reckless 【 the outsiders 】

three.

Leigh couldn't get any peace. After time out with her friends, she was known to need to spend time alone. She wasn't the type of person who needed constant social activity. In fact, she did better without it due to the amount of contact she gets at work.

The day at the movie, after she and Gigi dipped out, she explicitly remembered saying that Dallas Winston knew nothing about her. She wondered why it was, then, that he all of a sudden, seemed to show up everywhere that she went. The next day, she was walking to the corner store and he caught her on the way there. Lucky for her, he was on his way somewhere else, so she was able to lose him after getting into the store. The day after that she was on the way to school without Levi, who'd decided to skip that day, and he ended up walking her halfway up to the school, despite her giving him the silent treatment. She had no idea why he would suddenly be so obsessed with her but she couldn't

And speaking of the devil, she heard Dallas call to her, "Hey there you are. Miss me?" He walked up to her and put his arm around her, and she rolls her eyes.

She moved his arm again, gripping the denim on the jacket and forcibly pushing his arm to his side. She rolled her eyes and looked up as if the clouds or the sky would tell her why he wasn't finished bothering her. "What's up with you, Winston? Can't take no for an answer?"

"No I cannot," he answered with a grin, "What's wrong with you anyway, I thought blondes had more fun."

She got a sense of déjà vu, like she just knew it was gonna happen, maybe it was because he was coming around so much but it only bothered her more as she looked right past the taller boy. "No, guess not."

"Why are you always actin' like you're too good to go out with me?" He asked, walking alongside the girl that's been on his mind constantly since the day he met her. He couldn't piece together why it was so important to him that he has her but he could easily lie to himself and say it was because he just wanted to try her out. "You live on the same side of the tracks as me."

"Oh really? I ain't noticed." She grew agitated with the boy, hoping he'd go away but knowing he wouldn't. She stopped walking and looked right at him, "Winston, I ain't gonna go out with you. The more you ask, the more you get on my last nerve. It ain't nothin' to do with me bein' better than you or whatever you're tellin' yourself. I just ain't into people like you." She had her hands crossed over her chest and she looked tiny next to Dally but she didn't care. It wasn't like he would do anything to her.

"Ain't that guy you was sittin' next to a drug dealer?"

"We ain't together. So that doesn't matter."

"Well, what kind of guys are ya' into, then?"

"Why?"

"Just askin', geez."

Leigh probably would've answered if she knew the type of guy she was into. She'd only dated a few boys, all of which were probably the opposite of what she was standing in front of. Instead of standing there in silence, she just said the first thing that came to mind. "That don't matter. I am not interested in you. I won't be in a few days, or a few months, or a few years. Now leave me alone."

He chuckled, completely unfazed by her firm tone and confident stance, "You don't gotta play hard to get, sweets."

"I'm not playing." She took off walking towards her house, wrapping her jacket tightly around her body as the wind threatened to throw the warm fabric open and expose her to the cold night air. She hoped that he wasn't following her and hoped he planned on giving up on her soon--hoped this was another pointless crusade that he'd forget about because she didn't know him but something in her couldn't stand him. He wasn't gonna follow her home but that didn't mean he planned on giving up

"See you 'round," he called to her. She scoffed and spoke to herself, hoping she wouldn't. Gosh, who does he think he is? She thought to herself. While he thought the same about her.

edited 12-27-21