Categories > Books > Outsiders > Running In The Dark
Dallas Breaks A Routine
1 reviewA look into the routine that Dallas has fallen into, and his first mistake as a Guardian.
1Original
Chapter 2: Dallas Breaks a Routine
The next few days passed in a rather set routine. Alice would go to bed, only a few hours from the next morning and her alarm clock, which sat on her desk would go off at six in the morning, waking both Alice and Dally up. Dally would stretch as Alice smacked the alarm clock and groaned, letting her arm fall over the edge of the bed and brush the floor. After a minute, she would sit up, yawn and push the covers back, getting out of bed and walking out of her room and turning right into the bathroom.
Dally would then walk out of her room and sit in the living room, watching her mother make breakfast. Her mother was a hassled looking woman, the worry lines and crows feet evident on her face. Her eyes were tired and her brown hair, which one looked like Alice's, had dulled and gray peppered the area around her forhead. Alice always ate toast with butter and strawberry or grape jelly for breakfast, while Jean would make coffee and eat a bagel.
When Dally heard the bathroom door open and close, he would stand up and walk to Alice's door. If it was closed, she was still getting dressed, so he would wait. For the first time in a long time, Dallas Winston had no dirty thoughts about a girl or felt the desire to spy on her. Sometimes, she would listen to a record with a small record player that had once been her brother's. It was usually something upbeat or mo-town, like Ray Charles or the occasional Elvis. When Alice started singing along, it was usually a sign that she was at least part way dressed and Dally would reappear in her room.
He would look at the pictures hanging on the wall. Most of them were of him. Sometimes she would talk, explaining why she was drawing him all the time. "You're fun to draw," she explained. "There are so many different things. The emotion on your face, in your eyes, your body language. You're a very interesting person Dallas."
Her clothes were usually the same. The normal long skirt, blouse and saddle shoes. Dally sometimes looked through her closet. Where fasion was concerned, Alice did a good job of keeping up. She had shorter skirts, ones that reached her knee, colorful shoes, pants, bell-bottoms (only one pair), different blouses and t-shirts, the occasional dress, and in her drawers (which he went through when she wasn't looking) were the normal colorful socks and shorts or capri's. She had a bathing suit too, green with white polka-dots.
Dally had grinned like a maniac when he had found it. It was a two piece.
Once Alice was dressed, she stood in front of her mirror, brushed her hair and usually put a ribbon in it, keeping her hair out of her face. Then she'd put on blue eye-shadow (She had muttered that green was such an ugly color for eyeshadow) and mascara and she would be done. Her lips were pink enough and she was already pale.
Then she would bounce downstairs (She always had a bounce in her step when she went down or up stairs) and she would eat her breakfast, run upstairs, brush her teeth and grab her school books. Then with a kiss and a wave, she'd be out the door and off to school.
Dally followed her to school at Leann's suggestion to get to know her and her friends better. Her school was large, incredibly large, and he was surprised she didn't get lost, though occasionally she would dash through the halls to make it to class on time. Alice went to Cook Highschool and apparently knew the place like the back of her hand. She would never mutter things that he could listen to around here and he would sometimes put a large distance between himself and her so he could watch how she was without him.
Leann had mentioned that Alice was more comfortable, a bit more sure of herself now that Dally had been around and if he didn't know what was troubling her, he couldn't finish his job and get some rest.
Alice was a bit of a spaz, Dally realized and he was a bit angry, once again that he'd been paired up with this strange, spaztic, girl. She never mentioned him to any of her friends, not even Connie, who seemed to be the closest friend she had.
Connie was a bit of a spaz too, a fast talker who didn't seem to care what came out of her mouth or what she did. She was constantly fussing over boys and would turn to Alice for a practical, not so spaztic way to handle it. Connie would sometimes bump into things, or hit her head on desks if she was grabbing someting or go into mad fits of giggles. But, somedays, Connie would be so miserable that she'd break down crying in class and she and Alice would hurry to the bathroom so Connie could tell her what was wrong.
It was usually stress.
Dally found out that Connie's family was from the Phillippines and her parents were very strict and proper. The exact opposite of herself. So she would feel the pressure of pleasing her parents and trying to do well in school constantly.
Dally would sometimes get disapproving looks from Connie's gaurdian, a boy about eighteen who looked like he'd never missed a single day of school in his lifetime before he died, becauseDallas would often be lounging in an empty chair and smoking. Dally didn't know why this nerd was so disapproving. He always kept a close eye on Alice, trying his best to help her do what was right. But sometimes they would both do the wrong thing and Alice would sigh and feel guilty or get in trouble.
Christine, who he had met during Alice's science class,reminded Dally a lot of a greaser girl. She kept a change of clothes in her locker and wore a lot of makeup and usually curled her blonde hair and put a ribbon in it for school. Though as she was walking out the doors, she would pull the ribbon out, shake her head and let her curled hair just fall. Alice would write about her sometimes in her journal (though she never mentioned anything about him) and how much she didn't like her, but couldn't stay away.
She didn't like her because she saw her as a whore. But she couldn't stay away because she was a supportive girl, always trying to make her a more outgoing person so she could enjoy life and understood her. They actually had a lot in common involving preference in guys and humor. But that was usually where it stopped.
Dally liked her other friends, Linda and Andrew a lot. They were actually normal. Like, the gang normal. It made him feel more at home. Since Chicago was the farthest thing from Tulsa he had ever seen (Besides New York). Everyone talked with weird accents and he had to make sure he was listening carefully or he'd get lost in what people were saying. Especially Connie.
But one faithful day, the chain of routine days was broken when Dally and Alice were faced with a difficult problem. Christine wanted Alice to smuggle drugs into the school and get them to this boy named Ronnie.
Dallas would have done it hands down. Alice wanted to help a friend. So, Dally told Alice to take the chance and hide it in her purse. She would meet up with Ronnie outside the cafeteria at lunch. Alice was a nervous wreck all morning, jumping whenever a teacher called on her or when a staff member poked their head in the door.
"Stay calm kid, we don't want you gettin' busted because you're jumpy..." Dally muttered a few times during the day. Alice would then take a few calming breaths and be back to normal, doing her best to stop glancing at her purse. "It's only one more period until lunch, then you can get rid of it and give the money to Christine."
When the last class before lunch finally ended, Alice practically ran out of the classroom and disappeared into the bathroom.Dally knew she was waiting out the crowds. When Connie and company realized that Alice may have had somewhere else to go, they moved on to the lunch room and Alice finally poked her head out. Dallas was waiting against the wall, smoking, but Alice took no notice. She couldn't see him even if she wanted to and Dally still had no idea why.
Alice dashed down the hallway, heading towards the doors that led to the back of the cafeteria where the flow of students wasn't as heavy and where Ronnie would be waiting. Dally followed her, a few feet away, and nearly lost her as her curtain of brown hair disappeared around a corner. Luckily, he was able to see a door swinging shut, so he took a shot and hoped for the best as he followed.
He knew perfectly well that he could just simply reappear beside her, but he had been wanting to actually walk through the school for a while. It had been a long time since he had been in one.
"Hurry up, I'd like to be in the cafeteria before the bell rings," Alice said nervously. She was a good distance away, and she was shifting from foot to foot as Ronnie, a dark haired boy, reached into his pocket and counted out the money. Most of it seemed to be in change.
"Here," Ronnie said gruffly, dumping the money into her hands as he put the drugs in his pocket. "Tell Christine to get a better delivery person huh?"
Alice frowned as she dumped the money into her purse and dashed down the hallway once again to go to her locker. It wasn't that far from there and a few seconds later, she was walking back down the hallway, her face red. When Dallas neared her she muttered, "I have a detention...for wandering the halls," before walking into the cafeteria. Dally stood outside the doors, feeling a bit guilty.
"Shit."
The next few days passed in a rather set routine. Alice would go to bed, only a few hours from the next morning and her alarm clock, which sat on her desk would go off at six in the morning, waking both Alice and Dally up. Dally would stretch as Alice smacked the alarm clock and groaned, letting her arm fall over the edge of the bed and brush the floor. After a minute, she would sit up, yawn and push the covers back, getting out of bed and walking out of her room and turning right into the bathroom.
Dally would then walk out of her room and sit in the living room, watching her mother make breakfast. Her mother was a hassled looking woman, the worry lines and crows feet evident on her face. Her eyes were tired and her brown hair, which one looked like Alice's, had dulled and gray peppered the area around her forhead. Alice always ate toast with butter and strawberry or grape jelly for breakfast, while Jean would make coffee and eat a bagel.
When Dally heard the bathroom door open and close, he would stand up and walk to Alice's door. If it was closed, she was still getting dressed, so he would wait. For the first time in a long time, Dallas Winston had no dirty thoughts about a girl or felt the desire to spy on her. Sometimes, she would listen to a record with a small record player that had once been her brother's. It was usually something upbeat or mo-town, like Ray Charles or the occasional Elvis. When Alice started singing along, it was usually a sign that she was at least part way dressed and Dally would reappear in her room.
He would look at the pictures hanging on the wall. Most of them were of him. Sometimes she would talk, explaining why she was drawing him all the time. "You're fun to draw," she explained. "There are so many different things. The emotion on your face, in your eyes, your body language. You're a very interesting person Dallas."
Her clothes were usually the same. The normal long skirt, blouse and saddle shoes. Dally sometimes looked through her closet. Where fasion was concerned, Alice did a good job of keeping up. She had shorter skirts, ones that reached her knee, colorful shoes, pants, bell-bottoms (only one pair), different blouses and t-shirts, the occasional dress, and in her drawers (which he went through when she wasn't looking) were the normal colorful socks and shorts or capri's. She had a bathing suit too, green with white polka-dots.
Dally had grinned like a maniac when he had found it. It was a two piece.
Once Alice was dressed, she stood in front of her mirror, brushed her hair and usually put a ribbon in it, keeping her hair out of her face. Then she'd put on blue eye-shadow (She had muttered that green was such an ugly color for eyeshadow) and mascara and she would be done. Her lips were pink enough and she was already pale.
Then she would bounce downstairs (She always had a bounce in her step when she went down or up stairs) and she would eat her breakfast, run upstairs, brush her teeth and grab her school books. Then with a kiss and a wave, she'd be out the door and off to school.
Dally followed her to school at Leann's suggestion to get to know her and her friends better. Her school was large, incredibly large, and he was surprised she didn't get lost, though occasionally she would dash through the halls to make it to class on time. Alice went to Cook Highschool and apparently knew the place like the back of her hand. She would never mutter things that he could listen to around here and he would sometimes put a large distance between himself and her so he could watch how she was without him.
Leann had mentioned that Alice was more comfortable, a bit more sure of herself now that Dally had been around and if he didn't know what was troubling her, he couldn't finish his job and get some rest.
Alice was a bit of a spaz, Dally realized and he was a bit angry, once again that he'd been paired up with this strange, spaztic, girl. She never mentioned him to any of her friends, not even Connie, who seemed to be the closest friend she had.
Connie was a bit of a spaz too, a fast talker who didn't seem to care what came out of her mouth or what she did. She was constantly fussing over boys and would turn to Alice for a practical, not so spaztic way to handle it. Connie would sometimes bump into things, or hit her head on desks if she was grabbing someting or go into mad fits of giggles. But, somedays, Connie would be so miserable that she'd break down crying in class and she and Alice would hurry to the bathroom so Connie could tell her what was wrong.
It was usually stress.
Dally found out that Connie's family was from the Phillippines and her parents were very strict and proper. The exact opposite of herself. So she would feel the pressure of pleasing her parents and trying to do well in school constantly.
Dally would sometimes get disapproving looks from Connie's gaurdian, a boy about eighteen who looked like he'd never missed a single day of school in his lifetime before he died, becauseDallas would often be lounging in an empty chair and smoking. Dally didn't know why this nerd was so disapproving. He always kept a close eye on Alice, trying his best to help her do what was right. But sometimes they would both do the wrong thing and Alice would sigh and feel guilty or get in trouble.
Christine, who he had met during Alice's science class,reminded Dally a lot of a greaser girl. She kept a change of clothes in her locker and wore a lot of makeup and usually curled her blonde hair and put a ribbon in it for school. Though as she was walking out the doors, she would pull the ribbon out, shake her head and let her curled hair just fall. Alice would write about her sometimes in her journal (though she never mentioned anything about him) and how much she didn't like her, but couldn't stay away.
She didn't like her because she saw her as a whore. But she couldn't stay away because she was a supportive girl, always trying to make her a more outgoing person so she could enjoy life and understood her. They actually had a lot in common involving preference in guys and humor. But that was usually where it stopped.
Dally liked her other friends, Linda and Andrew a lot. They were actually normal. Like, the gang normal. It made him feel more at home. Since Chicago was the farthest thing from Tulsa he had ever seen (Besides New York). Everyone talked with weird accents and he had to make sure he was listening carefully or he'd get lost in what people were saying. Especially Connie.
But one faithful day, the chain of routine days was broken when Dally and Alice were faced with a difficult problem. Christine wanted Alice to smuggle drugs into the school and get them to this boy named Ronnie.
Dallas would have done it hands down. Alice wanted to help a friend. So, Dally told Alice to take the chance and hide it in her purse. She would meet up with Ronnie outside the cafeteria at lunch. Alice was a nervous wreck all morning, jumping whenever a teacher called on her or when a staff member poked their head in the door.
"Stay calm kid, we don't want you gettin' busted because you're jumpy..." Dally muttered a few times during the day. Alice would then take a few calming breaths and be back to normal, doing her best to stop glancing at her purse. "It's only one more period until lunch, then you can get rid of it and give the money to Christine."
When the last class before lunch finally ended, Alice practically ran out of the classroom and disappeared into the bathroom.Dally knew she was waiting out the crowds. When Connie and company realized that Alice may have had somewhere else to go, they moved on to the lunch room and Alice finally poked her head out. Dallas was waiting against the wall, smoking, but Alice took no notice. She couldn't see him even if she wanted to and Dally still had no idea why.
Alice dashed down the hallway, heading towards the doors that led to the back of the cafeteria where the flow of students wasn't as heavy and where Ronnie would be waiting. Dally followed her, a few feet away, and nearly lost her as her curtain of brown hair disappeared around a corner. Luckily, he was able to see a door swinging shut, so he took a shot and hoped for the best as he followed.
He knew perfectly well that he could just simply reappear beside her, but he had been wanting to actually walk through the school for a while. It had been a long time since he had been in one.
"Hurry up, I'd like to be in the cafeteria before the bell rings," Alice said nervously. She was a good distance away, and she was shifting from foot to foot as Ronnie, a dark haired boy, reached into his pocket and counted out the money. Most of it seemed to be in change.
"Here," Ronnie said gruffly, dumping the money into her hands as he put the drugs in his pocket. "Tell Christine to get a better delivery person huh?"
Alice frowned as she dumped the money into her purse and dashed down the hallway once again to go to her locker. It wasn't that far from there and a few seconds later, she was walking back down the hallway, her face red. When Dallas neared her she muttered, "I have a detention...for wandering the halls," before walking into the cafeteria. Dally stood outside the doors, feeling a bit guilty.
"Shit."
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