Take Me Back to Where We Started

I woke up and looked at the clock. It said 7:40. "Fuck." I got up and kicked Dallas. "Hey, get up. We're late for school."

He rolled over onto his stomach. "Fuck off."

I folded the blankets that I was using, then tried getting Dally up again. "Come on. I've been late almost everyday for the past two weeks. If I have to sit through another detention I'm gonna fucking go crazy."

"Get me a clean shirt."

"Fold those blankets when you get up." I ran up the stairs and into my cousins room. She already left for work. I went into her dresser and looked for one of her boyfriends shirts. Once I found one I went back downstairs. "What the fuck is that?" I looked at the ball of blankets that Dally "folded" on the couch.

"That's as good as it gets."

I threw him the shirt, then realized that all of my books were at home. "I don't even have a pencil."

"You don't HAVE to go to school." He said.

"What else am I gonna do?" I asked him.

"You could make me breakfast."

"I don't wanna be a buzz kill Dally, but I can't not go to school. I'm already gonna be in trouble, I don't feel like giving my Mom and Dad something else to yell at me for." I went into the kitchen and found a pen, then stuck it behind my ear. "Well, are you coming or not?" I asked Dallas.

"I guess. I don't have anything better to do." I followed him out the door. I was trying to think of something to talk about, but I couldn't think of anything. So, I decided to ask him about last night.

"So…about last night…" He cut me off.

"Didn't mean nothin', you know that right? I was a little buzzed."

"Buzzed?" I started laughing. "You had a beer and a half. A ten year old child wouldn't even get buzzed off of that."

"Alright, alright. Still didn't mean anything."

"You know what I think?" I asked him. He didn't say anything. "I think you're madly in love with me."

He turned his head to the right and looked down at me while we were walking. "Okay, well, you know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think it's the other way around, sweet heart."

I laughed. "Ugh, you're right. I can't help myself, you're just such a gentleman. You had me at "get the fuck out."

"When did I say that?" He asked.

"At that party. When I threw up all over your shit…you know what I just realized? You punched that guy last night after he said something to me."

"That's not why I hit him." He said. "Me and Shepard always do that. We just both like fights, that's all. Don't flatter yourself."

"I mean, if that's what helps you sleep at night, but really, it's not healthy to lie to yourself like this. We both know that deep down, you love me."

He took out a cigarette and lit it, then pushed me. "Look, there's school. Go annoy someone in there."

"I thought you said you were going too?" I asked him.

"Yeah, well. I lied. But, while I have you here. You wanna go out sometime?" He asked me.

"You just told me that that kiss, if you even wanna consider it that, last night didn't mean anything. And now you're asking me out?"

He raised his eyebrows. "So that's a no?"

"No. That's a yes. Friday?" I asked him.

"Friday? I was thinking tonight."

"I gotta talk to my parents tonight. Friday's not that far away. You'll live." I heard the bell ring.

"Where am I meeting you? What time?" He asked.

"I don't know. I'll figure it out." I turned around and walked into school. My English class had already started when I opened the door. I walked into my seat and sat down next to Randy. The teacher started taking attendance.

"What was that?" Randy whispered.

I looked over at him. "What? What was what?"

He rolled his eyes at me. "That. Outside. I saw you with Dallas Winston. Did he try makin' a move on you or something? Let me know and I'll…"

I cut him off. "No, Randy. He was just asking me a question. Not a big deal."

"It is a big deal. He shouldn't even be lookin' at you."

"He can look wherever he wants. I'm not gonna listen to this shit all period." I said, a little louder than I should have. Randy looked at me, then turned forward. He didn't talk to me the rest of class, or the rest of the day for that matter. Once the final bell rang I made my way out of school. I didn't see Caitlin or Trish all day, so I decided to walk home.

"Get in." I looked next to me and saw Randy's car. "I need to talk to you." I opened the front door and climbed into the car.

"What do you wanna talk about?" I asked him.

"You lied to me. You were with Dallas on Friday night. Don't try to tell me that you weren't."

I thought for a second. "I…I never said that I wasn't with him on Friday." I said, trying to defend myself.

"Why? Why were you with him?"

"Who told you this? Paul? I wasn't with him. I just fell asleep on his floor. And why do you care?"

Randy pounded the steering wheel. "What do you mean why do I care? You can't tell, Nicole? I thought that I was making it pretty obvious."

I looked at him. "What?"

"I like you. A lot."

I took a deep breath, then let it out. "Look, Randy, I'm sorry. I really had no idea. You know that I would never wanna hurt you but I…"

"Don't tell me you like him."

Randy sounded hurt so I decided to lie to him. "No. I don't like him. I was just trying to make my Dad mad. There's nothing going on between me and Dallas Winston."

He sighed. "Thank God. I don't want you talking to him again. I was worried about you."

"Yeah." That annoyed me, but I didn't feel like arguing. So, I dropped it.

"So, what are you doing Friday?"

Fuck. "I'm just gonna stay in, I think. Lot of homework."

"It's Tuesday. How do you know that you'll have a lot of homework on Friday?" He asked me.

We pulled up in front of my house. "I just gotta feeling." I got out and shut the car door, then walked into the house. I was so happy to get away from Randy that I almost forgot I was about to get my ass handed to me. I walked into the living room and saw Paul sitting on the couch. "Hi."

"Where have you been?" He asked me.

"Krysta's." I went over and sat down on the couch across from him.

"You're fucking up."

"What are you talking about?" I asked him.

"Getting involved with that hood. I'm only gonna tell you one more time. You better stop it now."

"I'm not involved with him, Paul. We made a deal. I used him to make Dad mad." I knew that this was the only way to get my brother to stop bothering me about Dallas.

"So, you're not really dating him?"

"No." I said. "It was all a lie. Does that make you feel better?"

"Yeah. It does. But it was still stupid. I'll explain it to Dad. He doesn't even wanna look at you right now. Go upstairs, it's for your own good. Trust me."

Even though Paul explained the whole thing to my Dad, he still wouldn't talk to me. He spent both Wednesday and Thursday in his office avoiding me. Apparently, he was hurt that I would do that to him. My brother tried to make me feel bad about it, but it didn't bother me. It wasn't until Thursday night that I realized I had a date with Dallas tomorrow. I also realized that I didn't know when and where I was meeting him. I ran down the stairs, then remembered Dally's jacket. I ran back up and got it.

"Mom, can I take the car? I need to run over to Caitlin's quickly. She has one of my shirts and I wanna wear it tomorrow." Luckily, my Mom was talking to me unlike my Dad.

"Sure, just get back before your father gets home, please. Who's jacket is that?"

I got the keys, then walked out the door and ignored her question. I drove over to the North side and tried to remember how to get to Buck Merrill's. I drove in circles for a while, but somehow I ended up finding it. I knocked on the door.

"Can I help you?"

"Buck, right?" I asked the guy at the door.

"Who are you?"

"I'm looking for Dallas. Is he here?"

"Hey, aren't you that Soc who came here with Two Bit?"

I nodded my head. He opened the door and told me to come in. Buck was having another party, but it wasn't as crowded as the one that I was at before.

"Dal isn't here. You want me to give him a message or somethin'?" He asked me.

'Uh…do you have a piece of paper and a pen?"

He nodded his head towards the bar so I followed him. He gave me a napkin and a pen.

"Dally's room is upstairs to the right?"

He nodded his head. I went upstairs and turned to the right. Like Buck said, Dallas wasn't in there. I sat down on the bed and wrote on the napkin.

"Meet me at the DX tomorrow at 7."

I put the note on top of the jacket, then left them both on the bed. I pushed the door open to leave when I felt it smack into someone on the other side.

"Ow. What the fuck?" Dallas swung the door open and cocked his arm back. He put it down once he saw me. "What the fuck are you doin'?" He walked into the room holding his nose.

I was laughing. "My bad. I was dropping off your jacket."

He sat down on the bed. "You wanna meet at a gas station tomorrow? Romantic."

"You have anywhere else in mind?" I asked him.

"Well. Maybe I could pick you up. There's these things called cars."

"Oh, well then yeah! Pick me up. I'm sick of walking everywhere. I just didn't think you'd have a car." He stared at me. "Ah shit. I'm sorry. That came out wrong."

"Yeah, it did. But it's not even really my car. It's Buck's."

I remembered that I had to be home before my Dad. "So, pick me up at 7?" I asked him.

"You're leaving?" He asked me.

"Yeah, I gotta get home before my Dad gets home. Don't be late tomorrow, and we're gonna try to avoid my Dad." I walked out of the room.

"You don't wanna stay with me tonight?"

I turned around and faced him. "No, not really."

"Why not?" He asked.

"Because, Dally. We haven't even been on a date yet. I'll see you tomorrow."

"We don't have to fuck, I wouldn't mind it if we did, but we don't have to."

"Maybe you'll get lucky tomorrow." I slapped him lightly on the cheek, then left. Luckily, I got home before my Dad and I went right to my room and stayed there for the rest of the night. Instead of sleeping, I spent most of the night thinking about Dally. I told my whole family and Randy that there was nothing going on between me and Dally, but I knew that it wasn't true.

"I'm leaving in five minutes, whether you're in the car or not." I woke up to the sound of my brother's voice. I quickly got ready for school, then headed to his car.

"What are you doing tonight? I heard Randy's having a party. I'm gonna head over there. Want a ride?" My brother asked me.

"I already have plans. Thanks, though."

"Who do you have plans with?"

I knew I couldn't say Caitlin or Trish because they were most likely gonna be at Randy's. "This girl in my Physics class. I have a lot of homework and she's gonna help me with it." I figured for my own sake, I should try to get the lies that I told both Randy and Paul to match up, because I knew that they were gonna talk about me tonight.

The last bell of the day rang as I got out of my seat and made my way to my locker.

"You sure you don't wanna come over tonight?" Randy asked me.

"Yeah. I'm really sorry."

"Seven?" I heard a familiar voice ask from behind me.

I turned around and saw Dallas. I looked over at Randy, then back to Dallas. "Yep, seven." Dally nodded, then walked away.

"Seven?" Randy asked. "Seven what? Why is he still talking to you?"

"He uh…he owes me seven dollars. I bought him a pack of cigarettes."

Randy narrowed his eyes. "A seven dollar pack of cigarettes?"

"I bought him a couple packs, Randy. Jesus Christ." I shut my locker and walked away from him. Since Paul didn't have football today, I had a ride home.

"You remember that Darry guy? Darry Curtis?" My brother asked when I got in the car.

It took me a few seconds, but I remembered him. "Yeah. He graduated a couple years ago, right?"

"Yeah. He was a senior when I was a freshman and we played football together. I saw him today. I left school at lunch and saw him working on a house. He really fucked up his life, huh?"

"What do you mean he fucked up his life?" I asked him.

"He was a good ball player. I heard he got a few offers back then. Now he's roofing houses. Idiot."

I didn't know him, or either of his brothers for that matter. But I remembered when his parents died. His one brother dropped out of school. "His parents died, Paul. Don't be a dick."

I got out of the car and walked into the house and into my room. I looked at the clock and saw that I had four hours to get ready for my date with Dally, and to me, getting ready in four hours seemed like rushing.