Chapter Text
I bolted up as I heard the door open, Darry was home. Finally.
"Darry!" I said as he kicked his shoes off and went to the kitchen. I followed him there, leaning on the stove as Johnny followed behind me. "What's up, little buddy?" He said dismissively. More focused on putting the dishes away. He usually used 'Kitty Buddy' For Sodapop. But I guess he got a little used to calling me that too, so I didn't mention it.
I stood up a little straighter. "I got paired up with someone for a class project, I needa go over to his house for it." I stated, he turned to me with a raised eyebrow. "Who?" he asked. I Thought for a few seconds. "Al..lie? Yea, Allie Hills." The name sounded weird, but I don't think I had a say on that. I guess it just wasn't familiar.
Darry looked like he was racking his mind for the name. But it blanked. "He's new, moved here from Texas." I explained. Johnny tried to flip a bottle, it hit the table with a thump. Then he tried again. Darrell was still thinking. Then finally he spoke. "I dunno, Pone.." He drawled out.
I frowned "It's just for a project, I'll be back in an hour!" I argued, I wasn't sure why I cared so much. But I also didn't wanna fail. "Where does he live?" Darry sighed, crossing his arms. "West side." I replied. Johnny looked up, blinking a few times. "West side?" He repeated, a flicker of concern.
"The West side?" Darry said with finality. His face hardened, I could almost see the gears turning. "Its not THAT far!" I insisted, contradicting my own thoughts before."I don't know, what if some Socs eye you? You never know." He said in an almost worried tone. I sighed a little. "What if you drive me there? I can't get jumped in a car, or walking distance from the car to his front door." I suggested.
There was another moment of silence, Johnny gave me a look, not a mean look, or a worried one, just a look. "Fine, I'll drive you there. I'll pick you up in an hour." Darry declared sternly. "You coming', Johnny?" Johnny gave a short nod as Darry grabbed his keys.
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Darry eyed the streets with a suspicious look, almost cautiously. He mumbled under his breath every so often.
"So um, whatcha gonna do for the project?" Johnny asked, trying to lighten the mood with conversation. I shrugged, I wasn't even sure what time I was supposed to show up. "We could...make a model?" I said in an unsure voice. Would Allie want to do a model? I thought it was the easiest, but did he?
A few minutes passed until the car stopped. I looked for the white house with the dark blue door. "Remember, I'll be back in an hour. Nothing later." Darrell reminded, pursing his lips as I opened the door. "Okay, Bye Johnny. Bye Dar." I said before crossing the door.
I strolled over to the door as I heard the car slowly drive off. I wondered if I was supposed to come later, or earlier? It was 4pm, that as usual time, right? I finally gained some courage and knocked on the door.
I waited before I heard footsteps going down and then the door swung open. "O-oh, hey, Ponyboy." I heard Allie say. "Thought you wouldn't show." He tried to joke, laughing awkwardly. He moved aside. "Come in, come in." He quietly murmured, moving aside as I ushered myself inside.
"Uh, let's go up to my room?" He suggested, I nodded. "Sounds good."
I followed himself upstairs and into his room. It seemed dirtier then mine, sorta like Soda's before he moved in with me. "Sorry for the mess, I wasn't sure when you'd arrive so I..just...forgot." Allie explain, moving his sweater aside for us to sit.
I slowly sat down, looking at anything but him. But I eventually turned to look at him. "What are you're ideas for the project?" I questioned, drumming my fingers against my knees. "Like, what are you thinking?"
Allie perked up. "Uhh...I'm not really sure." he admitted, giving me a small shrug. "We could do an essay? Or something like that. Wilson won't give us an F before school ends, right?"
I nodded in acknowledgement. "Guess so..." I mumbled. An essay didn't seem so bad.
The door creaked open, we both turned to look at it. 'Maybe a younger sibling?' I thought. "Enid!" Allie exclaimed as he stood up, I leaned froward. It was a dog (Enid?). She had short black fur with light brown fur on her chest with pointy ears. Doberman, I assumed. I remembered a dog I used to have, a small chihuahua, Mimi. We had to get rid of her after Mom and Dad died since we couldn't afford her anymore.
I stood up. "You've got a dog?" I said, well obviously. He nodded quickly. I took a step back as she tried to jump on me, her tail wagging something furious while smiling. Did dogs smile? Cause she seemed too. "Sorry..." Allie said in embarrassment. "She likes to play."
"It's fine." I insisted. Enid walked around, before picking a pretty messed up owl toy. "Think she wants to play." I said, starting to smile. The project was forgotten as we focused more on playing with a dog. Allie tossed me a ball. I bounced it, Enid looked up as it jumped, then looked down as it hit the ground. Then repeated a few times.
Allie grinned. "We've always gotta buy her new toys, nothing ever lats." He said, watching as Enid played with the same ripped plush.
We both sat in silence. I glanced at him, before my eyes flickered back to the dog. "Sooo....' my voice trailed off, I picked at my nails. "Sooo..?" Allie repeated.
"Um, got any siblings?" I asked. Allie shrugged nonchalantly. "No, I've got a lot of cousins though." He revealed. "I've got two brothers." I commented.
Allie grinned. "I wish I had brothers, or maybe sisters.." He smirked. I made a grimace. "Hopefully you'd get some that don't holler at you." I remarked, Allie hummed. He turned to look at Enid, who was still chewing on the poor toy. Before turning back to me. "Are we...like friends??" He asked hesitantly.
I thought for a few seconds, well, were we? I supposed we sorta were? Well, I was at his house, and in his room, and I played with his dog. So we were...kinda friends? "Yea, I guess we are, are we?" I said. I felt bad for staying 'I guess'. I bit my lip. "Yea..we are friends. You're my friend." I stated.
Allie broke out a wide smile. "Your my friend too" he cocked his head to the side, his eyebrows furrowing a little. "Yea.." I mutter.
There was a loud knock on the door, making Enid look up and both of us were slightly startled. "Must be my brother." I said with a small laugh. Allie nodded slowly. "Oh, yea. Well we should probably meet him." We both stood up and strutted downstairs. Sure enough, Darry was standing there.
"Um..well, bye?" I waved slightly. "I'll see you at school." I finally said before following Darry into the truck. "So how was it?" he asked, steering out of his spot.
I shrugged. "It was okay.." I replied. I looked out the window. We were friends, and I really liked that.