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Chapter 3: Dallas Does His Job

Dallas sat down next to Alice, who was sitting at the table in the library with her head down. Sure, he had gotten her in trouble, but it was the most interesting thing that had happened in the days he had been with her.

"Don't worry about it. At least they didn't catch you with those drugs, you'd be talkin' to the police right now if that had happened," Dally reassured her, smoking a cigarette. Alice sighed and turned her head to look at the chair next to her. It was just the chair, she still couldn't see him. Dallas stared at her. She looked so...dead.

"I thought you're supposed to tell me to do the right thing," Alice muttered. Dally shrugged, not caring if it was seen or not.

"I'm new to this kid, I was never good at doing the right thing before I died," Dally said as he propped his feet up on the table. Alice stared at him (the general area anyway), a mix of anger and disappointment on her face. Her lips became a thin line, much like Leann did when she was upset, and she sat up as straight as a board. She glared at the front of the room and Dallas let out a low whistle as he raised his eye brows and looked around the room.

Andrew was sitting near the back, his feet propped up on the table and his head tilted back. Occasionally he would start whistling or look around the room. Andrew was a tan boy with black hair, a heart shaped face, and blue eyes. Dallas snorted as he looked at Alice again, who had since given up her glare session and was propping her chin up in her hand, a dazed look on her face. 'A typical pretty boy,' Dally thought with a smirk. He was almost reminded of Soda, but Andrew wasn't that good looking.

Alice hunched over, her eyes wide as a small paper ball bounced off the back of her head. She sighed and turned her head and Andrew waved his fingers then pointed to the paper. Alice bent down and plucked up the paper wad from the floor, setting it down on the table so Dally could see too.

Dally was practically breathing in her ear as he looked over her shoulder. "Did he proclaim his love for you?" he asked with a smirk. Alice rolled her eyes as she ran her hand over the paper, flattening it out.

Dear Ally,

Meet me outside after detention, 'kay? I gotta ask you something.

Smiles,

Andy

"He'll probably tell you outside. Want me to take a picture for you, ya know, to start the scrap book of Alice and Andrew and their eternal love for each other?"

Alice stepped on his foot.

xxxx

"Hey Ally!" Andrew said with a smile, picking her up in a hug and turning full circle, before setting her back down on the ground. Alice grinned and for a moment Dallas remembered the picture of her and Connie. He hadn't realized Andrew was that strong, but now that he noticed it, his build was close to that of a football player. He wasn't even close to Darry, but he was strong enough to pick Alice up like she was just a small kid.

"...We're all goin' to the drive in tonight. Think your old lady would let you go?"

"I dunno," Alice said, moving her hair behind her right ear. "Maybe. I don't have anything else to do tonight anyway. And who's going?"

"Aw, you know, the usual crowd."

"Oh, you mean people like Ronnie and Christine and other paper-shakers and jocks?"

"Well yeah, if you wanna generalize it like that...C'mon Alice, I'll be there. It'll be a blast."

Alice sighed and glanced over at Dally. "C'mon have some fun for once."

"Alright," Alice said with a smile. "I'll go."

xxxx

"I should have said no! I don't go to the drive-in! I mean, come on...guys like you call it the "passion-pit". Like I really belong there," Alice said angrily, standing in front of her closet.

"I knew some girls that called it that too. Don't be so closed minded..." Dally replied, rolling over on her bed. Alice sighed and hid her face in one of her dresses.

"I dunno what to do. If Ronnie...Ugh, I'd never be able to look at Andrew again!"

"You like that guy?"

"What?" Alice asked, turning to look at Dallas in surprise. "Of course not! We have nothing in common." Dallas raised his eyebrows. "I'm serious! Dally...really, I don't like Andrew...not in that way anyway. Dally!"

Dallas grunted as a pillow hit him in the face. He sighed and dropped it on the floor. "Why didn't you tell me you could see me?"

"I can't, it was a lucky guess. I didn't know where your face was and I'm assuming I hit it because you didn't make a come-back. I can sense you...ya know, sort of like the feeling of someone following you or something? I feel something like that. And I felt your complete disbelief in the fact that I do not like Andrew...is this a yes?" Alice asked, holding up a shorter skirt and a sweater. Dally searched his mind for every outfit he had seen at the drive-in.

"It's not what the girls I've gone out with would wear, but sure."

"Sorry I don't own slut clothes," Alice muttered, slipping into the closet and shutting the doors.

"Hey, I'm sorry too," Dallas said with a shrug as he looked up at the white ceiling. Alice burst out of the closet a few minutes later, twirling with a grin, her arms out.

"Whaddya think?"

Besides her dishevled hair, Alice looked nice. Like one of the Soc. girls he used to see around. It was odd, looking at her and knowing she had no idea what a Soc. was.

"You look like a normal girl," Dallas replied. Alice's grin faltered a little, as she lowered her arms. Slowly the grin faded and she walked to her dresser, brushing her hair lightly so the curls she had put in when she got home stayed in, but so they looked less messy. The hairstyle was reminding Dally of a red-head he had tried picking up once. She didn't say a word or even glance at him as she fixed her make up and she walked out of the room without a word.

"Damnit, Alice! What the hell did I do?"

xxxx

Alice made a point to ignore Dally the whole time with Andrew. She didn't shoot him any glances, or listen to the comments he made. She just spoke to Andrew while they rode in the car to the other side of town, laughing like nothing could possibly be wrong in her life.

Linda, a pretty girl with auburn hair that she wore in curls and freckles dotting her cheeks underneath her gray eyes (and one that Dallas liked a lot), was riding in a car further back. She was more like a greaser-girl, with shorter skirts, more make up and a bit of a swearing problem. But she was a nice girl and a good student and made sure to avoid the label of slut. And she did a good job of it.

"How have you been?" Andrew asked, one hand resting lazily on the steering wheel of the car.

"Fine," Alice said carefully. She knew that he was asking about how she was handling both her father and brother gone. It was mostly the truth, she wasn't moping around.

"Really? That's good. I haven't seen you in awhile, actually. With football and other stuff..." Andrew said, trailing off.

"Would that other stuff happen to involve a girl?"

"Nah, no paper-shakers this year...I was actually...looking for something different this year," the dark haired boy said as they turned into the drive in. Dallas narrowed his eyes at the boy from the back seat. 'Real smooth muscle head. Now she won't know if you're talking about her or some other broad.'

Dally still doubted Alice's reassurance that she had no interest in Andrew and if it made her happy, then, muscle head better hurry it up.

"You never told me what the movie was," Alice said, turning her head to look at him. Her curls bounced with the movement and her black eyes watched as he paid to get in.

"I usually don't bother to check, I just go to see friends and hang out," He said with a shrug. Alice muttered something and Dallas smirked, but Andrew didn't seem to take any notice.

"Glory he's a slow one."

He thought he saw Alice glare, but Andrew grinned at her and it quickly disappeared.

xxxx

"Alright Alice, you're being a bitch, so I'll just go else where for awhile," Dally said loudly as he walked away. He saw Alice tense, but that was it. She was occupied with watching her friends. She wasn't participating and she wouldn't even bother looking at him despite that. He was actually annoyed. She had never ignored him before in the days he had been with her, why should she start now?

He hunched his shoulders, hearing Alice laugh behind him. Maybe it wasn't so bad he was being ignored. If she was happy and wasn't lost anymore...hell, then it didn't bother him at all. Dallas stood a little straighter, his usual swagger returning to his steps. He noticed a few people watching him. Maybe they could see him now. He didn't feel different, but...for the moment he wanted to live a normal life, so maybe...He shook his head a bit as he walked by a group of girls, his hair falling into his eyes as he looked over at them.

A few of them looked frightened, but the others giggled and grinned, wiggling their fingers in a wave. It worked every time. Not on every girl, but in a group, he took the chance. He smirked and looked back ahead of him. So, others could see him now. Maybe it was because Alice didn't need him. Or maybe it was just what he wanted, to be normal for the moment.

A few minutes later and he had his arm drapped over some chick's shoulder. He thought her name was Jane, but it may have been something totally different. But what did he care? She was drunk and names didn't matter with things like this. He was nuzzling the girl's neck, mumbling about going back to her car, when he had an odd feeling, like something bad was going to happen. He stopped, his eyes wide. No. He knew something bad was going to happen. He looked up, his eyes looking first for anything resembling a gang of trouble making hoods. He found there were actually a lot of people that looked like that, so he gave that up.

Jane, or who ever she was, was pouting, "Hey, Dallas, something buggin'? Is it a girlfriend or something? Don't worry, if we hurry, she won't see or nothin'."

Dallas shook his head. "Nah, just thought I heard someone call my name."

Jane giggled. "It was probably me you-"

That was when it happened. A loud bang and Jane screamed, covering her head as she ran. A bullet chipped the brick of the concession stand wall he had been leaning against and others hit chairs or people. He wasn't scared. He had seen things like this before. 'Same shit, different place...' Dallas thought bitterly as he ran. He found Alice, finally, hiding behind a car with Linda and Christine. Dally skidded to a halt and ducked down in front of her. A small smirk crossed Christine's face, but it disappeared as she covered her head and Linda's as the glass in the window above them shattered.

"Damn it," Dallas hissed, a piece of glass cutting his cheek as he grabbed Alice and covered her head. "Come on, we're getting out of here."

"Wait," Linda said. Dallas looked up at her. She looked terrified. "They'll shoot at us."

"How do you know?" Dally bit back. His eyes were blazing.

"Because," Christine began meekly. "We know the boys who are doing it."

"Ronnie," Alice whispered. Dally bit back a sigh. Of course. He just had to tell Alice to come tonight. She hadn't even wanted to.

"And, if we're dead..." Linda murmured.

"Then they'll have gotten rid of two people who could get him in jail," Christine finished. Dallas already knew that. It happened all the time back at home and in New York, but he was usually never stuck in the middle.

"Yeah, I know...fine, what do you think will work? Staying here and waiting?" Dally asked, his arm around Alice's shoulders. She hadn't said a word in quite a while and she was hunched over, hands near her neck.

"No," Alice piped up. "We're gonna make a run for it."

"In these shoes?" Christine demanded over the screams and gun shots. They were heels. 'Of course,' Dally thought.

"Take them off," Dally snapped. Christine hesitated for a moment, before yanking them off and holding them close. "Ready?"

He noticed all three girls, taking deep breaths and getting ready to take off. Dallas removed his arm from Alice's shoulder and stood up, hunched over slightly. From what he could see, Ronnie and the two other boys were further down. They could make it if they ran fast enough.

"Set?" Linda asked, a small smile on her face, though she was pale as the moon. Christine nodded. The magic word was whispered and they took off, Linda in the front and Dally and Alice in the middle. Christine was falling a bit behind. Alice fell back and grabbed her hand and Dallas barely noticed. Until Alice screamed.

"Damn it Alice," Dallas yelled, grabbing her arm and dragging her out of the drive-in. He knew that his job had just gotten harder.