. I run my fingers through a glob of tomato sauce and wipe it across his small nose.

"This isn't a game-" Darry starts. By this time, I don't think it matters what he says, because everybody else has joined in too. Throwing toppings, getting cheese stuck in hair, tomato sauce running down faces and the backs of necks and flour absolutely everywhere. I turn to put a piece of pepperoni down Sodapop's shirt, and for a split second feel pressure on my chest. I dash over to the other side of the table before he can throw something at me.

In the midst of the chaos, there stand Morgan and Ponyboy holding and kissing each other like it's their last night together.

My heart sinks a little as I long for a relationship like this of my own. But snap back to reality when I can feel sauce drip down my arm.

"Okay! Okay, enough!" Darry yells, causing us all to stop. He has flour in his hair and just a slight smirk across his face. Turning to me, his expression drops, and his lips turn into a thin line.

"What?" I ask. He just continues to stare at me. I look all around the room. Everybody else looks like they are about to burst into laughter, I can feel my face burn. As I turn my head to face Dallas, who is on the other side of the table. He winks at me and holds his flour covered hands up in the air.

I look down and there are two white handprints on my dark blue t-shirt, planted right on my chest. I smack a hand to my forehead as my face burns like fire. Everybody merely laughs, except Darry who by then has thrown his arms up in the air and giving Dallas a talk about respecting women.

As if that would ever happen.

But how in the hell did I not notice? I bury my face in my hands and silently separate from the rest of the group to go change my shirt.

--

Everybody enjoyed the pizza, but Steve was perplexed by Morgan's odd topping choice. "Chicken just doesn't belong on a pizza."

I'm still a little embarrassed by what happened earlier. I don't think I would of been that embarrassed if Darry wasn't there, he just puts this kind of pressure on you that makes you want to jump to the bottom of a lake.

We are all spread out evenly throughout the main part of the cabin. Pony and Morgan sitting close together on the couch; I sit next to Dallas, who's back is up against the couch where the two love birds lay. Johnny talks quietly with Sodapop, who would probably prefer to be messing around with Steve, but is too kind hearted to turn down a rare conversation. Darry is relaxing in a chair, a little separated from everybody else; Steve is frustrated with the puzzle left almost completed by Ponyboy. Pony must of gotten angered with it as well, he's not one to leave things unfinished. Last, but not least, Two-bit and Vicky are not too far off, sharing laughs and wise-ass talk with each other, "a conversation that nobody but them can understand." As Ponyboy has put it.

I pull a pillow off of Morgan's foot and throw it on Dallas's lap. I'll be surprised if he doesn't kill me for this.

I lay my head down on the pillow and try to focus in on the slow chirp of the crickets and the ruffling leaves outside. He merely sets a hand on my arm.

I open my eyes to reveal a dark and almost eerily quiet scene. I must of fallen asleep, because I'm in bed and Dallas is next to me sprawled out in the most uncomfortable and complicated way- I can't even begin to explain. He rolls around a few times until his breath is on my neck and arm is thrown over me. My heart skips a beat and slowly I let the darkness of the night bring me into a heavy sleep.