Sunday
( 5 days till Halloween )

Bacon sizzled on the frying pan, filling the air with a salty scent that smelt delicious as I inhaled. The meat crackled loudly as I used a fork to stab a piece and flip it over.

I glanced over at Darry and watched as he successfully flipped the eggs on his pan by tossing them up into the air. "Nice," I laughed.

Darry laughed as well and smiled. "Oh, that's nothing," he bragged.

Sunday mornings had turned into a traditional get together. I spent almost the whole day at the Curtis house, along with Johnny and occasionally Two-Bit. Darry and I always cooked breakfast in the kitchen, while the other boys watched cartoon and just hung out in the living room, waiting for the food to be finished.

I enjoyed spending time with Darry because we got along so well. He wasn't like the other boys, who were still young and wild. Darry had an older vibe about him that comforted me. Of course, he was still strict and overbearing at times, but he acted as an older brother to me and that's probably why I got along with him so much.

"Is Dally giving you a hard time?" Darry asked as he plated the cooked eggs.

My eyebrows creased in confusion as I replied, "No, why?"

"The last time the gang was all here you two didn't say a word to each other," Darry said.

I sighed, knowing he was right. It's been two days since the drag race, and Dallas and I haven't spoken a word to each other since. He tried talking to me about what Chuck had said to me, but I just blew him off. I didn't really think much of Chuck and his empty threats, still, a small part of me was nervous for my secret to be revealed to the public.

I'd come to realize that what I had said to Dallas was probably not the best choice of words. I guess you could say that I was wrong.. and incredibly mean. Looking back, I should've known that Dallas was just looking out for me, but I was too stubborn to allow someone to help me. A normal person would just own up to their mistakes and apologize, but I was not a normal person. I didn't like talking about my personal life and I didn't like admitting my faults or flaws. I couldn't just avoid talking to Dallas forever though. I was friends with his friends and he also lives right next to me. I'd have to say something to him eventually.

"We're fine," I said with a shrug.

Darry gave me a lopsided smile and passed me a plate to load the bacon onto. "I don't believe you, but I'm not gonna push it," he said simply. I just smiled at that.

I picked up the plate full of crispy, gold bacon that I had just cooked, while Darry grabbed his plate full of steaming, scrambled eggs. The dining room table was already set with plates, utensils, and cups filled with milk.

As I made my walk out of the kitchen and into the dining room, Darry following suit, a figure jumped out from behind the wall with a white sheet covering their body and holes cut out where the eyes were. "BOO!" The person, who I recognized as Two-Bit, shouted and waved his arms in the air.

I was completely unfazed by his attempted jump-scare. My lips formed into a smirk as I walked around him. "Cool outfit, Two," I chuckled.

Two-Bit pulled the sheet off of his head and threw it on the floor with an annoyed expression on his face. "It's called a costume, Diana."

"Well, that's the shittiest costume I've ever seen," I scoffed jokingly as I set down the plate of bacon on the table. "What are you even supposed to be?"

Two-Bit sighed and motioned for Darry. "Come on, Darry, help me out here!" He exclaimed.

"She's right, Two-Bit," Darry replied. He walked over to the dining room table and set down the plate of eggs, shaking his head and chuckling softly.

Sodapop smiled happily as he leaned against the wall behind him. "You dress as a 'ghost' every year," he laughed.

"Hey, this costume is easy, reliable, and most importantly, free," Two-Bit stated.

"And it sucks," I added with a wink. Darry and Sodapop laughed at my remark, while Two-Bit just rolled his eyes.

"I'd like to see you do better," he declared.

Two-Bit and Sodapop joined Darry and I as we sat down at the table. Darry took his usual seat at the head, while Two-Bit and I sat on the same side, Sodapop sitting at the other end of the table across from Darry. After smelling the food and hearing our conversation, Ponyboy and Johnny emerged from Pony's shared room with Sodapop and sat down in the seats in front of Two-Bit and me.

"I don't 'dress up'," I told him. Everyone began to load food onto their plate. I shoved a decent amount of scrambled eggs onto mine along with two pieces of bacon.

Sodapop cupped his mouth and booed me. Two-Bit laughed and nodded in his direction, agreeing with him. "Boring!" Two-Bit yelled. Darry rolled his eyes as he tried reading the newspaper with all the noise.

"Who doesn't dress up for Halloween?" Sodapop exclaimed as if it was the most absurd thing he'd ever heard. I rolled my eyes and raised my hand.

"Johnny and I are going as skeletons this year," Ponyboy said. Johnny nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, and Sandy and I are dressing up like Barbie and Ken," Sodapop added excitedly.

"Of course you guys are," I remarked, earning a chuckle from Darry.

"Hey, come to think of it," Sodapop thought aloud. My remark must've gone over his head as most of them do. "You could go into town with Sandy and Evie tomorrow. They're shopping for a costume for Evie."

I sighed and shrugged. "I'm not really into holidays and celebrations though. It's just not.. my thing."

"Not even your own birthday?" Ponyboy asked. I shook my head in response.

"When is your birthday, Diana?" Johnny added curiously.

I gave him a half smile and winked as I replied, "Secret."

Two-Bit sighed dramatically and lolled his head to the side, giving me a look. "Oh, come on! Will we ever find out?"

I shook my head. "Nope!"

When I was young, I loved celebrating my birthday and holidays, but after my father left and my mother's alcohol addiction worsened, the celebrations ceased and my reality became miserable. I still remember a time where the magic of these events excited me. My favorite holiday has always been Christmas. Unlike most kids, I didn't like that holiday for the presents and shopping. Truth is, I've never received any because my family survived paycheck to paycheck. The gifts didn't matter to me though. I relished in the warmth of fuzzy blankets and sweet aroma of freshly baked cookies in every cafe and coffee shop. The vanilla scented treats always put a smile on my face.

Although I despise winter and the bitter, cold weather it bestows, I did make an exception for snow. I enjoyed wondering around aimlessly while the tiny, white snowflakes floated around in the air. I've always said that Christmas isn't Christmas unless there's snow.

The main reason for my love of Christmas was the lights. After Thanksgiving, people would start decorating their apartments with white strings of lightbulbs, and by the time the holiday rolled around the whole city of New York would be illuminated with a beautiful, golden glow. I used to stay awake past midnight just to stare out my window and watch all the lights that outlined each window and lamppost. I think my love for Christmas lights and stars share a connection. I don't know why, but I've always felt a strong fascination for the small, twinkling beams shined millions of miles away.

"Hey, Darry, do you think we could decorate the house today?" Ponyboy spoke up, breaking me out of my thoughts.

Darry put down the newspaper he was reading from and looked up at his younger brother. "Sure," he said. "Why don't you and Johnny pull the boxes out from the closet, while the rest of us clean up. The rest of the gang will be here soon."

Ponyboy and Johnny both smiled and got up from their seats, walking back into Ponyboy and Sodapop's shared room. It was nice seeing the two of them so excited for a something as simple as decorating for Halloween. I'd forgotten that after all this chaos between the greasers and the socs, most of these boys were all just kids.

»»——⍟——««

After Darry and I cleaned up the food and plates off of the dining room table, we joined Sodapop and Two-Bit in the living room, the two of them not really bothering to help. Ponyboy and Johnny had pulled out two cardboard boxes stuffed to the brim with 'spooky' decorations.

"Looks like we got here just in time," Steve exclaimed as he walked through the Curtis' front door, Dallas following behind him. He had his hands shoved in the pockets of his denim jacket that I absolutely loved. I thought the denim complimented his features better than the leather, anyway.

Two-Bit tossed a nearby beer bottle that was laying on the floor to Steve, who caught it clumsily. "The party's just begun!" He laughed.

Pretty soon, each of us were pulling various Halloween themed items out of the two boxes and retreating to different areas to decorate. Two-Bit, Sodapop, and Steve worked on putting fake, bloody hand prints on all the windows, while Johnny and Ponyboy hung bats from lights and other objects on the wall. Darry complained about decorating, saying that it was pointless to put festive things up if we were just going to take them down later. Still, he took a handful of plastic spiders and pumpkins to place on top of tables and other flat surfaces.

Dallas and I grabbed a few bags of cotton and walked outside to design the bushes as if they were cobwebs. Besides the faint, Halloween music playing inside, it was quiet between us. I kept glancing over at him as I untangled cotton and spread it out along the branches of a bush. When Dallas looked back at me I sent him a small smile, deciding I was tired of the silence. "Hey," I started.

Dallas threw the empty bag of cotton on the Curtis' lawn, and and turned to face me. Hey," he replied.

"Look," I sighed, rolling my eyes discreetly. "Back at the tracks.. I didn't mean to be such a-"

"Bitch?" Dallas cut me off. He made his way over to me, and crossed his arms over his chest when he stood in front of me.

"Yeah, thanks," I remarked. "I didn't mean to be such a bitch."

Dallas smirked and nodded. "It's cool. I didn't mean to be such an-"

"Overbearing asshole?" I cut him off this time.

Dallas raised his eyebrows at that. "I was just gonna say asshole, but yeah, that works too," he laughed softly.

I chuckled and sent him a genuine smile. "Are we supposed to hug it out now or somethin'?" I asked as a joke.

Dallas shrugged. "Isn't that a hippie thing?" He asked.

I tilted my head to the side as I thought. "Maybe," I laughed. Nonetheless, I stuck my arms out and grinned as I exclaimed, "Bring it in, hippie."

Dallas rolled his eyes before sending me one of his beautiful smiles as he wrapped his arms around my waist. Even though our hug didn't last long, it was sweet and comforting, and a small part of me felt a different, new feeling for Dallas Winston.