twenty-seven

—

i jump up to my door being slammed open. darry standing in the entry.

"what the hell is he doing in here?" he asks angrily, but not yelling..yet.

dallas gets up, rubbing his head "hey, dare."

"annalise i told you i don't care about you two bein together but you're still in my house! i did not allow you two to-"

"we didn't do anything!" i say, cutting him off. he'd make it awkward if he had continued his sentence.

i get up and walk toward darry, leading him outside my door, shutting it behind me. "we just talked, thats it, i promise."

he sighs "when he's around you keep your door open, you hear me?"

i nod and he walks away. i walk back into my room, shutting my door behind me.

"door open!" i hear darry shout from the living room. right.

i open it then sit back on my bed with dallas. "i'm exhausted" i say, lying my head back on his chest as he rests his against the headboard, arms behind it.

he hums, agreeing. "i better split, huh?"

i look up at him, not wanting him to leave. "no, no..stay this time" i say, more as a question.

he smiles, stroking my face with his thumb. "i guess."

"don't make me wake up with an empty bed this time" i say, pouting.

"i cant make any promises like that, my love."

we fall asleep in each other's arms, wrapped in my warm and cozy blankets, the light from the hall peering inside my room.

—WEDNESDAY

i'm woken up to rustling in my bed. dallas must've been trying to leave. i tighten my grip on his arm, not letting him up.

"oh, come on, curtis" he whispers, trying to pull away. too tired to answer, and knowing he wouldn't go to school with me or anything, i sigh and let go.

he gets off the bed and walks around, planting a kiss on my forehead. "have a good day, doll" he says and then leaves out of my window.

i open my eyes, glancing at the time on the clock. an hour before i have to leave, i hear darry making breakfast outside.

i sit up and stretch, letting out a groan. i get up and open my curtains, the sun shining in.

i run my eyes and rake my hand through my hair, walking outside of my room.

"good morning!" darry says, plating the food. i smile at him "mornin."

"dal sure is a loud snorer" pony says annoyed, bags under his eyes.

i laugh "he's not any worse than darry or soda" i take a seat at the dining table with him.

sodapop comes out from his room, dressed in his work clothes. "mornin, annie" he greets, ruffling my hair.

we sit and eat breakfast, talking about our plans for the day just like we do every morning. nothing special.

after eating, i walk back into my room, finally being able to close my door and get dressed.

i find dallys brown leather jacket sitting on my floor. i pick it up with a smile, knowing i'll be wearing it today.

i put on a black turtle neck, dark blue jeans and throw his jacket on top. i make sure his christopher is visible.

i strut out of my room, and get funny looks from my brothers. "ain't that dallys?" pony asks.

i nod "yes, he left it."

"it's a bit big on you, don't ya think?" darry says, opening the front door for us.

"it's warm and comfortable. it's fine" i say bluntly and walk out the door, soda and pony following behind me.

we get in the car and it's a pretty quiet ride to school. once we arrived, we say our goodbyes and soda drives off.

—

school couldn't have gone by any slower. i miss dallas dearly. hayden doesn't seem to be too interested in talking to me anymore, which is whatever, it's not like we're close.

i thought the day would go by quicker since i was looking forward to seeing dallas, but it just made it painfully slower. i couldn't get him out of my head.

i walk out, gazing the crowd of students for ponyboy. unable to find him, i assume he's waiting in the car.

i go to the parking lot and scan through the cars, unable to find ours; though my eyes land on a familiar one.

a beat up black ford custom deluxe. i bite my lower lip nervously as the boy gets out of the car.

devin.

i look around, wondering if there's anyone else he could possibly be here for. when i look back at him, he waves me over.

taking a sharp breath, i begin my way over, careful not to bump my bag into any of the other cars.

"annalise, good to see you" he says, coming closer to me.

"what are you doing here?" i ask, wrapping my hands around my backpack straps.

he scratches the back of his neck "i really wanna talk to you.."

i look down at my feet and kick the gravel. i need to go the store and get a new lighter and a pack. maybe he can take me. "fuck, why not" i say as i go around and get in the passenger seat.

"can we go to the store?" i ask as he begins pulling out of the school.

"yeah, yeah, of course" he says nervously and heads down the right direction.

the car ride is awkward. i just wanna get this over with. "what did you wanna talk about?" i ask while we're at a stop light.

he looks over to me and scans my outfit. he looks forward again, biting his lip and shaking his head. "just thought i should apologize.."

i pull dallas' jacket over my body more "for what?"

"just uh- the way i acted, i guess" he responds, tapping his finger on the wheel, his ring making a little noise against it.

he looks over at me with a concerned look when i don't respond. he parks in front of the store. "you want me to come?"

i say sure, it would've been a little odd if i had asked him to come and just have him sit in the car..i mean, i really didn't care to talk to him, just needed to get my things.

we walk in together and i go up and ask for a cigarette pack and a lighter. they tell me the cost and i begin taking out my change, but devin slides his up quickly.

i look up at him "you don't need to-"

"it's fine, really. i owe it to ya" he says, moving his hair out of his eyes.

i thank the guy behind the desk and walk out, devin following behind me. we get back in the car. awkward silence filling the space once again.

"you know," i pipe up "you didn't need to apologize. i feel really shitty about what i did- i mean- i really did like you, dev, but..i don't know; i just didn't wanna hurt you like i did."

he shakes his head, taking my cigarette pack from me and lighting one. "it's cool."

i laugh and snatch it back, taking one out myself. "friends?" i ask, blowing the smoke out of my mouth.

he looks up at me with a smile, then i watch his expression drop quickly. just before i turn around, someone knocks on the window.